A loud knock on the front door disrupted their discussion. Everyone at the table froze, turning their eyes to Mary Ann. Panic swept over her face, and she began pulling at the edging of her dressing gown.
"Why are you looking at me?" she asked, eyes darting about nervously.
"You should go see who that is," Hatta said.
"Me? Why me?"
"Because the three of us shouldn't even be here," Hatta gestured to himself, Haigha, and Alice, "and it would seem peculiar for the White Rabbit to answer his own door when he has a perfectly capable housemaid to do that for him."
Mary Ann glanced about helplessly before taking in a shaky breath and rising from her seat. With a candle in hand, she made her way to front door. All listened intently, not daring to make a single sound, save for Tart, who was happily munching on a bowl of decorative carrots. However, they heard no voices, and Mary Ann soon returned, squinting at a piece of paper in her hand.
"How strange," she said. "There was no one there, but someone left this note."
"What does it say?" asked Hatta.
"'A reminder to Miss Mary Ann that visitors are to stay no later than two fifteen in the morning,'" Mary Ann read. She crinkled her forehead in perplexity. "That's odd, I don't recall there ever being a curfew with regards to guests."
Hatta pulled out his pocket watch. "That's in seven minutes." He closed the watch with a loud click. "That is not a curfew. It's a warning."
"A warning?" Alice repeated.
"They know we're here," Hatta said, hurriedly rising to his feet and collecting his chess pieces.
"They do?" Mary Ann quavered, her face going pale.
"Or they suspect," Hatta amended, closing up his chessboard. "Someone is giving us a headstart."
"Who would do that?" wondered Haigha.
"I could wager a guess," Hatta mumbled. "Quick, we must leave now."
Mary Ann insisted on changing out of her nightclothes, despite Hatta's protestations. Alice retrieved Tart from the carrot bowl and slipped him into one of her pockets. The White Rabbit paced about frantically, while Haigha hid beneath his chair. As Alice observed the chaos, she wondered if this odd group could actually overthrow the Queen. Touching her smol, she thought of the Vorpal Sword hidden within it. Nevermind overthrowing the Queen. Could she actually become a queen?
It seemed impossible, and yet...
Was it her fate?
With a sigh, she tried to focus on the immediate situation. They had to escape before the guards found them. If they were captured, overthrowing the Queen would be the least of their challenges.
"Mary Ann, we need to find a discreet exit," Hatta said as Mary Ann hurried down the stairs, tying a plain, cobalt bonnet over her hair.
A loud pounding came from the front door. Mary Ann gasped loudly, throwing her hand over her mouth. Hatta cursed under his breath.
"What do we do?" Haigha asked, hiding behind his ears.
Hatta closed his eyes for only a second before barking out orders. "Mary Ann, you come with us. Rabbit, you stay here and answer the door. I think you'll do us more good as our eyes and ears within the Castle."
The White Rabbit looked terrified, but he nodded his acquiescence. More pounding came from the door, accompanied by shouting. A deliciously sick feeling went through Alice's body, a combination of fear and excitement.
"Go!" Hatta yelled at the rabbit. As the White Rabbit scurried away, Hatta turned to Mary Ann. "Mary Ann, would you quit that blasted counting and show us how to get out of here?"
The maid had been counting by twos under her breath while tying knots in her bonnet strings. Flinching at Hatta's raised voice, she sniffled and motioned for them to follow. Alice grabbed a lantern before extinguishing the candles, hoping the guards wouldn't notice the smoke rising from them if they entered the kitchen.
Mary Ann led them into a small storage closet. Pulling at a ring attached to the floor, she lifted a trapdoor of sorts. Voices could be heard from the front of the house, and Hatta closed the pantry door, pitching them into darkness, save for Alice's lantern. The trapdoor revealed a set of stairs that led down below the house. Mary Ann began to descend them, and one by one, the fugitives followed. Hatta was last, and he shut the door behind them.
They appeared to be in a cellar. As Alice looked about, she found that the room was filled with hundreds of carrots. And they weren't just your run-of-the-mill carrots. Some were orange, some were purple. There were teeny tiny ones, and a few were as large as she. Never had Alice seen such a variety.
"Ridiculous," Hatta mumbled as his eyes passed over the storehouse of vegetables. "All right, now how do we get out of here?"
Mary Ann opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by loud stomping above them. All in the cellar turned their eyes upward. The guards were inside the house. They were searching for them. Would they discover this hidden treasure trove?
"Mary Ann," Hatta hissed.
Pulling her attention away from the ceiling, the maid swallowed. "Over here," she whispered, leading them to a small, green door.
