Chapter Fourteen: And Shun the Frumious Bandersnatch

Alice kept her cool until she was in the air on the Flamingo, far from Eagle and his red knights, where she completely broke down in tears. She cried because she hadn't been able to best Eagle, in fact it had been stupid of her to try and face Eagle on her own, and now her stupidity was costing Hatter. She shuddered to think of the cruel and horrible things Eagle could be doing to Hatter now that he was a prisoner. She remembered all too well how Jack had looked in the crystal-ball, and now in her mind's eye Jack's injuries superimposed onto Hatter's features. The blowing wind dried her tears in streaks across her cheeks and she wiped them away resolutely. She sniffed in and took a couple of deep breaths, although it was hard to breathe easily when the Flamingo was going so fast.

Get a grip Alice, she told herself, you're just going to have to deal with the consequences of your actions, and trade the last piece of the Stone for Hatter, Jack and Duchess. She did, of course, realize that Eagle would say that her demands were too high, and would need something else to pay for their freedom. And she knew, without a doubt, that Eagle would ask her to trade herself for their liberation. And she also knew that if it meant freeing Hatter, she would do it.

She knew this with such clarity that it surprised her. She knew that she would gladly trade her life for his, because she loved him. Her fear and commitment-phobia from before was utter nonsense, and it made her want to weep again that she hadn't immediately shaken Hatter awake as soon as he'd said 'I love you' to her and said it back. Her fears had been unfounded, and it had been ridiculous of her to be afraid that Hatter would ever hurt her. She cursed at herself for not figuring it out sooner.

It took less time than she thought to Charlie, and soon she was back on the ground. As soon as her feet hit the ground her legs went out from underneath her, and she fell to the ground, still mired in her thoughts of Hatter and how stupid she'd been. Charlie, evidently lucid for now, jumped up from his hammock and came straight over to her.

"Alice, what's the matter?" he asked her, kneeling down next to her and enfolding her in his arms. Alice welcomed the embrace.

"Eagle captured Hatter, and will only let him and the others go if I bring him the last piece of the Stone...and if," she swallowed past the lump in her throat, "if I give myself to him."

Charlie spluttered, "Why, I ought to knock his head clean from his shoulders for even making such a demand! And I will, don't you worry, Just Alice, I'll soon set everything right. You just leave it to old Sir Charles James Malvoy the Third." He rubbed her arms comfortingly.

She sighed, "No Charlie, I've got to fix this mess I've made." She stood up, brushing dirt and debris off her jeans. Then she walked over to where she had hidden the real Stone piece. As she placed the necklace around her neck she suddenly remembered what Charlie had said earlier about the Bandersnatch, and a thought struck her. It quickly formed itself into a plan, and she had made up her mind. She was going to save Jack, Duchess, and especially Hatter; and she wasn't going to have to give herself up to do it.

"Charlie," she said, turning to him and tucking the Stone piece under her blouse, "what you said before, about the Stone controlling Bandersnatches, was that true?"

"Of course it's true!" Charlie replied indignantly, "Why else would I tell you such a thing?"

"Good. Can you still find them?" she asked.

"Without a doubt," he replied proudly.

Alice smiled, masking her terror of what she was about to do. "Point me in the direction of the male," she said, putting as much confidence and authority in her voice as she could muster. "I'm going after him."

Charlie, of course, jumped at the opportunity to showcase his skills communicating with the spirits and soon he was chanting and mumbling. As he spoke and muttered to himself Alice paced back and forth, cursing the time it was taking. Plus, she was terrified of what she was about to do. She believed what Charlie had told her before about Bandersnatches; how powerful and dreadful they were.

Soon though, Charlie figured out where the Bandersnatch was.

"How long will it take me to get there?" she asked him, hopping back on the Flamingo, ready to get going.

"Wait a moment!" Charlie stopped her before she could take off, grabbing the neck of the Flamingo. "I'm going with you, obviously."

