"Lobster Quadrille?" said Nick. He took out Alice in Wonderland and turned to the chapter of the same name. "Isn't that a dance?"

"In some contexts, yes" said the Cat. "But is is also used to refer to a dish which is very easy to make and exceedingly delicious."

"If it's so easy to make then how come so few people have tamed gryphons?"

"Making the quadrille is easy, obtaining the means to do so is not" the Cat explained. "Gryphons do love their lobster quadrille but they are very choosy about how it tastes. It needs to be cooked in the shell of a Tum-Tum nut or it shall not have a required taste. Tum-Tum nuts grow very high up on very rare Tum-Tum trees and do not fall easily. Therefore they are by no means easy to collect." His grin widened even further. "But not if you have levitating powers such as mine."

"So you're going to collect this nut."

"Absolutely" the Cat replied. "You meanwhile need to collect the ingredients."

"What do I need to make this?"

"Lobster Quadrille requires the juice of a cream mushroom, a sprig of rosemary, a pinch of rock salt and the flesh of one Wonderland Yabbie. I shall fetch the mushroom for you, but while I am collecting the nut, you must fetch the other ingredients."

The Cat's head floated out from under the tree trunk and disappeared into the bushes. He returned shortly afterwards carrying another mushroom in his mouth. This one however differed in appearance signifcantly from the one Nick had used to get back to his normal size. For one thing it was a light, creamy colour, as its name suggested. For another it had a very porous texture, so it looked more like a mushroom shaped loofah. The Cat dropped it into Nick's hand.

"Put that in a safe place somewhere. I'd suggest you keep it with the other mushroom you already have."

Nick looked down, he was still clutching the half eaten mushroom that had restored his size. He slipped it and the other mushroom into his coat pocket.

"And how do I find the other ingredients?"

"You are in Wonderland, Nicholas. Wonderland shall provide for you. I for one suggest you start at the nearest stream, we shall meet back here." And with that he vanished into thin air. Nick crawled out from under the tree trunk and looked around. In the distance to his left he heard the faint trickle of water, following that sound he came to a shallow stream. It was filled with many small and odd looking fish. Some had enormous, bulging eyes, some tails that seemed far too big in proportion to their bodies, and some with comically fat lips. There was no sign of anything that looked like a yabbie however.

For now, Nick decided to look for some rock salt. Chemistry lessons at school had taught him that rock salt was usually found near the sea and was the remains of salt water that had splashed on to the rocks. Nick did not think that there was any salt water nearby, but given all the strangeness he had already seen in Wonderland, he had a feeling he would find some form on rock salt. He walked along the edge of the stream until he found some pebble on the side, half in and half out of the water. Chances were that if there was to be any salt to be found in this stream it would probably be on them. He bent down and picked up a stone that fit perfectly in the palm of his hand. Gently, he ran his fingers along it to see if there was anything like salt on them. A few brown granules fell to the ground but Nick could tell it was just soil. This rock certainly didn't have salt in it, nor for that matter did the second, third, fourth or fifth one he tried.

After trying and failing to extract salt from his sixth rock, Nick gave up. This was ridiculous, he would never find salt near a stream, he needed to be near the sea to do that and as far as he could tell they were nowhere near it. He looked at the stone in his hand, the sixth one to fail him. His hand trembled furiously, he hated the stone, he hated all stones. He looked around for something to throw it at, he spotted a willow tree on the opposite bank. Out of anger and frustration he hurled the stone at it with all his might, even though he knew it would simply bounce off again.

But it didn't. As soon as it hit the tree the stone shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. White granules were spilling down the bank into the river. Nick watched them float away, then he picked up two more stones and rubbed them together. Sure enough, more whiteness began to spill from the space between them. Nick seperated the stones, throwing one of them down on the ground. The other he saw was coated with more of the white granules where he had rubbed it. Barely daring to believe it, Nick brushed the stone and placed his finger to his mouth, it was salt! Nick whooped for joy and placed the stone in his trouser pocket.

