When Chess got to the tea table, he was surprised to find that Hatter wasn't there. He's always the first one here, Chess thought. He saw Marchy come out of the doorway, looking very sleepy. "Things are very curious," said Chess. He went to pour himself some tea, when Doormouse jumped out of the teapot. "Are you mad? I was sleeping there," she squeaked. Marchy was laughing madly. Chess dropped the teapot in surprise, "Sorry! I didn't realize..." "It's okay," Doormouse inturrepted. "Speaking of which, where is Hatter?" Chess said, "I was going to ask you the same thing." Doormouse looked surprised and confused. She wasn't used to Hatter not being there, he was the one who found her as a mousling. She had been in a ship with her family; her parents and her 10 brothers and sisters. They were having a wonderful time, when a huge wave hit the boat. It flipped over, causing the mouse family to fall out. Everyone had made it back into the boat, everyone except for little Doormouse. She had been the youngest, too young to swim. She sqeaked for help, but no one heard her. The waves carried her to shore, where Hatter found her. "Don't worry," he had said, "Here, climb onto my hat, I'll take you home for some tea." And she had been with him ever sence. Chess jumped up, interrupting her train of thought. "I'll check in his room, he's probably still sleeping. He can be very lazy sometimes." Chess said as he wandered into Hatter's room.
"Wake up, sleepyhead!" he shouted, but there was no reply. He moved closer to his bed, and tapped it. "Hatter?" said Chess. He yanked down the covers, and much to his surprise, Hatter wasn't there. He saw a sheet a paper float down, and grabbed it just before it hit the ground. The note said "To whom it may concern, (Chess, Marchy, Doormouse) I got a letter saying that I have a task that needs to be accomplished. I'll be gone for a few days, or weeks, or months. Whatever the case, I'll be back soon. It's not an extremely dangerous task. In fact, the only danger is getting there! I'm going to miss you all very much, especially tea time! I do hope they have tea where I'm going, the pot I have is getting quite cold. Chess, you hid my suitcase very well. I'm sorry I lied to you about not going anywhere. You see, I got a letter from McTwisp about my task. I do adore that little white Rabbit. Oh dear, I'm off subject, aren't I? That's a shame, seeing as I am writing in ink. Anywho, I have a task that needs to be accomplished, Chess is in charge while I'm gone, ect., ect. Best regards, Hatter."
Chess slumped down, "I should've stopped him," he said miserably. "He lied about not going anywhere, and I believed him. How could I be so dumb?" Doormouse put her paw on his, "You did your best, I would've believed him too." Marchy was grumbling to himself, "Why couldn't he make ME in charge?" Poor Chess didn't know what to do at all.
Chess finally figured out how people could become mad so quickly. Waiting for Alice and now the Hatter was nerve-wracking. He politely sipped his tea, while Marchy slow-danced with Doormouse to the scraching of a broken record. Chess wanted desperatly to search for Hatter, but thought that Marchy would burn the house down if he was left alone."Besides," he said to himself "he'll be back soon. He said so himself." Chess daydreamed about being with Alice and the Hatter again, in the White Queen's palace. He though about how happy Hatter would be, and how things would be back to normal. But then he came back to the present, without a Hatter or an Alice. He watched Marchy and Doormouse with the same expression as watching a mildly amusing television show. The record player made an awful screeching noise, then stopped working altoghether. Marchy looked very dissapointed, "What a shame, that was an unbirthday present," he said glumly. "Then maybe you shouldn't have poured tea all over it," remarked Chess. Marchy just shrugged, and jumped into a chair. Doormouse scampered off into her teapot, and fell asleep. Chess watched as Marchy attemped to fit a large cookie into a doll-sized teacup. He decided to get up, and go inside. It was getting colder. "That means that it's closer to Winter, " he reasoned. He made his way into Hatter's room, messier than ever. He had to avoid the broken glass from the lamp he shattered. He tripped on a box laying in the middle of the room. He looked curiously at the box, for it had his name on it. In big red letters it said "Not to be opened until Cheshire Cat's Un-Birthday!" He opened it, and found a replica of Hatter's hat, fitted to his head with holes for his ears. Chess laughed, it was just like Hatter to make him a hat. "What a good friend he is! I should make him something for when he gets back. I wish he was here, so I can thank him properly. But, he's not."
Chess was trying to think of what to make for Hatter. He thought it would be best if Marchy and Doormouse helped him with it. They were trying to decide what to make him together, seeing as this was now a team project. "Okay," Chess said, "We need to make something he would like." Marchy raised his hand. "Anything besides tea, Marchy." He put his hand down, then put it back up. "Yes?" Chess said. "I have an excelllent idea! Hatty likes hats!" he said. Chess looked at him, "Do I look like I have any idea how to make a hat? Besides, he has hundreds already." Marchy's ears flopped over. Chess looked over at Doormouse, "Any ideas?" She shook her head. Marchy raised his hand slowly. "Yes, Marchy?" Chess deadpanned. "He likes Alice," Marchy said quietly. Chess sighed, "I know that, but we can't make him an Alice!" Chess was hopeless, and after a while he wanted to discard the idea. Doormouse had scurried off somewhere, and told them to stay there. Suddenly, they heard a loud screeching noise, and Doormouse struggling with something. "Should I..." Chess started, when a teapot started moving towards them. Marchy screamed like a maniac, and Chess shushed him. The teapot hopped onto the chair, and they heard it pant. Chess snuck over to it,and hit it with the box.
