Years further in the past, Alice steered¹ the Chronosphere to a safe landing. Once again, she stood on the outskirts² of Witzend, but this time the air had a winter bite.

Her shoes crunched³ on the frost-covered ground as she made her way into the village. Strolling around her, people wore heavy coats, and their cheeks were pink from the chill.

Suddenly, a tiny grinning set of teeth, followed by an aqua-and-gray-striped kitten's tail, appeared from around a corner. That must be a young Chessur! Alice thought. The tail twitched⁴ teasingly, and a bloodhound puppy—who could only be Bayard—bounded into sight.

Two plump young boys toddled⁵ into view, their arms knocking against each other; these were the young Tweedles! Trailing behind them was a very dapperly dressed eight-year-old boy with bright orange hair. There was no mistaking the Hatter, no matter his age.

Smiling, Alice watched her young friends.

"Tarrant!" A stern voice called.

Hatter stopped mid-step and turned toward his father, whose tall figure was framed by the doorway⁶ of his shop. Zanik, his arms crossed over his chest, was frowning.

Dragging his shoes, the young Hatter trudged⁷ toward his family's shop. He perked⁸ up when he noticed Alice standing⁹ in the shadows. Perhaps drawn¹⁰ by her colorful tunic¹¹ or the hat on her head that he himself would later create, he skipped over to her. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her into the shop.

Zanik, who had his nose buried in an account book, glanced up, his eyes briefly¹³ focusing on Alice.

"We're closed," he said.

Hatter ran around the desk to join his father.

"Papa! Look!" he cried. "A customer with a lovely head. Right here!"

"I'm sorry, miss," Zanik continued, ignoring his son. "You'll have to come back another time."

Zanik shut the ledger¹⁴ with a snap, tucked it under his arm, and moved toward a back room. Alice knew he wanted her to leave, but she stayed put, waiting for an opportunity to broach¹⁵ the subject of the future with Zanik now that she was there.

"Oh, and, Papa, look!" Hatter clamored at Zanik's side, tugging¹⁶ on his coat.

"Not now, Son," Zanik said firmly.

"I made something for you in school," Hatter continued. He flopped¹⁷ open his schoolbag and dug into it.

Zanik sighed. "I keep telling you I'm busy. What is it?"

Caught up in their conversation, both Zanik and Tarrant seemed unaware¹⁸ that Alice had lingered in the shop.

Hatter pulled out his present, his face full of hope. Alice felt a jolt¹⁹, her heart fluttering at the sight of the tiny blue paper hat cupped in his hand.

"A hat!" Hatter exclaimed as he held it out proudly.

"This? Let me have a look." Zanik took the hat and began to examine it. "If my son is going to make a hat, he will make a proper one. Do something, do it right, eh? Look here"—he jabbed at the hat—"the band is crooked²⁰."

As Zanik's fingers poked²¹ at the band, the paper ripped. In the stillness of the shop, the sound echoed. Alice cringed; Hatter looked like he'd been slapped.

"Ah. Oh. Hmm," Zanik muttered. "Well, cheap materials. There's your lesson. Tell you what, tomorrow I'll help you make a real hat, Son. Not one of these pretend ones, eh?"

Zanik balled up the paper hat and tossed it into the waste bin¹². Hatter's eyes brimmed with tears as he saw it arc through the air. fleeing from the room, he passed his mother on the stairs. Though Tyva reached for him, he barreled past her without a word.

"You're too hard on him, Zanik," Tyva said as she joined her husband. She did not notice Alice by the door, either.

"I'm hard on him because he has great potential." Zanik's mouth twitched slightly. "It's how my father was with me, and his father with him."

He walked to his desk and opened one of the drawers. Inside, Alice saw a sea of green-and-white Swizzles. She stepped forward slightly to make sure she wasn't imagining things. The movement caught Zanik's eye, and his head snapped up. With a quick push, he shut the drawer.

"Miss, I told you, we're closed," Zanik said in a tone that brooked²² no argument.

Alice bowed her head and backed out of the store, her expression pensive²³.

Time shifted irritably²⁴ in his chair. Alice still hadn't shown up for tea and the Hatter was becoming tiresome—as were his companions. Time's eyes drifted to where Mallymkun danced in circles on the table and the March Hare bounced up and down as he poured himself some tea.

