Author's Note:

It's updating time again. I'm hoping you guys remember the little boy who found Raine in the village in chapter two. Because in this chapter you're going to find out a little more about him and his mother. I'm not really sure why I dedicated half a chapter to them...[winks] maybe they're important.

Thanks to all of you who have been reviewing!

And of course, Chronicles of Narnia=not mine!

My Saving Raine

Chapter 10

Adeline

The sounds of happy peels of laughter and playful barking carried on the wind to Adeline's ears as she sat at her small table slicing carrots. Looking up, she smiled to see her son and his dog romping in the grass. Neron was keeping the dog's bone from him, running around as the dog chased him. Finally the dog caught up with him and put both paws on the boy's back, causing him to lose his balance and fall. When seeing that her son was rolling down the grassy hill toward the sand, she called, "Neron, be careful. I don't want you to get too dirty, dinner will be soon."

Looking up and smiling guiltily at his mother, he had two sandy paw smears on his tunic, and a dirty smudge on his cheek where the dog had batted at him. She sighed, "Too late." She giggled, watching as he wrestled some more with the retriever. "Son, it's time to wash up. It's just about time for supper."

The boy stopped playing and looked up at her with a pout. "But mother, there's still just enough sunlight left to play."

Standing with her tray of carrots, she turned to him. "You will have tomorrow to play with Morrie. And the day after tomorrow, and the next. Maybe there will still be some light left after you finish your supper,"she eyed the sky. The sun was beginning to set, but it would be a while before night fell. Following her gaze, the small boy looked at the sun, then back at his pooch as if trying to decide.

"Okay,"he said, but not before ruffling the tuff of hair atop the dog's head. The dog gave a frisky "ruff" and sat on his haunches.

Adeline walked into her kitchen, feeling her skirt swoosh behind her. She set the carrots on a small plate on the table, beside a plate of chicken and onions. When Neron came back in, they sat at the table to enjoy their meal. Neron ate his food quickly, despite his mother's asking to chew slowly. However, she knew he was hurrying so he could play with their dog some more, so she let it slide. After finishing her meal, she picked up Neron's abandoned plate and carried it to the counter to wash later. She didn't want her son to be unattended outside, especially not so close to sundown.

She stepped out the door and onto the fluffy grass, wiping her hands on her apron. Once again, Neron giggled as the retriever pounced on him. When he saw his mother take a seat on a small wooden chair, he stopped playing and looked up at her. "Mother?"

She looked up from her knitting square. "Yes, my love?"

"What happened to the girl in the village?" Ah. He was still thinking about the incident that had happened in the village several days ago…he was still thinking about the girl.

"I don't know, son. The palace guards carried her away," she sighed, weaving her needle in and out of the yarn. "I would guess that they took her to the palace so they can help her."

Neron looked down at the ground thoughtfully. He kneeled, picking up a dandelion and picking at it. "Why was she sleeping?"

Even though she knew the girl had not been sleeping, she didn't want to explain to him that she was unconscious. "I do not know. She must have been weary from travel, because I didn't recognize her," she reached into her apron pocket and pulled out another piece of yard to weave in. "The poor thing must have been exhausted to pass out like that." But even as she avoided the truth for the sake of her son's innocence, she had a feeling she knew where the girl was really from. The strange clothing…the unusual hair style…she had seen it all before.

Listening as intently as a young boy can, he blew the dandelion, watching the petals float on the air. "But why would they take her to the palace to help her. The king won't help her, he's too mean."

Adeline looked up at him sheepishly. He thought the wicked lord Miraz was the king. "Oh, he isn't the king, my boy. He is the king's brother, though you are quite right about him being mean," she continued knitting, glancing up a few times to watch her son's facial expressions. He looked so cute when he was thinking. "But the prince may help her. He has a much kinder soul than his uncle. He's Telmar's only hope." That answer seemed to satisfy the young boy, and he yawned. Even the dog had retired from their play and was lying lazily on his side in the soft grass. She looked to see the sun halfway tucked beneath the horizon and decided it was time to go in. "I think it's time to go back inside, son."

The young boy didn't argue as he yawned and walked back into the house, heading for his room. Leading the retriever into the house, Adeline refilled his water dish and set it beside his pallet of hay. The dog wagged his tail gratefully and she gave him a soft pet. A soft rustle of fabric behind her told her that Neron was crawling into bed. She walked into the room, seating herself on the edge of his bed.

"Did you have fun today, my love?" she asked, tucking her son beneath his soft blanket.

He smiled contentedly, "Mmhmm."

