Three gardeners shaped like playing cards were painting the white roses red, because the Queen had ordered a red rose tree by mistake. Then the whole court came past, and last of all the King and Queen of Hearts. "Off with her head!" the Queen shouted at Alice, who said "Nonsense!" very loudly and was not punished. The croquet ground was all ridges and furrows, the balls were live hedgehogs, the mallets were live flamingoes, and the players all played at once and quarrelled. Whenever anybody made a mistake the Queen ordered his head cut off, and soon everyone was under arrest. The Cheshire cat's head appeared in the air, and the King wanted it beheaded, but the executioner said you cannot cut off a head when there is no body to cut it from. While they argued, the head slowly faded away.