i do not own Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Chapter Eight

As soon as Alice's foot reached the top of the stairs she felt a cold and heavy weight around her right ankle. She looked down at saw the Duchess kneeling on the floor. Alice stared at her ankle and saw the Duchess had chained Alice to the wall. The chain was extremely long, although Alice had a feeling it wasn't long enough for her to escape.

Duchess stood up and glanced down at Alice's dress and shoes. "What happened to your clothes, girl?" she asked annoyed. Alice looked down at the Footman and he seemed nervous. Alice looked back at the Duchess, but tried not to look directly at her face. "The, um, paint can spilled." She said quickly.

"That bloody thing." Duchess mumbled.

"Never mind that. Clean my house, the both of you." Duchess said quickly. Alice stared at the woman in disbelief. Was she completely serious? Was she mental?

A loud wail came from upstairs and the Duchess groaned. Alice covered her ears and she looked down at the Footman to see a very concerned look covering his face as he stared up at the ceiling.

"That bloody little pig!" Duchess screamed, "I'll be back, and when I am you two better be cleaning." She told them sternly before running up the old staircase.

Alice bent down and pulled at the chains. They seemed to be the only seemingly new things in the old and dusty house.

She looked around the trash covered room and saw the Footman hopping across the room, trying his best to organize the smaller things.

"You're really cleaning?" Alice asked, screaming over the sounds of the crying infant and loud banging from the kitchen.

The Footman looked back at her and nodded. Alice sighed and started picking up ripped up pieces of paper that led into a filth covered kitchen. Alice quickly ducked her head as a carrot flew her way and hit the kitchen door. Alice pulled at her chain and walked deeper into the kitchen to see a pudgy little cook, standing on a stool and mixing a million different things into a large and rusty cooking pot.

The cook tasted whatever was in the pot and grunted, throwing the spoon over her shoulder, "Urg! Needs more pepper!" the cook hissed, grabbing a rather large pepper shaker and dumping it into the pot. The cook and Alice both sneezed and Alice covered her mouth. "I think you used a bit too much pepper." Alice told her.

The cook turned around a glared, "Nobody asked you!" She screamed at her. Alice jumped back and quickly walked to the other side of the kitchen. She kept looking back at the cook while she cleaned, completely concerned for the cook's taste buds.

She wiped the crusted food and crumpled paper onto the floor and stared pulling open the cabinets to see what was behind them.

A few held many insects and rodents and Alice grimaced in disgust, seeing as they were all on top of the Duchess's bowls and plates.

She reached a cabinet at the end and saw it was filled with small vials, just like the one the Footman had showed her earlier. She pulled out two vials at a time and stared at the tags. Most were in Dutch, but some were thankfully in English. 'Bone Metamorphose' one said, and Alice placed it down on the counter. She pulled out a few more and studied them. She heard loud footsteps and she quickly tucked about five or six bottles into the hidden pockets of her dress. She readjusted her bow and quickly walked out of the kitchen.

The duchess reappeared at the bottom of the stairs, holding a very large, crying baby. Alice stared at the screaming infant. He had the nose of a pig and bright curly locks of gold. His face was bright red from the screaming and the Duchess looked extremely annoyed at the child, and she quickly heaved the baby into Alice's arms.

"Shut him up now!" Duchess ordered, walking over to the wooden rocking chair and leaned her head back in exhaustion.

Alice stared down at the child and started bouncing him up and down. She looked at the Footman for help and he motioned for her to go side to side, not up and down. Alice did and the screaming quickly went down to a mild cry.

Alice kneeled down to the floor and the Footman hopped over to Alice and the baby. The Footman patted the baby's forehead, the slime sliding down the baby's slightly large and bumpy head.

Alice wondered if the Footman normally cared for the baby in place of the Duchess, seeing as he seemed attached to him.

After a few minutes of rocking, the baby's wails finally quieted, and the only noise throughout the house was the crashing sounds coming from the kitchen.

"Thank goodness! I thought that bloody pig would never shut it!" Duchess groaned.

"That's not a very nice thing to say about your child." Alice told her sternly. Duchess huffed, "My child? Burdening pig!" she snapped at Alice.

Alice jumped back slightly, and continued to rock the infant. 'This poor, poor child.' Alice thought sadly, staring down at the clueless little baby in her arms.

