Into The Night

I was quiet and distracted for the next few days. That is to say, quiet and distracted for me, which is not quite the same as it is for everyone else. Susan, for example, becomes so quiet when she is in one of those moods that it can take her almost five minutes to answer if asked a question. On the other hand though, Corin seems to just get noisier and more excitable. I don't quite go to such extremes as those two but end up in the middle: a little bit more subdued than usual, but not deadly quiet.

Unfortunately, this means that people who don't know me very well keep trying to talk to me and I have to drag my preoccupied brain away from the problem in hand to give an answer.

"Lucy!" My gritted teeth were largely inaudible, except to Jenna who chuckled softly. Beatrice linked her arm with mine and gave it a friendly squeeze. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you! Nobody could tell me where you were! How have you been! I haven't seen you all morning!"

You could practically taste the exclamation marks, and you could certainly hear them.

"Around and about," I answered vaguely. She pouted.

I felt much too tired to deal with all of this right now. The combination of a late night due to the discovery, followed by the removal of the jelly at the foot of my bed, and an early morning (again due to Corin) had left me irritable. I did not feel like being diplomatic today.

Salvation came in the form of Prince Corin. Completely lacking the ability to stay out of trouble for more than three consecutive minutes, he hurtled around the corner and crashed into the pair of us, sending us to the floor in a jumble of skirts, legs and arms.

I was the first to regain my feet and I grabbed the back of Corin's jacket, hauling him to his before offering a hand to Beatrice, who took it.

"Ah, Corin," I said as if nothing had just happened. "Just the person I was hoping to see. Please excuse us, Beatrice." Not waiting for a reply, I propelled Corin into a nearby room and followed him, closing the door firmly.

"What was it this time," I asked as he dusted off his knees. He grinned, unabashed.

"Nothing to major," he tried to convince me.

I waited for him to spill the beans.

"It was only a little frog," he confessed, adding when he saw my skeptical expression "honest!"

"And where was this little frog?"

"Well," he considered, "it might have been a toad."

"Corin!"

"Susan's pocket."

I choked. Had he learnt nothing from the last time he had crossed my older sister?

"I'm glad I'm not in your shoes right now," I told him bluntly and he shifted, obviously in agreement. A stroke of inspiration hit me.

"How about a nice, uncomplicated deal?" I proposed. Corin looked wary, but willing to listen.

"How about," I thought rapidly for something that would appeal to him. "How about I arrange for you to have a nice picnic in the woods. A trip out of the palace, so to speak, whilst Susan calms down a bit."

The first part of the deal appealed to him enormously, just as I had hoped it would.

"But?"

I pulled an apologetic face. "It would only be a small thing . . ."

"What would?"

"And not at all difficult . . ."

"Yes?"

"And you never know, you might even enjoy it . . ."

"Tell me!"

"Well, you see, I know that Beatrice is just dying to take a look at some of the surrounding countryside. . ."

His face was horrified "No deal!"

I sighed dramatically.

"Although, now I think about it, you must have hundred of things to be doing. I know Susan particularly wanted to talk to you, and your father mentioned something about a new tutor . . . ?"

I had him and he knew it.

"On second thoughts," he said quickly, "I'll do it."

"Would you really?" I asked sweetly. "It's so kind of you to volunteer like that!" He grumped something unintelligible and opened the door.

"Oh, and Corin?"

"What?"

"I think her father mentioned something about wanting to go along too . . ."

Muttering, he shut the door behind him and I took a moment to grin before heading to the kitchens to order a picnic. The poor boy did deserve some reward, after all.

OoOoO

The rest of the day was quiet and blissfully peaceful. With Corin haven undertaken the entertainment of our guests, Susan and I were able to quietly do the hundred and one jobs we had been neglecting. For the rest of the morning we just got on, before meeting King Lune at lunch. He too had been enjoying the chance to just get sorted and lunch was as peaceful as the rest of the day had been.

The picnicking group appeared half and hour before we were going to have dinner, the picnic hamper emptied and having had a wonderful time. The young prince had entertained them well, hoping, I think, that Susan would forgive him if he behaved properly.

She did, and dinner was as peaceful a meal as lunch.

All this peace was lovely but I knew it wouldn't last until bed time. Corin was already trying to look innocent, a sure sign something was up and I was trying to figure out what he would do next when Jenna spoke up in my ear.

"Gelson's returned," she whispered. "He's waiting in the study."

"Can you tell him we'll be there in a moment?" I asked and she was gone. I got up and touched Susan's shoulder lightly. She had noticed Jena talking to me and her face was concerned as she looked up.

"Gelson's back," I said and she paled.

"Just Gelson?"

"I don't know. Jenna didn't say." Laying her napkin down carefully she got up and we excused ourselves. Once we got outside the small dining room where we usually ate we picked up our skirts and ran, slipping and sliding on the polished stone floor.

Gelson was the only dwarf who had travelled out with my brothers. When he had set out with my brothers, over a week ago, he had been fit and healthy but now he looked exhausted, his red beard a tangled mess and his clothes filthy and mud spattered.

Dwarves were amongst the toughest of Narnia's inhabitants, rivalled only by the centaurs. To see Gelson, who was exceedingly tough, even for a dwarf, looking like this was, well, worrying to say the least.