As he did so he heard the flapping of wings and for a brief, terrifying moment he thought the gryphon had returned. Actually it turned out to be a heron, which alighted on the bank next to the willow tree. It stood there motionless, scanning the water for prey. Then suddenly it thrust its scissor like beak forward and fished around in the river. Suddenly it withdrew its beak, squawking in pain. Latched on to its top jaw with wicked looking pincers was something which closely resembled a scarlet lobster, and Nick had no doubt that this was the yabbie he had been looking for. The heron flung itself all over the bank, desperately trying to dislodge the yabbie. Finally it suceeded and sent its tormentor flying across the river, it landed flat on its back on the opposite bank, just by Nick's foot. The heron didn't stay long after that.

Nick meanwhile watched the yabbie as it righted itself and made for the water. It did indeed have lethal looking claws, which could probably take off a finger. Nick looked around for something he could use to spear the yabbie, if he had time he would fashion his own spear but as it was, the yabbie had almost reached the water now. Alas Nick found no sharp sticks. Then he remembered the stone in his pocket. He reached down on another, larger one and held it above the yabbie, just as it began to enter the water, he dropped it.

Carrying the squashed remains of the yabbie, Nick returned to the fallen tree. The Cat had not yet returned. Nick took off his coat and laid the yabbie and the rock on it, now he needed to find some rosemary. Fortunately he knew what that looked like, when he was eight he had been on a camping trip with one of his mum's friends, Captain Becker. He had wandered off a little way and was randomly pulling at small plants when he had found one which had looked very appealing. Becker had identified it as rosemary and it had made their cup-o-soup taste much nicer than it would have done otherwise. Knowing what it looked like meant that it was only the work of a few minutes of searching before Nick found a sprig of rosemary growing at the foot of a nearby pine tree.

"Excellent" came the Cat's voice. Nick turned and saw him sitting near the other ingredients, next to him was a brown, bowl like thing that Nick assumed was the shell. He went over to the Cat with the rosemary in his hands.

"Now what?"

"Now we make the quadrille" said the Cat. "I assume you know how to make a fire." Sure enough, five minutes later, Nick had a small campfire burning, another skill he had learned from Becker. The Cat pushed the shell into the flames.

"Pick the leaves off the rosemary while I place the yabbie in the shell." Nick did as he was told and afterwards brushed some rock salt into the shell on top of the yabbie and the rosemary.

"Now we will need the mushroom" said the Cat. Nick reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the cream mushroom. He then reached into his backpack and took out a plastic knife he had salvaged from the in-flight meal on the way to New York.

"That won't be necessary" said the Cat. "Just give it a squeeze." Cautiously, Nick held out the mushroom over the shell and squeezed gently. A thin jet of white liquid shot out the bottom and landed in the shell, it started to bubble and boil instantly. Nick watched it in fascination.

"We'll need more juice than that" said the Cat, bringing Nick out of his trance. He nodded understandingly and squeezed the mushroom tighter until on a few drops of liquid were left. By this time the shell was half full with mushroom juice and frothing a lot.

"Now we must mix it" said the Cat. Nick took out a plastic airline spoon and stirred the mixture, faster and faster according to the Cat's instructions, until eventually his wrist felt like it would fall off from all this stirring. The Cat bent down and sniffed the quadrille.

"Would you care to taste it?" Nick lifted the spoon out of the shell, scooping up some of the mixture as he did so. Slowly be brought it to his mouth. As soon as it went in he was filled with wonder. The mixutre tasted like ham, spaghetti bolognase, roast chicken, tomato soup, and just about everything else Nick liked to eat. He felt the vibes zip through his body like electrical impulses, his mind was filled with endless possibilities and as he closed his eyes, he saw coloured lights dance around the inside of his eyelids. At last he swallowed and opened his eyes.

"That was...incredible!" he gasped. The Cat grinned.

"It is ready."