Mallymkun woke up from dreamless slumber to the sound of someone sniffing her. Her eyes flew open and she stared up in alarm at the large dog's nose for a few moments before she recognized the bloodhound.
"Bayard!" she gasped, scrambling to her feet.
"You're Mallymkun, right? I met you yesterday." Bayard said. The dormouse nodded. "Thank goodness I found you. I'd started to think…"
"What?" Mallymkun asked. "You'd started to think what?"
"Never mind," the bloodhound said.
Mallymkun glanced upwards. The sun was directly overhead.
"How long has it been?" she asked. "Since the…since the festival."
"That was yesterday," Bayard said. "Horunvendush Day."
"What was that thing, Bayard?" In her mind, Mallymkun could still see the dark figure against the sky.
"The Jabberwocky," the bloodhound replied. "The Red Queen's monster. She claimed the throne last night, and ordered the White Queen banished to Marmoreal."
Mallymkun climbed over one of the tree roots. "I should get back to Witzend. Where am I, anyway?"
"You're in Iplam, almost in Crims," Bayard said. "You ran very far, for a dormouse."
"I can handle far more than most dormice," Mallymkun snapped. "Now, if you'd just point me towards my home, I'll be on my way."
"Mallymkun…"
The dormouse glanced up at Bayard. "What?"
The bloodhound sighed. "Your home's gone," he said. "The Jabberwocky completely destroyed the area. I came back to search for survivors, and…Well, I've been searching nearly all day and…you're all I've found."
Mallymkun gaped. "No one else? They're all gone?"
Bayard nodded slowly. "From what I've heard, the Royal Hatter helped the White Queen and a few of her courtiers to safety. Everyone else…I'm sorry, Mallymkun. They're gone."
The dormouse could still see the clearing full of humans and animals in her mind. So many people, just…gone? The concept was inconceivable. But she'd seen the flames…and no one could have gotten out of the hollow log fast enough…
"Are you all right, Mallymkun?" Bayard asked.
"Of course I'm all right," Mallymkun quickly said, shoving her momentary emotions away. "I didn't have anyone to lose. I've just never left Witzend before."
She couldn't tell if Bayard believed her, but he didn't press her for answers.
"You should come with me, back to the Tulgey Woods," he said. "We're setting up a Resistance."
"Oh, yes!" Mallymkun said. "I'd love to come."
"Climb on." Bayard lay down for Mallymkun to get on his back, but she hesitated.
"I can walk," she said.
"Not this far," Bayard said. "Especially after all the running you did yesterday.
"Come on, Mallymkun," he added as she still didn't move. "We'll get there faster, and it's not like anyone will think the worse of you for it."
Mallymkun climbed up onto his back, desire for independence swayed by excitement for the journey ahead.
As Bayard stood up and ran southward, a kind of thrill rushed through the dormouse's body.
I'm really leaving! she thought. I'm actually going somewhere, to do something new and exciting! Now, this is life!
Over the course of that afternoon, Mallymkun got her first view of how diverse Underland was. Having grown up in the lightly-wooded Witzend, the fields of Iplam alongside the rocky deserts of Crims were strange and fascinating to her. Hearing about such places was absolutely nothing like seeing them in person! She tried to ask Bayard questions about the places and people they passed, but she didn't get many answers because it was hard for him to get breath for talking while running. Mostly, she just looked around, trying to take in and remember everything.
Soon, the trees of the Tulgey Woods towered ahead of them, tall and dark. Mallymkun looked up as they entered the woods and found that she could hardly see the sky through the thick, leafy branches.
Bayard slowed to a walk to navigate the trees more easily.
"It's not far now," he said.
"This is your home?" Mallymkun asked, looking around at the many plants. While most were like the trees and bushes of Witzend, the dormouse also saw incredibly brightly colored flowers, striped vines that twisted and turned, and a few plants that looked like outstretched limbs and hands. She watched those plants cautiously. She wouldn't have been surprised if one of them tried to grab her. Her hand reached for her splinter for reassurance, but then she remembered that she'd lost it back in Witzend.
"Yes," Bayard answered. "The Tulgey Woods is home to many animals, and even a few humans live in the clearings."
"Do you ever get lost?" To Mallymkun, the Woods seemed a confusing maze.
"I've been navigating the Woods since I was a pup," Bayard said. "A native, such as me, could lead you anywhere in the Woods without losing their way. An outsider would have a very difficult time. That is why we're basing the Resistance here. Even if the Red Queen sent her Red Knights here, we could easily disappear."
