Mad About the Hatter (26 page)

“Finally,” Leonard said. A broad smile lit his face. “Alice was right, then. She said you two were made for each other. It was one of the reasons she and I conspired to send you to Wonderland in the first place, Henry. Well, that, and because we both felt it was the only way to convince you she’d been telling the truth all those years.”

Hatter seemed to have kissed Henry silly, since a loopy grin remained on Henry’s face and he failed to challenge Leonard’s confession. Hatter wasn’t even sure Henry had heard it. “Well, I, for one, think Wonderland just got a little bit more wonderful when Henry arrived. Now, if you don’t mind, Your Majesty, I think you’ve got some cleaning up to do. Then you’ll have announcements to make, messengers sent out to the rest of Wonderland, so forth and so on. Henry and I have some things to talk over as well, so we’ll retire to the Royal Hatter’s Suite until you need us again.”

Leonard waved his hand and nodded, dismissing them. As Hatter led Henry out of the throne room, he could hear Leonard begin issuing kingly orders. “Well, we might as well make it official. I hereby find the Red Queen guilty of crimes against Wonderland and its people. Take that ridiculous crown and the Queen to the Royal Physician. It simply wouldn’t do to bury her unless she’s truly dead. The ghosts in the Royal Crypt would have fits. If the Royal Physician finds her to be alive, then she can have Hatter’s old cell. In the meantime, I suppose I’ll need the Royal Scribe so I can put forth a few announcements and proclamations, that sort of thing.”

Cat addressed Leonard. “Sorry, Your Majesty, but the position of Royal Scribe is currently open. The Queen sent the last one to the Axe.”

“Why am I not surprised? I suppose I’ll have to replace nearly
all
the staff, hmm? Well, first things first. I need a new Royal Scribe. My penmanship is like chicken scratch,” Leonard said. “Rabbit, how is
your
handwriting?”

Rabbit’s nervous gulp was audible. “M-me, sire?”

“No, the invisible rabbit standing next to you. Yes, you.”

“Oh, dear. I… I’m afraid I’m very late for an appointment, Your Majesty. Yes, indeed, I’m running out of time. I must—”

Leonard scowled down at Rabbit. “The only thing you should be running after is a quill and parchment.
Now,
Rabbit, before I get a sudden craving for Rabbit stew.”

Rabbit gave a little squeak. “Immediately, sire. Just what I had in mind. Back in a jiffy. A quill. Where would one find a quill?” Rabbit scurried about, checking all the nooks and crannies in the throne room, although he gave the Queen-filled crown a wide berth. The longer he went without finding one, the more upset he seemed to become. No doubt he was picturing himself stewing in the Royal Pot.

“Don’t let him suffer, Hatter,” Henry whispered. “Don’t you have a pen or something in that pocket of yours?”

Hatter sniffed. “Hmph. Help him? He worked for the Queen! Tried to haul us back to the castle, remember?”

“Sure, I remember. I also remember you worked for the Queen, at least when we first met. Or did you think I’d forgotten?” Henry frowned at Hatter, but a small smile played at his lips.

Hatter cringed. “I said I was sorry. Very well.” He dug into his pocket and withdrew a large, feathery white quill, a small pot of ink, and a rolled piece of parchment tied with a red bow. He handed them to Rabbit. “Don’t say I never gave you anything.”

Rabbit snatched them out of Hatter’s hands. “Well, it’s about time. Imagine, letting me run about like a crazy person while you had a quill, ink, and parchment in your possession all the while! I’m the new Royal Scribe, in case you haven’t heard. I’ve got the King’s ear. I ought to bring you up on charges with him. In fact, I believe there’s still an outstanding warrant for you that the Queen issued.” Rabbit huffed, lifting his little pink nose in the air.

Leonard’s voice thundered, causing Rabbit to squeak and leave a few tiny brown pellets on the floor. “Rabbit! Stop pooping on my throne room floor before I order you put in diapers. I’m waiting to proclaim things. Let’s get on with it.”

“Right away, Your Majesty!” Rabbit blushed an unattractive shade of pink, turned and raced for the dais, already unrolling the parchment and readying his pot of ink and quill.

Leonard looked over Rabbit’s head. “Hatter? Henry? What are you still doing here?”

