A TWIST OF FATE
Here it is, the next chapter! This chapter really makes me feel good; it feels wonderful to write something funny and light-hearted after the gloom of the past few weeks. When you're feeling down, laughter is the best remedy in the world. From the original movie, this is the scene that I probably get the biggest thrill out of watching.
Cookies for the nice reviewers! *waves cookies around invitingly*
Characters (with the exception of Terence) © Disney (and their original creators)
Tumnus and Narnia © C.S. Lewis and Disney/Walden Media
Terence and Story © unicorn-skydancer08
All rights reserved.
Chapter 5: A Lizard With a Ladder
"I'm telling you, Terence," Tumnus complained to his mate, as the two young men wove their way through the labyrinth of strange trees, with Alice hurrying along in their wake, "you and I have landed ourselves in a world of complete, downright lunatics. I mean, everywhere we turn, it's always one oddball after another—"
Here, Terence stopped abruptly, and Tumnus, who had no warning, ended up slamming into the white-haired youth from the rear. Less than a minute later, Alice plowed into Tumnus.
"Hey!" Tumnus protested. "What gives?"
Terence, whose eyes were fixed straight ahead, said, "Look there, mate!"
Peering around either side of Terence, Tumnus and Alice could see the trees thinning out ahead, and up a little further, alongside a winding dirt path, there stood a quaint little cottage with a straw roof. "Oh, how lovely!" Alice cried, her eyes brightening at the sight. "Look at that—it's just like a little doll's house!"
"With straw on the roof?" said Tumnus incredulously.
"Sure," Terence told him. "Many roofs on many houses are built like that, Tumnus. They're called patched roofs, I believe—"
"You mean, 'thatched', Terence," Alice gently corrected. "They take a bunch of thick straw and bundle it together, then put it on top of the house to keep out the rain and wind."
Tumnus just shook his head at this, obviously wondering who in their right mind would build their home in such a manner.
"I wonder who lives here," said Terence, as he continued to survey the little hut.
"How in the world should I know?" Tumnus retorted.
"Let's go and see!" said Alice, and without waiting for either Tumnus or Terence to voice their opinion, the girl quickly darted ahead.
"Alice, wait!" said Tumnus, as he and Terence simultaneously took off after her.
As the threesome neared the front gate, a strangely familiar voice sounded from inside the house. "Mary Ann! Oh, drat that girl—where did she put them?" Then the double shutters at the top of the house flew open, and the White Rabbit that Terence, Alice, and Tumnus had been seeking all this time stuck out his head and called loudly into the broad open, "Mary Ann!"
"Hey!" said Terence, surprised and elated. "It's the Rabbit!"
"Then this must be where he lives!" added Alice excitedly.
"Mary Ann!" the Rabbit kept hollering, while Terence and Alice let themselves in through the gate, with Tumnus reluctantly following. Then the little furry fellow disappeared from the window, and just as Terence was reaching to open the front door, the door abruptly flew open and the Rabbit himself came rushing out. Tumnus instinctively leaped to the side.
"No use, can't wait," the Rabbit was grumbling to himself as he darted outside, "I'm awfully late! Oh, me, oh, my, oh, me, oh, my…"
This time, Terence and Tumnus and Alice could see that their little friend was garbed in a strange new outfit, with a wide ruff that encircled his neck and a broad white covering that went over his front and back, and with a large pink heart vividly emblazoned on either side of the covering. Beyond that, they saw that he now carried a shiny brass trumpet with him.
"Excuse us, sir," Tumnus called to the Rabbit as he sprinted past them.
"Excuse us!" Terence echoed loudly, when the Rabbit simply kept moving ahead, as if they weren't even there.
"Excuse us, please!" Alice chimed in.
But, as always, the Rabbit only continued to go his own way.
Seeing there was no other way to get his attention, Terence gave a half-growl, then jammed two of his own fingers between his teeth and whistled out two long, sharp notes. Tumnus, standing right next to Terence, and having extremely sensitive ears, immediately cringed and clapped both hands over his goatlike ears.
And for the very first time, the White Rabbit stopped, and turned around to face them properly.
"Well, it's about time!" Terence said.
