With thanks for the kind reviews, six days since last update:
Owned by C S Lewis; borrowed for non profit use by my typing fingers -
May I in this chapter invite you readers to a first bite of adventure?
FLOWER
Northern Archenland, 999
It had been a tremendously pleasant afternoon. Ruth and Karl looked back to all three parts; first the exploration in the park at home, then sitting by the fire in a huge library and finally gazing the sun, being warm as the wind did not reach them in the badgers garden.
Eventually the sun began to droop towards the horizon, and the centaurs rose, giving the badger their thanks for food and fellowship.
-"We better get on our way, When sun sets it gets cold, and besides, Pomnus is getting impatient. The beds he made for you a week ago is still waiting to serve you as a base for your assignments here."
A week ago? This really startled the kids as there were two years since they last left Germany! And base for assignments – it did sound like some sort of a behind enemy lines military operation; some thing that bothered Ruth as much as it cheered Karl up.
The children were helped up onto the backs of the centaurs and swiftly whisked away north, while the badger shuttered his windows and bolted his doors. Before going to bed he made sure his bird friend and cherished messenger had eaten well and slept comfortably in his own nest in a living room corner as well as tending to his guard, a speaking German shepherd dog. You could never be too careful these dramatic days, were the thoughts the badger fell asleep to.
The following morning Karl and Ruth woke by sunshine falling on their eyes. At first they did not remember where they were, but later they remembered they were back where they had been two years ago; or at least they spent two years seeing their homeland turn into a dictatorship, while not more than a week had lapsed here!
-"Good morning, sleepy heads!"
-"Good morning Mr. Pomnus!"
-"I presume both travel and beds were comfortable, but I am aware of that you must get tired from all new impressions you meet here. Not to worry, however, the air in this world must surely make you feel both happier and stronger very soon. Speaking about stronger, by the way, I note that you both seem to have grown quite some deal since we say you last!"
Leaving the fact of their larger size out of the conversation, both the kids acknowledged that all had been, in fact, very nice, including their slightly unexpected arrival.
-"And now we really wish to know why we are here, and what we are expected to do," ended Karl, getting both a snarl and an evil eye from his friend Ruth.
Telling that, however, was to be Silverstorm's doing, and he smiled when the question was brought up over the breakfast eggs and sausages.
-"First you need some training," he said to the kids." You will be doing this in the centaurs' camp, and be ridden back and forth to it for the coming days.
The following weeks both kids got the very best of what they had ever wanted. Karl learnt every weaponry skill the centaurs deemed the young Son of Adam ready to master; while Ruth read up on a myriad of subjects from books more beautifully illustrated than anything she had seen on earth.
Every evening, back in Silverstorm's guest room, after bath and dinner, they compared their days and filled each other in on what they had learnt. In the beginning Karl came always back groaning with aching muscles; different muscles as time went, but eventually the new world's air had indeed caught up with him and he grew strong and left pains behind.
As for Ruth, this was something like paradise. After being missing school so long, only being a bit of home schooled, she loved and loved the training weeks. At first she had worried about if they had been gone for long, but with time even memories of Stuttgart began to fade and she set about to be content with the fact that somehow time here and time there was not the same thing.
After about a month the children were made to finish their training together; with archery, survival skills and navigating by the stars. Then it was time for the first assignment.
-"Well, dear soldiers," said Silverstorm one evening, as Pomnus began to clear the table to go wash the dishes up, "The stars have surprised me last night. They have sent you to a rare task indeed, to pick the fireflowers growing high up the largest mountain in Archenland."
And while they still pondered about the likeness possible between this flower and the Edelweiss of their Alps, they were told that the flowers were to be used to produce a healing liquid, and that it was of utter importance it was available to the army soon to be confronting the White witch.
The morning after, there was a girl attending breakfast with all of them. She had fair hair and some how she seemed to glow faintly from the inside.
-"I am Cassandra," said the girl, "and I have been asked to be your guide and pathfinder for now. And yes, I have a far ancestor who was a star; something we will take advantage of, of course."
This first assignment did not turn out to be neither as adventurous as Karl had hoped, nor as tough and unpleasant as had Ruth feared. First, their clothes and equipment was much more comfortable than what they had ever had on earth. Second, most of travelling was made on horseback, with an escort and with large camps with fires during nights. It wasn't bad either, that Silverstorm's young nephew and some of his friends were allowed to come.