Time's breaths came in heavy pants and his shoulders sagged²⁵ slightly. "Now, when is Alice coming?" he asked impatiently.

Hatter's lips twitched. Imagine Time's not knowing the when of something. Surely this all powerful being would be aware of every event in every second.

Hatter sprang around Time's chair, leaning over one shoulder, then the other as he fired questions.

"Enough!" Time bellowed²⁶. flinging the Hatter off, he jerked to his feet and, with narrowed eyes, rounded on him. "She's not coming, is she?"

"I never said she was, old bean," Hatter said nonchalantly. He sauntered to a chair and slid into it. "I merely said I invited her."

Time's eyes nearly popped out of his skull²⁷. "What? You! You—you ..." he stammered²⁸ in rage. He took a deep breath, then continued more calmly. "Nicely done, sir. But now it's my turn." His eyes glinted menacingly. "You were asking when ‘now' is?"

Time lifted his cloak once again to reveal the clock in his chest. The hands read 5:59.

"Now is precisely²⁹ one minute to teatime," Time continued. "And until young Alice eventually joins you for tea, it will always be one minute to teatime." He smiled smugly. "Enjoy your little party."

Spinning the clock in his chest backward, Time disappeared.

"What? Wait, what's he done?" Mallymkun asked. She and Thackery both twisted in their own seats, squirming to get free.

Hatter tried to stand up but couldn't! He pushed his arms down harder on the chair's arms and strained with his legs, but it was no use.

He was stuck in place.

 

爱丽丝回到了更早的过去，她操纵着时空传送仪安全着陆。她又来到了奥特兰的郊外，但这一次空气中弥漫着一丝寒意。

她走在通往村庄的路上，鞋子踩在霜冻的地面上嘎吱作响。她周围的行人都穿着厚厚的大衣，脸蛋冻得发红。

突然，拐角处露出一排笑嘻嘻的牙齿，后面拖着一条水蓝色和灰色相间的猫尾巴。那一定是小时候的妙妙猫了！爱丽丝心想。那条尾巴调皮地甩动着。这时一只小猎犬跳入了视线——那肯定是贝亚德。

两个胖嘟嘟的小男孩互相推搡着，摇摇晃晃地走来，他们是小时候的叮咚兄弟!跟在他们身后的是一个着装整洁的八岁男孩，顶着一头亮橘色头发。他肯定是疯帽子，就算是小时候，他的特征也那么明显。

爱丽丝微笑地看着她年少的朋友们。

“塔兰特！”一声厉喝传来。

小疯帽子停下脚步，朝父亲转过身来。桑尼克高大的身影出现在自家店铺门口。他手臂环抱在胸前，紧锁着眉头。

小疯帽子只好不情愿地拖着脚步，走向自家的店铺。他看见站在阴影里的爱丽丝，一下子振作了精神。他被爱丽丝吸引住了，也许是因为她那件鲜艳的外衣，也许是因为她头上的那顶帽子（疯帽子在未来制作的帽子）。他蹦蹦跳跳地向爱丽丝走来，抓起她的手，拉着她走进了店里。

桑尼克正在埋头记账，他抬头扫了一眼，目光在爱丽丝身上停留了片刻。

“我们打烊了。”他说道。

小疯帽子绕过桌子，跑到父亲身旁。

“父亲，你看！”他大声说道。“这位顾客的帽子多可爱。 快看！”

“不好意思，小姐。”桑尼克完全不理会儿子，继续说道，“您下次再来吧。”

桑尼克一把合起账本，夹到腋下，向后面的房间走去。爱丽丝知道桑尼克并不想招待她，但她仍站在原地。既然来了，就得等待机会和桑尼克谈一谈未来的事。

“噢，父亲，看！”小疯帽子拽住桑尼克的外衣，在他身边嚷 嚷着。

“别闹了，儿子。”桑尼克严厉地说道。

“我在学校里给你做了个礼物。”小疯帽子继续说道，他猛地拉开书包，将手伸了进去。

桑尼克叹了口气：“我说了我在忙。是什么东西？”

