Meryl easily skipped alongside Dumas. She turned her head and called over her shoulder, "C'mon, Jeb, I'm sure we can be a little late to the lectures." She, for one, was delighted that this cute boy seemed to already like her enough to invite her and Jeb to a tea party - one belonging to a person named "The Hatter" and an "Alix".<span style="font-style: italic">What a peculiar name</span>, she mused, thinking about the former name. She couldn't wait to meet these two people.<br/><br/>And to think that Dumas also has a sister! Maybe<span style="font-style: italic">she</span>was the one that got lost, and Dumas was looking around for her.<br/><br/>Jeb gaped at the two retreating backs. "B-but--! We don't know him!" He quickly jogged to catch up and comfortably fell in rhythm with Dumas's fast pace beside Meryl. He urgently hissed in her ear, "We know nothing about him. For all we know he's taking us to a secluded alley to get mugged and beat."<br/><br/>Meryl whispered back, "But he's too young and...like, pink. The boy is wearing a dress, Jeboda. Besides, I already said we were going to help him back; I can't just chicken out. You can go on to school if you want though." Meryl, with her kind and considerate heart, would not know just how insulting that sounded to Jeb's ears. He recoiled and made a disgusted face when she turned back to Dumas. Was she suggesting that he was a scared coward to not want to follow the younger boy?<span style="font-style: italic">That settles it then</span>, he thought with finality. He continued to walk with them in stony silence. However, when they turned a corner, Meryl gasped at what they saw before them.