A Wolf with a Ladder

Once Alice had found her way out of the woods, she saw a little white cottage with a red-shingled roof, a white brick chimney, blue window shutters, and a small blue front door. In front of the house was a gate that matched the window shutters and door, which was accompanied by a small white brick wall and a long white fence that surrounded the house.

"I wonder who lives here?" she said, as she walked over to the gate. She stood there as she then heard a familiar voice calling out from above an open window.

"Marylou! Where is that girl? Where did she put them? Marylou! Marylou!"

"The circus mouse!" Alice exclaimed, her face lightening up as she saw Timothy from the window. Just as she opened the gate and headed toward the front porch, Timothy closed the window shutters and opened the front door a moment later.

"No use! Can't wait! I'm terribly late! Oh, me! Oh, my! Oh, me! Oh, my!" he exclaimed, as he darted out of the house, holding a gold trumpet in his hand and wearing a white tunic that had a red heart printed on it and a pale blue court ruff over his regular outfit.

"Excuse me, Mr. Mouse," Alice said to Timothy, "I've been trying to—"

Timothy turned around and ran over to Alice, though he had thought she was this "Marylou" person he was calling out earlier.

"Why, Marylou! What are you doing out here?" Timothy asked her, frowning at her.

"Marylou?" Alice repeated, a puzzled expression forming on her face.

"Don’t just stand there, do something! No, no! Go get my gloves! I'm late!" Timothy barked, hopping in front of Alice and holding up his large pocket watch.

"But late for what?" Alice asked him, "That's just—"

"My gloves," Timothy shouted, blaring his trumpet vociferously, forcing Alice to go inside the cottage. "At once! Do you hear?"

"Goodness," Alice said to herself, as she headed up the blue staircase. "I suppose I should be taking orders from Dinah next."

Once she made her way up the stairs to Timothy‘s bedroom, Alice started her search for Timothy's missing gloves.

"If I were a circus mouse," she said, looking through a white wooden dresser, "where would I keep my gloves?"

When she opened a porcelain vase-like jar that was on the dresser, there were cookies in various shapes and colored frostings, and each of them had messages, such as "TAKE ONE" and "TRY ME". These were the same cookies she saw back when she was struggling to get the key onto the table at only ten inches tall.

"Oh, thank you." Alice said, as she picked out a pink flower-shaped cookie with the words "EAT ME" written in brown frosting and took a bite of it, "Don’t mind if I do." As she looked through a chest full of clothes while humming, however, Alice started to grow at an alarming rate, and her head hit the ceiling. The cookie had caused her to grow again—just like last time!

"Oh! Oh, no, no! Not again!" she exclaimed.

Timothy tapped his foot rapidly and looked at his watch with an impatient frown on his face. He jolted in shock and rushed back inside the house, with a fear of being very, very tardy.

"Marylou!" he called out.

Alice was still growing very rapidly as her arms emerged from the windows, and her right foot was toppling over furniture in Timothy's room, just as Timothy had darted up the staircase to the door of his bedroom.

"Now, you see here, Marylou!" Timothy started to say as he opened the door, only to see Alice's colossal right foot struggling to get through. "HEEEELLLLP!"

The brown circus mouse gasped in shock and tried to escape, but he was pushed down the stairs by her foot, which had finally found its way through the door, and blared his trumpet again. He then headed for the front door and opened it, only to be pushed through some of his broken possessions by Alice's now fully huge foot. As he got out from underneath the destruction, the frenzied circus mouse cried out in horror as he saw what was happening to his house. Alice's arms had sprouted out of the windows, and her feet had emerged from the doorways.

"NOOOO! HELP! MONSTER!!" Timothy shouted in a panic, running away from his house and blaring his trumpet again, "Help! Assistance!!"

Alice was struggling to get up, but it was no use. Timothy's house was too snug for her to break free, and therefore, she was completely stuck like a fly attached to flypaper.

"Oh, dear!" she complained, placing her left hand on the rooftop. Just then, she heard Timothy's voice, as he had come back with someone to help him.

"A monster! A monster, Jim Crow! In my house, Jim Crow!"

"Jim Crow." Alice repeated in an unamused tone of voice, as she recalled seeing him in the ocean and him ignoring her desperate call for help while rolling her eyes.

Timothy was hopping around Jim Crow, who was walking with him down the dirt path back to his house.

"Settle down, old chap," Jim Crow calmly said to Timothy, as he twirled his cane with his right wing. "Can't be as bad as all that, you know."

"My poor house..." Timothy said to Jim Crow, still worried about his precious home. "Ohhh, my beautiful roof and rafters...all my walls, and—there it is!"

Jim Crow stopped in front of the house, and his hat flew off his head as his eyes widened in shock, and he almost dropped his cane in the process.

"By Jove!" he exclaimed, raising his eyebrows and his shocked expression changing into a smile, "Jolly well is."

Alice's giant hands opened the shutters, and she peeked through the open window to see Timothy and Jim Crow, her eyes blinking with curiosity.

"Well, do your thing, Jim Crow!" Timothy exclaimed, pushing Jim Crow through the open gate and hiding behind it.

