Into the Woods

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Ahead, a dense forest loomed at the outer edges of the meadow bordering the village. She glanced up at the fading light and felt slightly unnerved at the disadvantage they faced as a result. For a moment she nearly reconsidered entering.

“No, we’ve come too far to get this close,” she murmured, and patted Bandy reassuringly.

They pushed ahead, and she ducked as a wayward branch dangled ominously above the path. The temperature seemed to drop an instant ten degrees, and the wind that had previously blown across her face altogether disappeared.

The bandersnatch carefully picked its way as quickly as possible, and all in all was doing a wonderful job of staying quiet. They were making better time than she had thought, and if she had to guess, she would have supposed they’d gone nearly a mile in without incident.

Another quarter mile later, however, was a different story. The bandersnatch suddenly paused and raised its great furry head, sniffing to the left. Alice unconsciously held her breath and gripped tightly with her legs, lest he decide to bolt. Seeing nothing though, she exhaled and lightly tapped him at the side, urging him onward.

They continued on the barely discernible path, but Bandy slowed his gait, and beneath her, she could feel his muscles tense once more. She too felt a bit on edge and at length realized that the forest around them had grown much darker. And silent.

“Perhaps we should move more quietly.” She leant forward and whispered at his ear. Bandy agreed, and did exactly that.

Something felt off, and Alice’s sense instinctively sharpened. Something about these woods distinctly unsettled them. Above her, the light trickling in through the thick canopy was dimming, and she considered stopping soon for the night. She knew in her bones that she was getting closer to the Hatter, but she also felt a bit like a sitting duck at the moment too. She reached for the dagger at her belt and tugged on Bandy’s spotted fur.

He came to a stop and let her slide off. She looked around them, still feeling uneasy, and patted the side of his face. “Do you feel that?” she whispered. The bandersnatch butted against her hand and nodded anxiously. “I think we need to be extra cautious.”

Once more they moved on, only this time side by side. Each stone they overturned, and each rustling of dead leaves underfoot made her cringe. She simply couldn’t shake the feeling that something was out there. Alice kept her hand at the dagger’s hilt as they crept down the narrow forest path.

They hadn’t gone ten metres when the forest grew deathly silent and Bandy stopped, pricked his ears, and looked again to the left. He growled low and raised his hackles. Alice gripped her dagger and pressed against him. From under his jaw, she saw nothing but dim, empty wilderness. She waited anxiously, body tensed for several moments as nothing happened. Chiding herself for getting worked up, she shook her head and forced her muscles to relax.

“Come on,” she said quietly, then froze when something stirred in the dark where Bandy was looking. The sound of footsteps running through dry brush broke through the oppressive silence, thoroughly startling her.

A murder of crows burst out from the forest, squawking indignantly, and Alice jumped. Bandy jerked his head to the right, ahead, and growled even louder. He made to run, but Alice held firm. “No,” she hissed quietly. He ducked his head and snapped his jaws in the new direction and then back at the other.

Alice’s heart began beating rapidly, and then the sounds of men shouting in the distance confirmed her suspicions. Bandy pulled free of Alice’s grip and tore off down the path.

“No!” she shouted, running after him. If the bandersnatch left her alone, she was essentially defenceless. One little dagger would be nothing against several of Stayne’s men, if that were indeed who the voices belonged to.

The bandersnatch was nearly engulfed in darkness as the sun sank lower in the sky, and Alice gulped for air as she rounded a dirt corner edging a precarious looking drop off to the right. She slipped on stones and cursed the beast’s quickly shifting attention span.

The running footsteps at her left again caught her attention, and she raised her dagger, ready to strike, when something solid rammed into her side. She tumbled over the edge of the drop-off and clambered for anything to stop her sliding.

An old tree’s gnarled roots jutted out, scraping her side, and she managed to grab a solid knob. Her dagger was glinting a few feet up the incline, but she paused to get her breath and listen to hear where her assailant had gotten to.

A boy’s voice sounded from above, along with the voices of two, maybe three, men.

