Terrant is watching them. He is too tired to worry about a smile or a pun, but he really appreciates his friends' attempts to cheer him up and, when that fails, inevitably try to distract him. Given the fact that the contents of his workshop are organized in alphabetical order, by color, age, height, weight, width, delight and, probably, with the approval of Alice, he had no way to keep himself busy. In the end, Alice promised to return before she finds out about it. Terrant fulfills his part of the promise, but not everything is so good, but he is trying!
The gentle whisper of the kitchen door opening awakens Terrant from the deep contemplation of the deck of cards. He looks up as Nivens McTwisp jumps in, followed by Bayard's second-oldest puppy, Bayto.Alarmed, why would Bayard send his son, for sure, something terrible happened! Terrant gets up, knocking over a bench.- Hatter! - Cheshire suppresses his incoherent, insane, raging madness, - I'm sure everything is in order. Byto, perhaps you could save this poor, in love guy from his misery?
Nivens looks nervously at Terrant. On his side, Bayto fights for breath, - Yes, yes, everything is fine! - Nivens assures everyone. Then, looking again at the newcomer, he says, “If you do not mind, Bayto, will I do the honors?”The puppy nods tiredly, flops down on a bench next to Cheshire, who pours him a cup of tea, and then quite rudely drinks his drink. Terrant pays no attention when Mallie starts scolding him for his bad manners at the table, and Thackery raises his saucer and starts drinking his spilled tea with deafening enthusiasm.“Don’t pay attention to them MacTwisp,” Terrant growls, not in the mood for tomfoolery that he would have enjoyed so much eight days ago.
Clearing his throat, glancing at Cheshire to calm him, he reaches into his vest pocket. Terrant watches as he takes out the envelope and, unable to stop himself, snatches it from its paw. His hands shake when he carefully struggles with the opening of the letter and when he loses patience while trying to pull out the folded parchment, he opens the envelope wide and the contents settle on the countertop.The war ends when colorful sketches fly around the table
- Ah, how sweet! - Mully is delighted, picking up the one on which the green fields are painted in the soft, morning light. Thackery examines another sketch of a sandstone palace with large, golden turrets. Cheshire completely forgets about his manners and hovers over the table, studying each image with the end of his tail in the sugar bowl.
Terrant unfolds the letter, and Nivens reluctantly takes up free space (but does not sit next to Terrant!), He checks the signature and, suddenly, everything is all right again!“This is from Alice,” he tells them, relaxing. All at once and from all sides, they invite him to read the message out loud. Terrant clears his throat and begins:"My dear friends. How are you doing in Marble? Is the castle still standing? Cheshire, watch your tail now. You know how he gets into trouble when you do not pay attention to him ... "- Oh, concern! Grumbles Cheshire, noting his unfortunate disposition, “My apologies,” he says with a shy smile, “Please continue.”With a hesitant look, Terrant continues:
“Shuhland is beautiful. The sketches that I sent are about the places we visited, I mean the Queen, the prince, his protector, myself and our guard. (I'm afraid we were quite noticeable during our tour here!) The royal craftsman also came with us and drew these wonderful sketches so that we could have some souvenirs from our trip.The first is Avenfire Palace, the home of the royal family. ”
- Give it here!
- Mine! My! My!
- Silence! I will keep the picture for everyone to see!
“Are they ... always like that?” - Nivens is surprised from behind his cup, looking at Malyamkin, Thackery and Cheshire.
- I hope so! - comments Bayto, attacking a sandwich with a cucumber.
- Stop it! - Terrant intervenes, again casting a glance at them.
Smiling in apology, Cheshire humbly holds in his paws the first illustration that everyone can admire.
Terrant continues: “First Avenfire Palace, home of the royal family. On the second evening of our trip (we stayed overnight in a hotel at the Underground Crossroads on the border with Snud), we were greeted by a festive atmosphere: dancers, singers and musicians, and even a girl with a snake, they all celebrated our arrival. Prince Avendale, the King and the Queen met us kindly at the entrance to the castle and greeted us in their house.The banquet that evening was truly unforgettable! I would like to be able to restrain my excitement and send it to all of you! ”
“We had to ask the Queen how to do this,” Cheshire grumbles, “the Overhead!”Terrant ignores this.“I promise to tell you all about it as soon as we get back. And perhaps you need to convince the Queen to throw a party in the style of Shuhland in Mramoria so that you yourself can experience it!