Mad About the Hatter by Dakota Chase

Author:Dakota Chase [Chase, Dakota]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2015-08-06T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

IT WAS like walking through a pool of corn syrup. That was the only way Henry could describe the feeling of stepping into and through the looking glass. The not-quite-fluid was clear but gelatinous, and it filled every crevice of his body—his ears, his nose, and he suspected, his eyes and mouth had he not had instinctively squeezed them shut. It only took a moment to pass through the viscous fluid, but that was quite long enough as far as Henry was concerned.

Surprisingly, when he stepped through to the other side, he was as dry as he’d been before entering the mirror. Whatever substance comprised the membrane between the worlds, it dried instantaneously when it hit air.

Henry was thankful for small favors. He would’ve hated being bogged down by the syrupy glop, dripping long streamers of mirror-snot all over the place.

There was a wall of white before him, which he quickly realized was a sheet. Pushing it aside, he stepped out from in front of the mirror. He was in an attic, filled with boxes of junk and trunks, and cast-off toys. He only hoped the attic was in Alice’s house. He would’ve hated to have to explain his presence in someone else’s.

“What is this place?”

Henry started at the sound of the familiar voice. Spinning around he came nose-to-nose with Hatter.

“What are you doing here, Hatter?” Henry gave him a shove. “Why did you follow me here?”

“Why not? My only other option was to stay behind and allow the Queen to chop off my head for letting you escape. I simply chose the less painful and, by all accounts, permanent option.” He touched the tip of a rocking chair, and tsked at the dust left on his forefinger. “I ask again… where are we?”

“I think we’re at Alice’s house,” Henry answered absently, his mind running amok with questions. What was he going to do with Hatter here in the real world? What would Alice say when she saw Hatter? Or worse, vice versa? Most of all, why did he feel an overwhelming sense of relief that he hadn’t left Hatter behind?

He motioned for Hatter to follow him. The only way out of the attic was by a staircase that folded up into the ceiling. The only problem was, it wasn’t built to be opened from inside the attic—only from the hallway beneath. He guessed the builders hadn’t counted on anyone magically appearing into the attic by way of an enchanted mirror.

He led Hatter to one of the only two windows in the attic. It was small and round, but big enough for each of them to fit through. Henry unlocked it and pushed it open. There was a large oak tree growing close to Alice’s house, and its spreading limbs were in easy reach of the window. He climbed out of the window onto a small ledge, and jumped onto a broad limb. “Come on, Hatter. It’s easy.”

Hatter peered at the tangle of branches and leaves. “Are you quite certain there are no tree sharks in there?”

“Cross my heart.

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