Chapter 2: In Which Margaret Has Some Dreams

The constable left shortly before nine that evening, having asked many questions and waited a while in the hopes the girl in question would appear in the front hall, drenched and muddy but very much alive and ok. Perhaps she'd gotten lost somewhere, perhaps she'd been at a friends and lost track of the time. Perhaps.

Only she never showed.

Margaret tried to focus on her embroidery, tried to answer the constable's enquiries with polite and substantial answers. Only every part of her body was trembling. With restless energy, with worry, with sheer chills. She tried to subtly move closer to the fire.

"Are you unwell, miss?" The constable had demanded immediately, his eye sharp on Margaret's face. She shook her head with another little smile of gratitude.

"I'm just a little cold, is all. A little worried as you may understand. I feel I should retire to bed soon…"

"Indeed, this can't be good on my poor Margaret's nerves!" Her mother exclaimed, glancing from the constable to her daughter with a keen eye. "She is such a kind spirit! It does her very ill to be worrying so over her sister. We implore you to find some clue of her soon!"

"Quite understandable. We shall do everything we can, Madame, to bring your daughter home safe and sound. It's getting late. I shall leave and alert the others who haven't heard yet to be on the lookout. I pray you will get some rest Miss Kingsley, and not fall into a bout of bad health." This last was directed at Margaret, who took it with a bowed head and slight curtsy, before making her way upstairs to her room for the night.

She dressed for bed fitfully, pacing and letting her thoughts vent freely to the empty room. The nerve of him! In her mind he had wasted the entire night just by sitting around. Surely, if Alice had returned home of her own free will, they would have alerted him? No, instead he's going to sit around looking important instead of actually doing his work!

"Insufferable!" She exclaimed quietly before shutting her mouth again and settling on her bed to wring her hands in irritation. She tried to picture all the anxiety and frustration leaving her, like the iconic steam from the ears. Even just flowing off of her in waves would have worked. No, it hung about inside of her, eating away at her frustration.

She turned out the lamp and lay back in her bed, trying to find some solace in sleep. After much tossing and turning, exhausted mentally and physically, she finally fell into a state of fitful slumber.

Someone screamed off to the left. She turned towards the sound, peering through the darkness in earnest. All she could see were the surrounding trees. The scream was fading away, as if whoever was doing it was moving swiftly away. Or falling.

"Alice?" She called desperately. The trees rustled but other than that all was quiet. She took a step closer to the direction the sound had issued from. "Alice, are you there?"

"She's too far away to hear you now." A voice purred from overhead. She glanced up to see a peculiar cat with sharp teeth smiling at her. She shuddered and stepped back from it. The thing stretched with a yawn, the movement bringing out it's claws. It fixed glowing green eyes on her again, this time with a taunting smile. "Come now, if an old mangy thing such as myself frightens you then you'll never have the courage for what awaits you."

"What exactly is it that 'awaits' me?" She demanded, finding her voice at the insult to her courage. It was a cat for crying out loud. A rather big cat that could talk and smile but still- she wouldn't be afraid of it.

"This and that-" It said, beginning to fade out. "Knick and Knack" completely invisible. "Snicker-snack?" It reappeared down by her feet, rubbing it's lanky body along her legs. She jumped and tripped falling back into the bushes. Only she never landed, she just kept falling.

Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

The fumious Bandersnatch~

"Snicker-snack! Snicker-snack!" laughed the cat somewhere by her ear as she fell, objects whirring by her head. She did the only thing a boring, proper lady could do in such a situation- she screamed.

She woke screaming and glanced about the dark room, almost expecting to see glowing green eyes and a shining pearly grin of sharp teeth. There was nothing. She glanced to the window, where a soft blue glow was falling into the room. The rain had cleared up, taking the clouds away, and the moon was round and full overhead.

She crept to the window tentatively, almost afraid to peek outside. What she saw however, was the same as it ever was. The garden, the yard, and just beyond the protective bushes, the small wilderness of trees. A flash of white-

"Why didn't you help me?" Came a strange gurgled voice behind her. She jumped and whirled about to face the speaker. The sight that met her made her want to scream.

