Who Stole the Tarts?

Alice walked into the beautiful garden at last, feeling happy and a little excited. The flowers were bigger and brighter than any she had ever seen. Near the gate, she saw three playing cards. They were painting white roses red, as fast as they could. "Excuse me," Alice said, "why are you painting the flowers?" "The Queen wanted red roses," one card said quietly, "but someone planted white ones by mistake. If she finds out, she will be very angry with us."

Just then, a long row of cards came into the garden. Behind them walked the King and the Queen of Hearts. The Queen had a loud voice and an angry face. She looked at the roses, then looked at Alice. "Who are you?" the Queen asked. "My name is Alice, Your Majesty," Alice said politely. "And what is your name?" she asked one of the cards. The card could not answer. "Off with his head!" the Queen shouted. But the King said quietly, "Now, now, my dear. He is only a young card." And nobody's head came off at all. Alice watched this quietly. She thought the Queen was not very kind, but she did not say so out loud.

Soon, the Queen wanted to play a game. It was the strangest ball game Alice had ever seen. The cards used live birds as bats, and small round animals as balls. Nothing worked the way it should. The bats kept walking away, and the balls kept rolling off in strange ways. Everyone was shouting, and the Queen shouted more than anyone else. "Off with her head!" she shouted at almost everyone, again and again. But no one's head ever came off. It seemed the Queen said this every few minutes about almost anything at all.

After the game, the Queen turned to Alice. "Have you met the Mock Turtle yet?" she asked. "No, Your Majesty," Alice said. "I don't even know what a Mock Turtle is." "Then go and see him," the Queen said. "He will tell you his story. He is down by the sea, and he is very sad." Alice thanked her and walked toward the sea, glad to get away from the noisy game and the shouting.

By the sea, Alice found a big turtle sitting alone on a rock. He looked very sad, and he was crying big tears. Alice walked closer, feeling sorry for him right away. "What is wrong?" Alice asked kindly. "Once, I was a real turtle," he said sadly. "I went to a school under the sea. We learned strange lessons there, like how to swim in circles and how to dream about dry land. Our teacher was an old fish who taught us every day. But that was long ago. Now I am alone, and I miss my old life and my old friends very much."

Alice felt sorry for the Mock Turtle. "I'm sure things will get better," she said, trying to be kind. Just then, they heard a loud voice calling from far away. "The trial is starting! The trial is starting!" "What trial?" Alice asked. "Someone took the Queen's cakes without asking," the Turtle said. "Now the King will ask everyone questions until he finds out who did it. We should go and see what happens."

At the trial, the King sat in a big chair, with the Queen next to him. All the animals and cards sat around them, listening quietly. The Hatter was called to answer questions first. "What do you know about the cakes?" the King asked. "I know that tea time is always six o'clock," the Hatter said. "That's not an answer!" said the King. The Queen agreed loudly. But the Hatter could not explain anything else, and no one understood any better than before. Everyone in the room began to talk at once, and it grew very noisy.

Then the King called Alice. As she stood up, she felt strange—she was growing bigger again! She still had a piece of mushroom in her pocket from before. She grew taller and taller until she was much bigger than everyone else in the room. "Sit down!" said the Queen. "I won't," said Alice. "You're growing too fast, and you must follow the rules!" the Queen shouted. "Rules or not, I won't sit down," Alice said bravely, standing as tall as she could.

The Queen turned red and looked more angry than ever. "Off with her head!" she shouted as loudly as she could. But Alice was not afraid anymore. "You're nothing but a pack of cards!" she said loudly. At that moment, all the cards flew up into the air around her, turning and turning like leaves in the wind.

Alice tried to push the cards away with her hands, and then she opened her eyes. She was by the river again, close to her sister, with real leaves falling softly onto her face. "Wake up, Alice!" her sister said softly. "You have been asleep for a long time." Alice sat up slowly and looked around at the quiet river and the warm afternoon sun. For a moment, she could not remember where the Queen and the cards had gone. It all felt very far away now, like a picture in a storybook.

"Oh, what a strange and wonderful dream I had!" Alice said. She told her sister all about the White Rabbit, the tea party, the Queen of Hearts, and the Mock Turtle by the sea. Her sister smiled and listened carefully to every word. Then Alice stood up and walked home with her sister, thinking happily about her amazing trip to Wonderland. She hoped that, one night soon, she would fall asleep and dream about that strange and wonderful place again.