“No!” Heathan and I shouted at the same time. Papa stroked my hair as I stared at Heathan. Heathan stared at me too. I was crying. Crying so hard because my heart was breaking. Heathan was my best friend. My most favorite person in the world. I didn’t want him to go away.
He didn’t have any other friends.
I was his Dolly.
He was my Rabbit.
I . . . I loved him . . .
Then I saw it. I looked into Heathan’s silver eyes as a single tear slid out of one corner. I gasped, and my heart shattered into tiny pieces. Because Rabbit never cried. Never ever cried. Not even when his papa died did he shed a tear.
But he was crying now . . .
Because he was being taken away from me.
“Don’t . . . don’t cry, Rabbit,” I whispered. My throat was closing up. I was so sad I could barely speak. I tried to reach out and push the falling tear from his cheek, but my papa hit my hand away.
I heard the door open behind me. “Take her to her room,” my papa said without looking around. Mrs. Jenkins’s hand took hold of mine. I jerked it away. I needed to stay with Heathan. I was scared. Scared they were going to hurt him.
Papa tucked my hair behind my ear. “Say goodbye to Heathan, baby.”
“No!” I shouted, shaking my head.
Heathan struggled to get out of my uncle’s hold, but he couldn’t. I pushed forward, escaping the invisible chains that seemed to have locked me in place, and wrapped my arms around Heathan’s neck. I heard the sound of a car coming from outside and held him tighter. “Rabbit . . . I’m scared.” I felt the tear from his cheek kiss my own.
“I’m coming back for you, Dolly,” he whispered. “Wait for me. I’m gonna come back for you. To take you from this place . . . to Wonderland. Okay?”
My sob turned into a hiccup. “Okay.” Then Heathan put his mouth to my ear and said, “My vest pocket. Take it.”
I reached inside and pulled out his pocket watch. I clutched it in my palm, and then Mrs. Jenkins was dragging me from the room. “Heathan!” I screamed. I caught his eyes with my own and spoke what was in my heart. “I love you, Rabbit!” His eyes widened. “You’re my best friend!”
I didn’t hear Heathan’s reply, because I tripped over something. I nearly threw up when I saw it was Uncle Eric.
“Rabbit!” Now I’d found the words again, I couldn’t stop calling for Heathan, wanting my Rabbit to hold me. I cried his name over and over until Mrs. Jenkins threw me into my bedroom and slammed the door shut. I screamed and screamed, banging on the door, raking at the wood with my polished nails, but she didn’t come back. She had locked me inside.
I heard car doors opening outside my room. I ran to the window and pressed my hand against the glass. A big black van was in front of the house. Papa came outside, followed by two of my uncles, who were holding Heathan. I shouted his name, slamming at the pane of glass, as they threw him in the back. And I screamed when the van pulled away, taking my heart with it.
I watched the van drive away until I could no longer see the taillights.
My papa and uncles walked back inside the house. I cried and cried for hours as I watched the driveway, but Heathan and the van never came back. My legs wobbled, no longer able to hold me up, and I slid down the wall. I crashed down to the floor, the pain between my legs making me moan. And I stared at the door. I didn’t know if my papa or my uncles would return, so I just stared, praying they wouldn’t come.
My lip trembled as I remembered that Heathan had said he was coming back for me. That I just had to wait until he did. I looked down at my hand. It was in a fist. Even though it was shaking, I opened my fingers. Blood covered my palm, but when I wiped the blood away, I saw Heathan’s pocket watch in my hand. I stared at the cracked glass . . . at the two hands on the face. And I heard him in my head. I’m coming back for you . . .
My Rabbit was going to return and get me. Until then, I would count down the time. I gasped. The hands that had always been broken had jerked to life. They were moving! The hands were moving! I was seeing what Heathan always saw. It wasn’t all pretend . . . I could see them tell the time!
Lifting the watch to my ear, I kept my eyes on the door, checking for movement from the hallway and anyone coming inside. I tapped at the watch—just like Heathan did—and whispered, “Tick tock.” I swallowed, smiling as I heard the tick-tock of the clockwork hands. I knew Rabbit would never break his promise to me. “Tick tock . . . tick tock . . . tick tock . . .” I whispered to the rhythm of the watch, over and over again, until my voice no longer worked.