"A-Alice?" She whispered, hardly daring to believe it. The girl before her had a grey tint to her skin, her eyes shadowed and dull. As she spoke, through a jaw that seemed to barely be hanging by a hinge, she dripped blood and some strange black congealing liquid the likes of tar onto the carpet. It oozed from many slashes in the once delicate skin of her younger sister and matted her blond hair to her head where part of her skull was caved in. The eye on that side had rolled back slightly into her head.

"Why didn't you come help me?" The thing said in halting words, as if making its mouth move to speak was a daunting task. "Didn't you hear me scream? Didn't you love me at all, Margaret?"

"Alice, I-"

"Didn't you want to save your sister?" The voice had changed, become deep and dark. The eyes glowed and suddenly the thing that had been her sister seemed to fall to the floor like a second skin as a bigger, darker menacing thing pushed itself out of her mouth. It's mouth opened into a shiny, sharp grin and it stretched forth a clawed hand to grab at Margaret, who screamed once more.

Bolt upright in bed, the covers tangled around her legs, Margaret tried to catch her breath. She pushed her sweaty hair back from her face, trying not to cry. Outside, the rain still hammered at the windows. She clutched at the stitch in her chest, the one that hadn't left since Alice's disappearance. Alice-

At the thought of her younger sister, the thing from her dream rose unbidden to her mind and she let out a small whimper, trying to push it back again. "I'm awake, I'm awake… it was just a dream. It was all a dream…"

"Small favors." A voice purred from the shadows. There was the feeling of the bed indenting and she felt it approach her, it's glowing eyes suddenly appearing just before her. The rest of it materialized shortly after. There was something familiar about this cat. Not just from the earlier dream but from before that…

"No, you can't be here. I'm awake now!" She whimpered at it, shoving it away from her in disgust. How many dreams within dreams was she supposed to have? They'd surely drive her mad. "Go away cat, I need to wake up. I can't be bothered with you any longer."

"You have very little choice in the matter if you want to save your sister." He pointed out.

"You know where Alice is, don't you?" She demanded, trying to grab him by the scruff. "Where's my sister, you mangy animal?"

"In Wonderland." He said simply before vanishing from her hold and reappearing a foot away. He cleaned his face a little before explaining, "I really dislike being manhandled."

"You're the Cheshire cat." She pointed out needlessly. He nodded his assent before flashing one of his trademark grins. She shook her head dismissively. "Then this is definitely a dream. It's got my sister's crazy stories written all over it- ouch!"

She glared down at it as it moved away from where it had clawed her arm, drawing pinpricks of blood. "Still think it's all a dream?"

"But Wonderland can't exist… it was all part of Alice's pretend stories." She whispered. He held up a paw, claws at the ready.

"Do you need more convincing?" He purred.

"No- you enjoy that entirely too much. Alice said you were all a little mad- she didn't mention cruel. She said you liked to talk in riddles and word games mostly. Why aren't you doing any of that?" She demanded, still clinging to the idea that maybe this was another talking cat, not the one Alice spoke of. Or better yet, it was all a hallucination brought on by worry. Hadn't she been feeling unwell earlier? Perhaps she'd fallen ill and-

"Do you honestly think if I were to talk to you the way I talk to your imaginative younger sister, you'd comprehend or bother with a single thing I say?" He sneered, breaking her hopeful ideas once and for all. He curled his tail around his semi-transparent body and gave her a disgusted glance. "You're supposed to be the rational one."

"Exactly. And you're asking me to believe cats can talk? And that there is a place called Wonderland?" She reminded him. He rolled his eyes away from her before vanishing until all that could be seen was his grin.

"Like I said, you have very little choice if you wish to save Alice." He purred before that too vanished into darkness. There was a pause in which Margaret truly felt alone for the first time since the dreams had begun that night. In it flashed the image of her sister, dead and puppet to whatever that evil thing inside her had been. She shivered at the recollection.

"Wait!" She whispered into the darkness, feeling foolish. "Mr. Cheshire cat?"

"No need for such formality, Chess does just as nicely." He purred, reappearing close to her arm. He settled back on his haunches. "I take it you've seen the gravity of the situation?"

"What exactly is it that has my sister? I mean, nothing's ever trapped her in Wonderland before that I recall. She always got out of any minor scrapes." Margaret pointed out suspiciously. Surprisingly the cat shook its head, almost dejectedly at this.

"I wish I could say this was a mere scrape. The thing that has hold of your sister, threatens all of Wonderland." He growled. "Which is why you must free her, the Green Queen, so that she may save us all from that which threatens to destroy our world."

