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"Tarrant."
It was her.
There was no doubt about it.
At last, after countless attempts, he had found her.
They were together.
"Wake up!"
Something pricked his nose. He was kicked out of the palace of dreams and thrown back to the green fields of Underland.
"Ow!"
He stood up in one single maneuver.
His hat fell from his head.
"Show yourself, Nose Stinger, foulest of creatures. I do not fear you." He said, ready to fight if necessary.
"It's me, Tarrant."
He squinted and saw Mallymkum hanging from his nose. He laughed and scooped her with his hands.
"Mally, I'm sure you can find better ways to wake me up. You can have a Jub Jub bird drop an egg on my face, for example." He suggested with a wide smile . After a second thought, he frowned. "Definitely not one of my brightest ideas."
"Tarrant, we have no time for this." Replied Mally, resting her hands on her waist.
"Of course we don't, he is in his castle right now." Said Tarrant.
"Your father's been looking for you. He was worried, and so was I. And all this time, you were sleeping." She folded her arms and began tapping her foot.
"I was only taking my daily five-minute nap." He shrugged.
Mally raised an eyebrow.
"Tarrant, you've been gone for a week."
He blinked.
His heart skipped a beat.
If Mally hadn't been one of his most trusted friends, he wouldn't have believed her.
It seemed liked it had been just a second ago when he lay down on the soft grass, next to the tiger lillies and the roses.
He didn't even remember closing his eyes.
Time was really funny in dreams.
"What's the matter? " Mally's features softened. She sat down and caressed his thumb. "You've been sleeping an awful lot lately. If there's something wrong, you can tell me. We'll find a way to sort it out!"
Moved by Mally's words, Tarrant smiled and scratched her head.
Perhaps there was no harm in telling her about it.
The sound of distant trumpets and drums interrupted them.
"It's time." Exclaimed Tally, getting back on her feet.
"Where? I don't see him." Tarrant covered his eyes and searched. "His entrances are becoming more dramatic."
"What? No!" Mally pointed towards the distant Witzend. "The celebration, Tarrant. It's about to start."
He had almost forgotten all about it. His eyes went from green to a faint golden.
Truth was, he had little interest in attending.
But his entire family would be there, and he didn't dare to leave them alone. If something happened, Tarrant had to be there to protect them.
"Then let us speak no more, Mally. Time is short and he waits for no man, or mouse." He picked up his hat and put Mally on his shoulder.
"But he sure loves to leave both frozen in time. In himself." Mally muttered with resentment.
"That was long ago, he wouldn't do that again. Not after all the times he's had tea with us, Thackery and my family." Said Tarrant, fully convinced he was right. "We have a lot of fun with him, don't we?"
"No." Mally pouted.
"Oh my." Surprised at the revelation, Tarrant shook his head. "And here I thought everyone was getting along... "
"But it doesn't matter if I like him or not, or if he is short or not." Tally insisted. "It took me almost half a day to get here. We won't be able to get there on time."
"Of course we will."
"How?"
"With my newest crafting!"
Tarrant spun his hat on his finger.
"I present you the Gyre-Hat! It gyres in your hand and will take you along wherever you throw it. Unless until you let go of it, of course. Let me show you. You better hold on tight."
Mally didn't fully understand, but she grabbed Tarrant's jacket and braced herself for whatever craziness he hand under his sleeve.
Meanwhile, Tarrant took his hat by the border, and aimed towards Witzend.
The throw had to be swift and graceful.
"Here we go!" He threw with all his strength without letting it go.
The hat spun between his fingers like a wheel. He held on to it as if his life depended on it.
And in a way, it did.
He and Mally left the ground and began to fly across the air at a speed only possible for a flying hat. The wind opened their mouths and filled their eyes with tears.
Mally's screams soon transformed into laughter, and she began to cheer in excitement. Tarrant joined her and started to wave goodbye at the people below them with his free hand.
They pointed at them as if they were a shooting star.
