Alice, her doll & the Gibbering Mouse

(An updated and expanded version of an older scene from my series. Working on showing, instead of telling)

Down the hill from Merrihaven—past the stables where Leofwin quietly complained about deplorable conditions and his delicate constitution; past the Pinkstone Brothers' workshop where thick orange smoke seeped out from underneath the door, bringing with it the most foulest of foul stenches you would never hope to smell in your entire life; down the hill further, on the other side of Knoxby's shack—there was a scene so odd you would've thought you'd imagined it, if not for the fact that you and I just endured the past weeks (a harrowing experience at that).

Yes, yes. I know it was Max's tale, but we were there, weren't we?

Anyway... behind Knoxby's shack.

Alice sat on the grass between two bushes at the back of the shack. She made herself as small as possible by pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her thin arms around herself. She scanned The Downs slowly, occasionally swiping at the stiff pieces of matted hair in front of her eyes.

She flinched when a tiny cold, smooth hand tapped her foot.

The doll stood in front of her, its matted brown hair a mirror of her own. Its cracked porcelain face peeked around her legs. The painted pink smile remained frozen, entirely indifferent to the fact that one little blue eye stared ahead while the other dangled precariously from a red string.

Behind the doll stood the Gibbering Mouse. Its usually twitching whiskers were dead-still; its tiny hands remained clasped tightly in front of its chest, frozen in expectation.

Alice looked from the doll to the Gibbering Mouse and back again. The doll beckoned her to follow. Alice declined with a slight shake of her head.

The doll turned and grasped the Gibbering Mouse's hand. Walking a short distance away, they began to dance in a hodgepodge of movements — from the doll's stiff & robotic movements to the Gibbering Mouse's wild abandonment that had him tumbling & twirling. Alice watched for a moment before turning her gaze back to the Downs.

"Little Gibbering Mouse, what do you say? The old man has gone far, far away," said Alice. She rested her head on her knees and rocked back and forth.

The Gibbering Mouse squeaked and pirouetted over to her. "No," it said. "Beware, little boys. He will be back." The Gibbering Mouse curtsied. "The witch will bring him up through the crack."