桑尼克和小疯帽子只顾着说话，似乎没有察觉到爱丽丝还在店里徘徊。

小疯帽子从书包里拿出礼物，脸上满是希望。看到疯帽子手中小巧的蓝色纸帽子，爱丽丝感到很震惊，她的心微微一颤。

“一顶帽子!”小疯帽子骄傲地举起来，大声告诉桑尼克。

“就这个？让我看看。”桑尼克拿过帽子仔细端详。“我的儿子如果要做帽子，一定能做得好。做什么事，都一定要做到最好，对吧？看这里，”他戳了戳帽子，“这帽圈弯了。”

桑尼克用手指戳帽圈时，帽子上的纸裂开了。纸张撕裂的声音在一片寂静的店铺中回响。爱丽丝向后退了退。小疯帽子的脸色看起来像是被谁扇了一耳光。

“啊，哦，嗯——”桑尼克低声说道，“而且，材质也不够高档。这就算是个教训了。明天我帮你做一顶真正的帽子，儿子。别再做这种不像样的帽子了，好吧？”

说着桑尼克把纸帽子揉成一团，丢进了垃圾筒。看到那团纸在空中画过一道弧线，小疯帽子的眼里盈满了泪水。他跑出房间，在楼梯上遇到了母亲。尽管泰瓦向儿子伸出了手，他还是一言不发地从母亲身边跑了过去。

“你对他太严厉了，桑尼克。”泰瓦说着，走到丈夫身旁。她也同样没有注意到站在门边的爱丽丝。

“我对他严格要求，是因为他很有潜力。”桑尼克微微抽动着嘴角，继续说道，“我父亲是这么教导我的，作为他的父亲，我也应该这么教导他。”

说完他走到桌前，拉开一个抽屉。爱丽丝瞧见抽屉里堆满了绿白相间的糖果。她轻轻向前走了几步，以确认自己没有看花眼。她的动作引起了桑尼克的注意，他突然抬起头，一下子关上了抽屉。

“这位小姐，我说过了，我们打烊了。”桑尼克的语气不容置疑。

爱丽丝低下头，神情忧郁地退出了店铺。

这时，“时间”正在椅子上不耐烦地变换着坐姿。爱丽丝仍然没有在茶会上露面，疯帽子也变得无趣了——他的同伴们也一样。“时间”的目光移向了在桌上转着圈跳舞的睡鼠和上蹿下跳给自己倒茶水的三月兔。

“时间”喘着粗气，微微垂下肩，不耐烦地问：“那么，爱丽丝什么时候到？”

疯帽子的嘴唇抽动了一下。难以置信，“时间” 居然不知道某件事何时发生。像“时间”这么强大的人物，理应对每一秒发生的每一件事都了如指掌。

疯帽子一边连环炮似的问着问题，一边绕着“时间”的椅子转来转去，一会儿靠上左肩，一会儿又靠上右肩。

“够了!”“时间”大叫一声，甩开了疯帽子。他猛地站起身，眯起眼睛，生气地责问道：“爱丽丝今天不来了，是吧？”

“我可没说爱丽丝今天要来，老伙计。”疯帽子若无其事地说。他信步走向一把椅子，坐了下来。“我只说我邀请了她。”

“时间”的眼球几乎要蹦出来了。“你说什么？你！你——你……”他气得话都说不好了。他深吸一口气，然后稍微平静一些说道：“干得漂亮，先生。不过现在轮到我了。”“时间”目露凶光：“你刚才不是问‘现在’是什么时候吗？”

“时间”又一次掀起外衣，露出他胸口的钟。指针显示的时间是5点59分。

“现在距离茶会正好一分钟，”“时间”接着说道，“时间将永远停在这一刻，直到小爱丽丝来参加你们的茶会。”说完他得意地笑了。“好好享受你们的小派对吧。”

“时间”把胸口的钟向后拨了一下，然后便消失了。

“怎么回事？等等，他对我们做了什么？”睡鼠问道。她和三月兔都在自己的座位上扭动着身体，想要挣脱这一切。

疯帽子也发现自己站不起来了！他更加用力地按着椅子扶手，绷紧双腿，可是仍然无济于事。

他被定住了。

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