As she followed the cat longer and longer, the place around her got more and more strange. Talking flowers, which, without doubt, whispered not so nice things about her, as she walked past them. Small rocking horses the sizes of butterflies with wings flew carelessly around. All the time following the cat grin, there became more and more annoying, as it constantly appeared farer and farer away, when she almost reached it. Normally she was a pet lover, but this cat wasn't normal, so did it count as a pet or an animal for that sake?
A deep rustling in the bushes nearby caught her attention, and they stopped as the sound came closer, and something which sounded like running footsteps of several people could be heard. The cat suddenly looked very anxious, nevertheless it vanished quite quickly. And seconds later, Selene wished that she had done the same.
Something which looked red playing cards in red armour with different numbers of black hearts on the fronts appeared from all sides, and surrounded her within a double circle, all pointing long spears with sharp heart points towards her. Selene dropped her bag and found forth her spring knife, but two of the cards from the side stepped forth and gripped her wrists, squeezing them so tightly, that her hands snapped open and the knife fell to the ground.
"Let go of me!" Selene snapped, and twisted but in vain.
Then the double circle of red cards split up before her, and a huge horse in dark armour appeared between them.
"Well well, what do we have here?" a soft male voice sounded.
Selene looked up and saw the face of the rider, there dismounted. A very tall man, there was at least over 2 meters tall. Slim yet muscular with a broad chest and strong arms. He was fair-skinned like her and had shoulder-length black hair, there had a hint of curl in it. His armour was black, and consisted of a black long-sleeved knit shirt and tight-fitting pants, both with a reddish zick-zack pattern sewn into the cloth. A dark scale breastplate with out-pointing rounded leather ends to further protection of the shoulders. Flaps of leather and metal came down around the hips and crotch, while black leather boots came to the middle of his shins. To finish the outfit, he wore long leather gloves and a black cape with red lining was attached to the shoulders of his armour. And of course, a long sword in a sheath hung by his right hip, and a black whip on a hook by his left.
But what Selene really noticed was a large scar, there ran from the middle of the right side of his forehead, down and around his left eye, to end by the middle of his left cheek. Over mentioned eye was a black heart-shaped eye patch. His right eye was okay and had a normal blue-greyish colour. Despite the scar, he was actually handsome.
Selene tried to twist free, but still in vain. Yet she tried to keep her head and face covered within the hood by gripping the edge, and pull it as far down as possible. She could hear the man coming closer and stop before her.
"Remove the hood." He said.
One of the cards in the background stepped forth, and brutally ripped the hood off Selene's face, almost pulling out her hair as well. The man seemed surprised at first, that he had caught a woman.
"And who might you be?" the stranger asked. "A surviving Hightopp, maybe?"
"I don't know what you are talking about. And my name is none of your business." Selene replied harsh.
The man looked unaffected by her harsh tone, but the opposite. He looked almost amused.
"Not many have had the courage to speak to me like that." He stepped forth and gripped her chin, holding her head still while checking her over. "Blue eyes? Where are you from, girl? Your clothes are different from what I know."
When it was obvious to the man, that his prisoner had no intentions about answering willingly, he smirked in a way Selene didn't like. Letting go of her chin and stepping back, he nodded and the red soldiers let go of her wrists, while them in the behind split open the circle. Quickly gripping her knife and bag, Selene started backing out of the circle. She almost expected them to grip her again, but when it didn't happen, and the rider didn't move out of place but just stood and looked, she spun around and ran. Normally she was no coward, but she had a feeling that if she stayed, it would be ugly.
"Sir, she might be a spy!" one of the cards closest to the man said with a deep voice.
"I know, but I prefer chasing my prey before ruining all the fun. Follow that redhead!" The man ordered, as he went back and mounted his horse and set after the woman. Some of the red soldiers were in front, and the rest were just in the steed's hoof prints.
Selene ran as fast as her legs could carry her, and made several abrupt turns around trees and bushes, but it was impossible to shake them off. Eventually the forest seemed to open up ahead, and a small slope led into a large glade, in which a row of several tables of different forms was mismatchingly put together to form one long table. The white tablecloth was covered in teapots, teacups, several plates with scones and tarts, bowls with sugar cubes, and other various items associated with tea parties. The chairs also seemed to be chosen out of nowhere, different style and forms. The one by the end of the table towards her was a pouf on low wooden legs, while a high-backed green and old-fashioned, for not mentioning mote-eaten, armchair stood by the opposite end.
A broken windmill was near the abandoned tea party, a dim light in the old windows. Selene ran down and past the tables and up to the windmill, where she pulled up her hood again and started banging at the door with her left hand, while the right was used to hold her bag.