Alice sighed, and gently pried his hands away. "No, Charlie, you have to stay here." Before he could protest, she carried on. "I need you to stay here, because...I don't know if this is going to work, and if it doesn't...I need you to go and save Hatter." She hated herself for lying to him, because obviously the old man had no chance against Haigha, Eagle, or the red knights, but what she was doing was a fool's mission, and she wasn't going to endanger anyone else. "Can you promise me you'll do that, if I don't come back?"

After a moment, Charlie nodded. "Good. Now, how long will it take me to get there?" she asked again.

"Not long at all," Charlie replied. "About a quarter of an hour on the Flamingo, if you travel as fast as you can. Just head south until you sense danger and feel fear turn your insides to jelly, and you'll know you're close. Then, you'll have to face it." Charlie searched her features carefully before her spoke again, "Just Alice, you are quite easily the bravest person I have ever known, and it was a pleasure, and an honour to serve and protect you. I'm telling you this not because I believe you shall perish, but because I know you will succeed in your quest to find and control the Bandersnatch." He finally stepped back from the Flamingo and saluted her with his sword. "Fly straight and true." Alice wiped away a tear at his words, then started the Flamingo and flew south.

They had thrown a cloth bag over his head so he couldn't see where they were taking him, and they tied his hands in front of him. This would have been to his advantage, except that Eagle had also ordered them to tie a rope around each ankle, and another rope was tied to the one that bound his wrists and then the three were tied together. Hatter could feel the weight of the knot in front of his waist, the rope they used was heavy and cumbersome.

One of them grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around and around in circles to mess with his sense of direction, and he nearly tripped over his own feet because of how they had them tied. Then, someone, Eagle he figured, tied yet another rope around his neck and led him by it. While they walked he had a red knight on either side of him, behind him, and Eagle leading him a few feet in front. He knew it was Eagle, because he kept the rope pulled tight, and would yank on it every once in a while so Hatter was forced to keep to a quick pace, or get strangled. It was hard going, what with being trussed up the way he was, and he tripped and fell multiple times. Not that him falling made Eagle stop, or even slow down, he would just drag him until Hatter either got himself up, or one of the knights beside him hauled him back to his feet; each time he tripped and fell he thought to himself, This is it, he's gonna just drag me along til I suffocate. But someone always picked him up and set him on his feet.

All he could think about the entire time was Alice. He was terrified for her, worried even more about her than his own well-being. He knew that she would do what Eagle told her to do, because they had him captured, as well as Jack and Duchess. He also knew she would probably try something incredibly brave and stupid, and that scared him even more. But what scared him the most, the thing that terrified him all the way to his bones; was the knowledge that Eagle would demand her to trade herself for him...and he was certain she would. Because that was who she was, Alice would do the "right" thing, even if it cost her her own life. She would trade herself for the three of them, and become Eagle's personal toy.

Just the thought, the mere idea, of Eagle touching her in any way, shape or form, caused shudders to run up and down his spine, and a rage more intense than he'd ever experienced to burn deep in his belly. If he thought he'd felt anger before at the idea of Alice with Jack (or any other man, not immediately related to her), it paled vastly in comparison with the wrath he was experiencing right now. He knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that if he was free right now, he would tear the man limb from limb for even intimating such a thing. Hell, he already wanted to kill him for laying a hand on her before.

He wasn't sure how long they walked for; all he knew was that he was dead tired. But he knew they were there, because he heard the creak of an old door, and then he heard the slam of the doors hitting the ground. An old cellar, he mused, wondering just where they were. He knew they were still outside the city, because he could still hear the sounds of being out in the open, and the terrain had gotten rough and they had gone down a steady slope the longer they walked. So he knew they were going away from the majority of the populace. Probably set up in someone's abandoned farm-house, and built a nice little lair underneath it, thoughts whirled through his mind as he tried to figure out how long they had walked and what direction they had walked in, to try and triangulate where they might be.

His thought process was jolted when he was picked up and thrown mercilessly down a flight of stone steps and landed, hard, on his back on a stone floor. The fall knocked the breath out of him and he laid there for a moment, wheezing to force the air back into his lungs. He heard the door above him slam back shut, the slide of a plank of wood across, locking them in, and then heard another thump, likely a heavy weight placed on top just to make it extra difficult to get out.

