Chapter Six
...
He heard a thump as something heavy collided with the cold earth. It took him a few moments to realize that the thumping sound came from none other then his own body. Feeling slowly crept back to him. A dull pain spread throughout him. Small, shifting movements of the hands and feet. The pain seared. His focus was returning.
He ventured to lift his eyelids. The sharp impact of light caused him to immediately re-shut them. Slowly, painstakingly, he rolled himself over onto his side and then fully exposed his eyes to the light. The hot sun poured down upon him, warming his body. He lay there for a few minutes, just breathing, still unable to think clearly.
He managed to sit himself up and rub his head. A large lump was forming at the back, throbbing just to spite him.
He looked around. He was sitting in a lush meadow. The grass danced around his feet in the sunshine and a cool, soothing breeze whipped through his hair. It was impossible to mistake this place for anywhere else. Suddenly, panic struck him. Where were the others? He began to search around violently.
A hint of gray in the tall grass caught his eye. Despite the pain, he staggered over to where the limp figure was laying.
"Lara," he croaked, shaking her violently. "Lara, wake up!"
A hand shot out and smacked his arms off violently. Peter sat down with a thud. Lara stirred and slowly raised herself up to a sitting position.
"I guess I'd be correct in saying that it worked then, didn't it?" She smirked, looking over at Peter. She glanced around.
"Where are the others?"
"I don't know." Peter said anxiously. There was no one else around in sight. The grassy field stretched on for what looked like miles and miles of lush, rolling grass. There were a few trees to their left.
Lara began crawling on her hands and knees, searching about the ground below her.
"What's wrong?" Peter asked.
"The book." Lara said quietly. "It's gone."
"Susan! Don't!"
A piercing scream echoed around the forest, causing the leaves on the trees to shudder in protest. A few curious creatures poked their heads out of their nests long enough to hear a following slew of very unladylike curses.
"I'm taking us back at once and that's final. I am older then you and you must be taught to respect me. I'm your sister."
She began to flip through the pages desperately.
"And Peter is your brother!" Edmund spat at the ground, stomping his feet. His eyes narrowed in disgust towards his sister.
"Peter brought us all into this mess and I'm going to get us out of it." Susan was clutching the book to her chest with the intent to never surrender it.
"Susan, I really hate to do this." Edmund sighed. He glanced toward Lucy who looked back with a flicker of understanding.
"Do what? What are you two—"
Before she could finish her sentence, Edmund and Lucy cried out in unison and charged towards her, knocking her off her feet full force and into a pile of leaves.
"You beasts!" Susan swore as she spat out a particularly dirty leaf from her mouth.
"Sorry Sue," Lucy said apologetically while Edmund snickered, picking up the book that had been knocked out of Susan's grasp.
"We're going to have to work together." Edmund said, lending Susan a hand as she got to her feet, brushing herself off as best she could. She took a deep breath.
"All right fine. I'm sorry for overreacting." She muttered, lowering her eyes to the ground. "We need to find Peter, but the instant we do I'm taking us straight back home."
Susan and Edmund started off into another argument, while Lucy sighed and walked around the trees. It felt so good to be back. The strength that Narnia gave her was flowing back into her veins with each breath she took. She felt it pulsing through her with excitement.
"Come on you two!" She cried excitedly. "I think I've found the way out of here!"
"We need to find out way to Caspian." Peter said firmly. "From there, he can help us find the others I'm sure. He'll also be able to fill us in as to what's going on."
"Right," said Lara. "You don't happen to recognize this place, do you?"
Peter shook his head. It all looked very vast to him. There were many fields like this in Narnia. He bit his lip and looked around, trying to decide on which direction would be best to take.
"I guess we can't do much except pick a way and start walking." He shrugged. "We're bound to end up somewhere with civilization and from there we can get directions."
"But Narnia is at war, remember?" Lara frowned, picking herself up off the ground and smoothing out her gray pleated skirt.
"So we'll have to be careful." Peter said, standing up to join her.
"All right Mr. High King." Lara laughed. "Which direction are you picking?"
Peter frowned. "I'm guessing it's close to midday. I'm going to follow the sun. It sets in that direction if I'm correct, and if my memory serves me right it could be the way to the castle."
