The Best Laid Plans

Chapter Four: Revelations and Escape

Chessur flew through the wood, determined to find the Staynes and Hightopps. He purred in triumph as he spotted Tarrant a few yards up ahead. The Hatter was glancing around, looking at trees, bushes, and occasionally at the ground. Chess flew over to him, and Tarrant gave him an exasperated glance.

"I do not have time for any tricks or ploys right now, Chess. You may not borrow my hat, you may not go pester Mally, and I'm not in the mood for a battle of wits."

Chess turned in the air, gazing seriously at him. "I know, Tarrant. You've lost your little ones."

Tarrant stared at him, eyes blazing blue. "What do you know about that?"

"Quite a bit. I saw Katarina last night."

"Where?"

Chess turned to Stayne, who was staring daggers at him. "Three miles from here, there's a tree that has two hearts and two hats carved into it. Your daughter put them there."

Alannah and Alice came forward, and Alannah spoke first. "Is Katarina alright?"

Chess smiled. "She seemed to be. She's looking after the younger ones. Oh, and she told me the name of their abductor. Jack Club."

Stayne gawped at him. "Are you sure?"

"Perfectly. Why, do you know him?"

Stayne laughed in bemusement. "I did, and so did you, Alice."

Alice gaped at him in shock. "What are you talking about? I never knew anyone by that name!"

Stayne shook his head. "You did, but you probably never knew his name. He was the Head Gardener at Salazen Grum. Do you remember your first visit to the Gardens?"

Alice grinned. "Yes! Was he…one of the painters?"

"No, but Iracebeth blamed him for planting white roses and ordered him executed. He pled for his life, and to my surprise, she let him live. I suspect it was because she had a shortage of staff. After Horrendevush Day, Club disappeared. I assumed he had just been another casualty of the Jabberwock."

Alannah sighed. "So he's gone from gardener to kidnapper. Quite the leap."

Stayne nodded in bemusement. "It is. I knew him, like I said, and I just can't picture the Jack I knew doing something like this. He was a pretty decent man. Drunker than a lord most of the time, but decent."

"Decent or not, he has our children, and that makes him an enemy."

Stayne smiled at his wife. "True, but I still have to wonder why he did it."

"When we find him, we'll ask him. Chess, where are they?"

"The Cave of the Jabberwock."

Alice smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you, Chess. How far is that?"

Stayne pointed in a northeast direction. "That way, and it's almost a full day's journey. We'd better get moving, we're wasting daylight. Chess, would you mind coming along? We could use an extra pair of eyes."

"Of course."

Katarina watched carefully as Club began to stir. He sat up, holding his head in his hands, and blinked in confusion. "What happened?"

Katarina cocked her head at him, pretending confusion. "What do you mean? You had something to drink, and then you fell asleep."

Jack sneered at her. "I guessed. Why didn't you try to escape while I was sleeping?"

"Well, because I'm tied up. Besides, I don't like the woods. It's full of nasty bugs and other yucky stuff. I'd much rather be indoors where it's nice and clean. I really hate the fact that my dress is getting dirty!"

Jack gave her a look of fake sympathy. "That's just too bad, girl. But you're going to have to manage."

Katarina gave a mock pout. "Fine. But it's just so…icky. I'm sure my hair is a complete mess by now! And my hands are probably chafed from the rope. I'm a delicate thing, after all."

Club glared at her. "Quit yer whinging! I don't want to hear it, understand?"

Katarina nodded quickly. "Yes sir."

Jack snorted and stumbled out of the cave, scratching his chest. Katarina sighed, and then looked over at Michael, who was shaking with barely suppressed laughter. "Something funny, Michael?"

Michael looked at his sister, and giggled, nodding his head. "You acted like a girl!"

"I am a girl, genius."

"No, I meant you acted like a girly girl."

Katarina grinned. "Well, I tried." She looked over at the twins. "Do you remember the plan?"

Josiah answered for them. "Yes. Are…are we going to try now?"

Katarina nodded. "Yes, unless you want to stay here another night."

Arianna gulped, near to tears. "I'm scared."

Michael scooted over to her and hugged her. "It's alright, I'm scared too. But I'll watch out for you, I promise."

Arianna smiled at him. "Thank you, Michael." She kissed his cheek and Michael blushed crimson. Katarina smiled softly to herself, and then spoke.

"Everyone knows what to do, right?" There were nods and 'yeses' and she smiled. "Good. Start shouting."