"Tarrant ,look! I'm going to touch the sun." Mally raised one of her fingers towards the sky.
"That sounds like it could burn a little." Said Tarrant. "Nothing some cold butter can't heal."
They were so immersed in their games they didn't notice a group of borogoves.
"Hey!" squeled one of the creatures.
Tarrant thought it wouldn't be polite to ignore the greeting.
"Hey there!" he answered.
The borogove crashed against his face. It took Tarrant several attempts before he could shook it off.
"Sorry!" he screamed to the bird, who was left flying around in confusion among his disconcerted peers. Tarrant coughed pink feathers and put one inside his pocket. " I'd better save it for my next hat."
"Tarrant, this is genious!" Screamed Mally. "But how will we land?"
" With a crash, most likely."
"What?!"
"There's no better way to end a travel!" Explained Tarrant with sudden seriousness. "And my throw wasn't exactly graceful. Actually, it was the opposite."
The city of Witzend became visible just as they were losing altitude.
They weren't losing speed.
It was going to hurt, Mally knew that much.
"This is madness." She screamed to Tarrant.
"I know!"
They looked at each other and exploded into a crazy cackling, enjoying every second of their flight before their eminent crash became a reality.
Zanik looked at the tower clock for the third time
Where was his son?
Tarrant had spent all of his time with him and the rest of his family in the last months, filling the days with stories of what had happened in Underland during the Hightopp's imprisionment in the Ant Farm.
When the anecdotes became too gloomy, Tarrant's mood decayed, so Zanik thought it convenient to balance the tales of Underland's dark era with frequent tea parties at Thackery's.
He had never been fond of such meetings.
He lacked a sweet tooth, and found the rowdy nature of those reunions annoying; however, the rest of his family seemed to enjoy them, even his wife, who was his most similar in terms of personality.
Above all, tea time had a soothing effect on Tarrant, and allowed him to bond with his family.
Zanik couldn't complain. Granting his family those moments was the least he could do after being separated for so long.
He even put up with the occasional presence of Time.
If Tarrant had forgiven Time for freezing him, Mally and Thackery in tea time for who knows how long, then Zanik could turn an blind eye to it too.
But the more Time stayed away from his family , the better.
"Would you stop staring at that thing? Your eyes won't make it go slower." His wife held his face gently and forced him to look away from the clock. She caressed his cheek and fixed his bowtie.
"I know that very well, but I can't help but to worry, Tyva." Said Zanik. "Tarrant's been gone for too long. What if…?"
"You know he likes to wander off on his own every once in a while."
"But what if something happened to him? Maybe a Jub Jub bird attacked him." Zanik glared at the tower clock. "Or maybe He froze him again."
"Zanik…"
Pimlick and Bumalig came out from the shop. They were clad in their finest clothes , and wore newly crafted pink hats.
"We are ready, mother." Said Bumalig, standing next to her brother. "Shall we go?'
"As soon as Tarrant arrives, my dear."
Pimlick's eyes became wide with fear.
"You mean he isn't here yet? He's going get us in trouble like last time!" he hissed to his sister.
"Hush,Pim."
Pimlick scoffed at his sister's petition and rested his back against the wall.
"Shukm!"
"Watch your langauge, Pimlick Hightopp!"
"I'm sorry, mother."
Tyva sighed.
"All we can do now is wait." She assured to her family. "And hope Tarrant gets here on time."
"And without him." Added Zanik under his breath.
"Then we are going to need the wonderest of wonders for that to happen!" Said Pimlick ,pulling his hair in despair.
Bumalig heard something in the distance, and saw a shooting star in the sky.
"If you are so hopeless, you might as well make a wish upon it, Pim." She said to his brother teasingly, but also trying to cheer him up.
"That makes no sense, but I have nothing to lose." Pimlick joined his hands, fell to his knees and closed his eyes. "Oh, noisy shooting star, please make my crazy brother come back home. Now. This instant. Timely. I ran out of synonyms, help!"
Zanik picked his son up.
