Alice I Have Been: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

released me and turned toward Ina, who had been glaring at us. Suddenly she blushed, took a step back, hung her head, and smiled one of her maddeningly teasing smiles, as if she knew a secret she wanted you to find out.
    I would never, ever ask her what it was, however. That would only be giving in.
    Mr. Dodgson shrugged, hugged Edith, who had toddled over, bored with the butterfly, and then he straightened up.
    “Any suggestions? I’ve the entire afternoon to be at your disposal.”
    “Can we go rowing?” I asked. “It’s awfully hot!”
    “No, I promised Mr. Duckworth we wouldn’t go again until he could join us, as he’s heard me talk so much about our fun times,” Mr. Dodgson said. “You wouldn’t want me to break that promise, would you?”
    “Oh, no!” I shook my head so vigorously that the ends of my hair tickled my ears. I did like Mr. Duckworth, who had a splendid singing voice; we had recently met him at tea in Mr. Dodgson’s rooms, where he sang bits from an Italian opera for us. To be honest, I was surprised to meet him there, even if he was another fellow at college. I wasn’t accustomed to seeing Mr. Dodgson with other adults, except on the rare occasions Mamma invited him to parties at the Deanery. “No, we mustn’t break a promise to him!”
    “I did tell Mrs. Liddell that I was taking the girls out for a botany expedition,” Pricks said.
    “Ah, b-b-botany. A fine excuse for an outing. Especially when accompanied by a mathematics professor.”
    Pricks laughed and took Mr. Dodgson’s arm, which he offered to her after first stifling a small sigh, I noticed. I don’t believe, though, that Pricks did.
    “Would you like to go to the Meadow, my ladies?” he called over his shoulder.
    “Oh, yes!” I jumped up and down, and I’m afraid I did shout, causing more than a few students, heads together in earnest discussion, to look my way. Mr. Dodgson only laughed, even while Ina and Pricks stiffened. “Might we roll down a hill?”
    “I’m not sure what that has to do with botany, Alice,” Mr. Dodgson said. “D-d-do enlighten me.”
    “Well.” Frowning, I tried not to step on grasshoppers as I walked, as I knew from experience they made a mess when squished. “We would be rolling on grass, which is a plant. We could study the grass after, to see if it got flat or not. That would be scientific.”
    Ina laughed at me, and I resisted the urge to poke her with my parasol, but only because we were still in the Quad and Mamma might be watching from the window.
    Mr. Dodgson did not laugh. He released Pricks’s arm—she did not appear to like that , as she let out a sigh she didn’t bother to stifle—and clasped his gloved hands behind his back. I wondered why he always wore gloves, inside and out, even when it was hot; I had to, of course, because I was a girl. Men, however, did not have so many requirements, so it made no sense to me.
    Mr. Dodgson nodded slowly, giving my answer thoughtful consideration, which was one reason why I liked him so. He was the only adult who ever did.
    “That is an interesting answer. I do wonder if the weight of a little girl would be enough, but then we must consider the f-force of the roll itself, as a factor.”
    “Exactly!” I was excited now, and pleased with myself for coming up with such a brilliant experiment; I couldn’t prevent myself from skipping a step or two, to Ina’s great annoyance.
    “Then again, there’s another factor we must consider. Can you tell me what it is?”
    “Bugs,” crowed Edith happily. She loved bugs of all types and longed to have an ant farm in the nursery. Phoebe wouldn’t hear of it, though, despite my many attempts to explain to her that ants did not have wings.
    “No, not bugs.”
    “The wind?” Ina asked, in spite of herself; I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at her.
    We had crossed the hot, treeless Quad, passing the great fountain in the middle with its bronze statue of Mercury, and were now