Kneeling before it, Mary Ann pulled on the doorknob, which gave a guttural grunt before returning to its soft snoring. The four of them stooped over to peer inside, finding a dirt tunnel that led upward. It was narrow and dark. They would have to crawl their way out.
"But once we're outside, where will we go?" whispered Haigha. "They'll be searching for us all across Hearts. There's nowhere we can hide!"
"Then we won't hide," Alice said.
The others turned their attention to her. "We won't?" Hatta asked, only slightly curious.
Alice shook her head, her eyes focused on the tunnel that would be their escape. "No. Hiding is a passive, cowardly thing to do, and Mr. Ferret did not raise me to be a coward. We will run."
"I'm not very good at running," Mary Ann lamented.
"The Queen's men greatly outnumber us," Hatta pointed out. "And besides that, they probably know Hearts better than any citizen here, what with having access to every map and history book in the land."
"Not all of Hearts." Alice turned to her comrades. "They may know the ins and outs of the shops and the Crossroads and the Castle, but I can guarantee they don't know the Forest the way I do."
"Is that so?" Hatta said.
"I've lived in the Forest since I can remember, and Mr. Ferret lived there even longer. He taught me everything he knew. I know every nook and cranny of those trees, and I don't even need a map."
"Can we really lead them on a chase through the Forest?" Haigha wondered. "How long could we keep that up?"
"For as long as we need," Alice said. "The Forest is filled with all sorts of surprises. They can study all the maps and books they like, but nothing beats experience."
"I don't know, this seems impossible," Mary Ann said.
"There have been days I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast," Alice declared.
Hatta and Haigha's eyes widened, and they exchanged curious glances. Mary Ann looked near tears as she tied knots in her bonnet strings.
At last, Hatta cleared his throat. "To the Forest we go."
He moved towards the tunnel, and Alice handed her lantern to Mary Ann in order to follow after him. The tunnel was indeed a tight squeeze, and Hatta was just barely able to enter it. But he managed, and Alice was close behind. It was no easy task. The dirt got in her eyes and nose, and her vision started to blur from the dust. After much coughing and sneezing, Alice halted as Hatta came to a stop. She waited for him to speak.
"I'm going to open the hatch and check to see if it's safe," he whispered so softly she could barely hear him.
Very, very slowly, Hatta opened the door. Both he and Alice cringed when the hinge squeaked. There was a terrible moment where they were motionless, expecting to be found out right then and there. But no one appeared, so Hatta raised the hatch just enough to peer outside. Holding her breath, Alice endured another tense moment before Hatta threw the hatch open and climbed out. Alice scurried out behind him, and he took her hand to pull her to her feet. Haigha was next, and finally, Mary Ann. When all four were safely out of the cellar, Hatta carefully closed the door.
"Which way to the Forest?" Mary Ann whispered, eyes darting about nervously.
"This way," Alice said confidently.
"We must be swift," Hatta said, placing himself by her side. "There could be guards waiting for us."
"Then let's start running," Alice said, taking in a deep breath before dashing towards her old home.
If there had been guards stationed outside the house, they did not catch sight of the bizarre group of outlaws, or at the very least they could not keep up with them. As soon as Alice started running, she did not stop. She imagined a myriad of soldiers chasing after her, ready to take off her head as soon as they caught her. With this grim scenario in mind, she was spurred on to keep running until she finally reached the welcoming trees of the massive Forest. When at last she crossed the border and was within the protection of her beloved home, she finally dared to stop. It was only then that she realized how badly her lungs and legs were aching, and she bent over to gasp for breath.
"I...don't...think...I can...breathe..." Mary Ann gasped as she collapsed against a tree.
"Then stop talking, that will save your lungs some work," Hatta snapped, although he, too, was struggling for air.
Haigha had passed out on the forest floor the moment they had stopped. Hatta poked at him with his walking stick, eliciting a deflated groan from the hare. Satisfied that he was alive, Hatta surveyed their surroundings.
"So this is where we shall constantly confound the Queen's men?" the hatter said rather mockingly. He glanced at Alice. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"I almost never know what I'm doing until I'm doing it," Alice admitted.
It only seemed to dawn on her body at that moment how late the hour was and how little sleep she was running on. Her eyes were heavy, and she wondered how much longer she could stay standing. She stumbled slightly, catching herself before she crashed into Hatta.
"I'm sorry, but this really does seem like an impossible plan," Mary Ann said tearfully. "Four strange characters like ourselves overthrowing a monarchy? Do we really think this is going to work?"
Alice's eyes refused to stay open, and she found herself swaying back and forth, her legs threatening to give out.
"Impossible..." she said sleepily. "Impossible is my specialty."
And with that, sleep overtook her, and she collapsed into Hatta's arms.
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