"Put yourself together, Pim! There's no way that's going to work!"
Just as he ended his sentence, something fell down the sky and crashed right where they stood. Zanik and Pim became surrounded in a cloud of dust.
Tyva and Bumalig shrieked at the scene and ran towards their fallen men.
When the dust faded away, they saw the missing Tarrant laying on top of his brother and father.
The three Hightopps came back to their senses at the same moment.
"Hello, my family." Said Tarrant as Bumalig helped him stand up. She put a pink hat on his head.
"Son!" Zanik tried to reach him, but his back would hurt him for a couple of days. Or weeks.
His wife put him back on his feet with extreme care.
"It worked." Pimlick said in awe. He got up on his own and embraced Tarrant until his bones creaked. "It worked. Callooh! Callay!"
"This family affection is too much for me." Said Mally, jumping down from Tarrant's shoulder. "I'll see you all there."
Tarrant couldn't answer.
He could hardly breathe.
"Dearest brother, you're going to make my spine go snicker-snack." He said with the last remnants of air in his lungs.
Pimlick gasped and let go of him.
"The only thing that will go snicker-snack will be our heads if we are late." Pimlick said with anxiety. "Let's get going at once! Bim and Paloo are already waiting for us there. Hurry, hurry!" He led the way, running faster than ever before in his life.
Even Mc Twisp would have envied his speed, Tarrant thought.
"Pim is right, mother." Bumalig held Tyva's hand. "Tarrant, you help Father."
He grabbed Zanik's arm.
Together, they started to walk.
His father scoffed.
"I'm not a tired old man." Muttered Zanik with indignation, lifting his chin with a lofty air.
"But you've always been a little slow." Said Tyva. She and Bumalig were a few steps ahead."Have you forgotten the time you challenged the Turtle to a race and lost?"
"Father, I didn't know that!" Exclaimed Tarrant. "It must have been unforgettable."
"To my everlasting shame, it was." Said Zanik, at first with bitterness, but quickly a small smile appeared on his lips. "I did some crazy things too when I was young, Tarrant."
"You must tell me all about them! I also have to show my new Gyre-Hat. Guaranteed to become the Hightopp's trademark hat in a second or less! "
"Perhaps, son. We'll see about that once the celebration is over."
Zanik saw how his son eyes became golden.
Tarrant grabbed the pink hat on his head and clenched his fist. His father could feel how his son trembled.
"The queens are trying to make things right, Tarrant." Said Zanick, his voice free of his usual sternness. "As their people, we must support them."
"To one of them I will always be loyal. "Said Tarrant . "But to the other…"
"I know, that's why I ask you that you try to be as forgiving with her as you were with Time."
"But Time didn't release the Jabberwocky upon us, or beheaded half of Underland, and he didn't keep you all away from me for so long." For an instant, Tarrant's face became deformed by anger.
He turned his head around, hidding it from his father.
Zanik noticed, but he decided it was better to pretend that he hadn't. After all, he had no real arguments to lessen his son's resentment.
The wounds were still too fresh to heal. Only time could tell how everything would turn out.
As they approached the castle, the multitude grew bigger, and Witzend became pinker.
The color plagued the city.
There was not a rose or a single house that hadn't succumbed to it.
Zanik stopped for a moment before they reached the entrance.
"Are you ready, son?"
Tarrant didn't answer at first. He had kept his face hidden since his outburst.
When Zanik was about a put a hand on his son's shoulder, Tarrant looked at him.
His green eyes were beaming, and no one could have guessed that not long ago, they had been tainted with wrath.
"Ready and readier, father!" Tarrant began to run, and dragged Zanik along. They made their way through the multitude, with Tarrant pushing every person, frog, monkey or fish out of his way, while his father apologized to them afterwards.
Tarrant kept running even after they entered the castle. He had the hope that, if he ran fast enough, he would end up somewhere else.
Perhaps in another castle… or in another a palace.
One where he could continue searching for her.
For Alice.
It was all he truly wanted.