Thanks guys for your awesome reviews! And LOL, you are all so funny with your reactions to Mirana and her pinkness. I'm thinking I could start calling her the Cotton Candy Queen. LOL As always, I'd love to know what you think!
Tarrant opened his eyes slowly, surprised to see the sun rising over the hill. Had Alice stayed awake all night just so he could sleep? He turned around and saw Alice sleeping against one of the trees, slightly slumped over, her short hair barely spilling over her shoulder.
He frowned. Why hadn't she woken him up when she was tired?
She did say she would do that!
She'd promised!
He was about to wake her up and demand answers when they came to him in the form of an annoyed voice from the ground.
"I told her to sleep, Hatter," Mally said, her hand on her hip. "Ya can't expect her to get to the Queen's Position when she hasn't had any rest, can ya?"
"I told her tae wake ma when she was tired," he replied, feeling defensive.
"Hmph! Only a Bandersnatch could compete with her Stubbornness!"
Tarrant couldn't argue with the mouse there. It seemed as though Alice's Muchness was directly tied into her fortitude.
He looked back and noticed the Tweedles were still contently snoring. "We'll need to leave soon, but they can sleep for a bit longer," he said, walking away from the camp so their talking wouldn't disturb their sleeping companions.
Though he tried to focus on his conversation with Mally, he found himself looking back on Alice quite often.
"You are better company when you're Mad than when you are Enchanted," complained Mally.
Enchanted? Who exactly was she talking about? Certainly not him. Tarrant admired Alice for her seemingly never-ending supply of Muchness, but-
His often quiet voice of Reason interrupted his thoughts-perhaps he was enchanted by Alice.
He shook off his thoughts of Alice and turned back to his friend. "I'm sorry, Mally, what were you saying?"
"Never mind, you lump! You'll just go back to starin' at her anyways," the dormouse grumbled. "What does she have that's got you so smitten anyway?"
"I'm not sure," his Confusion said. "But I don't think I've ever felt this way about anyone else before."
Mally's shoulders slumped. "I know you haven't."
Tarrant was Baffled by his friend's reaction. Why it almost seemed like she was disappointed in him somehow! But he hadn't done anything to grieve her…had he?
"Am I interrupting something Important?" purred Chess as he appeared in mid-air next to Tarrant.
"Did you see the Queen?" Tarrant asked, not bothering with a greeting.
"Again, you do the manners of Outlanders proud," commented Chess sarcastically, seemingly put out.
"The Queen is trapped in Salazen Grum and you want a Good morning, you slurvish Cat," returned Tarrant, feeling his anger building.
Chess let out a long sigh. "Good morning to you too, Tarrant." He frowned. "It is as Absolem feared. Iracebeth is doing her best to use her influence to make Mirana turn to the Darkness."
"Is it working?" asked Mally.
"Yes," he answered. "And don't ask me to go back there, because I won't do it." He frowned. "She nearly pulled out my precious fur."
Tarrant frowned. Harming any living creature went against her vows. What could the Bluddy Behg Hid being doing to her? They were running out of time, he knew.
"Come on," he said to his companions, "it's time to wake up Alice."
*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*
They hadn't walked far when Alice heard the most peculiar sound coming from behind the large wall lining the path. She held her hand out, stopping everyone.
"What is that?"
"Nothing to worry about," Chess assured her. "Just the local fool who can't sit still and is always getting into trouble."
Tweedledee and Tweedledum looked at each other. "Cousin Humpty!" They started to climb over the short wall.
"As in Humpty Dumpty?" Alice asked incredulously.
"You know him?" Tarrant asked, intrigued. "I didn't think you had been to this side of Underland before."
"I haven't," Alice answered. "But in London we have a nursery rhyme about him."
"A rhyme?" There was no mistaking the fascination in his voice.
"Yes, it goes, Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, All the king's horse and all the king's men, couldn't put Humpty together again ," she recited.
Tarrant clapped his hands and giggled. "Yes yes! That is his story." A confused look passed his face. "Though I wonder how someone from Overland knew about him."
"Well, I am sure I am hardly the first person who has fallen through the rabbit's hole to Underland," Alice replied.
He shook his head. "Underland has never been particularly kind to Outsiders."
How strange, Alice thought. She had never seemed to have any problems with coming to Underland. not that she'd visited a great many times, though…Suddenly, her mother's words came back to her, how she had tried to touch the front of the looking glass, but nothing had ever happened.
"And yet, Alice has managed to return," Chess casually noted.
"Well, that's because she's the Queen's Champion," Mally offered.
"Perhaps," the Cat replied half-heartedly.
One of the Tweedles, Alice couldn't tell which one, stuck his head over the wall. "Cousin Humpty needs help."
Quickly, they made their way over the fence and saw the broken shell of Humpty Dumpty. Several large pieces of his body were scattered around. The shell with his face on it was facing upside down in the dirt.
Tarrant quickly turned the piece over.
"Thank you, my good sir," the egg man said. He looked him over. "You're not the King's Man, are you?"
He shook his head. "I'm afraid I am the Queen's Hatter."
Humpty sighed. "I'm afraid I'm stuck here, boys," he said to the Tweedles. "Without the King's Men, I am doomed to remain broken."
"We can help you," Alice offered, unable to think of leaving this poor creature alone in his current state.
"You are a woman!" he laughed. "You can be no help to me."
They were words Alice had heard spoken to her throughout her two years at sea. She stiffened slightly and noticed that Tarrant did the same.