Mallymkun frowned slightly. Like it or not, she'd have to depend on Bayard or someone else when it came to moving around in the Woods. She silently vowed to learn as much as she could about the landscape as quickly as possible.
"…has to be something we can do," she heard a low voice say, its speaker as yet unseen.
"She has the Jabberwocky on her side!" a slightly higher-pitched voice quickly replied. "I don't suppose you've ever seen anything that horrendous!"
"We don't know yet how 'horrendous' it is," the first voice said again. "When Bayard returns with a report, then we'll know for sure about the current situation."
Bayard entered a small clearing in the thick trees, which Mallymkun saw was already inhabited. There was a dodo bird and a rabbit, each wearing a waistcoat, who seemed to be in the middle of an argument. Also present were two short, bald, identical men in black-and-white striped shirts. All four glanced up at the bloodhound and dormouse's arrival.
"And here he is now," the dodo said. Mallymkun noted that he had been the first voice.
"What's left of Witzend, Bayard?" the rabbit asked. "And who is this?" he added, indicating Mallymkun, who wondered if he always spoke in that hurried, anxious tone.
"This is Mallymkun," Bayard said. "She's…well…" He lowered his voice. "She's the only survivor from the Jabberwocky attack."
Mallymkun frowned again. While it was polite of the bloodhound, she didn't like how delicate he was about the topic. It was like he thought she couldn't handle it—and she could. And now, the others were looking at her in pity…
"Oh, you poor dear," the rabbit said sympathetically. Mallymkun wanted to stab something.
"Mallymkun, this is Nivens McTwisp," Bayard introduced her to the rabbit. "And this is Uilleam," he indicated the dodo.
"And I'm Tweedledee," one of the short men said. "And he's Tweedledum," he indicated his partner.
"Contrariwise," said the other. "I'm Tweedledum, and he's Tweedledee."
"I just said that!" Tweedledee insisted.
"Not so," Tweedledum contradicted. "You said 'I'm Tweedledee.'"
"No, I didn't, I said that I was—!"
"Will you two just stop bickering?" McTwisp snapped.
"We should decide what to do with the dormouse," Uilleam pointed out.
"I want to join the Resistance," Mallymkun said.
"Really!" a snotty voice said. "You don't look any older than a child."
"Kids these days," another voice agreed.
Mallymkun glanced around, searching for their sources.
"We're right here, girl!" said the first voice.
The dormouse realized that it was the flowers talking! Two long-stemmed flowers, one with red petals and the other with blue, were looking at her with small, black eyes.
"Stop gaping like that," said the blue flower. "It makes you look even more foolish than you already are."
Mallymkun grinned maliciously. "I was just imagining how you two would look with your petals torn off," she said.
The flowers gasped.
"What impudence!" the red flower exclaimed.
"Enough!" Bayard barked. "McTwisp, have you seen Bielle?"
"She's fine," the rabbit assured him. "She's staying with the flamingoes at the moment."
"What we need to do is establish our forces," Uilleam said. "I can imagine that there are still plenty of Underlanders loyal to the White Queen. If we round them up quickly, we may be able to end the Red Queen's reign as quickly as it began."
McTwisp shook his head. "I don't see how any army could stand up to the Red Queen's, while she has the Jabberwocky," he said.
"Why don't we consult Absolem?" Tweedledee suggested.
"No one's seen that caterpillar for months," Tweedledum scoffed.
"It's worth a try," McTwisp said, turning to Uilleam. "I'll search for Absolem. You head to Snud to find those sympathetic to our cause. The Tweedles can take Queast. Chances are, the news of the Red Queen's attack hasn't even reached there yet."
"What about that Royal Hatter, who helped the White Queen to escape?" Uilleam said. "What was his name? Trent? Torrent?"
"Tarrant," Mallymkun said. "Tarrant Hightopp."
"Yes, him," the dodo said, neglecting to ask her how she knew the Hatter's name. "He could be of great use to us, too."
The rabbit shook his head again. "As soon as the White Queen was safe in Marmoreal, he left for Witzend," he said.
"I'll go find him," Bayard said. "I've made the trip once today already."
"I'm coming, too," Mallymkun said determinedly.
The others hesitated. "Where did you find her, Bayard?" McTwisp asked.
"In Iplam, far from the damage," the bloodhound said.
"Then she hasn't seen its extent?"
"She hasn't," Bayard said. "And it should probably stay that way."
"Will you all stop treating me like a helpless pup?" Mallymkun exclaimed. "I survived, didn't I?"
"Really, it seems there's no use saying 'no' to her," said the blue flower.
Bayard sighed. "All right," he said. "Let's go."
Mallymkun smiled triumphantly.