Devrel hissed at her, and reappeared next to Gareth, placing a paw on his hand. He patted it reassuringly. "That was an unforeseen circumstance. She's going to be fine. When Melody is rejected, she can convince them not to lock her away. Cadence can rest easily knowing she's not mad."
Just like that her vindication turned to abject horror. She'd be as crazy as her sister when she returned, and if she claimed Wonderland existed, she'd be locked up with her. The revelation offered nothing except anxiety over what would happen when her two days were up.
Devrel's resumed his grin as she sank back in her chair, deflated. The spiteful little monster had counted on her piecing it together. Unfortunately, Melody couldn't figure out what disturbed her more: being locked up with Cadence, or the knowledge she would be rejected and everyone anticipated it. She wasn't invited, nor was she welcome. Devrel had wanted her to leave as soon as she arrived. Everyone eagerly awaited the moment she'd go home.
***
The tea staining the tablecloth was shaped like a pair of bat's wings, and the dampness twinkled against the threading. Hatter concentrated on cleaning his mess lest he say something he regretted. In the Red Kingdom, the knowledge of carnal acts was as good as marriage once it became public, whereas the White Kingdom only required a witness. At first, he'd wondered if Gareth thought to replace one findling with the other.
Then the truth had come out. She'd mentioned Gareth and Cadence were intimate before, but he'd seen the look on Gareth's face when he thought he'd sired offspring... Mayhap the slayer really had lost his heart after all and found himself honor-bound to Melody because of it.
However, Gareth showed up making demands like he owned the place. At his table, Hatter called the shots. It was part of the reason he'd exiled Gareth to the end and allowed Melody to move closer. It was most definitely not an excuse to let her jump halfway down the table to be closer to him despite the hierarchy of the table he maintained. To keep order led to lucidity while letting everything unravel allowed madness to set in, and madness rooted itself deep.
His appearance. The mismatching tables and chairs...all designed to remind him how easily he could lose himself if he didn't keep order. His trade helped. His tea table served as grounds for news in the kingdoms as well as those who sought his skill. His monetary gain was supplies he could use: buttons, patches, fabrics, and pins. He didn't need anything other than order, his trade, and his tea.
Hatter's gaze flicked to Melody, who nibbled on a tart without consuming much of it. It shouldn't please him that she'd taken immediate distrust toward the shining, golden knight. Yet it did. He liked that she'd not wanted to run off with the first person who offered to take her off his hands. The first handsome one at that. The one every available woman in both kingdoms longed to call their own.
Silly reactions. Alice had left. Cadence had left Gareth. Melody would soon follow, and then where would he be with thoughts of jealousy and smug approval? Still in Wonderland.
Still alone, fading into the very madness Alice had defined him by.
He longed to go to her and offer comfort in the wake of Devrel's remarks. He'd made it sound as though nobody wanted her here, and Hatter had come to enjoy her company despite his every effort not to.
I'll never learn.
Gareth scooted Melody's discarded tea away from him and leaned forward, recovering from the shock of Cadence's plight. "This makes no sense, Hatter. You don't have time to entertain a findling. Not when you're to design the White Queen's gown for the Festival of Flowers. It's in two days." So he was back to the original argument. Pretending nothing else had been said.
Hatter barked out a laugh. "I finished her dress four days ago."
"She sent the White Knight to order it only five days ago."
"Have you forgotten how swiftly your findling's dress was made at your request? Hmm? There is more at the crux of this desire of yours than whatever valorous intentions you have misled yourself into believing would be beneficial to me. That said, should Melody decide she wishes to leave with you, I will not stand in the way..." He paused to pour a fresh cup of tea. "After her shoes are completed, of course. Likewise, you would have to see to the care and shelter of her animal, and from my observations earlier, Devrel made it nervous. It is not one to roam the land through treacherous forests. Though the meadow surrounding my cottage may appease its natural hunting instincts should it recover from the shock of realm displacement."