"OUCH! What was that for?" Doormouse stuck her head out from behind the teapot, rubbing her ears. Chess laughed, and apologized. Doormouse pointed to the plain white teapot, "We could decorate this for him!" Chess smiled, "That's perfect! What do you think, Marchy?" Marchy looked suprised that anyone was asking his opinion, "I think it's spetacular, amazing, wonderful, fanta-" "We get your point Marchy," Chess interrupted. "Sorry," said Marchy, " I like synana...synomom...sinaninims..cinnamons? Yes, I like cinnamons, words that mean the same thing." He smiled proudly. Chess shook his head with a smirk on his face. He really didn't want to be rude, but he felt smart when he was around Marchy.
After they were done decorating the teapot, Marchy suggested they had a camp-out outside. "It will be a lot of fun! Hatty and I did it once." Chess and Doormouse were up to that idea, they needed something fun to take their minds off Alice and the Hatter. They found a tent under Hatter's bed (which wasn't surprising considering the rest of his room.) They set it up right outside the house, and then tried to scope out some sleeping bags. Once they found them, they packed into the tent. Doormouse fell asleep immediantly, while Chess and Marchy stayed up and told stories. Marchy told about his strange dreams, and Chess told about memories from his childhood. Marchy begged him to tell the story of how he met Hatter, even though he had told him many times before. The story always started the same way, with his mother saying, "Now Cheshire, don't go into the Mushroom Forest. You're still just a kit, and you will get lost."
"Yes mother," he said. But curiosity got the best of him. He tramped away after a butterfly, constantly tripping on his oversized paws. He was practicing his vanishing, he was pretty good at it, when he realized how dark it had gotten. He wailed for his mother, and wished that he had listened to her, when suddenly he saw a huge figure standing there. He tried to hiss at it, but it came out as more of a "shhh" noise. The figure didn't move at all. Cheshire meowed quietly, he was so frightened. The figure took a step forward, Chess could make out that it was a person. "w-Who are you?" he finally said. There was no reply. He said a bit louder, "I said who are you? It's rude not to answer when you are spoken to, that's what my mother taught me." The person laughed, "Aw, it's mama's widdle boy!" Cheshire was angered at this, "I am not! And you never answered my question." "Why should I?" laughed the person. "You aren't the boss of me, nobody is." Cheshire was flabbergasted, "You are extremely rude. I just wanted to know your name."
"I haven't got one," said the person. Cheshire was shocked. Never before had he encountered someone without a name, "That's a shame. My name is Cheshire Cat."
"Pleasure to meet you. Can I call you Chess? Your name is a mouth-full." Cheshire whispered to himself, "Chess, Chess, I like it!" The person stepped forward into the light, and Cheshire saw that it was only a boy who was wearing a hat. "Why're you talking to yourself?"
"I didn't realize that I was." The boy laughed, "You're funny, Chess." Chess smiled, "Thank you...If you don't have a name, then what am I to call you?"
The boy looked up, "See this hat? I made it myself!" Chess was amazed, it was a very lovely hat, "Then you are a hatter," he remarked.
"Yes, you can call me that." "Call you Hatter?"
"Why not? It's not a bad name."
"Hatter, I think we are going to be good friends." Hatter froze, "Can I tell you a secret? I've never had a friend before." Chess patted his arm, "You do now."
By the time Chess had finished his story, Marchy had fallen asleep. He snuck out of the tent, and into the grass. He gazed up at the stars, and wondered what Hatter was doing right now. What was Alice doing right now? He daydreamed again, until he fell asleep in the grass. He had a dream, the same one he always had, of him parading around the castle. He had a large crown atop his head, and a huge grin on his face. He sat on his throne, and servants appeared out of nowhere. "Servants, go scope out Alice and the Hatter...Well, go on! You're not here to stand around and look pretty!" One servant looked at him, "That is impossible, Your Majesty."
"What do you mean by impossible? Nothing is impossible!" "Your Majesty, were you not informed on what has happened?" the servant replied. Chess looked confused, "No, what happened?" The servant hung his head, "They died, Your Majesty." "What? No! That's impossible..."
Chess woke up, sweating. "It's only a dream, it's only a dream," he repeated to himself. "They can't possibly be dead, Alice is in Overland, and Hatter said there was no danger involved in whatever his task was." He poked his head into the tent, Marchy and Doormouse were still sleeping. He decided to go inside the house. Chess thought about cleaning up the house, but he felt very lazy that morning. He made a promise to do it sooner or later. He sat in the kitchen, and lookd out the window, where he saw a white horse coming towards them. "The Queen!" he gasped. He quickly woke up Marchy and Doormouse, and waited in the yard for her to arrive. As the horse arrived, they saw that the Quenn looked very tired, and a lot less put together as she usually did. Chess bowed, "Your Majesty." She smiled at him, "I'm glad to see your arm is better, Cheshire," she said. He nodded in responce. "Now, I have some important news for you all." They gathered around her, as Chess helped her off of her horse. "I wanted you to know that the Hatter is doing just fine. He is at the Palace with me." Chess let out a sigh of relief, he had been so worried anout him. Marchy raised his hand. "Yes, March Hare?" the Queen said.
"Can we go to see him? Tea-Time really isn't the same without him, and I miss him very much," he said bashfully. The Queen put her hand on his ear, "I'm afraid he still has some duties to fufill, but he will be back soon, I promise." Chess raised his hand briefly, "If you please, Your Majesty, what are these tasks?" "I'm afraid I can't tell you, Cheshire. It's royal buisness that is strictly confidential." Chess looked disheartened. The Queen checked her pocketwatch, "Oh dear, look at the time, I really must be off," She bade them farewell and rode off.