"Clever thinking." Lara said, looking impressed.
"Thanks." Peter grinned and the pair headed off, feeling happier then ever to be back.
They walked on for hours. Peter finally had time to ask all of his burning questions and receive full detailed answers. Lara told him more about her life before England and the people she knew. Peter was curious to know more about Elomeer, the friend turned enemy who had banished Lara from her home.
Lara described him as an eager competitor who hated to lose but loved to win. They had grown up thicker then thieves but one-day things started to change.
Peter was nervous to ask why. Lara had been avoiding the reason as to why he had been angry with her. So Peter settled on asking another question, that was almost equally as awkward but to tempting not to bring up.
"So, how exactly do you remember me? I mean, when we lived here, of course."
Lara turned to him and smiled.
"You really don't remember me, do you?"
"Well, I do. In a way." Peter added, and retold the dream that he had had of her.
"That's more or less how we met." Lara smiled, picking a flower up off the ground and playing with its pedals.
"You were a great friend." She went on. "Piff loved you of course, but Elomeer—"
She paused, and picked off a petal, letting it float to the ground. Peter swallowed nervously. For some reason, every time she said Elomeer's name his stomach lurched.
"He was insanely jealous of you. It drove him mad."
"Jealous?" Peter blanched. "But—"
"Let's just say." Lara smiled mysterious. "You and I grew rather close. I really can't believe you don't remember. Maybe Aslan didn't want you to."
"Why would he make me forget?" Peter asked crossly. That made no sense.
Lara sighed. "We were older then."
"What's that supposed to mean?" He blurted.
She stopped walking and turned to face him.
"Let's rest a while." She said quietly, sitting down crossed legged on the soft grass. Peter followed suit, unbuttoning the top buttons from his shirt as the heat inched higher.
"This is difficult to explain to you." She said and picked another flower, uprooting it from the dark earth. "Maybe now that you're here you'll remember soon enough. Because I think it could be part of the reason were here."
Peter stared deep into her pale eyes, hoping for a glimpse into the past in her deep twin pools of blue. A flicker of the dream flashed through his mind, but that was all.
"If you tell me the story, it might come back to me."
She inhaled deeply, her chest rising and falling as she exhaled. She twisted her lips, deep in thought.
"It began soon after we first met. We shared a lot in common and spent a great deal of time together. Since we were older, you must realize, our connection grew deeper then mere friendship. I dreaded being away from you. You were my safe haven Peter, I felt incomplete without you. Elomeer thought he was being replaced. You told me not to trust him, to leave with you but I didn't listen. I still believed he would come round and we'd all be friends somehow. I was wrong. It took a long time to get used to living in England, but it was impossible to forget about—"
She tripped over the last word. Started to say 'you' but changed it at the last moment.
"My life here." She finished.
Peter was unsure what to say.
"I'm sure that's a lot for you to think about." Lara smiled gently, laying a tender hand on Peter's arm.
"I could tell you some funny things we did that I remember. It might help to jog your memory." She offered, standing up.
"I'd like that." Peter replied, hoisting his body to his feet. He glanced up at the sun; it was beating down strong but had shifted along the sky.
They continued to walk through the fields, which eventually led them to a roughly cut dirt road. This brought them hope so they decided to travel it, anxiously anticipating running into a friendly face.
It was late evening when they came across the spring. Eager with thirst they drank and Peter searched about for some food. With luck he stumbled upon an apple tree, which not only offered food but more hope for he remembered finding apple trees the last time he was in Narnia.
They decided to sleep in a soft patch of grassy hill by the stream. The soft murmur of the trickling water and the faint singing of crickets filled their ears. There were no need for words; they had talked all day. Each swapping stories and memories from their past lives.
Lying in the grass next to Lara, Peter felt a sincere calm wash over him. He stared up into the vast night sky. The first stars were just peaking out as his eyelids drifted off into a deep sleep.
He dreamt the same dream he had had before. Wandering towards the steam, when suddenly the piercing eagle cry and the loud swooping noise of wings filled his ears.
He awoke with a jolt, only to find he had not been dreaming the noises. For right in front of him, staring him straight in the face were two sharp, beady black eyes and a sharp, angled beak.
"Welcome back my king. We've been waiting for you."