Not to mention, Devrel had also made his resentment of Melody known. Hatter doubted she'd leave with them, but he would let her decide. "You really should have a cup of tea, Gareth. It's rude to sit at a person's table and not partake in their hospitality."
"Why are you acting this way?" Gareth asked.
"Acting which way? This way or that? Here or there? I need a direction to seek your answer. Tell me, should I trust another findling into your care without a chaperone?"
The other man flinched.
Melody cleared her throat. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm not leaving with Gareth. Sorry. Hatter's been hospitable—"
At this, he puffed his chest out with pride.
"—mostly."
He deflated, recalling his initial intentions to keep her at a distance.
Gareth stared down at the polka dotted tablecloth. Before Hatter could respond, Marchy rounded the corner of the cottage, humming and pushing a cart with a covered platter and several smaller dishes. He paused at the sight of Devrel and patted his jacket pocket reassuringly. Then he turned toward Melody, then Gareth, and back again.
"Who's she? What disaster has occurred to throw the table out of order?"
"Ah, Melody, this is Harold March, whom I mentioned earlier."
She gawked. "But...he's a man."
"Of course I am, whatever else would I be?" Marchy's right ear twitched and Melody tried in vain not to stare, though it was extremely obvious she was. He began setting the dishes containing the evening meal on the table. "What did I miss?"
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Tulgey Wood remained as chaotically beautiful and terrifying as Cadence recalled. Trees sprouted leaves so red they appeared to have crystallized drops of blood hanging from their spindly branches. Others looked like assortments of candy or drawings from a Dr. Seuss book. She hadn't stumbled across the gnarled, purple Tumtum tree since entering the woods. Gareth had called it his favorite place in Wonderland, and she hoped she could find him there, or maybe in the Red Kingdom if she was headed in the right direction. How much time had been lost to them in this world? It could be days, weeks even, while a year had come and gone from her life since she'd seen him last.
The signs she passed bore names of places she supposed were in the forest. Recognizing WABE from her previous visit, she figured it may be near the Red Queen's castle. At least she had met the queen, so if Gareth wasn't around, Cadence was sure to find him...if he hadn't already been married off like the queen wanted.
She would never know if she didn't find the way there.
At last, she came across a hillside, shaded by woods and covered in spongy sundials. They resembled mushrooms. Several green, polka-dotted, furry piglets squealed and plunged into the underbrush at the sight of her. Mome raths.
"Well, now what?" She poked at one of the sundials. It squished in a fungi-like way. Even more peculiar, though they were definitely sundials, no sun shone directly into this part of the forest...rendering them pointless. A mome rath creeped out of a bush, bit a chunk out of the base of one of the sundials, and then retreated into the safety of the foliage.
Her stomach growled, but she remembered the Hatter's warning about eating random foods the last time. Would mushroomed sundials make her grow or shrink, or would she be okay? Her stomach rumbled again. She would have to eat something eventually, and it hadn't done anything weird to the mome rath...
As she reached for the sundial, a turquoise blur dropped onto it. Cadence yanked her hand back with a squeak. It was a squirrel with bluish-green fur and two fe
athery tails. He wore a bicorn hat, similar to the one Napoleon Bonaparte sported in all the famous illustrations. Across his torso he wore a sword belt as a sash. Standing on his hind legs, he drew a rapier from his sheath and waved it at her, chittering.
She held her hands up and retreated a few steps. "Okay, okay. I won't touch it. Sorry."
The squirrel creature continued to tell her off in his squirrel language, and then pointed his rapier to the left. She looked. A peach-colored tree covered in furry leaves had violet banana-shaped fruit hanging off its branches.
"Are those safe to eat?" she asked. The creature nodded his head twice and sheathed his blade.
Cadence strode to the tree and pulled one of the fruits down, peeling the skin back. They looked and smelled like bananas, but they were lavender. She broke a bit off and tentatively handed it to the squirrel, which snatched it away before nibbling on it. When he didn't appear to shrink or grow in size, she bit into the fruit. It tasted like a banana mixed with berries, thankfully. "So..." She sat on a fallen log. "Can you talk?"
