Page 62 of Madness

“I’m fine. A go doon regularly to retrieve Hare from Bander or Yasmine’s room.” He says.

Doris climbs out from his pocket, her nose twitching furiously as we all walk to solitary.

“Spy! Kill it.”

“It is not a spy. It is a mouse.” I say aloud.

“Twitch, twitch, twitch goes her nose, nose, nose.”

Harry comes up next to me, eyeing me suspiciously, “Why must yi always speak ti yourself?”

“Why does your rabbit wear a waistcoat?” I retort.

Harry laughs a loud, mocking sound that seems to bounce off the walls. “Yi really are mad, aren’t yi?”

“He’s not mad, he’s eccentric.” Dusty grins.

“Oh, an outstanding imagination, too.” Desmond laughs.

“Aren’t we all mad?” I counter because I thought that’s why we all ended up here in Wonderland.

“I’m not,” Dusty says.

“I’m not either.” Desmond also says.

“Then who is?”

The twins point to both me and Harry.

“I amnae mad!” Harry exclaims.

“You are so. You talk to animals that do not talk back, and you wear a ridiculous hat.”

“Mad hat!” Hare jumps in, pointing at Harry’s hat that he never seems to take off.

“Yi wheesht Hare. It’s just a hat,” Harry sternly says to Hare, whose shoulders slump.

“Mad Hatter, isn’t he?”the masculine voice retorts in my head, and I snicker in response.

“Wit’s so funny?” Harry narrows his eyes at me, “Wi need tae find Red, no have debates aboot who is mad or no.”

“You’re a mad hatter,” I snicker.

“Oh, he is,” Dusty says, laughing along.

“He is, he is.” Desmond also laughs, clutching his waist.

The hallway seems to twist as their laughter echoes off the walls, blending with the flickering light above us.

Harry’s face flushes a deep crimson that matches the guard’s uniform, “Call me what yi wantae, but at least I’m no the one talking to thin air,” he retorts, glaring at me.

Doris, the mouse, scurries back into his pocket with a huff, unsettled by our raised voices.

I ignore his cutting remark because he isn’t wrong and focus back on what we need to do, “Focus.” I say, my voice steady even when I want to leave them all behind and go after her myself, “We need to figure out where Red is.”

The twins seem to sober, exchanging a serious glance so different to the jokers they both can be, and Harry even looks sheepish as he nods along.

Hare entwines his hand into mine, and I glance down in surprise.

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