“Please!” the boy cried, standing back up. He must not have seen her when he darted out of the woods and couldn’t have been more than eight or so years. Alice blanched. Why were they chasing a boy through the forest?

“Please,” he cried again. Alice heard a smack, and the boy cried harder. They were hurting him.

She chanced leaving her hiding spot and carefully crept up the steep incline, grabbing the fallen dagger. As she moved, she felt the strangest prickling sensation on the back of her neck as she positioned herself carefully behind a large, fallen trunk.

She got high enough up that she could see over the lip of the drop-off, and she carefully surveyed the situation. There were two men, and one of them was holding an incredibly frightened little boy, while the other was interrogating him. It was the oddest thing she could imagine. What could a little boy possibly have done to warrant such actions?

“Where is he?” the tallest man asked, shaking the boy by the shoulders.

“Yeh killed my fa’!” he cried, sobs wracking his battered little body. Alice swallowed a gasp. They were monsters.

“Yes, and your mother and sister—”

“Nae!” he screamed, falling to his knees.

Tears stung Alice’s eyes, and she grit her teeth.

“ —and I’ll kill you too, if you don’t answer us. Where is the Hatter?” The other man holding the boy chuckled.

“Mam!” he moaned, weakly trying to pull out of his captor’s grip.

Anger boiled Alice’s blood, and she flipped the dagger so that the tip of the blade was between her fingertips. If she could throw it at one of them, perhaps she stood a chance of fighting the other if the boy helped…

“You have two seconds,” the tall man said, putting his boot under the chin of the hysterical child.

“Please,” he whimpered again, calling for his mother.

Alice raised her arm, ready to throw.

“Very well,” the man said, drawing his sword. He jabbed it downwards through the boy’s back and kicked him aside. He cried out and rolled over and was still.

Alice’s jaw dropped and her heart plummeted. He…they had…just a boy… Something snapped deep within her and she raised herself from behind the stump. She stepped on a dead branch, accidentally snapping it in the process, and found she no longer cared if she’d lost the element of surprise, when for the second time that night, something hard slammed into her from behind. Only this time a hand closed down over her mouth.

The men heard the branch, and both turned to look in its direction. One loosed a small axe from his belt.

Alice struggled silently against the person on top of her. A man had tackled her and was now laying his full weight on her, desperately trying to still her movements. “Shh!” he hissed, and then, quick as lightening, rolled them aside as the axe came sailing neatly into the stump they’d just been behind, shattering it.

They both froze, neither making a noise save for the sound of their panting, and with a thrill of shock, Alice glimpsed a flash of orange-ish, red hair. It was the Hatter! His eyes, barely discernible in the gathering darkness, were round with madness. Frightening, wild madness. His skin was smudged with dirt, and the bright hair around his face stuck to his forehead with perspiration. He was staring ahead at the men who were only half-heartedly looking out at the darkness.

Alice was very aware of him sprawling across her, and her horror at what she’d just witnessed, clashed with the joy of finding him; no matter how worrisome he currently appeared.

He slowly raised a pale finger to his lips and quietly rolled off of her. She nodded and didn’t move as he crouched through the leaves, and tangled branches, and reached for the axe buried in the ruined stump. He didn’t blink once, and Alice was alarmed at the murderous grimace now twisting his lips.

The man who’d thrown the axe had apparently decided there was no threat and was stomping through the brush to retrieve his weapon. The Hatter crouched low, axe in hand, and waited like an animal hunting prey.

Alice held her breath. Now that sanity had returned to her, she realized she had been close to murdering either, or both of those men, and she regretted the feeling. It now appeared, however, that the Hatter had no other intention.

The man bent over, feeling in the dark for the object he’d hit, and the Hatter struck. He leapt for the man, covered his mouth to hide the scream, and slashed his throat with the axe blade. The man jerked in the Hatter’s arms and then fell gracelessly to the forest floor. Alice flinched and scrambled to her knees.