"Why do you need me to do this? Don't you have any armies in Wonderland?"

"They fall apart without Alice. Alice is Wonderland. Don't you see?" He urged. She shook her head.

"I don't, really." She confessed, throwing the covers back and getting up. "But if it will save my sister, that I really have no choice in the matter. How do I get there?"

"You must wait for tomorrow. When you least expect it, look for the white hare-"

"How can I look for something when I least expect it?" She cut in but he went on as if uninterrupted.

"- you must chase him and he will run fast but you must as well. Just keep running after him. The rest will… fall into place." He finished with another grin before vanishing.

"All these things I must do." She mumbled, folding her arms and slumping. There was no answer and Margaret knew full well the cat was gone for good… for the night at least. She lay back down with a sigh, trying to close her eyes and catch some more sleep. Perhaps, tomorrow, all of this would be nothing more than a bad dream, brought on by stress. Maybe Alice was home, safe and sound, tucked in bed even as she worried. Maybe.

The rest of the night was spent in tossing and turning and Margaret finally rose early, in the grey predawn light. She rang for the maid, surprised at how frazzled the woman looked when she appeared in the door with freshly laundered things and some tea for Margaret to sip while she was dressed.

"Are you unwell, Hill?" Margaret declared, all concern at once. She stood to face the servant, her mind flying unwillingly towards the puppet Alice. What if Hill were similar.

"Been up for hours already, haven't I?" Hill retorted in her usual, griping way. "Been dressing your mother already. She's down in the drawing room with a piece of Miss Alice's embroidery in her lap. Acting like it's the bloomin' crown jewels- pardon my speech, miss!"

Margaret had already tuned out most of what the woman was saying, used to her prattling by now. Instead she tugged at her undergarments in a way that signified she was eager to dress. The maid took the hint and hurried to her aid, bustling. "No need to carry on so impatiently, it's barely light of day child! Hurrying won't make Miss Alice appear any quicker, if it's not too bold to say-"

"That is too bold, Hill." Margaret cut across, glancing outside. A flash of white in the trees. She pulled away from Hill hurriedly, the laces of her gown barely tied. Could it be? She wasn't going to take a chance. She hurried out the door without a word, rushing down the stairs, ignoring the indignant cries from the maid upstairs.

"Margaret? Margaret!" Her mother had entered the hall just in time to see her eldest daughter rush passed, hair wild about her face, barely dressed in her plain gown. Before she could do anything, the girl had the heavy door open and had rushed into the muddy yard.

She trudged through the grass, feeling it wet and sticky on her boots. The dew still hung in the air, chilling her skin, clinging like frost. The light was barely grey still so that the white glimpse she could make out was practically glowing as it twitched between the branches. What if that was the white rabbit? She pressed on towards the trees, the flash of white before her taunting her fingers to touch. She reached out a hand to grab hold of fur and felt- linen. She pulled the white thing out and studied it.

One of her sister's old aprons. The flash of white. It was Alice's old frock. Nothing more. She laughed, disheartened. It had all been a dream and like a fool, she was going to listen to it! No doubt the idea of following a rabbit had been brought on by the sight of this last night from the nursery window. Oh, stupid, stupid notion!

"Margaret Kingsley, you get back into this house right now!" Her mother shouted somewhere behind her. Margaret let out a sigh, trying to hold back the tears of frustration. She'd almost hoped it had been true…

"What in God's name do you think you are doing, child?" Her mother bellowed as she marched sadly back into the house, head bent.

"I thought I saw a rabbit." She whispered, barely loud enough to be heard. No doubt her mother would think her as foolish as she felt.

"So you thought you'd chase it like your younger sister, eh? Thought maybe this rabbit would know where your sister is?"

Yes.

"No mother, I just… I didn't sleep well last night. I must be tired." Margaret pleaded. She waited for her mother to say something but the woman just shook her head and vanished back into the parlor, moaning something about the tragedy of her precious Alice. Margaret trudged back upstairs to finish being preened for the day.

Hatter: More, I must know more! When am I to be introduced?

Me: Oh, pipe down and finish your tea.

Hatter: Tea comes from a spout, not a pipe, my dear.

Me: Alright, let's wait for some reviews while you sip. *twiddles thumbs*