Hatters and Ribbon

Click click click, clackety click clack. The woman momentarily looked up from her work and wiped her brow with the back of her hand. Glancing around the room, she watched hatters of all kinds working diligently at their trade. Fabric was being woven with the greatest care, patterns were being created, and the hats, oh the hats! In one corner of the room, hundreds of hats were draped on chairs, shelves, and hooks. They were the most beautiful items that the hatter had ever seen. Each one was completely different from the other, yet all shared the same twisted beauty of Underland. It was apparent that the creators took great pride in their work, and they had good reason to. Being a hatter to the White Queen was a very great honor indeed. The brown hair maiden smiled, and then continued with her work on the sewing machine. Although the room was somewhat crowded and full of hustle and bustle, it was very homey and comforting. There was no place in all of Mamoreal that the young hatter loved more.

"Katelyn, could you please bring me some more fabric?" Katelyn glanced up to see a stout, lively woman extending her hand towards her. However, the woman was staring intently at the assortment of thread, ribbon, fabric, and patterns before her. Her curly black hair was haphazardly pinned up onto her head, her clothes in disarray.

In the two years that Katelyn had been an apprentice to this feisty and kind woman, she loved her like the mother she never had. Mrs. Dinah had taught her everything a hatter needed to know, such as how to make thread from the havershame plant and the proper way to cut fabric ("Not with those dreadful scissors dear," Mrs. Dinah would say, "the fabric just hates it so! Listen…" and Katelyn would bend her head down and listen very carefully for the murmur and giggle of the fabric, like the sound of turning pages. Then she knew she could continue.)

"Of course," Katelyn replied, snapping out of her memory. She reached behind her and grabbed some more gorgeous fabric on the shelf, then handed it to elder hatter.

"Thank you dear. You know, it's about your lunchtime. You may go out in the courtyard and have a picnic if you wish. The weather is wonderful today."

"Oh that sounds lovely! Thank you!" and with that Katelyn was out the door.

Strolling down the halls of the palace, the woman of eighteen years soaked in all its beauty. Being the White Queen's palace, everything was pure white. Marble pillars lined the hallways and the whitewashed floors gleamed brighter than the sun. Katelyn sighed in contentment. She loved her life here. It was much better than her life before anyway, or at least what she remembered of it. However, the one thing Katelyn really wished for was an adventure, like the ones Absolem spoke of.

Then she saw him.

His skin was almost as pale as his surroundings, but his hair was bright red. It was curly and came almost to his shoulders and was topped with a large hat covered in fabrics and pins. He wore the colorful clothes of the other hatters, but his were…stranger and more eccentric. He wore crop pants with two completely different knee socks underneath. A belt full of thread was draped across his chest and at his neck was a giant bow that was as colorful and crazy as his personality. But the one thing that distinguished this man from any other was his piercing green eyes. Every time she saw them, she was completely captivated. Katelyn has heard rumors that they changed colors depending on his mood. Not just slight shades of green, but yellows and oranges too. She shivered at the thought. It was also believed that the hatter was slightly mad, although Katelyn had never witnessed this herself. Tarrant was the best hatter in all of Underland. People came from miles around just to get a glimpse of some of his hats.

As he passed by, she felt a small leap in her stomach as the two made eye contact, and then it was gone as quickly as it had come. Walking quickly to the courtyard, Katelyn found a peaceful spot under a large, shady oak tree. She spread out on the grass and smiled at the sound of the flowers gossiping over in the garden. Looking out at the gorgeous Underlandian landscape, she sighed.

"No," she said to herself, "It will never be…"

"And what do you propose, Absolem?" The White Queen asked. She was in her chambers, sitting at her desk. In her hands she held the Oraculum. "You know perfectly well what she is capable of. She must be stopped or…" she glanced down at the ancient drawings on the scroll.

"Of course I know stupid girl! Look for muchness." The blue caterpillar inhaled his hookah and vanished in a cloud of smoke, laughing uncontrollably.

"I hate it when he does that" McTwisp mumbled.

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