"I love you, son. Now go to sleep, tomorrow is another day," she kissed him on the forehead and got up to blow out the candle.

"I love you too, Mother," he murmured sweetly, his mind sweeping away somewhere between consciousness and dreamland. But then he snapped his eyes back open. "Mother?"

She turned to face him again. "Yes, love?"

"Can you make sure Morrie has plenty of water to drink? I forgot."

She smiled at his concern for his furry companion. "I already did. Good night, son."

He closed his eyes slowly, then rolled over. She heard a muffled, "Good night, mother."

She blew out the candle, letting darkness settle over his room. She prayed a silent prayer in thanks that she had been blessed with such a son. She could not have asked for a sweeter addition to her life. Even though she had never thought that she would have a child the way she had him, she thanked God everyday that she did. Sighing proudly, she retreated back to the den to sit before the fire. She sat down in her rocking chair as quietly as she could, so that the creaking would not wake Neron. However, the dog heard it and looked up at her, tilting his head and whining. "Oh, Morrie, it's only me. Don't worry." The dog stood up and pranced over to her, sitting at her feet. He looked up at her, panting. She giggled, because whenever he panted he looked like he was smiling. She petted him gently.

Staring into the fire, she remembered how Neron had come to be in her life. She had been attacked and assaulted brutally, and became pregnant. But she had never dreamed that she would be so blessed after such tragedy. A tear dropped onto her lap. "Heavenly Father above," she took a shaky breath, "please, I beg you. Don't let my Neron be anything like the man who fathered him." She shivered, an image of the man's face haunting her. Those icy, malicious eyes. That soft baby face, which made him look so innocent…just one more trick that lured in his prey. Luckily Neron hadn't inherited any of his father's features. She only hoped that he wouldn't try to follow the monster's footsteps as an adult.

Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone

In a world that she can't rise above

But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place

Where she's loved, concrete angel

"Ugh, I can't take much more of that," Faith groaned, twisting the radio dial to find another station.

Life is a highway

I want to ride it all night long

If you're going my way

I want to drive it all night long

"Alright, Rascall Flatts! That's much better." She sang along with the song, with Riley joining in the passenger seat beside her. Aaron just sat in the backseat quietly, listening to his mother and sister sing. It was Tuesday morning, and she was taking the kids to school. Technically it was Derek's turn to take them, but he had to go to work early to help his employees start inventory. So Faith gladly took his turn, since she and the kids always had fun riding in the car together. Taking a peek at her young son in the rearview mirror, she wistfully smiled. They won't stay this age forever. I have to enjoy their youth while it lasts, she inwardly groaned as she spotted a silver hair on her blonde head, and mine too, evidently.

As the song ended, the disc jockeys came on the radio. They were bantering back and forth, as they normally did on the morning show. Tuning it out, Riley faced her mother seriously, "Momma?"

"Riley?" she answered back.

The little girl stared straight ahead at the glove compartment. "Do you think Raine's gonna get better?"

That thought sobered Faith up quite a bit, and it quickly wiped the smile off her face. She tried to keep it up, though, for her daughter's sake. "I believe she will, sweetheart. Her body is just taking a while to heal from the accident."

Aaron piped up from the back seat. "Why did she run out into the middle of the road? Didn't she know that it's not safe?" At this she couldn't help but to smile. She always taught them about playing safely outside, and he would always remind her of the rules about safety. But when she thought about what would have caused the girl to run blindly into the road, the small smile faded. "I don't know, son. I really don't."

She grew tired of the DJs' cackling in the background and she turned the dial again to find a song to distract herself from her suspicions. Luckily, she found a station playing 'Watching Airplanes' by Gary Allan. This was Aaron's favorite song, and he started singing along. Riley jumped in with a harmony line, as she never liked singing melody. For their young age, they were both quite good at singing. Something I can thank Raine for, no doubt. Many times Faith had walked into the children's rooms to find Raine strumming her guitar and singing with them. She had to have been their musical influence, because Faith couldn't carry a tune in a tin pail. And Derek can make every stray dog within a five-mile radius track down the house with his wailing… The thought of Raine never recovering, or recovering only to be half as happy as she was before saddened her greatly. If Eddie had messed with her, then she knew it would be tough for the girl to return to life happily.

She returned her thoughts to her driving, not wanting to think on it any longer. A traffic light ahead of her turned red, and she braked to stop. Glancing to the left, she saw a house and memories came flooding back to her. It was where her best friend had lived…before Eddie raped her…before she killed herself. Addie.

