“That dress will look really good on you,” Chase said as he apparently was still in my room. I thought he had left, I had been so engrossed by the outfits.
I raised an eyebrow. “Perv. Give me some privacy so I can change.”
He held his hands out in defense. “Just wanted to make sure you found everything all right. I will be right outside the door if you need me.”
“Thanks,” I said, and added. “Seriously, though, thank you for everything.”
He simply smiled as he closed the door behind him.
I quickly changed into the dress. It was a bit long, but that was fine. I glanced at myself in the mirror and sighed. My hair was messed up completely from not having a shower and having been on the run since waking up in the middle of the night. Short hair liked acting out on its own accord. I was exhausted and I couldn’t wait for dinner and then being able to pass out on the bed that sat behind me.
My stomach started growling and I decided I better head downstairs before my stomach hated me even more. I opened the door to find Chase still waiting for me.
His eyes widened. “Wow.”
I shoved him. “Don’t make fun of me, this was the fastest thing to put on.”
“No, I meant wow you look beautiful in that. The color blue really suits you.”
I blushed. “Shut up. Let’s get downstairs to get something to eat.”
I didn’t particularly like receiving compliments on how I looked, it always made me blush and I really hated blushing when there were a lot of guys around. I swore if I got another compliment my whole face would turn red.
We entered the dining hall, which was ridiculously large compared to anything I had ever seen before. It was as big as a theater, with a table that stretched from one end to the other. It was exactly like what you would see in a movie. I kept forgetting this was a castle and that a royal family used to live here.
Malcolm greeted me at the doorway. “Lovely as ever, follow me this way and sit next to me.” He held out his hand. I glanced over at Chase, who was frowning. I didn’t know what to do, but Malcolm did offer to seat me first. I grabbed his hand and he led me to the table and sat me next to him and Howard, who sat at the head of the table. Chase ended up sitting across from me.
“I see you found some clothes. They suit you nicely,” Howard said.
I nodded. “Yes, I will return Davis’ clothes right away. Is there a washer and dryer I can use or something?”
He laughed. “No, we don’t have such things here. Don’t worry about it, just leave them outside your door and someone will take care of them.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks.”
“Now.” Howard raised his hand out to the food. “Let’s eat!”
I have no idea how, but there was an entire feast ready to eat. There was no way that Malcolm and the others made this, it had to have been magic, I swore. I mean, we were in Wonderland after all, I supposed anything was possible.
In front of me was sandwiches of all different types; cucumber, chicken salad, egg salad, and of course, tuna salad. Chase grabbed about ten slices of the tuna salad sandwich. I laughed as he stuffed them in his mouth. It made sense now. He was such a cat.
Along with sandwiches, there were all types of pastries, both savory and sweet. There were ham and cheese ones, potato and cheese pie, cottage pie, strawberry, peach, you name it, it was on the table. I smiled as I grabbed a shepherd’s pie one, and strawberry along with some egg salad sandwiches.
As for drinks, I should have guessed. There were at least seven pots of tea on the table. Malcolm had four glasses in front of him, each containing a different type of tea. He saw me staring at him.
“What is it?” Malcolm asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing, just that if I had any doubt of who you all were in the stories, I don’t anymore.”
Chase commented, his mouth full of tuna. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“There is a reason you all were portrayed as you were in the stories,” Howard said. “And none of you are helping your cases.”
Chase swallowed his food. “Look, I have no problem being portrayed fully as a cat, but Mad Hatter here got it off easy. How the story portrays him is nothing like how he is in real life.”
Malcolm’s eyes darkened. “Watch what you are saying. You know nothing.”
Chase let out a laugh. “Yeah right, I saw you out there in the Dark Forest, and my eyes don’t deceive me.”
“Chase,” Melvin spoke up. “Shut up. Now. That was a long time ago. You know as well as I that times have changed.”
“Right.” Chase stood up. “Now he's as pure as the driven snow. I can’t stand being around him anymore.” He grabbed his plate of food. “I’ll be eating on the roof if anyone needs me.”
Howard didn’t say anything as Chase stormed out and left us sitting there. I didn’t know what to do or say, I wanted to go after him, but it sounded like he wanted to be alone. Davis had a worried look on his face as he glanced at Melvin.
“Good riddance,” Malcolm said as he took a sip of his tea. “Now we don’t have to deal with that feline.”
The rest of dinner was rather silent and I ate my food awkwardly, wondering if Chase was going to come back. He didn’t.
Malcolm escorted me
