Wonderland: Conclusion

it feels good to escape with authors and poets and dream up new places with tales that are spun. but sometimes what's real and sometimes what isn't encroach on each other and read just as one. such are the worlds of rhyme but no reason that question the answers we thought we once had. and such are the worlds where nonsense is standard so all the sane people are deemed to be mad. WONDERLAND Wonderland: Prologue Wonderland I: The Hatter's Tale Wonderland II: The Watchmaker's Tale Wonderland III: The Hairdresser's Tale Wonderland IV: The Chef's Tale Wonderland V: The Sailor's Tale Wonderland VI: The Preacher's Tale Wonderland Conclusion Wonderland: What Really Happened - Spoilers! The hairdresser's husband - an ex jeweller - went to The Tabard to buy some gold from his watchmaker friend in order to make a ring for his wife. (The hairdresser - aka Alice) Rather than pay cash, and in agreement with the watchmaker, Alice's husband swapped a bottle of whisky for the gold (out of sight from the innkeeper of course who wouldn't have been happy to see such a transaction take place in the Inn). Whisky was plentiful at the couple's home as both he and Alice drunk excessively, although Alice was undergoing rehablitation and was managing to keep off alcohol. She helped out at The Tabard in the evenings and kept to drinking water. On arriving at The Tabard, Alice's husband noticed her playing chess with the preacher. The preacher got up from his chair at the very same moment Alice's husband caught sight of them. Alice's husband deduced that the preacher's actions of getting up and leaving The Tabard just as he'd arrived was proof that the preacher was somehow guilty of having an affair with his wife. There were rumours circulating at the time. It hadn't helped that Alice's husband saw his wife smile at the preacher. Alice liked the preacher and he liked her. Alice had not noticed her husband at the Tabard and she only found out he'd been there later that night when she got home. It's unclear if the preacher had noticed him. The preacher - an animal lover - may have actually got up because he was worried for the wellbeing of the Tabard Inn's cat, Duchess who had been scared by the storm. Maybe it had dawned on him that no one was looking after her since the chef had become incapacitated? Duchess was a stray cat but lived most of its time at The Tabard where she was fed by the chef. The inkeeper didn't mind as long as the chef kept working for him and besides, the innkeeper felt some guilt due to an affair he was having with the chef's wife. As the preacher ran out of the Tabard, he bumped into the sailor who was on his way in. Alice's husband ran after the preacher. He appeared livid. It was never going to end well. The hatter, drunk from a night at The Tabard and on his way home thinks he saw the preacher on a wall shouting out to someone or something..'possibly a cat'. The preacher may have located Duchess on a high wall outside and climbed up it. Despite having a false leg he was very fit and strong. Perhaps Alice's husband climbed the wall after him? Perhaps the preacher was pushed off the wall by Alice's husband and fell to his death? Perhaps the preacher slipped and fell by accident or perhaps Duchess the cat pushed past him on the wall causing him to fall? It was a stormy night and we'll never know. The full details aren't clear but the powers that be deduced that the preacher had no reason whatsoever to commit suicide so jumping off the wall to end his own life was ruled out. ..And, of course, Alice's husband was to meet his own demise courtesy of Alice later on that night. Update: The immediate events that led up to the preacher's death are still a mystery. The hatter was considered to be an unreliable witness. He was confused. On some days he believed Alice was his daughter and that his wife left him for royalty. He didn't have any children and he had never married and, sadly, he became further confused on the night of the storm after sustaining a head injury following a fall down his stairs at home. Alice had admitted her side of the events to the police and is now serving a jail sentence for the murder of her husband although her case is being revisited. By all accounts she is appealing her sentence claiming now that he hit her on a regular basis. And as for me..well, I'm the nurse who was given the task of keeping an eye on the suicidal sailor's movements that night. I followed him everywhere as requested by the doctor and it was a good job I did. I saw Alice's husband run out from The Tabard after the preacher and pulled the sailor from the sea later that night as he tried to drown himself. I accompanied the sailor to the hospital in an ambulance and while he was being assessed at A&E, I noticed the chef lying in a bed on an adjacent ward. He told me that he wouldn't be going back to work at The Tabard. (Just as well really. His wife has moved in with the innkeeper and taken her child with her. She is in charge of all the cooking now.) Oh and on my way home from the hospital I called the emergency services (yet again) for the watchmaker this time who I found lying dead under a tree. Duchess the cat was cowering next to an empty whisky bottle a short distance away. For all you cat lovers out there don't worry. I took Duchess home and she lives with me now! ..Sheesh!...You couldn't make any of this up!