She remembered playing dress up with her in her mother's closet. Addie's signature accessory had always been her mother's pearl necklace. Faith smiled, remembering how they used to dress up and walk down Addie's hallway like models on a runway.

Another memory came to her as she pulled into the driveway of the school. She put a smile on as she kissed her children and watched them walk into the entrance of the school. Driving off, she pulled back out into the street, heading downtown for work. After roughly ten minutes of driving, her tires crunched against the asphalt of the parking lot. She parked, grabbed her purse, locked the car, and walked to the entrance of her salon. Even though her husband made more than enough to make their living, she had always wanted to have a salon. They really didn't need the extra money, but she did it for the enjoyment, not the salary. She pulled out her key ring and unlocked the door, walking in as a small bell rang cheerfully overhead.

It was a chilly morning, and she could see her breath. Rubbing her arms for warmth, she skipped over to the thermostat to crank up the heat. Then she walked to the cashier's counter to turn it on. She strolled over to the small Christmas tree that was standing against the window and plugged it in, watching in delight as the lights began to twinkle. Even though it was still a week before Thanksgiving, she and the staff had decided to decorate for Christmas. She walked back to the counter, leaning against it and staring out the window. She remembered a time when she, Addie, and her brother had worked as a team to wash her brother's dog.

"Man, Duncan, your fur is lookin' shaggy,"Addie said, inspecting his coat through the soap suds.

"He's a West Highland Terrier, Dummie. He's supposed to look shaggy," Chance teased, squinting at her.

She stared back at him in mock disgust, "But his fur is so beautiful. Imagine how nice he would look If his fur was actually well groomed." Faith laughed as Chance made a sour face.

"Guys, we haven't even finished washing him, and you're already thinking about giving him a hair cut!" She continued scrubbing Duncan's white coat, and laughed as she noticed the dog half-way closing his eyes in delight.

Chance looked at her, "We've been scrubbing him for a while. He won't have a hide left if we scrub anymore. Let's rinse 'im off."

Complying, Addie took the bucket of clean water and was about to poor it over the dog's coat, when out of nowhere, water sprayed, soaking all three, Faith, Addie, and Duncan. They automatically looked up at Chance, who was holding the water hose. He tried to look as innocent as possible, even though the mischief gleam in his eyes gave him away.

Faith looked down at her soaked t-shirt, and shook her hands. I guess it's a good think I wore scrubs, she thought. She looked over at Addie, who was wearing a sundress. It was now very much soaked and sticking to her skin, and her curly red hair was clinging to her face. She was glaring at Chance open-mouthed. That's what you get for wearing a stinkin' sundress to wash a dog! She thought.

"CHANCE TAYLOR, I'm gonna absolutely KILL YOU!" Addie shouted, jumping to her feet and taking off after him. Anticipating her anger and already being way ahead of her, Chance was already past their parent's property line, dashing down the street, with peels of wickedly satisfied laughter wafting through the air behind him. Addie just raced after him, slipping once on the slick, soapy grass, red hair flying behind her. Duncan thought it was a game and followed after her, emitting a few playful "ruff"s as he ran after them.

Faith sat their, laughing and shaking her head. Chance had always known how to ruffle Addie's feathers, and she never hesitated to let him know when he did. She sighed loudly, looking around her at the mess that had been left for her to clean up. She dumped the water out of the buckets and set them down, ringing out the wash towels and dropping them in the buckets. Hearing a loud enraged "DAMMIT CHANCE!" she looked up and snorted into the air. She stood up carefully as not to slip and carried the buckets to the front porch. Her father must have heard the commotion and came out to investigate. When he opened the door he saw Faith standing there, soaked from head to toe. He only smiled. "Chance?"

Faith nodded back, ringing the water out of her hair, "Yep, he's at it again."

He nodded once, his blue eyes dancing in mirth. "And Addie?"

Faith looked once in the direction that they had ran, "Yep, she took off after him, with Duncan in hot pursuit". She looked back to see her father chuckling. He stopped to look in the direction of Addie's angry shrieks and Chance's tickled laughing.

"Oh that Addie. She's a firecracker ain't she?" he asked.

Faith laughed out loud, bending over to catch her breath. "Yea she is!" She stood up straight, looking off in the distance. "But she's the best friend I could ever ask for."

The bell rang cheerfully, alerting Faith that someone had arrived. Angry tears rolled down her cheeks, and she wiped them away hastily, as Monique and Preston, her two best hair dressers and two closest friends, entered the salon.

I know you're all probably dying to get back to Caspian and Raine, but this chapter was necessary. But not to worry...our beloved prince and heroine will be back next chapter!

~Rhythmic5