"We are very sorry to disturb you, sir," said Alice politely to the Rabbit, "but we have been trying to…"
"Why, Mary Ann!" said the White Rabbit abruptly, making a prompt beeline to the girl and scowling up at her through his round spectacles. "What are you doing out here?"
"Mary Ann?" Alice repeated bewilderedly.
"Mary Ann?" Terence and Tumnus said together, giving him the same bewildered looks.
"Don't just do something, you three," the White Rabbit ordered them, "stand there!" He spoke in gibberish for a short time, before finally directing Terence, Tumnus, and Alice to the door and telling them peevishly, "Go, go—go, get my gloves! I'm late!" To emphasize the last bit, he brandished his oversized watch, and waved it around in their faces.
"But late for what?" Terence demanded, getting quite irritated himself. "That is just what we have been trying to find out this whole—"
"My gloves!" the White Rabbit all but shouted, and he now blasted his horn at them, right in their faces, making all three of them yell out and startling them into stumbling through the front door. Tumnus tripped on his way over the threshold, and very nearly capsized a table, while Terence staggered into the wooden banister of a stairway that led up to the next floor. Alice ended up slamming against Terence's side. "At once!" the White Rabbit's voice shrilled to them from outside. "Do you hear?"
"Okay, okay," Terence muttered testily, glaring over his shoulder at the door. The young man added under his breath, "Mr. Bossy."
"Next, I suppose I'll be taking orders from Dinah," mused Alice, as she moved past Terence and began to head upstairs.
Tumnus just twisted his finger in his ear, amazed that he hadn't gone permanently deaf.
He and Terence followed Alice up the stairs, which led them to a small, well-furnished bedroom. As this was the house to a rabbit, and just about everything was quite low and squat, Terence had to duck down to avoid banging his head on the doorframe as he entered the room. Tumnus, unfortunately, wasn't nearly as aware of this as he should have been. Therefore, the faun ended up receiving quite a blow to his forehead. "Ouch!" he cried out, staggering back a few steps when he bumped himself.
Terence stopped at once and looked back. "You okay, Tumnus?" he asked mildly, when he saw the faun come in with a hand over his forehead, this time taking care to duck.
"Dratted door!" was all Tumnus said, rubbing his forehead with an unpleasant scowl on his face.
Once all three of them were inside, Alice looked slowly about the room. "Now, let me see," she said contemplatively. "If I were a rabbit, where would I keep my gloves?"
"We'd better split up, and search the place," said Terence. To Tumnus, he instructed, "While I check the closet there, mate, you look in that chest over there by the window."
Tumnus immediately shook his head at this.
"Oh, no you don't, Terence," said the faun. "I would much prefer to do it the other way around."
Terence just shrugged. "Okay," the youth said compliantly, "have it your way. While you look in that chest over there by the window, I'll check the closet there."
Then he set off to investigate the closet.
"There, now," said Tumnus, with satisfaction, "that's more like it—hey!"
"What about me?" Alice questioned. "Where can I look?"
Terence paused only long enough to tell her, "Check the bureau there, Alice."
So, Alice went to the bureau, and proceeded to inspect the drawers, one by one. Tumnus resignedly dropped to his knees in front of the chest to which Terence had assigned him and opened it cautiously, while Terence raked through the contents of the closet on the other side of the room.
For the first few minutes, no one said anything, all thoughts centered on locating the missing gloves. When Alice had gone through her last drawer, she then noticed a small silver container on top of the bureau. When she lifted the lid, she found an assortment of fresh cookies inside, in various colors and shapes, all of them bearing the words "EAT ME" or "TAKE ONE".
"Oh…thank you," Alice mumbled, sneaking a cookie, a nice little heart-shaped one with white and bright pink frosting, and popping it into her mouth. "Don't mind if I do."
Terence and Tumnus, having both their backs facing Alice at that time, did not realize what the girl had just done.
While he continued to kneel on the floor and paw through the chest, Tumnus just asked, "Did you say something, Alice?" He did not bother to look up.
"Is everything okay?" Terence added, without turning his head.
"Oh, yes," said Alice casually, "fine, thank you."
She now moved to another one of the chests and proceeded to dig through its contents, humming a quiet little tune to herself.