The Hatter didn’t wait. He raced off into the darkness, and Alice watched in horror as he chased after the tall man who had carelessly stabbed the boy. The Hatter threw the axe at his retreating back, and all Alice heard was the sound of the weapon striking flesh not once, but thrice. She closed her eyes and tried to swallow the bile that had flared up her throat. The forest was silent again, but for the Hatter’s heavy breathing as he rustled through dead leaves.

Weakly, Alice turned away from the man whose blank stare taunted her in the shadows, and she summoned enough strength to gaze again on the Hatter, who looked nothing like the friend she once remembered. Ahead, she dimly heard the soft thudding of giant paws and vaguely registered that the bandersnatch had returned; but it wasn’t him she was focused on.

Hatter was bent over, frantically searching the ground, and at last he stopped and dropped to his knees with a soft cry.

The boy.

Alice watched silently. The child’s family had been killed because of him. Her heart hitched, not only for the boy and his family, but for her friend.

The crazed man whispered something indistinguishable, and Alice took a step towards him, uncertain what to do, but wanting in some way to help.

“Alice!” he cried. “Come!”

Alarmed, she did as was told and ran towards him. The boy was cradled in his lap, bleeding profusely, and her friend was leaning over him, listening for a heartbeat. “He’s alive,” he said, astonished, and with a look of pure agony looked up to her. “Help me!”

Alice gaped at him in shock. The boy had survived?

“Help me, Alice!” he screamed and lifted the boy in his arms.

She patted the satchel at her hip and plunged her hands inside for a healing potion Mirana had given her. “Bandy!” she cried and then stood by the Hatter. “Lift him up,” she said.

He did so, exposing the wound at his back, and Alice gently applied several drops against his torn flesh.

He watched her work silently and when she’d finished, strode towards the bandersnatch.
“Tha village,” he said in his Outlandish brogue.

With Alice’s help, they managed to get themselves all up onto the beast’s back, and immediately tore off into the night.

As they rode, the Hatter held onto the boy, and Alice held onto him. Nothing was said as they plunged ahead, and Alice tried to focus on only the present, and on the feel of her friend beneath her hands and at her chest.

At last she was with her friend; but it had been a much pleasanter reunion in her dreams.


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Eventually, dotted lights appeared through the trees ahead, and Alice breathed a sigh of relief. The rough journey had felt like an eternity filled with worried silence.

The Hatter directed the bandersnatch past several small houses, unsurprisingly to Lilas’ home. Alice found this as both reassuring as she did bothersome.

He slid down before they’d come to a full stop and Alice made to follow before he stopped her.
“Nae. T’will be faster if ya stay here.” He turned with the boy for the house and opened the door without waiting to be let in.

Alice remained on Bandy and stared ahead, her mind still reeling from from the horrors she’d witnessed earlier; from this absolute change in her friend’s demeanour.

Across the lane, a woman looked out her window in surprise at Alice and the giant beast standing outside, and then hastily closed the curtains. The village was surprisingly quiet considering how loud it had seemed earlier that day. Regardless, Alice much preferred the silence to the hostility she’d encountered previously.

She anxiously waited for him, hoping that the men from earlier lived nowhere nearby. Her wait wasn’t long though, as moments later, the healer’s door creaked open and the wild Hatter emerged from the house, bounding straight up onto Bandy. Without even so much as a glace at her, they took off for the forest.

As before, there were no words. Alice held onto him, desperately wanting to speak. But what could she possibly say? What could either of them say? He had killed.

They took an unfamiliar path this time, and Alice gradually relaxed against him as the weight of the day’s ride and the evening’s exhausting events pressed down on her. Soon, the rhythmic galloping motion tempted her eyes to close, and she put up very little resistance.

An indeterminable amount of time later, Alice’s eyes flew open with a jolt at the sudden realization that they had stopped. She had been lying against the Hatter, and quickly sat up, embarrassed. He was sitting motionless in front of her staring ahead at nothing.

