Adventures in Wonderland

Chapter 8

The Path

Tarrent dodges trees and jumps over stumps and tree roots. I'm being tossed around in his pocket, but I'm still able to hold onto the top of his pocket and look outside. We can see the edge of the forest as the barking gets closer. Tarrent comes to a halt as we see a wide river in front of us. He looks behind us then quickly sweeps his hat of and puts me on it. "Go south to Grampas Bluffs. The White Queen's castle is just beyond." My eyes go wide as he pulls his arm back. "Wait! No! I'm n-" But its too late, I'm already flying across the river.

I close my eyes tightly and hold onto the hat as tightly as I can. I feel the wind around me, blowing my hair everywhere around me. I can hear Tarrent yell on last thing: "DOWN WITH THE BLOODY RED QUEEN!" The hat and I land on soft grass. After a couple seconds of recovering I sit up and hit the hat, 'That idiot. I could've helped him and we could've both gotten away.' I think. I look back at the forest only to see him being taken away by Red Knights. Then I look south towards gently rolling hills, the way the Hatter told me to go. I look up at the sky to see its getting darker when I hear a noise behind me. I spin around to see nothing. I decide to crawl under the relative safety of the hat for the night. I soon drift to sleep hoping that Tarrent is okay.

~~The Next Morning~~

I awaken to the sound of something large sniffing outside the hat. I back away to the opposite side when the hat is flipped over. The morning light is blinding and I have to squint my eyes shut. I then feel a big, wet nose sniff me, I open my eyes to see a bloodhound. I'm enraged, knowing he's the bloodhound who lead those people to Tarrent. "You were supposed to lead them away! Tarrent trusted you!" He looks down at me sympathetically. "They have my wife and pups." He told me and I sigh and rub the bridge of my nose. "What's your name?"

"Bayard"

"Well, Bayard, sit." He cocks his head to the side and looks down at me curiously. I stand up straighter and yell, "I said sit!" He sits, looking amused. "Would your name be Lily by any chance?" Bayard asks. "Yes. My name is Lily." I said emphasizing that only my name is Lily. Bayard notices, "The Hatter would not have given himself up for just any Lily." This just makes me angry again. "Where'd they take him?" I ask harshly. "To the Red Queen's castle at Salazun Grum." He tells me. I look at Tarrent's worn hat, remembering the pain in his eyes. "We're going to rescue him." I say with determination. "It is not foretold..." Bayard tries to tell me. "I don't care. He wouldn't be there if it weren't for me."

"The Frabjous Day is almost upon us. You must prepare to meet the Jabberwocky." He insists. You know what? I'm really tired of not standing up for myself. "No! I've had enough! From the moment I fell down that rabbit hole I've been told what I must do and who I must be. I've been shrunk, stretched, scratched, and stuffed into a teapot. I've been accused of being Lily and of not being Lily. This is my destiny and my fate. I'll decide how it goes from here." Bayard shakes his head at me rant. "If you diverge from the path..."

"I make the path!" I feel so commanding. It feels so good to finally speak my mind and stand up for myself. He lays down at my feet and I climb up his head and sit just behind his collar. "Take me to Salazen Grum. And don't forget the hat." Bayard picks up the hat with his teeth and starts running. I hang onto his collar so I don't fall off. "Lost my muchness have I?" I mumble to myself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The walls of the Red Queen's castle are high and foreboding with a surrounding moat. Bayard slows to a walk as we get closer to the moat. I jump off his back and walk over to the moat. There are severed heads, people who I'm guessing were executed, floating in the dirty water. The only thing I can think is that I hope Tarrent isn't one of these heads. I feel like I'm going to throw up. I look around for any way across when Bayard finally says, "There's only one way across." I sigh and look at the grim moat again. 'This is gonna suck' I take a deep breath in. "You have to do this for Tarrent." I mumble to myself.

I jump onto the first head and wait, making sure I don't fall or lose my footing. I quickly make my way across the moat hoping I don't fall. Once across I lean down putting my hands on my knees and breath heavily. God that was gross. I look up at the impossibly high wall, only to see a small cracked opening near the ground. Perfect for a six inch girl such as myself. "Bayard! The hat!" I called as I waved my arm towards the wall, indicating where I want the hat to go. He picks it up with his teeth, spins around a couple times and releases it. It flies over the wall and I can only hope no one saw it. I walk through the opening slowly and silently.

I find myself near bushes that are at the edge of a garden and a row of large trees and bushes in front of me. Suddenly I hear a loud WHACK! and a small cry of pain then cheers and laughter. I silently walk over to the bushes in front of me and peek through them. I see people with randomly enlarged features. One woman has an extra long nose, another with huge ears, one man has a huge protruding belly, and another with an extremely chin. Then there's the Red Queen, she's in front of everyone and is holding the flamingo. She has an enormously bulbous head with blood red hair to top it off.

They seem to be playing some form of croquet, but instead of of using a ball and mallet, they're using a flamingo and a hedgehog. Red Queen aligns the flamingo-mallet with the hedgehog-ball. She swings and the hedgehog goes flying past me. I run over to it to find its four legs tied together into an awkward ball. It squeaks and wiggles in fear as I get closer to it. "Shhh..." I put a finger over my lips. "I'm going to help you." As I finish untieing the poor hedgehog I hear a shrill voice yell, "Where's my ball? Page!" The hedgehog looks at me for a second then runs off into the foliage to hide.

I turn around just in time to see two white, furry feet. My gaze travels up to see the face of McTwisp,the White Rabbit, dressed as a court page. "Well, if it isn't the wrong Lily. What brings you here?" He stares down at me. "I've come to rescue Tarrent."

"You're not rescuing anyone being the size of a gerbil." I think for a minute then I remember the cake. "Do you have any of that cake that made me grow before?" He pats his clothes, "Upelkuchen? Actually, I might have some left." Be digs in his pocket and takes out a large piece of the cake. I take it and take a bit. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until now so I take a few more big bites. "Not all of it!" But its too late.

I start growing at an extremely fast rate. My dress tears, buttons fly off, and seams strain then give way. "Oh no! Stop! Don't do that!" As if that will stop me from growing an taller, McTwisp panics. I taller and taller until my head is completely over the trees and bushes. I've out grown my clothes and am standing her stark raving naked. The trees and bushes help hide everything but my head. I look down at the Red Queen and try to keep my expression neutral. Everyone stares at me as the Red Queen asks, "And what is this?"

~~Meanwhile~~

~~Alice's POV~~

I'm sluggishly walking down the halls of the castle, heading to the room I was given. It's been a long, annoying day. Me and Stayne caught that stupid hatter guy, but Lily wasn't fucking with him. I'm starting to hate this place the more I'm here. I reach my door, walk in, and lock the door. I walk over to my bed and flop down onto it, face first. After today I need a lot of sleep. I don't even bother to close the curtains or change my clothes before I drift off to sleep.