"Hello! Please let me in!" she shouted and looked behind. The rapid footsteps of the soldiers and the sound of horse hoofs came closer, and she swore that she saw the tips the red spears appearing behind the slope. But then the door suddenly opened and someone pulled her inside, for then slamming the door shut. An arm held her pressed against something solid, while a hand was pressed against her mouth. And unfortunately also blocking her nostrils. She twisted again and whined against the hand in a try to make the person aware of her lack of breathing, but the person didn't let go.
"Be quiet, I'm a friend. I won't harm you." said a quick but hushed voice.
Something. There was something in the voice there made Selene calm down, just as that the soldiers and the man from before went past the windmill.
"Keep searching, she cannot have got far!" she heard the black-haired man shout, whereupon the sound of him and the red card soldiers quickly started fading.
Thinking that the person would let go of her now, the surprise to be dragged sideways over to a window hit her hard. Yet she couldn't see anything, because of the hood over her head and still being held tightly with her back against the person, there hadn't loosened the grip. The lack of breath started to get really uncomfortable and strangling, and while the person's attention was kept out of the window, she twisted her head and managed to get the top part of her mouth free.
"I think they are gone now…" in the next second there sounded a yelp of pain, as Selene dug her teeth in the finger of the hand against her mouth.
Finally the person let go, and Selene stumbled forth to lean, and eventually sitting, against the opposite wall of the small room. She inhaled sharply and coughed a few times. Her eyes shot to her side and saw who there had saved, and almost strangled, her.
He, at least she thought it was a male person, stood and cradled his bitten hand against his chest. He was a few inches taller than her and slender. With bushy orange eyebrows and with longish reddish-orange curly hair, there looked it never had been near a proper hairbrush, hanging around his thin and marked face, there was close to be all white. Reddish-pinkish eyeshade was added under his large neon-green eyes, while the eyelids were painted in a bluish eyeshade, and the darker rouge under his marked cheekbones, while his thin lips were a faint magenta.
Also his clothing was much unusual. Dark-brown pants with thin dark-grey vertical strips, there ended just before his ankles, where two different colour socks could be seen. A dark-orange sock on his left foot, and a king-blue on the right. His ankle shoes were light-brown with red shoelaces. He wore a waistcoat with a dark tartan pattern on the outside of a pink long-sleeved shirt of satin or silk with fluffed lace at the edges of the sleeves. His whole 'outfit' got finished with a dark scarf with light dots, there was tied a large but loose bow.
"Why did you bite me?" he sounded not angry but more curious, while still cradling his hand. Both of his hands were hidden in brown fingerless tartan gloves, and his left thumb was wrapped in white bandage. The rest of his hands were whitish, and had what seemed to be several old long-healed scars, especially his right hand was bad. A thimble was on each middle finger, both matching the colour of the sock on the same side.
"Sorry, but you were about to strangle me." Selene replied a bit raspy. Was he some kind of clown or something, since he was dressed like that?
"Rather that, than being caught by Stayne." The red-haired man looked at her, noticing her holding on to her hood, covering her face. "Why are you hiding your face?"
There it was again, asking and asking. Sighing inwardly she pulled off her hood, and turned her head towards him, flinching slightly when she noticed that he had moved closer, and sat on a low pouf like the one outside, making him be less than two meters from her. He on the other hand seemed shocked for a moment. If it was by her bruised face or split lip or something else, she couldn't tell. His magenta-coloured lips formed a soundless word, while his neon-green eyes turned deep-blue for a tiny second, before turning to green again.
"Does it hurt? Your marks?" he asked after a couple of seconds, pointing at different places around his own face to show what he meant.
Now she was surprised. He was the first so far not to ask at first, what there had caused her marks.
"It's not so bad. I'm used to it." Selene shrugged.
But the man stood up and went out of a doorway next to her, into the small entrance hall, and further out into what must be the kitchen. With him gone Selene took a look around the room from her spot. It must be the living room. She sat next to a before unnoticed fireplace, a small coffee table before it, and a dark-khaki sofa with a faint yellow flower pattern on the pillows. Two low poufs in matching design stood on each side of the low table. A slightly empty bookcase stood in the corner, and a brown armchair stood close by. Somehow the room had its own charm.
After a minute or two, the man returned with a small glass and a handheld mirror. He went over and handed the glass to her. The fluid was again colourless, and instantly her mind thought that horrible shrinking drink back in the room with the many doors.
"Is it that horrible drink, there makes you shrink?" she asked and looked with sceptically at the glass.
"Pishavler? Oh no no. This will heal your marks and your lip. I promise it's not poisonous." The man said and smiled assuring.
Selene looked up at him. Slowly her hand took the glass, and brought it just as slowly to her lips. Carefully tipping the glass, she let a minimal part of the fluid enter her mouth, and was relieved when it tasted neutral and didn't have the horrible taste. It reminded more of some sort of thick-fluent water. Down it came and a light tickling feeling appeared underneath her skin all over her body. After ten seconds of time, the soreness had vanished from her face and arms. The man handed the mirror to her.