Alice glanced at him and looked around at their stopping place. It looked wholly unremarkable, save for a stream and tall rock face nearby, and she wondered if they had simply paused for rest and water. She was about to voice this question, when he swung a leg over and slid off.

His eyes didn’t meet hers, but he held a scratched hand out to help her down. She toyed with the idea of taking it, but decided to slide down on her own. His left eye twitched in response, and she thought he almost grinned. He pivoted on the spot and stalked off several yards away. Alice stared in confusion.

He paced one direction, then turned and paced the other. At his side, his fists balled and unballed, and it seemed as if he were arguing with someone. Quite possibly with himself. Eventually he stopped, turning his back to her and looked up into the pitch black canopy above. He stood that way for several long moments.

The moon was glinting off the surface of the water, brightening the space directly near Alice, and she looked to the bandersnatch who also appeared perplexed. She wasn’t quite sure what to do, and when he hadn’t moved in five minutes, and she had resolved to check on him, he abruptly spun around and made his way directly towards her. As he neared, she could make out the shifting expressions on his face and her heart lifted. This was something familiar.

At first, he was grinning ear to ear, and his eyes seemed to soften as he looked upon her. Then about four giant paces later, he seemed to get nervous. His expression darkened, and his eyes reverted back to the wild look they’d held earlier.

She waited.

He took another step towards her, and the closeness appeared as if it physically pained him. A hand reached out to her; she noted that it trembled. Lightly, his fingertips brushed her cheek, and then with both hands he stroked the curls falling around her face. His lips opened and it seemed as if he would finally speak, but then he broke off, snapped his jaws shut and turned around once more.

Frustrated, Alice stepped towards him, only to back up once he whirled around to face her and leaned down to look into her eyes.

“Ya should’nae be here,” he said gruffly in a voice she hadn’t expected. “It’s no’ safe.”

Alice inhaled, taken aback. “I’ve been sent by the White Queen.”

The Hatter gaped at her, and then glared in anger. “Why would she do a thin’ like tha’? Send her only Champion ou’ an’ risk her death? Has she gone mad nauw?”

Alice bristled in defence. Three years and the most terrible thing that could happen at their first meeting, and this was how he reacted to her being there?

“There weren’t many other options, and I wouldn’t take no for an answer.” She added, “It’s nice to see you too.”

He stared down at her with an array of shifting expressions: anger, joy, confusion, astonishment...

“Everyone says hello,” she said quickly. “Thackery and Mallymkun.” She couldn’t be sure, but it appeared as if he grinned. Or it could have been the shadows. “They miss you,” she went on and swallowed. “I missed you.”

At his sides, his fists balled up, and for a moment she thought he might bolt, but he surprised her and stayed.

Alice relaxed and took the time to properly look at him. Vocal pattern aside, he’d changed in three years. The magenta that had once ringed his eyes was now a dark, bruisey purple. His hair had grown longer and was matted in places. His skin, still appeared pale in the moonlight, but there was something different despite it being smudged and grimy. His clothes, while before had been gently tattered, were now torn to shreds, with hastily sewn patches that were clearly the only thing keeping them together. The velvet jacket was missing, as well as his cravat, and also…

“Where’s your hat?” she asked softly.

His eyes never left hers as she’d surveyed his person, and Alice was struck by the intensity with which he paid her attention. “Tha wild is no place for a hat.”

The moment was filled with a tense awkwardness that felt very foreign to her. But at least he was talking.

“What about for a hatter?”

He smirked down at her, then turned and walked towards the rock wall. Alice remembered to breathe again, and she followed.

Ahead, he pushed aside a tangle of vines, exposing a dark hole in the face. A cave. “We’ll be sleepin’ in here t’night.” Her friend ducked inside and Alice looked back to the bandersnatch. From inside she heard, “He’ll be fine.”

Bandy snorted, and pawed at the ground as if to agree, and Alice ducked behind the vines. It was deceptively close-quartered. There was only just room for the pair of them without touching, and Alice was immensely grateful not to be claustrophobic. “You don’t happen to have any pishalver do you?” She grinned when she heard him snort.

