In Love With a Hatter

Part Eleven

It was Stayne, sword and everything. I stepped back from him, tugging Hatter with me. Hatter stood in front of me as he pulled a dagger from an inside pocket of his jacket. Stayne smiled creepily at me "Nice to see you Alice, darling" he cooed.

A flare of anger shot through me, only Tarrant was allowed to be sweet to me. Stayne eyed the Hatter's dagger and drew his own sword. "I'll let you leave Mr Hatter, unless you hand her over." The Hatter growled at him "Never." He sneered.

"Alice – RUN!" he hissed at her. She turned and ran away. Then she remembered her dagger. Hitching up her skirt she grabbed it just in time to see Stayne chasing her again. She legged it, holding her skirt up in front of her and jumping over rocks and twigs as she went. Then she heard his footsteps slowing. Turning around she saw the Hatter fall to the ground.

The Hatter and Stayne were gaining on Alice, Tarrant trying his best to defend her. Please make her have run on, he prayed as Stayne stabbed him in the leg which started to bleed. He groaned and tumbled to the ground. He thought of Alice as he squeezed his eyes shut, sensing the sword to plummet into his side. He heard a shout of pain and opened his eyes. Alice had run up behind Stayne and stabbed him in the back of the neck with a dagger.

He felt a sense of dread when he reached behind him and she tripped over backwards. He fell onto her and he was grinning. Alice was kicking him in the gut, trying to escape. "Get off me you creepy, arrogant, rotten..." She was silenced by his lips on hers. The Hatter felt a pang of rage and he leaped up, but Stayne kicked at him and he tripped, earning another fall. He had fallen so Alice couldn't see him behind Stayne. Not that she was happy there. "Don't you dare touch me you creep! If you ever kiss me again I will personally stab you to death!"

The Stayne reached her shoulders and pressed tightly on her right one. Alice spat in his face and punched him clean across the face. That didn't stop him. "Get off me!!!" she screamed, but tears were welling up in her eyes.

Stayne was enjoying himself. "Alice, darling shall I make love to you right now?" he drawled. Alice, appalled smacked him again but he didn't register it.

"What have you done to Hatter?" she demanded, her eyes blazing. He chuckled, what to tell her? "Well, I'm afraid he fell down." Alice froze and grief watered through her eyes. Then she glared at Stayne "You killed my Hatter?" she seethed. She didn't care if everyone could hear her: Hatter, dead. She couldn't stand it, she would go mad.

She reached for her dagger again but couldn't find it. Stayne was pulling her dress up and she wasn't having any of that. He was taking every opportunity to feel her up and he liked it. He raised his neck to pull down her dress but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. "You should never treat a lady like that" Tarrant said, before plunging his dagger into Stayne's heart. He became limp and then slumped to the floor, dead.

Alice looked up and relief flooded through her, as she gazed at Tarrant. He was alive. She got up gingerly and threw her arms round his waist. The Hatter moaned quietly, he didn't care that his leg was blistering, Alice was his main concern. "Are you alright?" he murmured. He had a bloody lip and his hat had fallen off.

"Tarrant, I'm fine" she lied. She was more concerned for her friend's health as she'd noticed his leg. "But your more important, up you get" and she helped get him back on his feet. "Which leg?" she asked and he pointed to his lower right leg. She supported his weight to the running stream and sat him down.

"I'm guessing you have everything in your jacket?" she said, smiling a little. Her lip was bloody and her hair was full of mud and leaves. Her dress was also covered in mud and was ruffled. The Hatter smiled back at her and nodded. She removed his jacket from him and searched his pockets. She found what she was looking for. Ignoring the Hatter's feeble attempts to stop her, she washed out his wound and inspected his leg.

"Well you're in luck" she said, smiling up at him. "It's not broken, just sprained. You need to rest and not do too much time on your feet when we get back" she said, formally as if speaking to a patient. He grinned as if having the same thought. "Is it just your leg that hurts?" she asked as she bandaged up his now clean from blood leg. He nodded: only half lying. His heart was swelling with pride as he remembered her words she'd shrieked at Stayne: You killed my Hatter?"

Alice hummed a melody to herself as she worked. Surprising herself, she hadn't broken down or complained about her neck as she might have done. Instead she had checked out Tarrant which was what a friend was meant to do. He was more injured than she was anyway. "What's that you're humming?" Tarrant asked curiously. She seemed to hum the same tune as she worked; usually he noticed when she was happy.

She shrugged "Just a tune that I've been inspired to hum. I mean to hum is fun and hey diddle dum! I believe I have made a rhyme" she winked at the Hatter. He chuckled. She was quiet as she worked, except the humming and she became more enthusiastic as she worked. It took a while to bandage up his wound but after rubbing some oil into his wound and winding the bandage around his leg, her work was done.

"Done" she said as she collected the bandage and teacup up. But Tarrant stopped her as he'd just noticed the bleeding from her shoulder. It had gone down onto her delightful dark blue dress and was staining it. "My turn" he said, pulling her down in front of him and tying her hair up. She continued humming as he washed out her wound. He worked so quickly and delicately that she wondered if his hands were made of silk. His touch to her was magic and felt giddy when he finished as well.

"We'd better get back" said the Hatter, pulling his jacket back on. It was getting dark and he wanted to get inside. "Wait!" she called and walked a bit forward. She spotted the hat and picked it up. She was walking back to the Hatter, while sweeping the mud of his hat with loving care that she said "Can't have a Hatter without his hat can we?" she teased.

His eyes watered up with emotion as she put his hat back on his head. "There, you look much better now" she beamed. "Thank you Alice" he whispered and she smiled warmly at him. Why is it that you tend to want things more if you cannot have them? Alice thought as she walked back, hand in hand with Tarrant. His grip on her hand was tight, just as it should be, he thought.

The March Hare wasn't anywhere to be seen as they walked back into the garden. And rightly so, it was now very dark and Alice was eternally glad she hadn't gone on the walk alone. "Thank you for rescuing me Tarrant" she whispered in his ear, making him shiver. He flushed "Thank you for fixing me up!" he said back and she laughed. He led her indoors and shut the door behind him and locking it as usual. They spotted the Hare lying across the sofa and they both chuckled.

He then stopped her at her door and gave her a brief hug before going to his bedroom. Inside her room, Alice got changed and got into bed, falling asleep peacefully, though not for long.