Chapter 7: The Escape

Alice had known, after jumping off of the balcony, that it would not be a comfortable landing. She landed right into the Hatter's outstretched arms, knocking him over in the process.

"Hatter!" she cried, afraid that she had hurt him, but he merely picked himself off of the ground, made sure her hand was securely in his, and began to run towards the woods.

They ran through the thick forestry, although Alice was no longer sure if anyone was following them. She decided to instead concentrate on where she was going, considering she had no shoes on and it was so dark that she could barely see the Hatter in front of her. She was also having a hard time just traveling in a straight direction, with all of her stumbling. She did not want the Hatter to know, but the wicked young woman from Mirana's castle had succeeded in getting some of the tea in her mouth.

It hadn't been a lot but Alice was still struggling to keep her eyes open. How had it happened before? She had drunk the tea and each time she had fallen asleep. When she awoke the first time, she had forgotten entirely who the Hatter was. When she awoke the second time, she still hadn't gained any past memories back and she was practically a drunken fool.

So the only thing to do was not fall asleep. It would be no easy task but Alice knew she had to do it. She would not forget the Hatter again, not after she had found him. She was thinking about all of this when she felt a particularly uncomfortable sensation in her foot, followed by an intense throbbing sensation. She dropped to the ground unexpectedly, accidently yanking the Hatter down with her.

"Alice?" he whispered nervously. "Alice, what is the matter?"

Alice clutched her bare foot. She had stepped on a particularly sharp stick that had lodged itself quite deeply into the arch of her foot. She leaned against the tree, fighting the urge to be sick.

"Nothing," she whispered back, not wanting to alarm the Hatter and not wanting him to see her fear. She wrapped her hand around the stick, holding her breath, ready to yank it out. She pulled and when it did not move, she hissed through her teeth in pain.

The Hatter gently took her foot and studied it. The moon had mysteriously appeared and it was easier to see now. When the Hatter saw what was there, he inhaled sharply. "Oh, Alice," she heard him murmur as he placed his fingers around the stick.

Alice tensed as she stared at the Hatter. She was about to open her mouth to ask what he was going to do but he held up a hand.

"I'll count to three," he said, although Alice could see that his own hand was shaking.

"No," Alice whispered. "No, it's fine…"

"One," the Hatter began.

"It's nothing, I'm sure I can do it -"

"Two…"

"In fact, I don't mind it being there…"

"Two and a half…" the Hatter was looking at her urgently.

"Hatter!"

"Three!"

And with a large and dynamic yank, the Hatter tore the stick from her foot. Alice felt her fingers dig into the cool earth as she bit back a yell.

The Hatter ripped a piece of the sleeve of his jacket off and tied it around her bleeding foot, binding it tightly. And then he gathered her in his arms and picked her up.

"I can walk!" Alice insisted, quite embarrassed.

The Hatter said nothing as he quickened his pace, although it could not have been at all easy with him carrying her weight. Alice knew of only one way to make him stop.

"I remember you," she whispered.

She was right. The Hatter stopped abruptly, still cradling her. "What did you say?" he asked, staring straight ahead.

"I remember you, Hatter."

The Hatter gently set her on the ground, under a tree, and kneeled before her. "You mean that?"

"I do," Alice insisted. "I remember everything. And I can't believe that I ever forgot."

Alice saw what looked like profound relief in the Hatter's eyes and he smiled. However, Alice saw that it was a smile that did not completely reach his eyes and she knew something was still wrong.

"Alice, we should stop and rest," the Hatter said suddenly. "You look exhausted."

"No," Alice said firmly, although she had been fighting to keep her eyes open. "I don't want to rest." And she didn't want the Hatter to know what would happen if she fell asleep.

But she knew the Hatter could see right through her. He looked down at her, his look strange.

"Alice, don't strain yourself on my accord," he said softly, his lisp sweet. And that's when Alice knew that Hatter knew about the drug and that that was the reason for her forgetting.

