Kari and the others made good time and had nearly reached the river. As they made their way across the empty, wide open, snowy field, however, they heard the jingling of sleigh bells.
Mrs. Beaver pointed behind them and shouted, "Behind you! It's her!"
Kari and the others all turned and saw the upcoming sleigh and ran for the tree line, finding themselves hiding in a small cave just as the sleigh come to a stop. When there was no sound, Mr. Beaver went to look and see if the White Witch was gone. He came back and peeked into the cave.
"Come here! Come here! I hope you've all been good this years, 'cuz there's someone here to see ya!"
Hesitant at first, Kari and the others left the cave and made their way to the ground above, finding instead of the White Witch a heavy set man with thick white hair and beard and dressed in red. Kari smiled when she realized who it was.
"Merry Christmas, sir!"
Kari looked at Lucy's happy face as she walked towards Father Nicholas. He gave Lucy a vial with the juice of the fire flower and a small dagger, Susan a quiver of arrows and a bow, as well as an ivory horn with a carved lion's head, and Peter a sword and shield. He then turned to Kari, much to her surprise, and presented her with a silver staff engraved with depictions of Narnians.
"These are tools, not toys. Bear them well and wisely. Now, I must be off. Winter's almost over and things do pile up when you've been gone a hundred years."
He picked up his sack and laid it back in the sleigh. "Long live Aslan! And Merry Christmas!" As he drove off, Kari giggled when Lucy gave Susan the "I told you so" line- wondering if Nicholas was a figment of one's imagination back in their homeland.
When Peter realized aloud that winter was coming to an end, Kari and the others knew they had to hurry and rushed to the river, finding that the ice had started melting already, and there wasn't much ice left to cross on. Mr. Beaver went first, then Peter and Lucy, and finally Susan, Mrs. Beaver, and Kari. Half way across, chunks of ice began falling and Lucy screamed.
"Oh, no!"
Kari looked up and saw Maugrim jump off the alcove and onto the ice in front of us. Beaver ran forward to try and defend us, but the same wolf who grabbed Fox sunk his teeth into Mr. Beaver's fur, holding him down. Peter drew his sword. Maugrim chuckled.
"Put that down, boy. Someone could get hurt."
Kari looked at Mr. Beaver as he called out, "Don't worry about me! Run him through!", then looked back at Peter, then at Maugrim. "Maugrim, you bastard..."
"Leave now while you can, and your brother leaves with you."
Kari could feel Peter's uneasiness, so she reached up and placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down a bit as she reached for her staff. She looked over at Susan as she tried to talk some sense into her brother.
"Stop, Peter. Maybe we should listen to him!"
Maugrim chuckled. "Smart girl."
Mr. Beaver was still trying to break free. "Don't listen to him! Kill him! Kill him now!"
Kari looked at Maugrim as Lucy reached forward to clutch her hand and she could sense the terror boiling inside her.
"Oh, come on. This isn't your war. All my Queen wants is for you to take your family and go."
Susan was becoming frantic and Kari could feel the waves of her energy crashing into her. She did her best to keep the energy from bothering her; it was not the time for her to be collapsing and burdening Peter and the others.
"Look, just because some man in a red coats hands you a sword, doesn't make you a hero! Just drop it!"
Kari looked at her and shook her head. "Susan, no. We can't risk it!"
She looked at her. "Kari, we can't exactly fight our way through this."
"You can't, but I can." Kari stepped forward, only to be pulled back by Mrs. Beaver.
"No, dearie. You're not ready yet. You can't fight until you have your memories back."
Kari glanced at Mr. Beaver as he continued to struggle. "What choice do we have, though?" She turned with her staff raised, ready to step in and fight so that Peter and the others could get away, but Peter pulled her back and shook his head before stepping in front of her and Lucy, protectively.
"No, Peter! Narnia needs you! Gut him while you still have a chance!" Mr. Beaver called as Susan again tried to reason with her brother.
Maugrim continued to advance and Kari stood with her staff ready, pointing it at the enemy. "What's it gonna be, Son of Adam? I won't wait forever. And neither will the river."
Kari looked at Peter, hoping he was calm enough to make his move.
"Peter!"
Kari felt Lucy's grip tighten as the sound of cracking ice grew louder. They glanced up and saw the water begin spewing from the cracks. Peter stabbed the sword through the ice as the water cascaded down upon them, and they grabbed onto him as the rush of water carried them down river through rapids. When they were pulled under the water briefly, they swam to shore when the block of ice resurfaced. But Peter feared the worst as he stood holding Lucy's jacket and Lucy was nowhere to be seen. They yelled her name and she came walking up the bank, shivering and holding her arms close around herself in an attempt to stay warm.
"Has anyone seen my coat?"
They were relieved to see she was alright and Mr. Beaver chuckled.
"Don't worry dear, your brother's got you well looked after."
Mrs. Beaver gasped and Kari turned to see what the matter was as she said, "I don't think you'll be needing those coats anymore..."
They all stared in awe as the trees began blooming pink flower buds, the first signs of spring finally breaking free from their icy slumber. Shedding their coats, they continued on their way to Aslan's camp in hopes that they weren't very far from their destination.