The squirrel creature shook his head once and twitched his whiskers.
"But you understand me?"
A nod. After her experience with Devrel, other strange wildlife should not surprise her. However, a turquoise squirrel with two feathered tails decked out like Napoleon was outlandish indeed.
"You have a very handsome hat. Would you be offended if I called you Squirrelpoleon?"
The creature cocked his head and considered her question, but evidently found no offense and shrugged. They sat in silence for some time, and after splitting another two purple bananas, Cadence reluctantly stood and brushed off the back of her jeans.
"Do you know how to reach the Red Kingdom from here?"
Squirrelpoleon nodded and pointed into the woods. Before she could bring herself to ask him to guide her, he hopped ahead, turned, and waved his paw for her to follow. Not having a better plan, she complied.
The hour grew later and the air more chilled. Before long, the sky darkened with the approaching evening. Squirrelpoleon's coloring made him easy to spot, so she kept as close as she could and hoped they made it out of the woods before nighttime creatures started their hunt for dinner. They moved on, crossing a rope bridge over a wide river. The sign arching above where the first wood planks were set into the earth read: STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS.
How fitting since people who come here and return home again think it's all in their head.
Squirrelpoleon lapped up water at the edge and waved her over.
The Hatter had warned her last time that only the tea could be trusted. As to the water, she had her suspicions but scooped up a cool mouthful anyway. It wasn't like she had an alternative, and she didn't want to dehydrate. Her mind had been so preoccupied that she hadn't realized how thirsty she was until then. Quickly drying her hands on her jeans, she stood, ready to find a place to settle in for the night and prayed she didn't wake up with a tail.
A long, low howl cut through the silence somewhere close. Cadence straightened her back and surveyed the surrounding trees. Though nothing seemed out of the ordinary, she didn't wish to linger. Drastic chittering demanded her attention. Squirrelpoleon drew his rapier and stood on a low branch four feet away. He waved the sword onward, looking from her, to beyond, and back again.
Well, that can't be good.
Another howl rang out, even closer than before. Not waiting to see what happened next, Cadence sprinted in the direction Squirrelpoleon had gestured. She noticed him in her peripheral, jumping across branches, tree to tree. Something bulky with a putrid stench crashed through the bushes to her right and she tripped over her feet. She tumbled hard onto her hands and knees for the second time since her arrival; the burning in her palms heralded scraped skin.
As she stood, a crimson-furred creature emerged from the shadows. It appeared to be some strange amalgam of puma and wolf. It swished its long cat-like tail and regarded her while licking its chops. Cadence attempted to disregard the size of its teeth, or the dark claws protruding from the pads of paws larger than her face. Unfortunately, those were the things that were the scariest about it, and she couldn't focus past the terror they invoked.
Lines from Lewis Carroll's poem, "Jabberwocky," suddenly bombarded her recollection. She'd become obsessed with it, memorizing every line, as the boy in the poem had been her last remaining link to Gareth in her world.
"Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!"
She'd seen the Jubjub bird on her last visit. Could this creature be a bandersnatch?
"Nice doggy, er...kitty." She splayed her hands out in front of her, taking a step back. The reek of wet dog filled her nostrils and she attempted to breathe through her mouth to avoid smelling it. The creature lunged forward and she retreated, never taking her eyes off it. As it herded her farther into the woods, Squirrelpoleon followed above, remaining silent now that the beast appeared. She wondered, desolately, if he'd lured her there on purpose or if he planned a rescue. Even with his sword, the bandersnatch would have him for dinner.
When things couldn't appear any worse, a second bandersnatch joined the first. Great. Chittering had her peeking at Squirrelpoleon, who stood on top of a crumbling stone wall, a large gap vaguely visible in the low lighting. He wanted her to squeeze through, but how was she supposed to maneuver around the two monsters sizing her up as a delicious steak dinner?