Suddenly, she realized the room was getting considerably smaller—either that, or she was getting bigger, just as she had once done before.
"Oh, no," she cried, when it dawned on her what was happening, "no…not again!"
When Terence and Tumnus heard this, and when they looked over their shoulders and saw Alice, they both shouted out at the same time in surprise and alarm, and Tumnus leaped straightaway to his feet. When Alice's size only continued to increase, the two young men did the only thing they could do, which was break for the door.
They barely managed to make it in time, for it was not long at all before Alice filled up the entire room, from wall to wall. All of the furniture, including the bed, was pushed into one great disorderly pile, and poor Alice was soon compelled to stick both her arms out the windows.
Tumnus shut the door the second both he and Terence were out of there, but he knew the door wouldn't hold for long, for it strained against its hinges, on the verge of breaking free.
Meanwhile, outside, the White Rabbit was waiting impatiently for them, his big foot tapping incessantly against the ground.
When he looked at his watch, for what must have been at least the ten-thousandth time, he gave a squeal and hurried swiftly into the house himself, exclaiming, "Mary Ann!"
But no sooner was he inside than Terence came pelting down the stairs and rushed right past him, very nearly knocking the Rabbit flat in his haste.
"Heads up!" the young man hollered as he bolted clear out of the house.
Two seconds later, with a wild clatter of hooves, Tumnus also brushed past the White Rabbit and followed Terence, crying, "It's every man for himself!" The White Rabbit watched the men leave, then he scowled and raced up the stairs himself, just as fast as he could, taking three steps at a time.
He was really quite put out, and as he flung the door aside, he began to scold, "Now, you see here, Mary Ann—"
But his lecture was cut short when Alice's giant foot burst through the opening and shoved him, along with some of the furniture from the bedroom, clear down the stairs. Now his anger and irritation switched to downright terror, and as he was thrust down the stairs and propelled all the way out the front door, he wailed out, "Hel-l-lp!"
The next thing the Rabbit knew, he lay buried in a massive pile of broken furniture, both from his bedroom and his main parlor, on his front lawn.
When he crawled out of the jumble and saw the state of his house, with the window panes shattered and the straw roof askew, and with Alice's arms and legs showing quite plainly on either side of the structure, he completely panicked and exclaimed, "No, no—help! Monster!" Without delay, he leaped over his fence and took off down the dirt path into the thick of the wood, screaming, "Help—assistance!" He bugled an urgent call on his trumpet as he ran. Within a few minutes, he was gone.
Terence and Tumnus, who had been cowering together behind the stone hedge, dared to arise and look at the house themselves, or what was left of it. Alice had ceased to grow by that time, thankfully; but as her enormous figure took up the entire hut, she was quite stuck. "Oh, boy," Terence said in a low voice, "here we go again."
"Alice!" Tumnus called anxiously to the girl. "Are you okay?"
Alice tried to pull herself up, but due to the secure foundation of the hut, she couldn't budge an inch.
There was no way for her to get out, and no way for anyone else to get in.
After failing to free herself several times, upon realizing she was truly in a fix now, Alice gave up and groaned, "Oh, dear!"
"Now, that's what I call getting yourself into a tight spot," Terence remarked, trying not to laugh, but unable to help himself.
"Very funny, Terence," said Tumnus sternly, leveling off his ears at him.
"Terence?" Alice's voice called from within the house. "Tumnus? Is that you out there?"
"Yes, Alice, we're here," Terence called back.
"What happened, Alice?" Tumnus asked. "What did you do this time?"
"Never mind that," said Alice, too embarrassed to admit what she'd done. "Just get me out of here!"
"Don't worry, sweetie, we'll save you," Terence reassured her. In his mind, he added, I think.
The young man turned to Tumnus, and asked softly, "Got any ideas, mate?"
"None, whatsoever," Tumnus answered flatly. "What about you?"
Terence shook his head. "Nothing that would be considered very safe, or very practical." He sighed, and brushed his fingers through his luminous white hair as he regarded Alice in her pitiful condition.
They had to do something; they couldn't just leave the girl there, like that…
Within a short time, however, they heard the White Rabbit's voice in the distance.
He was apparently coming back—and this time he wasn't alone.