"I don't want to forget again," Alice whispered, although she was slowly drifting into unconsciousness.

"It's all right," the Hatter assured her, patting her hand.

It's all right.

Alice felt as if she were falling into a dream-like world. Everything around her became hazy; the Hatter's face blurred and swayed. Or maybe she was swaying. She couldn't be sure. Why did her foot hurt so much? Oh, how it ached. She wanted some of that tea badly, even more badly than she wanted to sleep. She held herself up by leaning against the tree. If she lay down, that would be the end.

"Alice," a voice whispered, but it was not the Hatter's voice. She felt a cool hand on her forehead and recognized the Queen's voice and touch. "Sleep, Alice."

She heard soft voices, and felt somebody pick her up. She resisted feebly, although she wasn't sure if her words were making any noise, or if they were merely in her head.

I want to walk.

"She's trying to resist, Tarrant. She's trying to fight the drug."

Let me walk!

"Mirana, what can we do to help her? We must help her!"

You can put me down so that I can walk and therefore, not sleep!

"I'm afraid there is nothing we can do at this point, Tarrant. We must let the drug run its course."

No…No!

"I will also whip up that potion that helped her before. It will be all right."

I don't want to forget again.

All of the memories that Alice had re-discovered stood before her very eyes, mocking her. They were slipping away…

I won't forget…I can't.

"Don't lose heart, Tarrant. If she does forget, she will remember again."

And then everything went black.

A short time later, Alice was half awake. She had awoken to someone gently shaking her and handing her a cup. Hands propped her up supportively and she had obediently sipped the liquid, before falling back asleep.

Thoughts and memories swirled in her mind hours later. She felt herself rising towards consciousness, but not entirely. Part of her wanted to stay in the safe sleep, and the other part wanted to desperately wake up and see what had happened to her.

She heard voices and not yet able to open her eyes or form any coherent sentences, Alice lay still for awhile longer.

A short while later, needing to feel the sensation of being on her feet again, Alice opened her eyes and sat up. Her world was spinning but after she closed her eyes, and reopened them, it stopped. She placed her bare feet on the cool, wooden floorboards and stood.

Alice swayed for a moment, before steadying herself. She was in what appeared to be a tiny one-room cottage. Although it was tiny, it was lovely and comfortable, and Alice became curious as to whose cottage she was in. She walked slowly and unsteadily to what appeared to be the front door, which was cracked open slightly. She stopped when she heard voices.

"I may be mad but I'm not stupid, Chessur," she heard the Hatter say quietly. "I knew you were all hiding it from me."

"Then why did you look so shocked at the ball?" McTwisp was asking.

"Because it confirmed all that everyone was saying," the Hatter said simply. "Just because you have heard something one time, does not mean it hurts less the second or third."

Alice's heart sunk and she restrained from making a choking noise in her throat. On the bright side, if ever there was one, she remembered the Hatter and she still had her memories intact. But what she had heard made her incredibly sad.

She turned from the door and looked around the room. She had been sleeping in a very large bed, covered with soft, white, silk sheets. Although the floor was oak-colored, the walls were white marble. Directly across the room was a noble, large fireplace, with a warm fire crackling inside. A large white couch sat in front of it and Alice wondered if this place belonged to the Queen.

There was also a backdoor and Alice was drawn to it as if it held some kind of magnetic force. She wanted nothing more than to be alone with her thoughts at that moment. She did feel rather horrendous and she was sure she looked it too. She noticed she was still wearing the gown Mirana had given to her, and that it was ripped and shredded due to the previous night's activities.

After going through the door, she found herself on a hill covered in a carpet of soft, green grass and overlooking a magnificent valley. Alice sat down and looked out across the landscape. Whatever this place was, she liked it. It was peaceful.

But although her surroundings were peaceful, Alice felt nothing but overwhelming anxiety. Unanswerable questions tugged at her mind and unreasonable dread prodded at her stomach. She had finally escaped her reality once again and come to Wonderland, but why was she being targeted? Why were so many bad things happening?

