Disclaimer:
I do not own Alice in Wonderland, nor anything that has to do with the movie. But this idea, I do own.
Author's Notes:
Please read and review. I hope you like it.
Lost In The Storm Of Madness
Chapter 2
The same day ~ four hours later
Not once had Lord Ascot gave any thought to the logic in Fredric's words from earlier that evening. He had been so overjoyed the previous day when the captain had informed that they would be reaching England's shore sooner than later, and he refused to believe that a storm would come and ruin that for him. So instead, he filled his mind with ideas to keep himself busy; distracted from all the logic.
The sounds of people laughing, music, and singing on the ship created a calm and pleasant atmosphere. All the lords, ladies, and a few toddlers were gathered in the ship's main port in celebration. Most of them didn't know what exactly they were here to celebrate, but they came nonetheless.
Pushing and shoving through the crowd of the people, Lord Ascot stepped out. He cleared his throat, but the people paid him no heed. He glanced around the ship before his pleading eyes locked on Alice's.
Alice could read the desperation coming from the older man's eyes, and she nodded before stepping up on top of a table.
"Excuse me!" she yelled with no luck, the people kept on talking among themselves. She cleared her throat before yelling loudly "I said excuse me!" her yell was so loud that it practically shook the whole room. The people turned to stare at her, all attention now on her. She smile. "Thank you! Now, Lord Ascot has something to say" she said, gesturing at the man. As she stepped down from the table, all eyes turned to look at Lord Ascot.
Now in the spotlight, Lord Ascot shuffled about nervously, before whispering "Thank you Alice" he then turned to speak to the crowd, "You're probably all wondering why I've called this celebration." The crowd of people whispered among themselves.
"Yeah, why did you call this celebration?" a woman asked.
"I was just about to get to that…" Lord Ascot said, "As you all know we are soon to reach England's ports…I called this celebration for all us to gather one last time."
"I'm awfully hungry, Sir." complained a little boy, "Is there any food?" The mother of the child softly slapped the him on the side of his head. "Ow, what was that for, mother?"
"Mind your manners" responded the mother.
"But ma, I'm starving!" whined the boy.
"I'm terribly sorry, Lord Ascot." the mother said to the Lord, "He's not always this way."
Lord Ascot chuckled softly. "I don't mind. I have a son of my own, he's grown now, but I still think of him as my little boy." he paused, "To answer your son's question - of course there's food. What's a celebration without food?"
The little boy chuckled. "Not a very good one."
Lord Ascot nodded, smiling. He turned his attention to the whole crowd of people, "That's all I had to say. Now please enjoy!" he said, dismissing the crowd.
The crowd slowly returned back to what they had been doing previously. As the music and singing resumed, Lord Ascot sighed happily. He walked towards the table where a blonde haired girl was resting her head against.
Sitting down on the chair next to the girl, Lord Ascot asked "Aren't you happy?"
Raising her head, Alice rubbed her eyes. "Huh?" she whispered, "Oh, but of course I am…"
"Alice, is something troubling you?" he asked, concerned.
She shook her head, her blonde curls falling against her face. "No. Just tired is all." It was lie, but she couldn't very well tell the man the truth. He would consider her mad, and not the good kind of mad.
"Are you sure?" Lord Ascot pressed on. Placing a hand against her forehead, he spoke "I hope you're not catching anything."
A faked, almost pained laugh escaped her lips. "You're silly to worry yourself so." she said with a smile painted on her face, "I'm perfectly fine as you can see."
Pulling back his hand, and resting it against his side, he sighed. "Why don't you go and rest up in your room?"
She gasped. "And miss the big celebration as we enter England?" she asked, shaking her head.
Lord Ascot chuckled softly. "You're just like your father, Alice." he whispered softly.
"What do you mean?"
"Not only did you get his thrill for adventure, but also his great stubbornness" he explained, smiling at her.
"I guess" she whispered, shrugging. She tapped her fingers against the tabletop.
"I shouldn't have brought that up. I'm sorry, Alice." apologized Lord Ascot.
"What?"
"Your father…I shouldn't have brought it up. I know how much his death troubles you sometimes and it was rude of me to bring him up."
She shook her head. "Don't be sorry." she sighed, her eyes focusing on the moon, which was slowly being covered by graying clouds.
"What do you see?" he asked, following her stare.
"Clouds" responded Alice.
"Clouds?" he asked.
She nodded, never once removing her eyes from the sky.
"The sky is beautiful tonight, is it not?" said Lord Ascot.
She simply shrugged. "There's been better looking nights than this one" she replied.
The older man nodded in silent agreement.
For several minutes it was silent, save for the noise that came from the others in the celebration.
Her nose wrinkled. "Did you feel that?" she asked.
"Feel what?" asked Lord Ascot.
Touching her nose, she said "It felt like a drop of water."
"Rain?" asked Lord Ascot.
Alice nodded. "Yes, rain. Do you think we should tell the captain to stop for the night?"
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Lord Ascot, "It's just rain! Rain has never hurt a man before."
Alice sighed. "Very well" she said, and rose from her seat.
"Where are you going?" asked Lord Ascot, glancing up at the girl as she walked away from the table.
Alice halted in her steps, and turned to face the man. She couldn't tell the man where she was really off to, he would surely follow if he knew.
"Uh, I need to use the restroom." she said simply, before walking away.
Once Alice was out of Lord Ascot's line of vision, she sprinted into a run. Stopping in front of a wooden door, she turned the knob. She stepped in, closing the door behind her.
Author's notes:
That's chapter two! I hope you liked it. Please review. Let me know what you think, and what you would like to see in the next chapter(s).