Down the Rabbit Hole

Chapter 22 Hatter

I couldn't tell how long we sat in an awkward silence once Cheshire had trotted off. What was I supposed to say to her family without her here? I knew nothing about these people. I barely knew anything about this whole damned world. Her brother kept staring at me like he had gone mad. At least he had believed in Alice even if he never said it directly to her.
"So. Mr. Hatter. How do you know Alice? We've heard her version, but we're all curious about your version of events." Her aunt looks at me like she had no clue how to make polite conversation.
"Well, as I'm sure you know from her stories, 20 years ago in your time Alice had accidently portal traveled to Wonderland. She followed the main path through the ancient woods and made her way to my tea table. She had tea with me and my friend the March Hare. She taught us some games from this world and we taught her games from ours. She was exceptionally bright and extremely curious for a young lady. When she left the magic seems to have rebelled a bit from her absence and we spent the last 20 years in a deep sleep. We only woke what would be a few weeks of your time. And today Cheshire had brought her back to our world to show her that she isn't crazy. She came back to my home first to reconnect with me. She had only met myself, Cheshire, and Hare when she first visited so we were her only friends on that side. We started by having tea with some light conversation then we connected our magic and we had fallen asleep together, but when I woke up she was gone. As was one of my shirts. I thought maybe she had come back here for some reason, but if she's not here then I don't know where else the magic could have placed her." I can see the shame in their eyes when I mention Cheshire trying to prove she wasn't crazy. Good. They should feel more than shame for what they put her through. Her father looks at me without giving away his emotions.
"I knew she wasn't lying." I hear her Mom and Aunt gasp as her father confesses. He sighs deeply before continuing with everyone's attention on him.
"I was afraid for her though. For years I've had terrible dreams of another world completely. I always dismissed them as just dreams, but when she started drawing places from my dreams some part of me knew it was all real. Then came an even bigger problem I had to face, how could I protect her from a world I knew nothing about. How could I help her when neither of us even knew how to cross over. I've been living with the guilt of failing as her father for most of her life. It was easier to ignore her stories or change the subject while she was young, but then she stopped talking about it and I knew I couldn't repair the damage I had done. That's why I never denied her any art supplies. I knew she needed that outlet." He's staring into his cup lost in his mind and memories.
"When did he start dreaming of Wonderland?" Cheshire is back by my side as he asks. I look down at him.
"Any sign of her?" He shakes his head "no" and jumps back on the table.
"Ask her father when he started dreaming of our world. And ask her brother if he ever had any dreams of our world."
"Mr. Hart, Cheshire would like to know how long you've had the dreams. Jack, he would also like to know if you ever dreamt of any of the places she's drawn." Jack starts to think as his father answers me.
"They started the day she feel out of the tree. It was a few days after she started talking about you all. She ended up falling from the tree and got 20 stiches in the back of her head and a fractured skull. Doctors said she got extremely lucky that she didn't have anything worse."
Cheshire nods before he walks down to look at the sketchbook. He flips through the pages for a moment before he pauses and walks right up to Jack.
"Uh. Care to tell me what the magical cat wants from me Hatter?" I laugh.
"Cheshire is there a reason that your freaking out Alice's brother?" He looks deeply into Jacks eyes before he moves to stare at her father. Mr. Hart just looks back at the guardian, no fear just curiosity.
"Her father has a touch of magic in him. The brother does not. Lorraine has no magic either. That much I knew from that first trip. No doubt when Alice hit her head it woke up her magic to protect her as best as it could have. And that may have set off the few drops of magic in her father." He trots back to me and drinks from the water glass I have yet to touch.
"Cheshire says that only Alice's father has a touch of our magic in him. No doubt he's the one of the family that carried it down to Alice. Though she's the only full blooded heir, the dreams you have Mr. Hart aren't dreams. Your lines magic is dream walking. No doubt you've been dream walking like Alice does, but the connection isn't as strong." I hear Jack's disappointment and we all look at him. I see his neck turn red from embarrassment before he mutters.
"It's not fair Alice and Dad got magic. I mean how cool is it to be able to see into a whole new world?" I hear Cheshire bark out a sarcastic laugh and Jack looks at him. I feel my anger starting to rise again.
"Yes. How fortunate that she spent years being called crazy or being ignored till she practically shut down her magic and could have lost her mind. Those who deny their magic to harshly loose it. And for a royal to loose their magic is almost always a death sentence." I glare at him and he rightfully looks ashamed of his words.
"You call yourselves her family and yet you dismissed her so easily. As a child maybe she had her own fantasy world in her imagination, but as a grown ass woman you should have listened to her." I stand up and look at the guilty faces of her family.
"Come on Cheshire. We need to find her." I look at her father, the only one who even has a touch of my trust.
"Can you tell me where she lives? It's possible her magic took her to the safety of her home instead of here." Finally her cousin speaks up.
"Why wouldn't she feel safe her? We're still her family." Cheshire and I just glare at her.
"Safe? If she's so safe here then tell me, why did she come to me wearing that blue dress? The same style one from the day that her family starting dismissing her. Yes, I'm sure you've made her feel very safe here." Her father hands me a piece of paper with some words on it.
"If you find her, please tell her that I'm here when she's ready to speak with me." I nod at him before I turn away from the table and start to walk out. The silence was deafening. They all needed time to reflect on their actions and words towards from the last 20 years.