These questions mixed with her current situation back home only fueled the fire. Every moment she spent in Underland further convinced her that getting married was the wrong choice. It was making her dread her return home – and she knew that there would be a return home. And why was her engagement troubling the Hatter so? She knew now that he was her dear friend and that perhaps he was only concerned for her, but it still made her wonder. She tried to think back even further than her last trip to Underland when she had been nineteen. She had been to Underland when she was a child too, but she found those memories were still a bit fuzzy.

After awhile, she felt a presence and someone sit next to her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that it was Mirana, her white skirts spread out gracefully around her, contrasting against the bright green grass. They sat in comfortable silence for awhile, before Mirana turned to her.

"How do you feel, Alice?" she asked, her voice serious and concerned.

Alice stared back at the Queen, her head aching, her heart tight, and the uncomfortable craving for the tea swimming through her veins.

"I feel terrible, Mirana," Alice said truthfully, feeling hopeless tears spring to her eyes. She felt the words ready to spill out of her, every detail and every fear. She had forced herself to remain calm and coherent but now she felt those reasonable emotions fleeing, just as they had fled the castle the night before.

The Queen turned even more so that she was facing Alice fully and kindly took her hands. "Tell me what has been going on," she encouraged.

Alice took a deep, cleansing breath of fresh air, before beginning her tale from the beginning. She let the words rush out, with no ceremony, explanations, or rehearsal. She told it like it was.

She told Mirana how she had traveled the world and the Queen beamed at her proudly. She told Mirana how she had met a man back in London and the Queen nodded curiously. She told Mirana how she had agreed to marry this man and the Queen's smile faltered slightly.

And she told Mirana that she was starting to think it was the wrong choice and the Queen paused in deep thought.

She also told Mirana that she was afraid of what was happening in Underland and she did not like the way she felt one bit, and the Queen embraced the girl.

Alice felt cold tears stream down her face as she clung to Mirana. Impossible, she thought. Tears were not cold. What was wrong with her?

It was the tea, the tea! That awful, wonderful, powerful tea.

"I hate tea," Alice whispered, sniffling.

"I know, dear," the Queen said, rubbing the girl's back.

"And I hate whatever it is that is happening to me."

"Don't hate that, Alice dear," Mirana said gently, pulling back and firmly grasping Alice's shoulders.

"What else can I do?" Alice asked, her chin crumpling and her voice fading.

"Embrace it," Mirana told her. "When things go wrong, that is all you can do…embrace it. If you cannot change things, you take what is handed to you and you carry on, molding yourself into whatever you need to be to overcome it."

Alice felt her tears stop as Mirana's wisdom soaked into her mind.

"And that is what we are going to do, here in Underland," the Queen continued, a determined smile on her face. "Don't ever doubt yourself, Alice. You are our champion. You slayed the Jabberwocky."

Alice's eyes widened in realization.

"And as far as your marriage goes…I want you to know that you do not have to do anything that you do not want to do. No one can make you do anything, Alice. And so if you do not feel it is right, you do not have to go through with it. And if you feel it is right, then you can run into it freely and with all of our blessings here in Underland carrying you through it."

Alice looked out upon the beautiful landscape and felt hope return to her. "Thank you, Mirana," she whispered, and the Queen bowed her head gracefully in response.

Alice felt someone sit on her other side, and looking over her shoulder, she saw the Hatter. He looked so serious that for a minute, it frightened her. And furthermore, she knew somewhere deep down that he had heard every word.

He smiled slightly, showing no teeth, and put a reassuring hand on her back. Alice felt a weight lift off of her shoulders as she read in his bright green eyes what he was trying to communicate to her:

Tarrant had heard every word and no matter what she chose, he would support it and be there for her in the end.

And so Alice sat with her two good friends on the grassy hillside and let her hopes be restored and her mind eased. She had a long road ahead of her, but she was after all, a warrior.

She would win against this enemy of Underland. And she would win in her marriage decision…although she had not yet decided if she was to be married or not.