Chapter 6 The Pevensies and Mr. Beaver

"Uh..." I said shocked, "h-hello."

Lucy laughed at my confused reaction, in return I playfully glared at her. There were two boys and one girl. One boy I guessed to be fourteen. The other I guessed was older than me by a couple years, maybe seventeen. The one I guessed to be fourteen had dark brown, almost black hair and brown eyes. The older boy's hair was more blonde than brown and he had blue eyes. He looked much different from the younger boy.

Then I looked at the girl. She was older than Lucy and the dark brown-haired boy but younger than the blonde-haired boy. She had brown hair just like the others, though closer in color to the youngest boy. And she had blue eyes like both Lucy and the eldest one. I guessed that she was about sixteen maybe fifteen. I could tell that they were all related because of their similar features. Like Lucy had the same nose as the younger of the boys, the two in between had the same mouth.

"Ana, these are my siblings," Lucy said. "Peter, Susan, and Edmund," she introduced me to them, gesturing to each as she said their names. Her voice was still sad but I knew the reason why.
"Hello... I'm Ana," I said rather quietly. I was a bit shy, after all.

They each nodded a hello to me and didn't say anything. Well Edmund just glared at me but he still didn't say anything either. I wondered what was wrong with him to make him act like that. He barely knew me and he was already glaring at me.

"Peter's the one who moved the cabinet for me. Well you," Lucy said.
"Thank you," I said to him.
"You're welcome," he said.

My eyes fell upon a piece of paper that was in Peter's hand. I was curious to what it said. Lucy kept glancing at it. The paper must've been important.

"May I see that?" I asked, pointing to the paper. Peter handed it over to me and read over my shoulder as I walked closer to the rest of them.
"The Faun Tumnus,
is hereby charged with High Treason
against her Imperial Majesty, Jadis, Queen of Narnia
for comforting her enemies and fraternizing with humans.
Signed Maugrim, Captain of the Secret Police.
Long Live the Queen."

"Oh! What- Ugh!" I said aloud trying to figure out what to say, and how to react the terrible news.
"We really should go back," Susan said.
"But what about Mr. Tumnus?!" Lucy cried.
"If he was arrested just for being with a human, I don't think there's much we can do."
"You don't understand do you? I'm the human. She must've found out he-well Ana too-helped me," Lucy pleaded once more.
"Maybe we could call the police!" Peter said, trying to help without really siding with either sister.
"These are the police," Susan said as she pointed to the note in my hand.
Peter turned to Lucy, looked her in the eyes, and said, "Don't worry Lu, we'll think of something."
"Why?" Edmund said.
We all turned to look at him.
"I mean, he's a criminal," he finished.

I thought about. Technically he was right. Mr. Tumnus had broke the Witch's rules and that made him a criminal in their eyes. However, to some- and Aslan- he was far from it. He was a hero, and the Witch had taken that away from him. Then I realized something.
"I'm a criminal too," I said.
They all looked at me, confused and shocked.
"It's true. I did all of the things they said in the letter. Mr. Tumnus and I did all of that together. They just didn't know another was involved."

It was silent for a moment as we all looked from one person to the next. None of us knew what to say next; there was nothing anyone could say to make the situation go away. It also appeared, to me anyways, that no one wanted to be the first one to speak. Thankfully none of us had to.

"Psst," a bird said.
Susan looked confused and turned to Peter, Lucy, and I.
"Did that bird just 'psst' us?" she asked.

Upon hearing Susan's question, Peter walked out of Mr. Tumnus' house- what was left of it anyway. The others followed their brother and soon, I did as well. There was nothing else I had to do, so I figured I'd tag along with Lucy and her siblings for now. If they asked me to leave, I would; it was their right. Anyways, it's not like I didn't have anywhere to go so they wouldn't be leaving me stranded.

A twig snapped rather loudly, in my opinion for someone who was trying to be sneaky. We all looked towards the sound but saw nothing. Peter was in front but Susan came up beside him and put her hand on his shoulder. Lucy followed Susan and grabbed her sister's arm. They were scared but I couldn't blame them for I was too, but for a different reason. They didn't know what dangers lurked for five humans, but I did and the sooner we were out of the open, the better.