"A monster!" he was babbling. "A monster, Dodo! In my house, Dodo!"
"Dodo?" Terence and Tumnus said at once.
"Dodo?" Alice echoed inquisitively from inside, when she heard the Rabbit for herself.
Sure enough, there was the same Dodo they had met before, the one who'd directed the caucus race, heading their way with the White Rabbit frantically leading him along. The White Rabbit was beside himself; as he led the Dodo down the path, he could hardly keep still. "Oh, my poor little bitty house!" he wailed.
"Steady, old chap," the Dodo reassured him, "can't be as bad as all that."
"Where did he come from?" Tumnus murmured to Terence, indicating the Dodo. "I thought he was at the beach, the last time we saw him."
Terence only shrugged.
"Oh, my poor roof and rafters," the White Rabbit agonized, "all my walls, and…there it is!" he cried when they finally reached the gate.
When the Dodo turned his head and saw the Rabbit's house for himself, he gave such a great start that he nearly dropped his pipe he was currently smoking, and his jaunty little sailor's hat almost went flying. But then, unlike the Rabbit, his face broke out into a broad smile, and he exclaimed, as if he were chancing upon a remarkable discovery, "By Jove! Jolly well is, isn't it?"
As Alice couldn't very well see what was going on outside, she had to open the double shutters at the front of the house so she could see more properly. All Tumnus and Terence could see of the girl's face were her bright blue eyes, which were almost as big as the shutters themselves.
"Well, do something, Dodo!" the Rabbit urged, pushing the Dodo toward the house, then hastily backing away himself, evidently too terrified to get too close to the wreckage.
As the Dodo surveyed the current state of affairs, puffing occasionally on his pipe, he murmured thoughtfully, "Yes, indeed. Extraordinary situation."
At one point, he lifted his walking stick and rapped it against one of Alice's enormous black shoes.
"But…" he began.
"But—but—but what?" cried the Rabbit, on the brink of a nervous breakdown.
Taking out a handkerchief from his pocket and using it to blow his beak, making a funny sound that very much resembled "whonk!", the Dodo announced, "But I have a very simple solution!"
"Thank Aslan for that," Tumnus sighed.
"Thank goodness!" Alice said at the same time, in great relief.
Stepping into the scene for the first time, Terence said, "Well, then, Mr. Dodo, what exactly did you have in mind?"
The Dodo blew his beak a second time, before tucking away his handkerchief and pointing up with his walking stick, saying, "Simply pull it out the chimney!"
"The chimney?" Tumnus repeated disbelievingly.
Terence blinked, unsure of whether he'd heard right. "I—I beg your pardon, sir?"
But the Rabbit seemed to accept this crazy idea, for he readily pushed against the Dodo from behind and exhorted him, "Well, go on, go on! Go pull it out!"
"Who, me?" said the Dodo, staring at the little fellow as if he had just lost his marbles. "Don't be ridiculous! What we need is a…" Here he stopped, and took a moment to think.
The moment didn't last long, for the sound of someone whistling soon met their ears. Tumnus looked at Terence, but the youth's lips remained sealed. Then they all realized somebody was coming down the path. Looking simultaneously over their shoulders, they saw a large green lizard walking by, on his back legs, in the manner of a human. He was dressed in black trousers and a black jacket over a deep green sweater, and a jaunty black cap covered his head; and he was carrying a long ladder over his shoulder and whistling cheerfully.
"A lizard with a ladder!" the Dodo said decidedly, when he saw him.
"Oh, Bill!" the White Rabbit called anxiously to the lizard. "Bill!"
Hearing his name, the lizard promptly stopped, and his whistling ceased. He swept his cap from his head in greeting, waving it at them all in a quite friendly way.
"A lizard with a ladder?" said Terence bewilderedly, lifting an eyebrow in a question mark. "Now, that's certainly something you don't see every day."
Tumnus just shook his head and asked the heavens, "What will they think of next?"
The White Rabbit seized the lizard named Bill by his green hand and pulled him into the yard, saying fretfully, "We need a ladder with a lizard…I mean, a lazzerd with a liddard…I mean…" Once again, he spluttered nonsense, until he finally managed to say properly, "Can you help us?"
