Upon entry into the massive kitchen, one of the first things they noticed was Thackery bouncing from one end of the kitchen to the other. Tossing things about, and muttering to himself. During his frivolous fit, he looked up and noticed the three coming into the doorway. "Tea's on!" he shouted, attempting to whirl a teacup at them. Absolutely in no mood for his foolishness, Tarrant pointed a finger at him.
"Don't even try it. . ." he sharply hissed, causing him to freeze on the spot. Dropping the cup, he began to giggle hysterically. "Just kidden. . ."
At the same time, he noticed the Tweedles cleaning up on the far side of the kitchen. Both were covered head to toe with flour. "My. . .my boys. We've been rather busy, haven't we?"
"With good reason. . .Have a look, see. . ." he said, pointing to the end of the counter. There to everyone's surprise sat a huge cake that was encircled with candles. Upon closer inspection, Tarrant saw the inscription made of icing, which read, "Happy Birthday Alice." And smiled.
"Awww. . .How nice." he playfully cooed, as Alice promptly headed in his direction.
"What is it. . .Oh my. . ." she gasped, when she saw the cake. "It's absolutely lovely!"
"Yes, indeed. . ." he agreed, noticing the way she smiled at him. Giving her a chuckle, he shrugged his shoulders. "Regrettably I must confess that I had nothing to do with it. . ."
"It's from Mally, who made it as a present for you." Tweedle Dee replied, as Alice and Tarrant noticed the guilty grin on Mirana's face.
"I must confess I was in on it, too. That's why you didn't have a birthday cake at the Gala. She wanted to do it all on her own."
"With our help, of course." Tweedle Dum replied. "She done the mixin."
"And we done the bakin. . ." Tweedle Dee chimed.
"And she done the decoratin." Tweedle Dum concluded.
"Where is she?" Alice anxiously asked. "I'd love to thank her. . ."
"Can't say that we know." Tweedle Dee answered. "The lil squirt took off and left us to do the cleanin up. And we haven't seen her since."
This had Tarrant staring ahead for a moment. His eyebrows slowly raising to something that hadn't occurred to him before. "I said I'd searched every teapot inside the castle. . .but I never thought to look outside the castle." he stressed, noticing the now confused expression on Mirana's face. Then turning to Alice, he playfully replied, "Y' feel like taking one more stroll?"
Knowing Tarrant was unpredictable, Alice grinned and shrugged. "Sure, why not. . ."
As the two of them walked through Tulgey wood, Tarrant sighed heavily, rather lost in his own recollections. "I've raised her from a lil pup, y know." he muttered, looking sideways at Alice. "We've always been close, but. . .this is the first time she's ever run away. But then again. . .she's never faced her "Hattas," wrath before." He chuckled.
Playing right along Alice gave a fake shiver. "Oooh. . .well, after hearing you explode, I hope I never do either."
Almost immediately, Tarrant stopped dead in his tracks. Then before Alice knew what was happening, he slowly turned and faced her with one of the most dire expressions she'd ever seen. Slowly shaking his head he firmly declared, "I'll have you know that there is a far distinction between you, Mally, or anyone else. You're different, Alice. And before I lose control, I'll walk away." Cracking a wry grin, he added, "The same way I did the first time you were here. . ."
Recalling the time when she was no bigger than a gerbil, Alice suddenly remembered her crude remarks about slaying the Jabberwocky, which was indeed insulting enough for him to take her off his shoulder, and set her down on the log.
"Oh, my. I did make you angry didn't I?" she asked, as he smirked, and nodded. "And you could've blown up at me, the same way you blew up at Ches."
"True. . .But I couldn't then. . .nor will I ever now. . ."
By then they had arrived at Tarrant's old stomping grounds. Looking out at the picnic table, he sighed, "Ahh, it's nice to see the old place again." Glancing over at Alice he added, "I used to live here, you know. Up in that windmill."
"Really?" Alice asked, completely intrigued.
"Oh, yes. But I suppose. . .Compared to where I live now. . .it's rather small, don't you think?"
"Slightly. . ." Alice chuckled, as they stepped out a little further.
"Mally lived out here too. . .but she had a much more cozier spot." he hinted, pointing towards the teapot at end of the table. Catching on Alice nodded,
"Ohhhh, I see. . .Well, I'll stay here for now."
"Thank you. . .I'll only be a moment." he replied, as she sat on a huge toadstool.