He apologized for their cramped accommodations and spread out a wool blanket on the hard ground for her to lay upon. “I don’ have much, bu’ if yer hungry-”

“I’m fine,” she reassured him. “Someone in the village was kind enough to share their supper with me. The same woman you went to earlier, in fact. Lilas Thistle.”

She couldn’t see his face in the darkness, but she heard a gentle rustle of fabric, and longed to speak with him about what happened. “Hatter,” she began. “That boy.”

In the darkness, she heard him fidget on the ground. “My fault,” he whispered.

She was quiet for a moment.

“How is it your fault? You saved him.”

“I shoul’nae ‘ave left.” He shifted again and went on. “They were hidin’ me o’ernight. By tha time we heard ‘em, they were already upon us.”

She heard him sigh across from her, and Alice ached for him.

“They did’nae deserve… ”

“I’m sorry.”

He cleared his throat and changed topic. “How did yeh fin’ me?”

“It wasn’t easy. People here seem protective of you.” He snorted derisively, but she went on. “I was told to look for you in the forest, but I didn’t know exactly where.” She winced at the memory of their first explosive encounter. “I’d say you found me, really.”

He was silent for so long that Alice thought he might have fallen asleep. When he spoke she had to strain her ears.

“I couldn’t believe it was you.” he softly lisped.

When it became apparent that she was going to have to coax any further information out of him she mentally sighed.

“Hatter, is that, is it always like this? Here? Those men, there was no hesitation…”

“No hesitation, no hesitation,” he repeated in a strange voice. He then made a sound low in his throat. “Nae. Tha’s a recent developmen’. Stayne an’ his men had no’ been so brash ‘til la’ely. Somethin’s happened. Th’ balance’as changed.”

“Mirana received your letter just as I arrived. She’s sending help. She’s worried.”

He said nothing.

“Everyone is. That’s why I’m here—”

She heard a sudden movement in the dark, and the tone of his voice unexpectedly chilled her.

“Oh, is tha’ why yeh’ve come then?”

“I…” she trailed off. The question surprised her.

“Did she sen’ for yeh?”

She flinched against the venom in his tone. “No. I came on my own accord.”

He sniffed in disbelief and Alice bristled.

“I had been planning a return for awhile now. I had no idea things had gotten this way. How could I?”

“P’raps a visit nauw an’again migh’ve been in order?”

“Likewise,” she returned coldly.

“Likewise?”

“Is McTwisp the only Underlandian creature that can go between worlds?”

At first he was silent. “Yeh need permission ta do tha’.”

Alice looked away even though she knew he couldn’t see her. Quietly she said, “You could have asked.”

They each sat in stillness, and she belatedly realized that their small cave had warmed considerably. Sadly, that seemed to be the only comfort she could find, and with a pang she wondered how they could be quarrelling. She had missed him so terribly and had hoped he had missed her. It seemed as if her presence was more bothersome than anything else, and she swallowed a lump in her throat. This wasn’t the man she’d left behind.

“Yeh should try an’ ge’some rest. We leave early in th’mornin’.” He added in a quiet lisp, “It’s best not to stay in one place for too long.”

Again his tone had softened, and Alice thought she’d heard a tinge of regret. Perhaps she wasn’t giving enough allowance for his situation.

“Hatter.”

“Not nauw,” he interrupted softly. “La’er. Nauw we rest.”

In the darkness, she heard him settle onto the cave floor, and she felt guilty for robbing him of his blanket. She lay down on her thin, makeshift bed and winced a little at the scrapes along her side.

“Are you al’righ’?”

“I’ll be fine.”

Fatigue washed over her, and she listened to his steady breathing. He couldn’t be more than two feet away. As she drifted off, she’d changed her mind; his presence was incredibly comforting.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Her eyes slipped closed, and exhaustion won quickly. With half of her tasks completed and her friend nearby, Alice was lulled back to the land of dreams.

In the dark, Tarrant listened to her calm, even breathing. He did not sleep that night.




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