"At your service, governor!" Bill replied cheerily, speaking with a thick accent.
"Pleased to meet you, Bill—" Terence started to say, but they never got the chance to get properly acquainted, for the Dodo scooped the lizard close to him and walked with him to the house.
"Bill, my lad," said the Dodo conversationally, "have you ever been down a chimney?"
Bill grinned, and proudly threw his head back. "Why, governor, I've been down more chimneys than—"
"Excellent, excellent!" the Dodo cut him off.
Tumnus closed his eyes and slapped a hand to his forehead, thinking wearily, I'm surrounded by madness…
"You just pop down the chimney," the Dodo continued, "and haul that monster out of there."
From inside the house, Alice looked curiously at the little chimney that lay on one side of her; while from outside, Terence looked up at the narrow flue, trying to imagine how they would possibly get someone as big as Alice through there. Bill readily set up his ladder against the side of the house and began to make his way up, saying, "Right-o, governor!"
But then, about halfway up, he froze and exclaimed, "Monster?!" When he glanced in through the open windows and saw Alice's eyes staring back at him, he gave quite a shriek of downright horror. At once he switched directions, and was down the ladder in a flash. He started to run for his life, but the Rabbit and the Dodo caught him by his tail and steered him the other way. His legs moving almost automatically, Bill was halfway up the ladder again before he realized where he was going. Of course, he didn't hesitate to make an about-face.
This time, however, the Dodo caught him before he could reach the bottom. The next thing anyone knew, the Dodo was heading up the ladder himself, cradling Bill in his arms like a child.
"Steady, now," said the Dodo unperturbedly, as he cradled his terrified companion, "that's better."
As they made way for the roof together, the Dodo informed Bill, "Bill, lad, you're passing up a golden opportunity!"
"I am?" said Bill. This perked his interest.
"You can be famous!"
Now a genuine smile broke out over Bill's olive face. "I can?"
"Of course! There's a brave lad." When they finally reached the roof, the Dodo led Bill to the chimney stack and told him, "In you go, now!" But Bill's fear quickly returned, and he struggled against the Dodo as he was forced into the chute. "Nothing to it, old boy!" said the Dodo, giving him a push. "Simply tie your tail around the monster's neck, and drag it out!"
From below, Tumnus and Terence stood where they were and watched, both of them too astonished to speak.
"But—but—but, governor—" Bill started to sputter.
But the Dodo only seized his hand and shook it heartily, and his final words were, "Good luck, Bill!"
And with that, he gave the lizard one great shove to propel him down the chimney.
Perhaps he had used a little too much thrust; for though Bill made it successfully to the bottom, an enormous cloud of soot filled the entire hut, getting into Alice's eyes and nose.
As a result, the girl found her nose twitching uncontrollably, and her breathing emerged in a gusty, "Ah…a-ah…ah…aa-ahh…"
The Dodo immediately moved away, and ended up falling back with Bill's ladder. He landed safely on top of the White Rabbit, but Alice continued to huff and puff. The whole house heaved and jerked dangerously with her convulsions. Knowing what was coming, Terence shouted out urgently, "Take cover!"
Everyone promptly heeded the young man's advice, including Tumnus.
No sooner had they found a place to hide than—
"AHHH-CHOO!"
Alice let loose with an almighty sneeze. The tremendous force caused a soot-covered Bill to shoot straight out of the chimney, like a rocket.
When everyone felt it was safe to come out of hiding, Terence lifted a hand to his forehead to shield his eyes as he watched Bill go higher and higher, as did Tumnus.
Together, they all watched in stunned silence as the unfortunate lizard sailed clear up into the clouds, out of sight.
"Well," the Dodo remarked, after a long moment, "there goes Bill."
"Poor Bill," said Alice sadly.
"Poor mate," Terence added on, shaking his head.
"Now what are we going to do?" Tumnus dared to ask.
By now, the Dodo's pipe had gone completely out. As the Dodo struck a match against the sole of Alice's shoe to light it afresh, he suggested, "Perhaps we should try a more…energetic remedy."
"Yes, anything," said the Rabbit, "anything—but hurry!" He fished out his watch at the last bit and pointed frantically to the time it presented.
