On the other side of Underland, Alice stood on the parapet of the White Queen’s castle with Bayard and the White Queen. They were watching the stars come out in the evening sky, each with their own growing sense of unease.
“I had hoped to have a champion by now,” the White Queen said, a little pointedly.
“Why don’t you slay the Jabberwocky yourself?” Alice asked. “You must have the power,” she said.
“In the healing arts,” said the Queen, shaking her head. “It is against my vows to bring harm to any living creature,” she added with a hint of melodrama in her voice. Alice shrugged and looked back out at the landscape below. The Queen spotted a hideous bug flying near her face, and swiped it away, then pretended to pirouette so as not to be caught breaking her “vow.”
Then something caught the Queen’s eye in the distance. She lifted her spyglass.
“We have company,” she said, handing her spyglass to Alice.
Alice focused the spyglass on the bluffs. Her heart leaped as she saw the Hatter, the Dormouse, and a host of other creatures running over the rise. They were safe! She hadn’t left them to die after all!
She also spotted something else. “Have a look, Bayard,” she said.
The bloodhound’s long ears drooped on either side of the instrument as he peered through. It took him a moment, but finally he spotted the female bloodhound and pups who were running with the rest of them.
“Bielle!” he cried, overwhelmed with joy. He spun around to race down to the entrance courtyard, and Alice followed him, her golden hair flying out behind her as she ran.
Bayard reached the courtyard first, just as the group came across the drawbridge. He galloped up to his wife and pups, and they all leaped around, whinnying and nuzzling each other joyfully. The White Rabbit pressed his paws together with delight.
The Tweedles rushed to the White Queen, who was happy to see them. She kissed each of them, leaving lipstick marks on their foreheads.
Alice’s eyes went straight to the Hatter. His clothes were bright and happy, reflecting the delight on his face. She ran up and threw her arms around him. “I’m so happy to see you!” she cried. “I thought they were going to—”
“So did I!” he interrupted her enthusiastically. “But they didn’t.” His voice started to speed up again, and he clutched her hands as if he might never let go. “And now, here I am … still in one piece … and I’m rather glad about that now that I’m seeing you again … I would have regretted not seeing you again … especially now that you’re you and the proper size … and it’s a good size … it’s a great size … it’s a right-proper Alice size …”
“Hatter,” Alice said kindly. He snapped back into the moment.
“Size, Fez … I’m fine,” he said, blinking strange eyes at her. And it was true, he was fine, even though Alice had been afraid she’d never see him again. She felt too full of happiness to say what she really wanted to.
“Where’s your hat?” she asked. She curiously touched his curly red hair.
They both jumped as the top hat suddenly materialized in the air beside them, followed slowly by the head of the Cheshire Cat underneath it, then the rest of him.
“Chessur?” Alice said.
“How’s the arm, luv?” the Cat purred.
“All healed,” she said, showing him how the swelling had gone down. The scratches were already almost entirely gone.
The Hatter held out his hand for the hat, and the Cheshire Cat reluctantly returned it. “Good-bye, sweet hat,” he murmured.
As the Hatter replaced it in its rightful place on his head, he glanced at Alice again, and they shared a smile that said more than any words could have.
Night had fallen again, and the escaped creatures from the Red Queen’s castle were safely tucked away in various corners of the White Queen’s home. Up on a high tower, beneath the stars, Alice sat with the Hatter, their legs swinging over a long drop below.
“Have you any idea why a raven’s like a writing desk?” the Hatter asked dreamily.
“Let me think about it!” Alice said, smiling.
He shifted to gaze into her eyes. “You know what tomorrow is, don’t you?” he said.
“Frabjous Day,” Alice said with a sigh. The whole castle had been murmuring and whispering and chattering about it all day. “How could I forget? I wish I’d wake up!”
The Hatter looked bemused. “You still believe this is a dream? Do you?”
“Of course. This has all come from my own mind.”
The Hatter thought about that for a moment. “Which would mean that I’m not real.”
“I’m afraid so,” said Alice, shaking her head. “You’re just a figment of my imagination. I would dream up someone who’s half mad.”
“Yes, yes. But you would have to be half mad to dream me up,” the Hatter observed.
“I must be, then,” Alice said.
Alice laughed.
“I’ll miss you when I wake up,” she said.