Hatter and Henry shrugged and chuckled as they made their way out of the room and down the hall.

Three months later….

H
ENRY
FOLDED
a shirt and set it neatly on the small pile of others in his new suitcase. A satchel, Hatter called it. It was brown leather and had straps to hold it closed. It was extremely old-fashioned, but all he could find in the shops outside of the Red Castle.

He went to the narrow chest of drawers and removed two pairs of pants, but when he turned back to the suitcase, it was empty. He turned to see Hatter replacing his shirts in a dresser drawer.

Grabbing the shirts out of the drawer, he held them behind his back so Hatter couldn’t reclaim them. “Hatter! I keep packing, and you keep unpacking. I’m never going to get done this way.”

“That’s the whole point. Besides, you don’t need to pack. You’re not
really
leaving.”

Henry sighed, and sat down on the foot of his bed. “Hatter, it’s been three months. I have to go back now.”

“Why? You like it here, don’t you? You like me, don’t you?

Henry’s lips lifted in a soft, sad smile. “Of course I do. But I still have to go back home.”

Hatter sat next to him, looking like someone had just killed his puppy. “Why, Henry? Why not stay here with me? This is your home too.”

“I have to go back because Alice deserves to know what happened, and that I’m okay. Plus, she, Phillip, and the kids are all the family I have left in the world besides my dad. And my dad… he needs help, and I need to see that he gets it.”

Hatter sniffed, and turned away, but Henry saw a tear glisten in his dark eyes. “I know.”

“I’d stay if I could,” Henry said. He placed a hand on Hatter’s arm. “These three months have been great, and I loved all the places you’ve taken me. Diamond Falls, the Jubjub hatchery, the Fiery Ice Cave….” He shook his head, and fought back tears of his own. “Just being with
you
has been an adventure I’ll never forget.”

Hatter leaned his elbows on his knees, and stared at the floor. “I don’t want you to leave, Henry. I’m going to miss you too much.”

“Then come with me.”

“What?” Hatter looked up in surprise.

Henry grinned. “Come with me! There are so many places in my world I want to show you. New York City. The Grand Canyon. The Atlantic and Pacific oceans.”

“And pizza?” Mischief glinted in Hatter’s eyes.

Henry laughed. “All the pizza you can eat.”

Hatter’s smile faded, and his expression darkened. “No, I couldn’t, Henry. You know, it’s funny. Before I met you, I wouldn’t have given a fig for responsibility. I came and went as I pleased, did what I wanted. My only concern was saving my own hide. I messed up more often than I care to remember, and lost everything I had. But being with you has made me grow up, and realize what’s really important.

“I’m the Royal Hatter again. Leonard gave me a fresh start. I can’t abandon him now that he’s just getting settled in. He depends on me for all his hat needs, you know. Party hats. Diplomatic hats. Royal Audience hats. Court hats. Sun hats and night caps, bowlers, fedoras, boaters, panamas… the list goes on and on.”

“Can’t he make do with the hats you’ve already made him for a while?”

“Oh, I don’t know. A King needs to keep up appearances. It wouldn’t do for people to see him in the same hat too often. People would begin to talk. They’d say his Royal Hatter is insufficiently sufficient in providing royal haberdashery. Besides, it’s not really about the hats, Henry. It’s about responsibility, and honoring my word.”

Henry sighed. “I understand. I guess I have to go back alone.” He returned the shirts to his suitcase and closed the lid, securing the straps, then looked up at Hatter. “I’m going to miss you something awful.” He reached for a hug, and they stood there for a long time, leaning against one another as if both could draw strength from the other. Tipping his head back, he placed a soft kiss on Hatter’s lips, then pulled away and picked up his suitcase. “I’d better get going. It’s a long way back to the White Castle. I’d like to reach Tweedledee and Tweedledum’s before dark.”

“Bye, Henry.” Hatter’s voice cracked with emotion.

Henry didn’t trust his own voice to answer at all. He just nodded, and left the room without looking back again.

L
EONARD
INSISTED
on providing Henry with a Red Guard escort for his own safety, even though Henry tried to refuse. He didn’t want anyone around him while he traveled back to the White Castle and the magic mirror. He wasn’t in the mood for company or small talk. Even though he believed with his whole heart that he needed to go back to his own world, leaving Hatter behind had been one of the hardest things he’d had to do in his life.

