Chapter 4: Dragon Island

After a few weeks of stocking on supplies, the Dawn Treader was back on course. Life on the ship was becoming routine as Margaret got more and more tempted to wring Eustace's neck as all he EVER did was complain. Especially since a storm had broken some of the water casks leaving only one.

One night, Margaret was woken up by the sound of arguing. She and Lucy sat up, exchanged looks, and then they climbed out of their beds and followed the rest of the crew that had been roused by the same noise.

There, by the water cask, were Reepicheep and Eustace. Eustace was holding a cup.

"What is going on?" Caspian demanded

"I was JUST getting some air" Eustace defended sticking to the story he was giving Reepicheep

"Then I guess you won't be needing THIS" Margaret said walking up to the younger boy and taking the cup from him. "Reepicheep? What are you doing up?"

"Milady" Reepicheep explained "As I am of no use on deck, I have taken it upon myself to do sentry over the water so that one man may sleep. I found this coming this way with the cup"

Reepicheep was pointing at Eustace

"That's very thoughtful Reepicheep" Lucy said sweetly.

"You believe this RAT over me?" Eustace asked his cousin

Before Reepicheep could even REGISTER the insult,

SLAP

"Look Scrubb" Margaret lectured looking VERY dangerous "Reepicheep is NOT a rat. He is the most noble mouse that ever lived. You are NOT the only one on this ship and we have an ENTIRE ship's crew to keep hydrated. A crew that WORKS unlike SOMEONE who lies in bed all day complaining. We are running low on supplies, especially water, and no one knows where the next island with fresh water is"

"But I'm not feeling well." Eustace argued his case, rubbing his sore cheek. "Any doctor can tell you I need water."

"OPEN YOUR EYES!" Margaret exclaimed "We're ALL not feeling well! Just because you're new to Narnia does NOT mean you get special treatment! You are NOT the King of England so stop acting like it!"

She turned to leave but stopped

"And for your information," she added "If Holly were here, for stealing water when supplies were low, water rations for the thief would be cut in half due to the fact water is important."

That was a bit of an exaggeration, but it was mainly to inform everyone, mainly Eustace, the importance of rations.

With that she headed to bed leaving a VERY stunned crew

"Alright!" Caspian announced breaking the silence. "Anyone caught stealing water from now on will get two dozen. Am I clear?"

"Yes Sir" Everyone but Eustace chorused

"Two dozen?" Eustace asked Edmund

"Lashes" Edmund answered

"Oh" Eustace said with a bit of a pout.

0000

A few days later, the Dawn Treader spotted land. Margaret stayed with the ship once they landed to help repair the damages done by the storm while a good chunk of the crew went exploring a bit

Nobody noticed Eustace sneaking off

Later that afternoon,

It wasn't until halfway through lunch that Edmund realized that his cousin was missing. Once everyone finished eating, the crew walked a few miles inland calling out his name.

"He's nowhere near or he'd have heard that" Lucy said worried after Caspian tried his very loud horn

"Confound the fellow" Edmund muttered. "What on earth did he want to slink away like this for?"

"But we have to do SOMETHING!" Lucy argued "He may have gotten lost,…fell into a hole,… captured by savages…"

"Killed by wild beasts" Drinian suggested with an air of hope in his tone

"Good riddance" Rhince said

Margaret glared daggers at the two Narnians

"It's not a laughing matter" she lectured

"Are you worried?" Edmund teased

"Look. I don't like the little beast any more than anyone else on the Dawn Treader, but…" Margaret defended "He IS the cousin of the High King Peter making him the cousin of my best friend, the High Queen Holly"

"I agree with the Lady Margaret" Reepicheep stated his piece as he motioned towards Lucy. "The creature is no friend of mine but he is of the Queen's blood, and while he is one of fellowship it concerns our honor to find him and, if necessary, avenge his death."

"We'll find him" Caspian declared. "Just we'll have to organize a search party"

0000

Margaret stayed with Lucy at the camp while the men went searching for the missing boy.

At a while, the men returned late, tired and empty-handed with only the news of a dead dragon they found at about three p.m.

However, a few hours later, Caspian woke the sleeping girls up

"Be as quiet as possible" Caspian warned "A dragon just landed on the beach cutting us off from the ship. Arrows are useless and they don't fear fire"

"With your majesty's leave…" Reepicheep offered

"No Reepicheep. You are not to attempt single combat with it" Caspian interrupted

Margaret held in a laugh at the mental picture of the two foot mouse going up against a 40 foot dragon.

"Maybe it'll go away" Lucy said hopefully

"I don't" Edmund disagreed with his sister

"I'm with Ed" Margaret said "If there was a snake in the room, I'd want to know where it is so it won't catch me off guard."

0000

Later that morning,

After breakfast, the group walked to the beach with Lucy, Margaret, and Reepicheep in the center surrounded by the men. Caspian, Edmund, and Drinian were leading

Margaret froze in shock as she had never seen a real-live dragon before

When the beast noticed them, it backed up a bit

"What's coming from its eyes?" Drinian asked

"Looks like tears" Margaret pointed out

"It's crying!" Lucy said feeling sorry for it

"That's what croc's do." Margaret said "I should know. I did a report on the similarities and differences between crocodiles and alligators."

The dragon shook its head as if arguing that it wasn't faking the tears

"Do you think it understands us?" Lucy asked the others

The dragon nodded

"Do you understand speech?" Margaret asked breaking ranks and walked up to the monster

The dragon nodded.

"Can you speak?" she asked

It shook its head

"Then it is idle to ask your business. But if you will swear friendship, raise your left foreleg" Reepicheep demanded

Margaret was impressed as the dragon did as the mouse told it. Now if only her dog could be easily trained like this dragon

"Look! There's something wrong with it's paw!" Lucy exclaimed before running to the dragon. "Let me see it. I may be able to cure it"

The dragon did as it was told and Lucy used her magic cordial that Caspian had brought along and had given back to her. The swelling reduced, but the gold bracelet was still stuck

"Look!" Caspian exclaimed. "The sign of a great Narnian House!"

Margaret saw on the band a little hammer with a diamond above it

"This is the arm band of the Lord Octesian" Caspian declared

"Villain!" Reepicheep said to the fire-breathing reptile as he drew his sword. "Did you devour a Narnian Lord?"

The dragon shook its head

"I wonder…" Lucy asked. "ARE you the Lord Octesian?"

A negative response again

"Are you a person under an enchantment?" Margaret asked

This time, the dragon nodded

There was a moment of silence as the news sunk in

"EUSTACE!" Edmund and Lucy chorused as they figured it out

The dragon nodded

"When I called you a 'beast' this WASN'T what I had in mind!" Margaret declared

0000

A few days later,

Margaret and Lucy were eating breakfast together as Edmund had gotten up early to visit his cousin.

"So what ARE we going to do about Eustace?" Margaret asked "We can't just leave him here."

"You seemed keen on leaving him at Narrowhaven" Caspian teased

"Please. That was a joke. There was no way we could leave Lucy and Edmund's cousin. Even though he was a prat, nobody deserves slavery. But… what can we do? Goodness knows how far it is to the next island and his wings would get tired. But he can't fit on the ship. Not to mention there's the small little detail about feeding him" Margaret said

Suddenly, Edmund returned…

…with a human Eustace who was decked in Narnian clothes.

"EUSTACE!" Lucy exclaimed joyfully and ran and hugged her cousin

While the rest of the crew greeted the humanized Eustace, Margaret shot Edmund a confused look wondering if he knew, or had anything to do with this.

Edmund just smiled and mouthed one word that explained EVERYTHING.

'Aslan'

TBC