Jim Crow approached the gigantic Alice and examined her carefully, before replying as he tapped her shoe with his cane: "Yes, indeed. An extraordinary situation, but..."

"But-but-but-but what?!" Timothy exclaimed, finally coming out from behind the gate.

Jim Crow blew his beak on his light blue handkerchief and put it away before placing a wing on Alice's foot and crossed his right leg over his left.

"But I have a very simple solution!" he said, delighting the giant Alice.

"Thank goodness!" Alice said in response to Jim Crow's announcement.

"W-W-W-What is it?" stuttered Timothy.

"Simply pull it out the chimney."

"Yes! G-G-Go on, go on! Pull it out!" Timothy exclaimed, running over and trying to push Jim Crow, who was simply immovable.

"Who, me?" Jim Crow questioned him, "Don’t be ridiculous! What we need is a...Er...Hmmm..."

A whistling noise was heard once Jim Crow started thinking, and he turned to see a light brown wolf with a black nose, wearing a white dress shirt, a matching bow tie, a black tuxedo, matching trousers, and English cap. He was also holding a broom in his right hand and a long ladder in his left as he was walking by Timothy's house.

"A wolf with a ladder!" Jim Crow exclaimed.

"Hmmm? Oh, Wolf!" Timothy called out to the wolf, grabbing his attention, "Wolf!"

The Wolf lifted his cap up as a part of greeting the two, but he then felt himself being pulled through the gate by Timothy.

"We need a laf with a wolder...A wolder..." the circus mouse said to The Wolf, "Can you help us?"

"At your service, governor!" The Wolf replied kindly to the circus mouse, saluting to him. He suddenly dropped his broom when he felt Jim Crow's wing on his shoulder.

“Wolf, my lad," Jim Crow said to him. "Have you ever been down a chimney?"

"Why, governor," The Wolf said. "I've been down more chimneys!"

"Excellent, excellent!" Jim Crow said with a smile, "You just pop down the chimney and haul that monster out of there."

Alice was confused by Jim Crow's choice to have The Wolf pull her out of the chimney, for she was simply too big to fit right through it. *Why would they have a small wolf pull me out of such a tiny chimney?* she wondered, *I don’t think this will help me out at all...*

"Right-o, governor!" The Wolf said, climbing past by Alice. Just then, he moved back down to see Alice through the window and cried out in alarm, "Monster?!"

He let out a frightened scream and scurried down the ladder, only to be pulled on the tail by Timothy and Jim Crow. The two were trying to calm him down and get him back up the ladder so he would do his job, but The Wolf was too frightened by the horrific vision of the gigantic Alice to do so. The Wolf scurried back down the ladder again, only to be carried up by Jim Crow.

"Settle down now. That's better," Jim Crow said to the frightened wolf in an enthusiastic voice. "Wolf, lad. You're passing up a golden opportunity."

"I am?" The Wolf repeated, a smile of delight lightening up on his face.

"You can be famous," Jim Crow added, as he was still taking The Wolf up the ladder. That added the fuel to The Wolf's budding excitement.

"I can?"

"Of course!" Jim Crow chirped. Once they reached to the top of the roof, Jim Crow placed The Wolf into the chimney.

"There's a brave lad! In you go now," he continued to say to The Wolf. "Nothing to it, ol' boy. Simply tie your tail around the monster's neck and drag it out."

"Bu-But-But, governor!" The Wolf started to reply, only to be shoved down the chimney by Jim Crow.

"Good luck, Wolf."

Just as The Wolf was completely pushed down the chimney, smoke came out from the fireplace, shrouded the room, flew up in the air, and tickled Alice's nose. She felt her head lifting itself up. The poor, giant blonde-haired girl was about to sneeze!

"Ah...ah...ah...ah...ah..."

Jim Crow wobbled on the roof once he felt Alice's head bouncing him around, and he jumped onto the ladder as fast as he could.

"Ah...ah...ah...ah...ahh...ah...ah...ah...ah...ah..."

Timothy took refuge behind Alice's giant foot as the smoke emerged from the open window.

Suddenly, Alice sneezed loudly.

"Ah-ah-ah...AH-AH-AHH-CHOO!"

The Wolf swiftly flew out of the chimney and into the sky like a rocket launching into outer space. It was quite a surprise to Timothy and Jim Crow as they watched him flying into the clouds above them and disappearing out of the view.

“Well, there goes The Wolf!" said Jim Crow, as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Poor Wolf!" Alice said as her eyes gazed from the open window, and her hand was in front of the window.

Now that The Wolf was no use for the monstrous problem, Jim Crow had something else in mind. So he took out a match and used it to light up a pipe that had been in his mouth the whole time he was present. "Uhh...perhaps we should try a more energetic remedy!"

"Yes!" Timothy replied to Jim Crow, pointing to his pocket watch, "Anything! Anything, but hurry!"

"I propose that we, uh..."

"Yes! Go on! Yes!"

"I propose that we...YOW!!!" Jim Crow cried, as he had felt the flame of the lit match burn his fingers.