"That looks better. The marks did not suit you very well." He smiled.
Taking the mirror, she looked at her reflection and saw that the marks had disappeared, and her lip was healed like it never had been cut open. Her skin was flawless and fair like it used to be.
She looked up at him with slightly confused but thankful eyes. "Thank you, but… why are you so kind to me, even after I bit you?"
He chuckled, and showed a gap between his front teeth. "But why should I not be? No one likes a sour Hatter." The chuckling stopped, and his features turned somehow serious. "Now, it was the plan that it was Alice, there should return… hmm," he looked at her face, an arm across the waist and a hand before his mouth as if in thinking. "You look like her, or at least the shape of your eyes does. But your hair is straight and ginger-red, when Alice's was blond and curly. Queen Mirana told McTwisp and Cheshire to bring Alice to Marmoreal, but since you not are Alice…"
"Who is this Alice everyone keeps comparing me to?" Selene thought and was right about to ask, when he started again.
"I better take you to Marmoreal and the Queen, but not while Stayne…" his green eyes changed colour again. This time a deep-yellow, before they returned to green the moment later. "Not while he is out here. I think it's best if we wait until nightfall. Then he returns to Salazen Grum. Then we can reach Marmoreal without his interfering."
"Okay, now I'm lost. I'm in a windmill with a weird-looking man with changing eye colour, and who rambles about hatters, queens and strange places. What is this for a wicked place?" it would have been so much easier, if thoughts could translate themselves into words. "Can you tell me, where I am?"
"You are in Underland of course!" the man chuckled again. "Where nothing is impossible. Or that is what I like to believe. But sometimes I believe as much as six impossible things before breakfast."
"Is everyone here just as mad as you are?" it flew out of Selene, there instantly shut like an oyster, thinking that her words might have offended the man.
The green eyes got large, and he cocked his head slightly. "You are a mysterious one, you know. But to answer your question, we're all mad here. Yet I'm one to wear it in my title as the Mad Hatter."
"He's rambling and mad? This can only go wrong…"
"But enough about me!" his hands clapped together, as he changed subject. "If Time and the weather in Underland are just as unreliable as always, nightfall won't come before in some hours. Maybe you want to rest?"
"I don't want to be importunate..." she wondered why he was so kind to her. That was defiantly not something she was used to.
"You are not importunate at all. I have a spare room. Follow me." He smiled, and walked out of the doorway into the entrance hall, where a narrow staircase led upstairs.
Selene looked after him, but got up, took her bag and followed him. "Do you live in this windmill?" she asked a bit curious, as they walked up the steps. There was barely enough space to have your arms stretched halfway out.
"Only temporarily. It's Thackery and Mally who really live here." He explained, as they walked through the small corridor. A few small paintings hung horribly awry on the walls. There was a door on the left, one on the right, and one right ahead. He stopped by the door on the left, and turned the doorknob to open the door ajar. "This is the spare room."
Selene walked over and looked inside. It was a bit bigger than her room back at the orphanage, but it had a whole other atmosphere and lighter colours. A large window with a colourful patchwork curtain was on the furthest wall, and a wooden bed with a matching bedspread stood horizontally along the wall right below the window. A small wooden desk stood by the right wall, and a wardrobe stood by the left wall.
Carefully stepping inside and to the middle of the room, she looked around. It must have been the fact, that it all was made of wood instead of iron and the colours were lighter and warmer, that made it feel as homely and cosy as it did.
Thinking that she might want to be alone now, the man walked back towards the stairs. Selene turned around, dropped her bag on the floor and quickly stepped out of the door to catch him. "Wait!"
He stopped just by the top of the staircase, and looked back to see her standing with a hand on the doorframe. "Do you need anything?"
"There… before… I, I didn't get your name." she asked a bit shy.
The man smiled. "I'm just a mere Hatter going under the name Hightopp, but I'm just called the Hatter or Mad Hatter. Or that is what everyone uses to call me. What about yours?"
"Hightopp? Wasn't that the name the dark-haired rider mentioned and connected me with?" Selene hesitated. Should she tell him her real name, or go under her nickname until further notice? He had been so kind to her until now, that it would feel wrong to give him a false name, but then again… hiding your true identity in this new place didn't sound as a bad idea after all.
"Tinke." She finally replied.
"A very unique name." the surprise was painted in his face, clearly never heard such a weird name before. "Now, I will come and get you, when it's safe for us to go to Marmoreal."
With that he disappeared down the stairs again. Selene slowly returned into the room, and noiselessly closed the door ajar. Pushing the bag into the wall with her foot, she sat down onto the bed and pulled off her shoes. The mattress was softer and cushioned better than the one, her back had been forced to sleep on for so many years. She had almost forgotten how it felt to have her head on a soft pillow, there wasn't torn or smelled like the ones back at her former 'home', and after a few minutes she fell off into slumber.