Once he had caught his breath he reached up and pulled the bag off his head so he could finally see. Not that he could actually see much, once he did. It was quite dark; the only light that came in was filtered through the cracks of the door above. So he lay quietly and waited for his eyes to adjust to the semi-darkness.

Suddenly, he heard a noise in the darkness; the clink of chains, and Hatter sat up quickly. "Who's there?" he asked into the semi-darkness.

"God, Hatter, is that you?" a hoarse male voice drifted toward him, and it sounded weak and tired. "Damn, I had hoped they wouldn't catch you."

Hatter squinted his eyes in the low light, and got up. "Jack... is that you?"

"Yes, last time I checked it was," Jack replied with a cough. "Excuse me for not coming over to you, they've got me chained to this wall." Hatter walked towards Jack's voice until he could see him. He gasped at what he saw. Jack was standing slumped against the wall; his arms were chained up over his head. His wrists were shackled and a chain ran between them, which was attached to a hook several feet above his head. "I wasn't aware I looked that bad," he said with the attempt of a smile.

He looked like hell. His clothes were torn and bloody, hanging off him in scraps. His hair was matted in dried blood, and his face was caked in it. He had cuts and bruises all over his face, his right cheek was split wide open, and so were his lips. Hatter could see through the rips in Jack's clothing that his torso was covered in blood, bruises, and other marks.

"Bloody hell man, what have they done to ya?" Hatter finally asked, striding over to him and reaching up for the chain. He yanked it out of the wall and nearly dropped it when Jack collapsed on the ground with a cry of pain. Apparently it had been supporting his weight. He knelt down in front of him and tried to help him get into a somewhat more comfortable position, and then sat next to him.

"I wasn't sure if you would come to my aid," Jack said after a moment.

Hatter wasn't quite sure what to say, so he just shrugged. "Well, Alice was coming, so I was coming with her."

"Oh please don't tell me they have her too?" Jack asked, and he actually sounded sincere.

"No, they don't have her. Yet," Hatter replied bitterly. Then he filled Jack in on all of the details of their predicament.

"Damnation," was all Jack said after that. "I suppose that means that this madman Haigha is going to get what he wants. Unless Alice can come up with a suitable plan of action, though I fail to see what she's going to be able to do."

Hatter slumped against the wall, feeling hopeless. "I'm afraid I don't know either Jack." He sighed. "So, how long do I have until they come to do me up like they done you?" He suddenly heard the door slam open, and he squinted against the sudden bright. He looked up and saw two identical figures silhouetted against the light.

Doctors Dee and Dum stepped down the stairs, each holding a case. "Not long at all," one said, and they both smiled. The door behind them closed and suddenly they were in darkness again. A split second later and one of them lit some kind of light, and a flare lit up the room with a greenish tinge.

"Oh, look Dee, he's let our toy fall on the floor," Dum said.

"And we had it hanging up so nicely," Dee replied.

"Oh well, we'll just have to pick it back up to play with again. It's rather worn out though now, and not quite so much fun."

"But now we have a brand new one." Hatter jumped up from the floor and got into a defensive stance. "Oh, this one is walking around, can't have that."

Dum reached into his pocket and took something out; Hatter couldn't see what it was. Suddenly he flicked his hand out and threw whatever it was at Hatter. It hit him and exploded in smoke and powder, and Hatter just looked at them, mystified. Then, he felt his arms and legs get heavy and numb, and he fell to the floor. The powder must have been some kind of paralysing agent. Hatter could do nothing but curse at the two men as they chained Jack back up and then hoisted him up a few feet away from Jack and chained him to the wall.

"We've had this one before haven't we?" Dum said, looking at Hatter and cocking his head to the side.

"Indeed we have. Do you remember what we used on him last time?" Dee said, reaching into his bag and taking out a very familiar looking object. Hatter's stomach curled with dread. It was a cattle prod, just like the one they had used on him before.

"Oh, this is going to be such fun."