By high noon, Mirana had convinced Hatter that they had made such a good pace they had time to stop and have a quick lunch the cooks had prepared for them.

Mirana helped Mally butter her biscuit while Hatter drank his tea with a very annoyed look on his face.

"Something troubling you, Tarrant?" Mirana asked calmly. Hatter slammed his tea down on its plate, "Of course!" he shot back, his eyes flashing back and forth from green to yellow.

Mirana closed her eyes and took in a breath, "Getting angry isn't going to help Alice, Tarrant."

"Alice needs our help and we're just sitting here eating like nothing is wrong!" Hatter shouted, standing up and pacing back and forth, his voice quickly changing to his strong scottish accent.

Mirana sighed, "Do you remember my husband, Tarrant?" She asked calmly. Hatter's eyes flashed back to green and his face grew weary. "Why of course. He was a brilliant man. He had a very fine head. I enjoyed hatting him."

Mirana smiled sadly, "When he and Lily went missing all that time ago, I knew screaming and yelling wouldn't bring them back to me." she explained. "But why didn't you?" Hatter asked, quickly taking a seat next to Mirana and staring at her with curiosity. "I remember you never showed any form of emotion when it happened. I do not understand why, my queen. That was your husband, the keeper of your heart and your sweet new born. Why were you not angry?" He asked.

Mirana half smiled, "Myself yelling and screaming at people who did not cause their disappearance would not bring them back to me. It has been so long since then, that the people of Underland probably believe they will never return, but I believe they will. I believe they are alive and think of returning every day and if they don't return today, they will tomorrow."

"But you are just pretending they will. What if they never do?" Hatter asked. Mirana smiled at him, "Oh, but they will. I believe they will. You, Tarrant, must believe Alice is safe as well. If you are constantly thinking negative, negative things will happen."

Hatter looked down at his lap sadly, "I understand, my queen."

Mirana clapped her hands, "Splendid. Now, let's finish up quickly and move forward."

The sun was starting to set again and Alice watched from the Duchess' window while she rocked the baby.

'Only a few more hours left until it's time for the trade. It's all happening so fast.' Alice thought solemnly.

Are you going to let it happen? The voice infiltrating her head asked.

Alice shook her head slightly, and continued to stare out the window. 'Who are you?'

Never mind that, girl. Are you really going to let yourself die tomorrow? You know Hatter will be there with Mirana. Do you really want him to watch you die before his eyes? You must not give up.

Alice turned away from the window and stared down at the baby. He was preoccupied by his hands, watching them and moving them. He even traced the outline of his pig nose. Alice thought it was slightly cute, even if the baby was some half human half piglet creature.

That baby won't give up.

'What do you mean?' Alice asked.

The baby! The baby nor the footman will not give up until they return home.

'I thought they were home.' Alice thought. No. Far from it, Stupid girl. You ought to be more observant.

"What do you mean?" Alice asked aloud. Duchess glared at her from across the room, "What'd you say, girl?" She asked. Alice jumped slightly and shook her head, "Nothing."

Duchess huffed and stood up, "I like you girl. You don't talk much, unlike Froggy!" She said, glaring at the footman before walking into the kitchen.

Alice waited a few moments before walking over to the Footman, who was scrubbing something sticky out of the floor with a broken toothbrush. "May I ask you something?" She whispered to him. The footman nodded to her. "Is she the mother if this baby?" Alice asked. The footman looked at the kitchen door and then back at Alice, shaking his head.

Alice shared at him in shock, "What about you? Are you really a frog? Or a footman?" She asked. He shook his head again.

Alice stared at him in shock but quickly stood up when Duchess walked back through the kitchen door.

"You and the footman are invited to dinner tonight. Come now!" she shouted angrily, walking back through the door. The baby started whimpering and Alice started rocking him while she followed the footman into the kitchen.

A/N

i hope you guys like it :) i wonder what's gonna happen in the next chapter! :D here's a hint...the Duchess spills some important information to Alice ;D

anywho, thank you guys for reviewing the last chapter (you know who you are)! it meant alot! i love getting ya'lls reviews. they make me so happy and let me know you're reading this story!:D anywho,

review/fave/alart/all that jazz!

tootles!

~Taylorr