As Tarrant now made his way to the picnic table, he noticed something shimmering off the ground. This had him reaching down until he'd picked it up, surprised to find that it was a gold pocket watch. Upon further inspection, he carefully opened it to find himself staring down at a very young Alice, on the lap of much, much older man who he immediately guessed to be her father. Overwhelmed by a feeling of great dread, Tarrant sensed that somehow. . .this one object could cause everything good to halt simultaneously. And the very thought of that turned his stomach. This had him tensely glancing over his shoulder, to see if she were watching. When he saw that she wasn't, he gave it a hard glance. . .as though debating on what to do. Then before Tarrant realized what he was doing, he'd already stuffed it inside of his coat pocket, and continued walking. . .like nothing had even happened. But deep down the pangs of guilt told him that something in fact did, and he'd to face it sooner or later. But in the meantime, he resumed with his mission. Walking to the end of the table until he stopped in front of the fairly huge teapot. Reaching out, he tapped the lid.
Waiting for only a second, he sighed. "Come on, Mally. I know you're in there." Again after a few seconds, the lid slowly lifted until he saw the tip of her pink nose. Sighing with deep relief, Tarrant stepped closer and replied, "You don't have to be afraid you know. You've seen me irate, before." Tossing the lid completely off, she sadly looked up at him.
"Aye. . .But never at me. . ." Feeling rather rotten over the way he blew up at her, Tarrant calmly replied,
"You're right. I shouldn't have barked at you. But you were wrong for insulting Alice."
"Maybe so. . ." she muttered, barely able to look him in the eyes. "But after everything ya went through before, I couldn't bear to have it happen again."
Knowing deep down she was right, had him sighing heavily. "So what if it does, Mally? Look at what I've gone though since you left. All the trouble, and all the worry. After all. . .you're my friend too, and one of a kind." he repeated, pleasantly reminded of Alice's gentle words. Deeply touched, Mally looked up at him full of regret. This had him putting his hand out, gesturing for her to climb on. "Come here. . ." he whispered. Jumping on, he lifted her up until she was face to face with him.
"I'm sorry, Hatta. . ." she tearfully choked out. Sighing with regret, Tarrant replied,
"Me too, Mal. And I promise never to yell at you like that, again."
"You won't have too. Cause I'll never get you that mad at me, again."
Letting out a chuckle, he nodded. "It's a deal." This had her leaping forward, until her furry cheek nestled against his. As he gently scratched the top of her head, he added, "And I never meant to ignore you, ya know. It's just that. . .we've been cronies for so long, I thought you'd understand why."
"I do. . .And. . .I don't hate her."
"I know you don't. . ." Tarrant consoled, glancing over his shoulder toward the bushes.
"So. . .how bout telling her for me. Hmm? I'm sure she'd like to hear it. Oh, Alice. . ." He gently called out. That's when Mally saw her emerge from behind the bushes. For Mally, just the unexpected sight of her had her fidgeting rather nervously. As of now, she didn't feel so feisty anymore. As Alice approached the two of them, she looked up at her and sadly muttered,
"I-I'm sorry, Alice."
Moved over her sincere apology, she smiled. "It's Ok, Mally. Really. . ."
"No, it's not." She cut off. "I know I was a nit, and I want to make it up to you."
"You already have. I saw the cake and it's absolutely lovely. . ."
"Oh, really?" Mally asked, her eyes lighting up. "Did ya taste it yet?"
"No."
"Why not?" she asked, turning rather insecure.
"Because you're not there to eat it with us." She warmly replied, as a touched expression crept over her furry little face. That's when she held out her hand, gesturing Mally to jump on. And for the first time, she done so crawling up Alice's arm until she was perched on her shoulder. "Well what are we waitin for. . . " she proudly declared.
At the same time, Tarrant impatiently added, "That's right, cause I'm about starven now!"
"Well, we certainly don't want that. . ." Alice playfully replied. "So we'd better be getting back on the double!"
To which they did. Only when Tarrant finally did get a piece of that cake, he barely ate any at all. Merely picking at it with his fork. And it certainly wasn't because of the way it tasted. It was absolutely delicious! It was simply because. . .he'd lost his appetite as the hour went on, Mirana began to notice that Tarrant seemed more and more withdrawn, and distant. Although he tried to act casual in front of Alice, she could tell that something wasn't quite right. Yet she chose not to ask him anything in front of the others. But eventually. . .she didn't have to.