The Dodo proceeded to bring the flickering match to his pipe. "Now," he murmured, "I propose that we…er…that we…"
Here he paused, and thought hard for a bit, his pipe not quite lit yet, but his hand still resolutely holding the match.
"Well?" Tumnus prompted.
"Yes?" the White Rabbit chimed in, nodding uneasily. "Go on, go on! Yes? Yes?"
"I propose that we—" the Dodo began to say again, but by that time his match had burned all the way down to his fingers. He gave a sharp yell of pain and surprise, and jumped a mile.
"Are you all right?" Terence asked him.
The Dodo looked at his finger, which had been burnt rather badly—but rather than get angry or distressed, his whole face positively lit up.
"By Jove," he cried triumphantly, "that's it!"
"What's it, sir?" questioned Tumnus.
"We'll burn the house down!"
"Yes!" the White Rabbit heartily agreed. "Burn the house—WHAT?!?!" he now shrieked to high heaven, his eyes popping at the realization of the words.
"What?!" Terence and Tumnus echoed together, every bit as shocked.
"Oh, no!" gasped Alice from inside, waving her arms about wildly.
"Hi-ho!" the Dodo chortled, as he proceeded to gather up some of the junk that littered the yard, mostly items that were made of wood, and pile it all together at the base of the house.
While he went about his task, he sang:
"Oh, we'll smoke the blighter out,
We'll put the beast to rout!
Some kindling, just a stick or two,
All this bit of rubbish ought to do!"
"Oh, dear!" the White Rabbit moaned, as he helplessly watched the Dodo smash his prized grandfather clock into pieces.
Undaunted, the Dodo continued merrily:
"We'll smoke the blighter out!
We'll smoke the monster out!"
"Now, wait just a minute, sir—" Tumnus began indignantly.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Terence cried, but the Dodo paid neither the faun nor the white-haired man any heed, and only sidestepped them when they attempted to block his way.
"No, no! Not my beautiful birdhouse!" the White Rabbit squealed, when the Dodo went for his birdhouse and began to wrench it free from its roost. The birds that had gathered in that little birdhouse all quickly scattered. The White Rabbit made a frantic rush at the Dodo; but the Dodo was too quick, and the Rabbit missed him and ended up ramming headfirst into his front gate. The Dodo snapped the palisade in two over his knee, and added the broken pieces to the pile, singing on:
"We'll roast the blighter's toes,
We'll toast the bounder's nose!
Just fetch that gate, we'll make it clear
That monsters aren't welcome here!"
Terence and Tumnus both continued to try to stop the Dodo from what he was doing, but he eluded them easily every time; every time they spoke to him, they might as well have spoken to the wind. The Rabbit, meanwhile, unwittingly brought his broken gate over when the Dodo asked for it, mumbling faintly, "Oh, dear…oh, me…oh, my…"
"A match!" the Dodo said at one point, holding out an expectant hand to the Rabbit.
"Match?"
The Rabbit instinctively reached into his back pocket and pulled out a single matchstick. The Dodo snatched it from him and struck it on his front to ignite it, saying, "Thank you!"
The Dodo therefore flung the lit match into the pile of wood, with some of the straw from the roof added for extra kindling, and finished the last bit of his song:
"Without a single doubt,
We'll smoke the monster out!"
"We'll smoke the monster out!" the White Rabbit sang along.
Then it dawned on him again just what was happening, and he put his paws over his eyes and wailed, "No-o-o! No—my poor house and furniture!"
Already, Terence and Tumnus and Alice could see a thin plume of smoke beginning to rise.
"Oh, dear," said Alice, "this is serious!"
"This is not going to end well, mate," Terence said to Tumnus.
"Terence, we've got to do something!" Tumnus murmured back, seizing his companion roughly by the elbow.
Since the Dodo was of no real help, the young men would have to come up with a way to save Alice themselves. They looked all around the yard anxiously, knowing there wasn't any time to lose. Ultimately, Terence discovered a patch of vegetables growing not too far from them. "Hey, look," he pointed out to Tumnus, "a garden!"
"Terence, now is not the time to be thinking about food!" Tumnus snapped.
But Terence headed for the patch anyway, and he called out in a loud voice, "Alice! Hey, Alice, over here!" He whistled to get the girl's attention.