When he saw us, he tried to stand but Susan waved him back to his seat and he collapsed back down. His legs looked like they had simply refused to hold him up anymore.

Silently, I poured him a drink of something, whatever it was that Peter kept in the decanter on the sideboard, and handed it too him. He accepted it gratefully and took a gulp of the amber liquid, chocked, then took another, smaller, sip.

The drink (which I was convinced wasn't apple juice) seemed to give him some energy because he sat up a little straighter and looked a little less comatose. Only a little, though.

Susan was quiet for a moment, then she spoke in a measured tone.

"What happened, Gelson?"

When the dwarf didn't reply for a moment, her voice lost some of its calmness.

"Where are they? Where are our brothers?"

I had never seen my sister so close to losing control. There were a couple of extra glasses next to the decanter so I poured out some more of the liquid and put it into her hand. She slumped in her chair, then sat up slowly.

"My apologies, Gelson." She took a sip, grimaced, and took another. He waved away her apologies, finished his glass, then started.

"They knew we were coming, no doubt about it."

"Ambush?"

"Of sorts. When we arrived around midday there wasn't hide nor hair of any Fell Beasts. The woodlanders were pleased to see us and helped us to set up camp. Nothing happened for a couple of days, then King Edmund and about half the group went into the woods, scouting around a bit. When they weren't back by dusk, King Peter and the others set out looking. I was told to stay back, mind the camp and tell your brother where the High King was if he showed up."

"And he didn't show up."

"Neither of them did. The next day, I and a couple of the woodlanders set off to try and find them. We found a clearing in the woods, maybe five miles away. The rest of the guards were there, dead, but your brothers were gone.

This time when Susan slumped she didn't sit back up again. She had put her glass down so I picked it up and put it in her hand again, but she didn't take a drink. It seemed like I was going to have to take charge for a bit; my sister looked to shocked to carry on.

"What did you do then?" I prompted.

"One of the woodlanders ran back to get some help and we buried the others. There were a few tracks, mostly scuffle marks, but they faded away after a short distance, next to a stream. We spent the rest of the day trying to find more, but there wasn't a trace."

My mind was whirling, trying to process the information I had. One thing I definitely knew for sure was that there had been more than an odd one or two of the fell beasts. It would have taken at least double our number, probably more although if they were in two separate groups at the time maybe a few less. . .

"There must have been about twenty of them," I summarized, hoping I wasn't too far off the mark. Gelson nodded in agreement.

"Certainly no less, probably no more than thirty or we would have seen more definite signs, either way it's a lot more than we were expecting."

"And you said they knew you were coming?"

"Probably. They had enough time to completely hide camp and organise themselves."

I had worked out my plan but I still paused before telling it too the others. I knew my sister would definitely not be too enamoured of it and I had a funny feeling that Gelson wouldn't either. Still, it was worth a try.

"I don't think there would really be any point several people trying to rescue them if they already knew we were coming," I said slowly.

"So you would suggest that only one or two went?"

"Certainly no more."

"Just who were you thinking of?" Susan asked. My sister is no fool and her narrowed eyes told me she had sussed out my plan already.

"Well. . ."

"No."

I dropped any pretence.

"But I know I can do it! I'm actually the best person for the job. They'll be expecting a large group to arrive in about four days. If I fly, I can be there within two. They won't be expecting just one person to try and rescue them."

"For a good reason! It's nearly suicidal: there would be almost thirty of them to one of you!"

"Two of us," I reminded her. "Tirikala will be there and I doubt there will be more than twenty"

"So there would be you and a griffin against twenty fell beasts. Are you mad?"

I grabbed a map out of one of the drawers and showed it to her, plotting a wiggly course with my finger.

"This is the way a group of soldiers would have to go," I told her. "To cross the Great River they would have to take a large detour to the north or the south so they can use the bridges. If I went, I wouldn't have to bother with bridges." This time the course I plotted was much straighter.

"It'll knock about a day of the journey, plus I can set out tonight. The earliest anyone else could leave would be tomorrow because they have to sort out provisions for around fifty people, find weapons, you know the drill. This way I can be there and get Peter and Edmund out before anyone's expecting a thing."

It made sense, and Susan knew it. She really didn't like it, though.

"The soldiers should still go too," I added. "Even if I do get Peter and Edmund out we'll still need to deal with the fell beasts themselves and if I can't get them out then they'll only be a couple of days away. We have nothing to lose."

"What if one of the others went with Tirikala?"

"Who? Dwarves can't stand heights. Centaurs are too big and you know fauns don't fly well. The others are all too small. It's got to be me."

"Take someone with you?"

"Too heavy. Speed's our ally now"

"What if I went?"

"And what if you ran into trouble? You might be good with a bow and arrow but with anything else . . . " I didn't really have to say anymore. Susan knew full well she was hopeless with any other type of weaponry.

Indecision played across her face and she looked at the map for a full minute and a half before she accepted the inevitable.

"The soldiers will set out tomorrow," she told me and I nodded, perfectly happy with that decision. Whilst I was sure that I wouldn't actually need any help, it was always a good idea to know there was a back-up plan if things went wrong.

Susan turned to Gelson but the dwarf was asleep in the chair. She smiled and we tiptoed out of the study where we separated, me to pack a small bag of things and her to tell Tirikala and the others.