The Wrong Alice (Edited Version)

Chapter 16

As I sat at breakfast the next morning, I picked at my food without eating any of it. I wasn't hungry. I didn't know if I'd ever be hungry again after the night before, but that moment specifically, I had less than an appetite for food. Rab seem to notice this downcast mood of mine and eventually frowned at me. "Alice, is something the matter?" he asked.

I didn't even look up. "Not really. I'm just not very hungry..." I said.

Rab set his fork down and reached over the table to press the back of his hand against my forehead. I held still for the skin-on-skin contact, noticing that it didn't affect me the way I had expected it to. When Rab sat back, I touched my forehead where his hand had been, my eyes still on my messy plate. It was cool, I thought. I didn't feel any heat from Rab's touch.

Rab didn't notice my conflicted face. "You don't have a fever. You're probably just tired from last night's unexpected visit," he said.

Tensing uncertainly, I looked up at him. "What?"

"I was thinking about it a lot last night, and I have a feeling I know who it was," Rab said thoughtfully.

I felt like I'd been caught red-handed and ducked my head. "Who?" I asked, praying he hadn't heard what Cheshire had said.

Rab sat back in his chair. "Using the elements of the visit, the fact that he waited until you were alone and in the woods of all places, means that he knew what he was doing," Rab explained.

Realizing he wasn't talking about Cheshire's visit, I let out a huge sigh of relief that was probably too obvious. "Yeah... The woods..." I said.

Rab picked up his tea cup and took a sip of rose tea, adding a few drops of cream to flavor it when it didn't suit his fancy. "I don't want to name names now, but once I know for sure, I'll see if I can get some information on why he sought you out," Rab said.

I simply nodded, over relieved to know Rab hadn't overheard Cheshire's confession. That would have been too embarrassing, I might have actually passed out from the utter embarrassment of it all.

However, Rab seemed disappointed with my silent reply and set his tea down in its saucer. "Is there something else you want to tell me?" he asked.

I quickly shook my head before I could dig a deeper hole for myself. "No, I'm okay. I was just... lost in thought," I said.

He didn't look like he believed me, but to my relief, he didn't persist. "Oh," was all he replied with as he went back to looking at his tea.

When the silence at the table grew to be slightly uncomfortable, I picked up my plate and took it to the sink. "Sorry for not eating breakfast," I said, trying to sound polite as I washed my dish. "I have something to do so I'll be back later."

As I hurried to the door and slipped on my jacket, Rab stood up to follow me. "Do you want me to go with you?" he asked.

"No, no. It's fine. I promise I won't take too long," I said. I hoped he didn't find a reason to follow me. I just wanted to be alone. Thankfully though, Rab simply told me to be careful and safe. I readily agreed and hurried through the trees to the spot where I fell before in the woods. I didn't expect much, but I still had a little hope.

When I arrived at the spot, I stopped and looked around. I wasn't sure exactly what I was looking for so long as I saw something that seemed of interest. I stood very still and listened, watched, felt the breeze. I closed my mind to shut out the other senses, trying to focus on any discernable noises that didn't belong, any colors that didn't match. However, after a minute or two of scanning the area, I frowned. It looked, sounded, and smelled like a regular patch of forest trees.