The Hazel Wood

Leaving the tavern by a back door, the Story Spinner leads Alice to two bicycles. She cautions Alice to concentrate on the road and pedaling. Alice does indeed see many things in the village and woods that are creepily distracting: A strange bride in a litter and caravan who ticks like a clock makes eye contact with her, causing the ice to fill her throat; and near a lake, a siren-type song pulls her attention while she stares at the sky. Both times the Story Spinner intervenes to call Alice’s attention back to the journey. They ride all night and end up at the castle of Alice-Three-Times. Alice tries to tell herself not to trust the Spinner, and she tries to think of Ella, but the compulsion to enter the castle—and her story—is too strong, and she goes in.

A banquet and music establish the setting inside the castle, but Alice notices almost immediately that every person is trapped in a short pattern of activity, over and over; the effect is jarring and discordant, made worse by the knowledge that it was her own departure that caused the “rictus.” The Spinner pulls her along through a courtyard and upstairs; inside a bedroom, Alice’s mother the queen is giving birth.