As hard as it was, having Hatter choose his responsibility to Leonard over going with Henry was even worse. He’d thought he’d meant more to Hatter than that. Finding out he was wrong was like a knife to the heart that kept pushing in deeper and twisting every time he thought about it.

He swiped at an angry tear with the back of his hand. He’d be home soon—he could see the broken turrets of the White Castle in the distance—and he’d work to forget all about Hatter and Wonderland. In his world, there were other people, people more like himself. He’d find someone else to love.

Someone who didn’t speak in double-talk all the time. Someone who didn’t pull all manner of crazy stuff from a magic pocket. Someone who knew what a combustion engine was, and who didn’t believe saddling a dragon was the fastest mode of transportation available.

Someone who wasn’t Hatter.

Because there is nobody like Hatter,
he thought morosely, his head hanging low as he walked.
Not in my world, or in Wonderland.

“Henry! Henry!”

Henry smirked.
I can almost hear his voice. I wonder how long it’ll take before I forget what he sounds like? Forget what he looks like? Or how his kisses made me feel?

“Henry! For the love of shiny Jabberwock balls, wait up!”

Henry blinked and picked his head up. He spun around, scanning the path behind him. A figure was running toward him, one hand on top of its head, as if trying to keep a hat from flying off. After a moment, a face came into focus.

“Hatter? What are you doing here?” Henry felt a tentative finger of excitement tickle his belly. “Have you been following me all this time?”

Hatter reached him, and bent over at the waist, gasping for air while still holding his hat to his head. It took him a moment to regain enough breath to speak. “I almost caught up with you after you’d passed Ruin, but I found myself unable to hurry in the Neutral Wood. It made me slow my pace to a mere crawl, as if I had all the time and not a care in the world.”

“Why were you following me? We said our good-byes.” Henry felt his cheeks burn and looked away. “You made it perfectly clear your responsibility to Leonard was what mattered.”

Hatter grabbed Henry by the shoulders, and forced Henry to look him in the eye. “Listen to me. I am a very stupid man. My duty to Leonard is important, and I can’t just forget about it, but you’re important to me too. More important than any royal appointment or any hat I could possibly be called upon to make for the King. I thought Leonard was going to resurrect the Axe when he heard I’d sent you on alone. He told me to catch up to you even if I had to run the whole way. Ordered me to, in fact, and told me I’m not to return until you were sick and tired of having me around.” He smiled and pulled Henry close, into a bear hug. “So you see, I have to go with you. If I don’t, I’ll be in direct violation of a royal order.”

Henry’s smile burgeoned into a wide, delighted grin. “Well, we can’t have that, now can we?”

“No, we certainly cannot.” Hatter placed his hands on Henry’s cheeks, and kissed him good, long, and hard. So long and hard, in fact, that the Red Guards began clearing their throats and coughing to remind them they weren’t alone.

Henry chuckled and stepped away from Hatter. He reached for Hatter’s hand and held it. “Then I suppose we should go. We don’t want to be accused of wasting Time.”

Hatter gave a mock shudder. “No, indeed! Time, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned once or twice, has no sense of humor.”

Time must not have been offended because it flew by as they chatted and laughed, climbing the hill to the White Castle, and making their way up to the room where the magic mirror waited.

“Ready?” Henry asked Hatter.

“Together,” Hatter replied, holding up their linked hands.

Grinning at one another, they stepped through to the other side to their future in Henry’s world.

D
AKOTA
C
HASE
writes stories of the fantastical, of ghosts and monsters, and time travel. She lives right on the border of Normal, and has been known to take quick trips into the next town over, Crazy, although she usually finds her way home again without little trouble. She shares her home with Nibbles, her Shar-Pei/Labrador mixed breed that may or may not be a werewolf in disguise, and a husband who definitely isn’t a werewolf even though he’s been known to be shaggy and howl from time to time. She has four grown children, one of whom has spawned, resulting in two grandchildren whom she adores. When she isn’t writing, Dakota likes to crochet odd things, like killer shark slippers and skull dolls. She loves sushi, spicy foods, and grapes, but is highly allergic to any form of math.