Page 57 of Wondrous

“Oh,” Alex said, looking as if she wished she hadn’t asked.

“Alex and I were talking,” Maria said quickly, “while we were walking here. We think it would be a good idea to lay a trap for the third mock dragon. Rather than having to hunt him down, or risk him sneaking up on us.”

“What sort of trap?” I said.

“That’s the thing,” Maria said. “We don’t know what would lure him out. We don’t know anything about him.”

“I might,” I said slowly, and I told them about the charcoal-scented creature who had invaded my camp during my first night with the Traveling Tea Shop.

“I’m not certain he was the mock dragon, though,” I added.

“Sure sounds like him,” Alex said. “Did he say anything useful? He probably has a hobby, like the other two. It would be helpful to know what it is.”

“He definitely likes riddles,” I said. “He asked me a very silly one. Something about teacups and rivers.”

“Riddles.” Maria nodded. “Anything else? You said you served him tea?”

I nodded. “He seemed to like it. Most people do, though. The Hatter’s blends are the best in Wonderland. It’s a shame we can’t just invite him to a tea party.”

Maria laughed. “That doesn’t sound like a shame to me.”

I wasn’t laughing, though. I hadn’t meant it as a serious suggestion, but for some reason, the idea lingered. “A tea party,” I murmured.

Alex’s brow was furrowed. “What is it?”

“I’m not sure.” A smile was growing on my face. “But I think I have an idea. It’s a completely mad one, but that’s no reason not to try it.”

Chapter 29

We went back to Dead End Path, all talking at once. Alex and Maria wanted to know how we could possibly lure the mock dragon with a tea party, while Jack, it seemed, didn’t need to hear any details; he had already agreed with me and was exclaiming excitedly about a plan he knew nothing about. Unfortunately, after my initial enthusiasm died down, I realized I didn’t know any more than Jack.

“The mock dragon likes tea,” I said, “but the problem is, how do we host a tea party in the woods? I don’t want to bring him round the Hare’s, that’s certain. That thatch is like kindling, and as much as the toves get on my nerves, I don’t want them roasted.”

Jack, who was marching a little ahead of us with a self-important air, sternly eyeing the shadows lining the path as if they might otherwise be tempted to rear up and attack, abruptly stilled.

“What is it?” I said, my stomach lurching.

Jack gave me a delighted smile. Then he shifted into his jabberwock shape so smoothly that Alex and Maria shrieked in unison, and darted into the forest as fast as a snake made of mist.

“Now I’m convinced,” Maria said, her hand on her chest. “He is trying to frighten us to death.”

Jack reappeared in a shower of leaves, gliding through the undergrowth with his tail looped round something large. Something that alternately clattered and tinkled.

“My tea shop!” I cried.

Jack pulled the cart onto the path, coiling once around it in another dramatic gust of leafy wind before shifting back into a boy and beaming at me.

“Is that really necessary?” Alex muttered, picking a fern frond from her hair.

“Well!” Maria said, seeming at a loss. “I suppose that makes your idea—a bit more practical.”

I took a cursory inventory of the cart. It was better stocked than it had been when I’d abandoned it; instead of five folding chairs, there were twelve, and there was a sack of fresh scones and a jar of fresh cream and a pile of freshly laundered napkins, amongst other things. It was as if someone had not only taken the cart from the Hare’s house but raided the house before they left, as several of the teacups were from the Hatter’s most prized tea service, which he would never have allowed me to borrow.

“How did it get here?” Maria said. “It was almost right in our path!”

“I have an idea,” I said slowly, and told them about my theory.

“But how could it be the Cat?” Maria said, brow furrowed. “He’s not big enough to pull a cart.”