But suddenly they stood below the dark mountain, and from here only three would continue. The rest were to partly wait for them to come back, partly tend to the needs of some refugees from the occupied Narnia.
In spite of the high summer in Archenland, it grew chillier the higher they walked and climbed on the mountain, and some nights freezing winds came gushing down form the winter in Narnia. In night, they slept close together to keep warm, hoping to end their search soon.
Cassandra knew and led them the easiest and most navigable route towards the top of the mountain. One morning after an especially cold night she was happy to announce that soon they were to reach a set of warm, dry caves, where they even might be able to light a fire to cook and warm up.
-"That , my dear children, is something you can forget about. We have settled those caves. They are ours, and we will not let any one in without a good pay. Or even onwards from here!"
In front of the three travellers stood a band of sturdy youth, some scarred, some lacking a tooth or two, obviously outlaws, youngsters not feeling at home anywhere. Some may have slept on the streets in Tashbaan; others had fled from families that tried to remain in Narnia, living on the scarce provisions that could be found there in winter, one ore two even of Archenland's descent, having got bored of and dropped out of school. Of the latter of course Ruth new nothing, she just saw, as did her two travel companions, a violent, threatening gang.
-"Well, is there going to be any fee? Or shall we come take it ourselves? Or maybe we take all three of you instead; to sell you as slaves in Calormene."
The travellers got ready to grab their weapons, but did not get time to; and well must that have been, as they must have been utterly defeated, outnumbered as they were. Instead became the whole argument – and how happy was not Ruth for her fate of always getting interrupted – quiesced by a thunder of hooves.
Suddenly stood between the travellers and the young gangsters a pack of mountain goats, leader looking strangely familiar.
-"Not now, and not with them, guys," said the female goat at the head of the pack. "I know them! My niece played together with them as kids, they are my friends!" Turning to the three travellers she wispered: "Do follow me, please."
The young lads were not happy to lose their prey, which they had spied out for days, and tried to get the goats to let them through. But every attempt to make an argument was met by riot like noises by the goats, who screamed and shrieked and stomped their hooves, so the men could not make them selves heard.
During the chaos, the leading goat sneaked off with the travellers, out of sight and up along the mountain side.
-"Here are some other comfortable caves those boys does not know of. You may camp there. Do make yourself comfortable, please. I will join you in a while, I just need to dissolve the quarrel below," the goat said with a laughter. For indeed the loud voices below had seemed to rather steam up than calm down.
It was already night and the stars glimmered in the sky when the Lady goat returned to three dry, warm and content travellers. They told the aunt of their friend of the task ahead of them, the need to find the rare fireflower.
-"And which are the rules?" asked the mountain goat chief, and seeing the bewildered looks on her friends faces, she added; "must this flower be picked by your selves, you three? Or are you allowed to gain assistance?"
Having understood that getting the flowers safely back to the centaur's camp was the important thing, not how it was done, which was unregulated, she said with a glimpse in here eyes:
-"Then light a fire, cook your best food, celebrate and rejoice, for we will both keep guard and help you get the flowers before you wake up in the morn."
And indeed, none of the gangsters dared to approach them and the entrance to the cave was full of flowers as they woke up the following sunrise.
-"We forgot to ask how many you needed; but we picked only a quarter of what there is, so there is still plenty to pick, grew and replenish up there. By the way, we thought it would be good if you all did not get back the same way. Safer to get at least some of the flowers back if we divide you up and give you each an escort to arrive to your base camp from three different directions."
They travelled in a hurry, and even so after reaching base camp. It was not until they finally were back with Silverstorm, that Ruth and Karl had time to fill each other in on what had happened to them the days they were apart.
Ruth told of an uneventful walk down the hillsides, together with a happy pack of young goats.
For Karl it had not been that easy, he told. His sword was almost worn out, he had lost his bow and his eye brows had been burnt from the fire of an attacking dragon.
Looking him straight into the eyes, Ruth saw no sign whatever of the latter, and when she suddenly realised that he was just joking, she happily punched Karl on the arm. Hard! And they laughed.
The following days the children returned to training, but Ruth did not go until a message had been sent from Silverstorm to the parents of a certain mountain goat, that their dame relative, although run away, was happily living with other goats not far away. If they had come to hope, Ruth wanted to also convey hope!
