“You say the pieces do not want to leave without any supper, without their shoes, and without their coats.”
“Yes”, said Alice, happy to be heard at last.
“Very well then, they may leave with gruel“, said the Red Queen.
Alice sighed. Gruel was not food, and what of their coats and shoes?
When the Red King had asked the pieces if they wanted to leave the game, some said “yes”, and some said “no”. This had upset the King and he skulked off to play alone. The Red Queen was made of sterner stuff. If the pieces want to leave, then leave we must. “Gruel for everyone, and then we leave”, she said.
“Are you ready to leave with gruel?”, the Red Queen had asked Alice.
“Not without our coats, not without our shoes and not without a proper supper”, replied Alice. “We want sweet tea and toast with jam. A winter coat with belt and hood, and shoes with warm socks”
“If you do not take the gruel, then the game will stop and you will have nothing”, said the Red Queen. “What is more”, the Red Queen told Alice, “I will ask the same question again and again until I hear what I want to hear. What I know you really, really want. Gruel!”