Alice looked out through one of the side windows at him, and she cried out, "Oh! A garden!"
She promptly extended an enormous hand, saying hopefully, "Perhaps if I ate something, it will make me grow smaller!"
But the Rabbit, noticing what was going on, swiftly lunged out at them.
Just as Alice was in the process of extracting a fresh carrot from the garden, the White Rabbit stopped her, and shoved his precious carrot back into the ground. He bent over it, as if to guard it with his own life, so Alice simply pulled the Rabbit up by the back of his garment; when the Rabbit grabbed onto the carrot to save himself, the carrot came right up with him. Terence and Tumnus simultaneously ducked as the Rabbit was lifted over their heads, and when Alice held the rabbit up to her face, he screamed, "Let go! Help!"
"I'm sorry," Alice told him apologetically, "but I must eat something!"
"Not me," he said fiercely, waving the carrot at her like a sword, "you—you—you barbarian!"
Alice, not wishing to stir up any more trouble than necessary, took one quick, enormous bite of the tiny carrot. The Rabbit was so startled that he automatically jerked his paw back, and due to his baggy sleeves, he thought for one alarming moment that Alice had just nipped off his hand as well. Then, just as Alice had hoped, she immediately began to shrink.
She dropped the Rabbit right away, inside the house, and he screamed once again as he fell freely through the air, "Help, monster! Help!"
As Alice continued to get smaller by the second, and there began to be more open space in the bedroom, the White Rabbit darted out the door, tripping over Alice's foot in his haste as it retracted, tumbling all the way down the stairs, four at a time. When he hit the bottom and caught his watch just before it could break on the landing, he took yet another glance at it and squeaked, "Ah—I'm late!" Without another minute to spare, no longer caring about anyone or anything else, he leaped straightaway to his feet and was out of the house like greased lightning.
"Oh, dear, I'm here," he burbled, "I should be there! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late…"
The Dodo, at that time, was on his knees, trying to get the fire going.
When the fire proved to be more difficult to start than he'd thought, the Dodo called to the Rabbit as he dashed by, "I say, do you have a match?"
But the Rabbit only stopped long enough to shake his hand, and say distractedly, "Must go! Goodbye, hello!" And he was off, with his usual mantra of "I'm late, I'm late".
"Wait," Terence called, "where are you going?"
But the Rabbit was already pelting down the path, heading for whatever he was headed for, never stopping or looking back again.
By then, a minuscule Alice had emerged from the house. She cried after the Rabbit in a tiny voice that could scarcely be heard, "Wait! Please, wait!"
"Ah, young lady!" said the Dodo, leaning toward the diminutive girl as she struggled to make her way down the front step. "Do you have a match?"
"No," she told him apologetically, "I-I'm sorry, but…Mr. Rabbit!" And she hurried away, after the Rabbit, without further ado.
When Terence and Tumnus saw the size of their young friend now, Tumnus picked out another one of the carrots from the ground and stared at it, saying incredulously, "What kind of a garden is this, anyhow?" Contrary to his cautious nature, the faun nibbled off the outermost tip of the carrot, then Terence took the rest from his mate and took a bite himself.
That proved to be a mistake.
For, no sooner had they swallowed their first bite, than they began to shrink themselves! Before any of them knew it, they were just as small as Alice was, hardly any bigger than a pair of caterpillars. (It was a good thing they'd had the sense to not eat the whole carrot, or else there would not have been much of them left.)
"Oh, no!" Tumnus groaned, when he realized what he'd just done.
"Not again!" moaned Terence.
"You two, there!" the Dodo summoned them. "Either of you have a match on you?"
"No," Tumnus answered, shaking his head as he turned away, "sorry, sir."
Terence said, "It's been nice meeting you, sir, but we've gotta run!" The two therefore hastened to catch up with Alice, before they could lose both her and the White Rabbit completely.
The Dodo harrumphed. "No cooperation! No cooperation, at all!"
He sulked for a short time, before finally reaching resignedly for two pieces of dry wood, and rubbing them rapidly together, trying to make enough friction to start a fire.
As he worked away doggedly at his task, he grumbled to himself, "We can't have monsters about. Jolly well have to carry on alone!"