"By Jove, that's it!" exclaimed the crow, "We'll burn the house down!"

"Yes!" Timothy replied, chuckling and nodding in response to his suggestion, "Burn the house—WHAT?!" But his eyes widened in shock because he knew that would mean he would lose his house to the burning flames if they would choose to go with it.

"Oh, no!" Alice said, also alarmed by Jim Crow's new plan.

Jim Crow started gathering any of Timothy's valuables that would be used as firewood as he started to sing a joyous tune of his. The first item he picked out was a chair, much to the poor circus mouse's worries.

Jim Crow: (spoken, laughing) Ho, ho, ho!
(singing) *Oh, we'll smoke the blighter out*
*We'll put the beast to rout*
*Some kindling, just a stick or two*
*This bit of rubbish ought to do*

Jim Crow picked up a pale pink-colored grandfather clock with disinclined help from Timothy. The clock was tossed into the wall and smashed into thousands of pieces, shocking Timothy. "Oh, dear!" he said fearfully, as Jim Crow gathered more items with a pink wheelbarrow that belonged to the circus mouse.

Jim Crow: *We'll smoke the blighter out*
*We'll smoke the monster out*

Alice was watching the entire scene with her bright blue eyes as Timothy scurried over toward Jim Crow.

"No, no, no! Not my beautiful birdhouse!" he exclaimed, but it was already too late for the anxious circus mouse to stop him. Jim Crow had already taken a white birdhouse and split it in half, scaring a small group of bluebirds away. He then tossed it into the pile of the destroyed furniture as Timothy bonked his head onto the broken gate.

Jim Crow: *Oh, we'll roast the blighter's toes*
*We'll toast the bounder's nose*
*Just fetch that gate*
*We'll make it clear that monsters aren't welcome here*

"Oh, me, oh, my!" Timothy said with a nervous look on his face, as he carried the gate over to the pile and placed it there. Then Jim Crow placed a wing out in front of him, indicating that he needed something from him.

"Match," he said to him.

"Match?" Timothy repeated, as he handed a matchstick to Jim Crow. Then Jim Crow used Timothy to light up the match and placed it on the stack of roof shingles and the obliterated furniture.

Jim Crow: *Without a single doubt*
*We'll smoke the monster out*

Then Timothy sang along, as well.

Timothy: *We'll smoke the monster out*

"Nooo! No! My poor house and furniture!" he exclaimed, as his worries had only heightened due to Jim Crow's recent action.

White smoke started to rise up from the pile of the furniture, making Alice feel sorry for the poor circus mouse.

"Oh, dear! This is serious," she said. "I simply must—"

Alice suddenly let out a short gasp of shock, and her eyes focused on a small garden of carrots located on the left side of the house.

"A garden!" she gasped, as she reached her gigantic hand for a carrot, not noticing Timothy running over to the carrot and grabbing hold of it.

"Perhaps if I eat something, it would make me grow small." Alice strained.

It was a brief struggle, but soon, Alice lifted the carrot and Timothy from the garden and up toward her face. Timothy was struggling to break free from her grip as he swung around in a panic.

"NO!!! Let go! HELP!!!" he cried fearfully, thinking that he would be eaten by her.

"I'm sorry, but I must eat something." Alice said to Timothy.

"Not me, you...you...you barbarian!" Timothy shouted, aiming the carrot at Alice as if it were a sword. Alice took a big bite of the carrot and the tip fell off, surprising Timothy. His left hand was hidden inside his red shirt sleeve as it then popped out of there, and Timothy fell off, free from the female's grip.

"Ahh! Monster!" Timothy yelled.

Alice was shrinking at a very rapid pace, thanks to the carrot she found in Timothy's garden. Jim Crow was still blowing the smoke in an attempt to make a fire, whereas Timothy was scurrying away from Alice and tripped over her shrinking foot.

Alice had shrunken down to the size of a small figure again, just like when she drank the bottle of the multi-flavored liquid.

"Ahh! I’m late!" Timothy exclaimed, as he had taken yet another look at his pocket watch. "Oh, dear! I'm here! I should be there! I'm late! I'm late!"

"I say, do you have a match?" Jim Crow asked Timothy. However, he was given a rapid handshake by the circus mouse instead.

"Must go! Goodbye! Hello! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" Timothy exclaimed, as he then hurried off on the dirt path and disappeared once again.

Alice had made her way from underneath the front door, yet she still had to go after Timothy.

"Wait! Please wait!" she exclaimed, running over to the front porch and jumping up and down.

"Ahh, young lady," Jim Crow said to the miniature blonde-haired girl. "Do you have a match?"

"I'm sorry, but...Mr. Mouse!" was all Alice had to say to Jim Crow before hurrying off.

Jim Crow shook his head and raised an eyebrow as his wings were placed on his hips. "No cooperation," he said of Alice and Timothy. "No cooperation at all. Well, can't have monsters about. Very well have to carry on by myself."

Then Jim Crow took the broken legs of Timothy's furniture and used them to make a fire, and he blew some smoke once a small flame formed inside the hole of the broken piece.