Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Remembering Their Dreams

Tamara woke the next morning with something tickling her nose. She opened her eyes to see that it was Brarck's whiskers. He had come to wake her up for breakfast. Afterwards, Reepicheep sent her with Brarck and Swiff, who had warmed up to her, to gather some nuts. She really enjoyed her morning with the pair. She was quite fond of them. They were excellent companions, and they knew so much about the forest she listened with open ears trying to learn as much as she could.

Around midday they had finished and were heading back to the cave with a healthy supply of nuts. All of which Tamara nearly dropped when she saw who was standing outside the cave when they got back. Her brother was there talking with Reepicheep. Tamara saw him turning away to leave as they were approaching. She handed her nuts to Brarck quickly and ran to him.

"Caspian, you're alright! You look different, though. Oh well, I'm glad you're not hurt," Tamara said hugging her brother. "What have you been doing? What happened?"

"Tamara, slow down. I fell off Destrier, but Trumpkin, Trufflehunter, and Nikabrik found me. They're helping me gather the Old Narnias. We've already visited the Bungly Bears, the squirrel Pattertwig, the Seven Brothers of Shuddering Wood, the black dwarves, and the noblest centaurs. I wish you could have seen them, sis. I'm sure you will one day soon, though. Tamara, come with me. I want you to meet all the Old Narnians."

"Oh, I'd love to. If it is alright with Reepicheep," Tamara said looking down at the mouse.

"Of course, go. Our paths will be crossing once again soon enough. Very soon, if all goes well. It has been a pleasure," Reepicheep said bowing. Tamara curtsied in reply. She said goodbye to Swiff and Brarck, and set off with her brother.

The day was long with lots of meetings, too many to name. They finally stopped at a well on the edge of a large flat spot of grass. The sun was setting casting an orange glow over the scene. Caspian shared some the food he had brought with them. Caspian spoke with the other creatures, Trumpkin, Nikabrik, & Trufflehunter, but Tamara paid them no attention. She was thinking about the time that lied ahead of them. In one of their meetings with the centaurs, they had mentioned something about a war. Tamara wasn't sure she was ready for war. Even though it had seemed like the others weren't too worried about, Tamara couldn't get her mind off of it.

Her thoughts were interrupted, however, by the sound of approaching music. The whole group went silent to listen.

"Fauns!" Caspian cried.

Indeed it was. Tamara had never seen fauns before, but she found them to be the most wonderful creatures. Their merry yet mournful faces looked at the two royals with the utmost interest. Caspian explained his plan to them, and they agreed to join with him. That evening was amazing. Tamara completely forgot about the war ahead, and enjoyed herself dancing with her brother and the fauns.

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"Hey Ben, great to see you again," Tamara said opening the door for Ben. It had been two weeks since they had last seen each other at the meeting with Andrew and Pippa. Surprisingly, though, Tamara felt completely comfortable around him. As if they had known each other all their lives.

"So do you want to get right to it or have lunch first?"

"Anything is fine by me," Ben said. "But I mean, I think the most important part of this whole thing is that we're comfortable with each other. So how about we don't get strait to business, and instead just hang out a while. You know get to know each other a little bit. I mean this is only the second time we've met."

"Oh, right, so uh, this is our living room," Tamara said leading him through the house. "And the kitchen, and uh, so you want to eat now or later?"

"I guess now."

Tamara's mom was in the kitchen making lunch when they entered. She was just finishing up the sauce for the spaghetti. She didn't even seem to take notice of them at first. Tamara figured it was because she had forgotten that Ben was coming over.

"Em, mom?"

"Yes, dear, what can I do for you?" Her mother asked not turning around.

"I, em, wanted to introduce someone."

"Oh dear! I had forgotten," Her mother rushed wiping her hands on a towel close by and tucking her hair behind her ears before turning around. "Hi, I'm Tamara's mother." She said going up to him and kissing him on the cheek like they would in Spain.

Tamara's mother was Spanish, which had helped Tamara a lot when auditioning because Tamara then looked Spanish and her mother coached her on Spanish accents.

"You are certainly a cute one, I must say," Tamara's mom said.

"MOM!" Tamara shouted blushing.

"Oh, I'm sorry, didn't mean to make this any more awkward for you."

"No, no, please don't worry about it," Ben said.

"When will lunch be ready?" Tamara asked.

"Oh give me just a few more minutes. Don't forget to offer him something to drink."

"I wasn't going to, mom. Would you like something to drink?"

"Do you have tea?" Ben asked.

"At the moment we only have iced tea, but I can make you some hot tea if you prefer," Tamara said looking in the fridge.

"No, no, iced tea is just fine…no ice, though, please."

Tamara and Ben got along really well as they ate lunch and after wards went out to Tamara's backyard when she had some swings. They talked about where they were from and how their audition process had been. They discussed the parts of the script they'd both read and compared it to the book, since both had reread the book as well for the occasion. After two hours they finally decided to get to going over their lines.

"Brother, are you sure about this?" Tamara acted, having memorized her first couple scenes already.

"Yes, I am. It is time that we escape from this place. Uncle Miraz is only going to become worse," Ben said, practicing his accent. Tamara couldn't help noticing it was a bit exaggerated, but she figured that is how Andrew wanted it to create contrast.

"But - Caspian maybe we should think about this. Who knows what we'll find in the forest. There are many unfriendly beasts out there."

"Tamara, we must find the Old Narnian's they are the only hope left for salvaging what is left of this country."

Tamara suddenly got this strange feeling when Ben said her name, like she had heard it said exactly like that before. In fact, she felt as though she had experienced the whole situation before. She had a vivid image of how it would play out in real life, and she couldn't figure out why. She had experienced deja vu before, but nothing like this. She could feel the severity of the moment, the cold of the night, the stillness except for the panic shared between her and her brother, everything.

"Tamara?" Ben said in his regular accent, and the feeling went away.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, I was just imagining what the movie will be like. Don't you do that when reading the script?"

"Sometimes, I guess."

"Say, for the next scene I'll practice the accent as well…Caspian, you're alright! You look different, though. Oh well, I'm glad you're not hurt."

Tamara didn't know why she did it; she just couldn't help going over to her brother, I mean, Ben, and hugging him even though it wasn't in the script. She just felt the urge to hug him, since she had been so worried about him.

"What have you been doing? What happened?"

"That wasn't in the script, was it?" Ben said a bit shocked by her behavior.

"Oh, no, sorry, I just felt that is was right. I don't know."

"I guess it could work when we film, you'd have to ask Andrew."

"Yeah, maybe we should do the rest of the scenes that we know, without the accents. I don't know, I find it a bit distracting, I'll work on it on my own later."

The two spent the rest of the time before Ben went home working on their lines, without the accents. Tamara found it much easier to stay focused that way, but when Ben left, Tamara couldn't help feeling a sense of longing, wondering when she would see him again, worrying about what would happen to him while they were apart. She hoped he would be alright.

Later on in the evening, Tamara was rereading the scenes they had practiced trying to figure out where the feelings had come from, whether they were from side notes written on the script or just her getting really into the character. Whatever it was, while she was reading the script, the feeling returned, but this time it wasn't just a feeling. She could see what was happening as though it were a memory. The forest, the fireworks, the fear, the rain, it all came back to her life when you're talking to a friend and you suddenly remember a dream you once had.

And then it dawned on her, she had seen all of it in her dreams. Ever since she had auditioned for the role of Caspian's sister, she had been having dreams about what it would be like to be in Narnia. No wonder she had played the part so well for them, well enough to get the part; she practically had become the character, in her dreams. But they were just dreams; of course, they were just very vivid dreams.