One of the creatures became distracted when he caught sight of Squirrelpoleon's twitching feathered tail and headed over to investigate, which prompted the other to reluctantly follow. Realizing what he'd done, Squirrelpoleon bounded to the ground and hopped away, causing the beasts to give chase.
Afraid to run and draw attention back to herself, Cadence side-stepped to the hole, and squeezed her legs inside. The cold, damp stone wall was covered in moss and scrapped her with jagged corners, but she didn't pay it any mind. She was halfway through when one of the creatures whirled around and snarled. Snapping its jaws, it lowered its front half in preparation for attack. Its bark was a cross between that of a wild dog and the shrieking of a jungle cat.
With a panicked whimper, Cadence shoved herself all the way through the crack, cutting her elbow on the stone. She hissed at the stinging pain and collapsed onto her behind, crab-crawling backward to avoid the melon-sized paw that came through after her, swiping vigorously with razor sharp claws.
"The jaws that bite, the claws that catch..." The blasted poem continued to mock her.
Squirrelpoleon bounded over the wall and to her side, panting. When he spotted her, relatively unharmed, he sagged a little. It was sort of touching.
"Can they climb over?" she asked him.
Squirrelpoleon peeked back at the hole where the creatures waited, without much in way of patience. One threw back his head and howled while the other clawed at the stones. Squirrelpoleon gestured in the opposite direction, and they quickly moved on. Maybe the bandersnatches would give up rather than work out a way to pursue them.
Full darkness came over them by the time they arrived at another river. The direction of the current hinted it may be the same one as before, but she couldn't be sure. They indulged in a few gulps of water and stayed parallel to it as they traveled.
At the edge of the Tulgey Wood, moonlight highlighted a grand castle made of gray and black stones, even larger than the one she'd seen in the Red Kingdom. As they drew closer, however, Cadence realized the towers were crumbling into ruin. Candlelight didn't dance in the windows, and no sound of inhabitation came from within. It was eerie and unsettling.
A heart-shaped archway loomed over the drawbridge crossing the river that surrounded the castle. Overgrown topiaries guarded the entrance like deranged Chia pets out of nightmares. Her breathing stilled.
This was the Queen of Hearts' castle. Though the Red Queen had executed her, her entire kingdom had been abandoned. The hairs on her arms prickled as goose bumps sprouted. How many people died on these grounds?
Perhaps sleep wouldn't be as forthcoming as she hoped, and they had no choice but to settle
down until dawn.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Harold March turned out to be a flirt and rather personable...to her. Like Hatter, he'd given Gareth the cold shoulder. Melody wondered why, but was too polite to pry. She didn't want to bring the mood back down once it had become pleasant again.
When the evening faded into night, the others retired to their homes, much to Melody's relief. The company exhausted her, and she was ready for the quiet. Maybe she wanted to be alone with Hatter again, though she worried that line of thinking led to nothing but trouble.
Hatter carried her inside and, after lighting the candles, disappeared into another room to finish her shoes. He'd been very quiet since the others left, and she hoped she hadn't burdened him by staying even though he'd insisted.
Sunny strolled in and let out a combination purr and meow. The cat trotted over, rubbing against her calves, meowing in demand of affection. Melody picked her up and sat on an oversized armchair, sinking into the soft cushions while Sunny cuddled.
Hatter eventually returned with a pair of delicate ivory slippers in one hand and a jar containing some kind of cream in the other.
"They're beautiful." The shoes shimmered in the candlelight.
He smiled timidly and kneeled in front of her to place them on her feet, setting the jar on a side table. Sunny darted away when Hatter invaded her personal space, but it didn't seem to faze him. "You should walk around the room. Ensure they fit." He stood and held out his palm.
Melody allowed him to pull her up. He secured her balance by placing his free hand on her waist. A jolt of awareness shot down her spine, making her shiver. He stepped away, clasping his hands behind his back, his expression unreadable.
The Unraveling (Wonderland Book 2) Page 6