I watched to see if Edmund would follow and join his siblings, but he didn't move from his spot. Instead, he stood there looking void of any emotion, but I could tell by the way he was standing that he was scared too. He just didn't want to show it to anyone, but the reason was unknown to me. Edmund seem to avoid getting close to his siblings as much as he could and it concerned me a little. But, as I had no idea what to expect of siblings, I simply ignored it.

I was pulled from my concern when I heard the sound again. I looked around, but, like before, I didn't see anything. For the first time in a long time, I thought about becoming a phoenix. That way, I could protect them and get them home safely before their lives became endangered.

Thankfully, I didn't have to because a beaver appeared from behind a hill of snow. I relaxed immediately because I could tell that it was on Aslan's side, simply because it was alone. The Witch's followers always travel with each other and never alone. I didn't know why they always did, but Aslan's followers could travel quickly and more discreetly alone.

Another thing I noticed was that the beaver could talk. There's just something about dumb beasts compared to the others that Narnians can tell if they talk or not. Without them speaking or talking to you, or at least attempting to speak with the ones who can't. I wasn't sure exactly how we Narnians knew, though. Instincts I guess.

I was just about to tell them the beaver could talk when I saw what Peter was doing. He was reaching his hand out towards the beaver and slowly walking forward saying, "Here boy. Here boy." He also made some kind of weird clicking sound.

"Well I ain't gonna smell it, if that's what you want!" the beaver said suddenly.

Edmund looked shocked and I tired to stifle a laugh, but failed. I couldn't tell what the others thought, with their backs to me, but I guessed that they were shocked as well. Well I guess not Lucy because she was giggling slightly, just like me.

"S-sorry," Peter stuttered out, sounding embarrassed.
"Lucy Pevensie?" the beaver asked.
Lucy suddenly stopped laughing, and as I moved closer, I could see that her smile had faded. She stepped forward and tentatively said, "Yes?"
The beaver held out a handkerchief.
"Hey, that's the hankie I gave to Mr. Tum-"
"Tumnus," Mr. Beaver finished. "He got it to me just before they took 'em."

Strange... When was that? I hadn't seen Mr. Tumnus and Mr. Beaver together and I was confused. But Mr. Beaver had no reason to lie so I assumed it was earlier, probably some time when we at least thought the Witch was coming. He could've easily sneaked out and gave it to him.

"Is he alright?" Lucy and I both said at the same time, glancing at each other as we did.
Mr. Beaver looked from Lucy to me before whispering, "Further in."

Then he took off behind the hill of snow. I went after him and Lucy started to follow me. However when I looked back, they were all just standing there. They needed to come with Mr. Beaver or take their chances with the Witch. Frankly, I would take going with Mr. Beaver over anything involving the Witch and when just about to say so.

"Everything all right?" asked Mr. Beaver as he appeared back over the snow bank.
"Yes. We were just talking," Peter replied, facing back to him.
Quietly he replied, "That's better left for safer quarters."
"He means the trees," Lucy said quietly and I nodded in agreement, only briefly wondering how she knew that.

Soon, they all followed Mr. Beaver and I. He lead us through Narnia to his home, at least that's what I thought he was taking us. I could've just went home, but something told me to stay with the Pevensies. Like somehow it was my duty to protect them. Besides, I wouldn't want to leave unless I knew the Pevensies were safe.

"Come on now," Mr. Beaver said, " We don't want to be caught out here after nightfall."

That was actually quite true. Narnia was quite a magical and wonderful place, for the most part anyways. If you didn't think about the Witch and the hundred year winter it was fine. At night, all the magic still stayed but it had a much scarier feel to it. Like something, or someone, was watching you. Aslan's wonderful Narnia disappeared at night and in its place was the Witch's.

Author's note: Feedback is always welcome. I try to make my writing work better for the readers. Just tell me what I need to improve.