"Peter! Edmund!" I called until my voice was hoarse. They had gone missing on a hunting trip last night. The centaur that had gone with them came back, but was so shaken that we could not get anything out of them.
"I told them they shouldn't have gone into the dark side of the forest," Susan said once we were back to the creek. We had been all around Narnia, all the way from the lamppost to the palace at Cair Paravel, searching for any sign of them. All we had so far was a piece of cloth from Edmund's tabard and Peter's leather boot, both on a tree branch.
"If only he had taken the horn like we suggested," I said. "Then they could have called if something went wrong." I picked up the horn.
"What if an angry creature got them?" Susan suggested.
"No, we had just been on our usual rounds to see if any were unhappy, remember?" I replied. She shrugged. Susan suddenly looked alert. "What, Susan?" I asked. "Have you thought of where they might be?"
"No, Lucy. There's something in the brush," she said, picking up her bow. I stood up and drew my dagger, which I had named leocalx, or lionstone. My blue and silver dress rustled. She notched an arrow. "Show yourself!" she commanded. Leocalx was at the ready.
"There they are!"
"Get 'em!" voices said. The voices were surrounding us. Arrows shot at us. We dodged, screaming and commanding to stop. The horn got knocked out of Susan's hand when she reached for it. The creatures were some dark dwarves and a couple of Minotaur. The Minotaur grabbed us by our hair and ripped the dagger and the bow out of our hands.
"On! Get away from us! Don't you know who we are?" Susan screamed as they attempted to put us in a net.
"Susan!" I screamed. My screams were drowned by a scratchy piece of fabric shoved over my mouth. Everything went cold. Everything went dark.
"Lucy! Susan!" came a cry. Peter. The gag was pulled off my mouth. I was pulled into a tight hug.
"What did they do to you?" I asked. My vision and hearing were both hazy. A liquid was running down my cheeks. I was bleeding.
"They bound and gagged us, but enough of that. Are you alright?" Peter asked. I shook my head. A sharp pain was in my left leg and my right wrist, and blood was running from a gash on my forehead. I was shaking and shivering with sobs.
"We came to look for you. Then they showed up and took the horn and my dagger and my cordial and Susan's bow," I said. Edmund was trying to get Susan to sit up. She finally was able to lean against his shoulder. I was propped up in Peter's lap. The sleeve of my dress was torn.
"At least you're both alive. That's what matters," Peter said hoarsely. I finally stopped crying.
"My leg and my arm hurt really bad," I said.
"I know. Your leg is broken and your wrist is sprained," he said. I nodded.
"Who are they? The ones who took us?" Susan asked weakly.
"They must have been in line with the Witch. I think one was one of the Dwarves who killed the Unicorn," Edmund said.
"They did look familiar," Peter said.
"I suspect they're going to beat us, if we're lucky," Edmund said after a long gap of silence.
"I'm scared," I said in a small, shaky voice. I turned and buried my face in Peter's shoulder. He put one arm around me and the other around Edmund and Susan. I continued to silently cry until I fell asleep.
To be continued…