"A woman can do anything a man can," Alice proclaimed with a good dose of Muchness.
"Except fix a broken egg man," Humpty argued. "It has been written that way, so it shall be."
"Then it's time to write you a new story," she said determinedly. She turned back to Tarrant. "I need the Squimberry jelly."
As he was busy getting the make-shift glue, she instructed the Tweedles to collect the biggest pieces and Mally to find any shards of the shell that might have fallen. When everything had been brought together, she and the others began to painstaking process of putting Humpty back together.
Finally, after nearly an hour, Chess floated up to the top of Humpty's head, placing the last piece. Alice took a step back and looked at their work. There was a little Squimberry jelly oozing out of the seams, but overall, Humpty Dumpty looked quite himself again.
"Why, Alice, I do believe we managed to put Humpty Dumpty back together again," Tarrant said, admiration in his voice.
"Thank you," the egg said sincerely. "Boys?"
She looked at the Tweedles who had begun fighting.
"You tell her!"
"No, t'was you who said we'd do it!"
"But, you agreed with me!"
"Tweedles?" she asked, forcing herself to be patient.
"I knows we said we'd go with you to the Queen's Position and all," started Tweedledee. "But, seein' as there's no one to watch Cousin Humpty-"
"We think we should stay with him to make sure he won't be fallin' again," Tweedledum finished in a rush.
Alice looked at the boys and nodded. She'd never wanted any of them to feel obligated to follow her. "Of course, Tweedles," she said, reassuringly.
"Now that the family bonding is over with, do you think we could continue to the Queen's Position? It is getting frightfully late in the day," Chess commented.
Quickly, they bid their goodbyes and started making their way down the road again.
*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!
The journey to the Queen's Position was getting increasingly more difficult as the day progressed, Tarrant noted as they once again hid behind a gathering of trees as the Red Queen's guards passed. Most of the day they had alternated between ducking behind hedges and trees to slipping behind large mushrooms, trying to not get caught.
Once they passed another group of card soldiers, they continued making their way. Mally, seated upon Chess' back, kept a look out for any more of the Red Queen's army . "You never did explain why you're followin' along anyway, Chess. I thought you don't pay no attention to politics," she said.
"I don't," he agreed. "But, the idea of an Overlander becoming a Queen in Underland is quite intriguing."
"I don't see why," Mally replied. "She ain't gonna be a queen over any land anyway!"
"If Mirana has already fallen to the Darkness, then Alice may have no other choice," the Cat said, smiling bitterly. "Queen Alice of Mamoreal."
"No."
Alice's firm declaration stopped the conversation immediately. "This plan will work-I know it will."
"This plan is nearly impossible!" complained Mally. "You don't expect th' Bluddy Behg Hid to leave the Queen's position unguarded, do you?"
Panic settled over Tarrant.
Mally was right!
Surely she wouldn't send only a handful of foot soldiers to keep Alice from reaching her goal. What if that cursed Knave was there waiting for them?
"Sometimes," Alice said, cutting into Tarrant's thoughts, "I think of as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
Tarrant let out a strangled squeak before collecting himself.
Six Impossible things? And before breakfast no less?
Just when he thought he understood the magnitude of Alice's Muchness, she surprised him again. "That sounds like an excellent practice," he commented, delighted.
"Tarrant," she said in a confiding whisper.
An Unfamiliar feeling spread through him at the sound of her voice weaving his name in honeyed tones. It was an odd combination of Anticipation, Desperation and Elation.
"Yes, Alice?" he lisped quietly.
"Your eyes are purple," she whispered, stepping close to him.
Mally huffed, but said nothing about the observation.
Tarrant swallowed. "Are they?" he asked a bit shakily.
She nodded as she slowed, taking her time to look into his eyes. "I've never seen that particular color before."
Oh how he wished they were alone! Then he could share with her all the conflicting emotions running through his mind. But, there was no way he was about the share his inner secrets in front of that slurvish Cat and he doubted Mally would want to stand around for their conversation either.
"I've never felt this way before," he said huskily.
He faintly registered Mally groaning, but most of his attention was on Alice. "Which is?" she pressed.
Certainly her Muchness was going to be the end of him, he decided. He drew in an unsteady breath. "When I can find a word to adequately describe it, I'll tell you," he said, not turning away from her unwavering gaze.
"I believe I can be helpful in suggesting a word," offered Chess, shattering the delicious Tension that surrounded the two of them.
The Unfamiliar feeling was replaced with the more recognizable sensation of Anger along with a good dose of Annoyance. "Yer help is nae needed," he muttered.
Alice smiled at the exchange, making Tarrant wonder what was so funny.
As they continued down the path, Tarrant felt his Dread growing.
"What's wrong?" she asked, picking up on his change of mood.
"Something's not right," he said with a soft lisp, shaking his head. "I know we've seen the Queen's guard, but, Mally's correct, th' Bluddy Behg Hid isn't going to let someone walk onto the Queen's Position without a fight."
"We'll be ready," Alice said confidently. She reached over and gently put her hand on Tarrant's cheek, causing a myriad of reactions-an indignant huff, a Canary-eating grin, and a shaky smile-from her companions.
"If I can slay a Jabberwocky, then everything else should be easy."
Tarrant was willing to believe anything she said while she was gently touching him. "Of course, Alice," he answered with a lisp and more than a little Hope. "Let's go make you a queen."