"HELP! HELP! THERE'S SOMETHING IN THIS CAVE! HELP! IT'S TRYING TO BITE US! HELP!"

Jack, who had been standing outside the cave mouth enjoying the day and wondering why he hadn't received his money yet, jerked his head around at the sound of his captives shouting at the top of their lungs. "SHUT IT!" The screams redoubled in volume, and he growled in frustration, heading back to where they sat. "What is all this caterwauling about?"

Arianna spoke up in a frightened voice. "There's something in this cave! It was trying to bite us! Could you kill it?"

Jack glared at her. "What sort of something?" Arianna stared at him, eyes wide and innocent.

"I don't know, but it was scary. Please Mister, could you kill it?"

Jack smiled at her and ruffled her hair. "Of course I could, little girl. You just show old Jack where the mean thing is, and I'll kill it deader than the Jabberwock."

Josiah spoke up, pointing to a spot on the opposite wall. "It crawled over there when we started shouting."

Jack stared at the wall, squinting. "I don't see anything."

Katarina sighed. "Up and to your left. Your other left, genius." She watched as Jack continued to stare at the wall, then got her feet under her and stood up, flexing her wrists so her rope was dangling from her hands.

Michael and the twins watched with bated breath and pounding hearts as Katarina slowly crept up behind Jack, the rope twisted in her hands. He was still staring at the wall.

"I don't see any…ugghh!" Katarina had the rope around his neck before he could react, and she gave a single sharp tug. Jack fell to the ground, dead to the world. Katarina sighed in relief.

"Thank Time I inherited Daidi's height."

Arianna stared at Jack. "He's not dead, is he?"

"No, just unconscious."

Michael stared at his sister in awe. "How'd you learn that?"

"I watched Daidi when he taught it to Mum, and figured it would come in handy someday. Now, I propose that we get out of here and find our parents."

Michael nodded. "Great idea. I think we should tie Jack up first though, just to make sure he doesn't come after us."

Katarina grinned wickedly. "Good idea. We should be very thorough about it, too."

The others nodded, identical wicked grins on their faces, then proceeded to swathe Jack Club in ropes, tying knots wherever they could. By the time they had finished, he looked like a bird that had been trussed up for market. Katarina nodded in approval. "Well done. Now, let's get out of here!"

They ran out of the cave, ready to find their parents. Arianna and Josiah looked around, scared. Josiah spoke up. "Which way do we go?"

Michael pointed southeast. "Marmoreal's in that direction. We go that way."

Katarina smiled in pride at him. "That's right, Michael!"

Arianna gazed almost worshipfully at him. "How did you know that?"

Michael smiled, shuffling his feet. "Well…we spend a lot of time in the woods helping Mum gather herbs. She taught us how to find our way home no matter where we were."

Arianna smiled at him, and the four of them set off in the direction Michael had indicated.

Stayne was walking down the path when he noticed someone heading towards him. He stopped, hand on his sword hilt, and called out. "Who goes there?"

Katarina and Michael looked at each other, grinning, and then broke into a run, shouting as loud as they could. Arianna and Josiah were right on their heels.

"DAIDIIII!"

Stayne stared at them, slack jawed in wonder, and they slammed into him, hugging him as tightly as they could. He gave a sob of relief and wrapped his arms around them, thanking every single deity he could think of. "Oh my little ones, I'm so glad you're safe!"

"Katarina? ! Michael? !"

"MUM!"

Alannah came flying down the path, eyes wide in disbelief. "You…you're…" She swept them into a hug, sobbing in relief and joy. "Oh thank Time you're safe!"

Tarrant came running up; eyes fixed on the path ahead, and began shouting, waving his arms in mad glee. "Arianna! Josiah!" Alice looked down the path and began shouting just as eagerly.

Arianna and Josiah came pelting forward, slamming into their parents with sobs of relief. Arianna wrapped her arms around Alice, sobbing. "Momma!"

Alice clung to her, kissing her all over. "Oh my little girl, I'm so glad to have you back!"

Tarrant was clinging just as tightly to Josiah, his eyes a deep lavender. "Welcome back, my lad. I'm so glad to see you!"

Chessur smiled to himself. "I always did love family reunions."

Back at the cave, Jack had come to and realized the following-his captives were gone, he was trussed up like a turkey, and he had no way of freeing himself. He had never thought that rich children could be so much trouble.

On top of everything else, he had never gotten his money.