As we walked back down the mountain that the Witch's castle stood on, the sound of dogs barking reached my ears.
"That's the Witch's police. Wolves. We've got to hurry." Mr. Beaver said, dropping down onto four feet so that he could run. Peter and I glanced at each other, our eyes wide. Wolves? I thought, as the four of us began to run.
As we headed quickly towards the beaver dam, the sounds of the approaching wolves got louder. I shook away all thoughts of being caught and killed, and focused all my energy on breathing as I ran. In, out. In, out.
After what seemed like forever, we reached the beavers' house. Mr. Beaver burst through the front door.
"Hurry, Mother! They're after us!" He shouted. Peter, Susan, Lucy, and I all followed him in, and Lucy shut the door behind us.
"Oh, right then." Mrs. Beaver nodded, and waddled over to a shelf. She began taking jars off the shelf, and putting them on a cloth.
"What's she doing?" Peter asked. Mr. Beaver shook his head.
"Oh, you'll be thinking me later. It's a long journey and Beaver gets pretty cranky when he's hungry." Mrs. Beaver explained, as she continued placing food onto the cloth.
"I'm cranky now!" Mr. Beaver shouted. Susan sighed, and moved to help Mrs. Beaver.
"Do you think we'll need jam?" Susan asked as she reached for a jar.
"Only if the Witch serves toast." Peter replied. I couldn't tell if he was trying to be funny or not, but I found it humorous. Susan didn't, and she glared at her older brother. Peter saw me giggling, and managed to give me a small grin before he turned toward Mr. Beaver again.
At that moment, a snarling and a growling sound came from outside the dam. My eyes grew wide and I swallowed hard as we heard the wolves trying to break through the roof. Mrs. Beaver pushed a bundle of food at me, and one at Susan. She also handed Susan a lantern.
"Hurry! Follow me!" Mr. Beaver ordered, grabbing something off a side table and hurrying to a small door on the opposite side of the room. He opened the door, and jumped down out of sight. Mrs. Beaver was next, followed by Peter, and then me, Lucy was next, and last was Susan. We jumped down a small hole, and landed in a dark tunnel.
"Here." Mr. Beaver handed something to Peter. Then the animal lit a match (the box of matches must've been what he grabbed off the table) and set fire to what Peter was holding. I looked at it, and realized it was a torch.
"Susan." Mr. Beaver handed her a match, and she lit the lantern she was holding.
"Follow closely. Stay quiet." Mr. Beaver said as he began to run. We followed in the order we had come in.
Peter, Susan, and I all had to duck because we were too tall for the tunnel.
"Badger and me dug this. Comes out right near his place." Mr. Beaver said as we ran.
'You told me it led to your mum's!" Mrs. Beaver exclaimed. Lucy fell behind me, tripping over something.
"Lucy!" Susan said quietly, helping her sister up. We all stood there when we heard barking.
"They're in the tunnel." Lucy whispered.
"Quick! This way!" Mr. Beaver turned back around and continued running.
"Hurry!" Mrs. Beaver shouted. We all began to run as quickly as we could.
"Run!" Peter exclaimed, and I clutched my bundle tighter and ran faster.
"Quick! Quick! Quick!" Mrs. Beaver urged. We stopped suddenly, coming to a dead in.
"You should have brought a map!" Mrs. Beaver scolded her husband.
"There wasn't room next to the jam!" He retorted, as he jumped up and began to climb the wall. I met Peter's eyes and we smiled at Mr. Beaver's comment, remembering how Peter had replied to Susan earlier in the house.
We turned back to watch Mr. Beaver, followed by his wife, disappear through a hole at the top of the wall. Peter and I let Susan and Lucy go before us. As Susan crawled through the hole, she let her lamp fall to the ground. I briefly wondered why, but didn't ask.
As soon as Lucy crawled through the hole, Peter pushed me towards it. I quickly crawled in, and stepped out into a clear, snowy area. I got out of the way, so that Peter could crawl out. Then he, Mr. Beaver, and I rolled a nearby barrel over the tunnel entrance. As we quickly worked, I noticed that Peter must've dropped his torch coming out, like Susan did with her lantern.
When the three of us turned around, we saw Lucy lying on her back in the snow. Surrounding her were tiny statues of animals. I recognized squirrels, chipmunks, and maybe a few mice. Lucy sat up, confused.
Mr. Beaver slowly walked toward another statue that stood away from the others. This statue was larger than the ones Lucy had tripped over. Peter, Susan, Lucy, and I followed Mr. and Mrs. Beaver towards this statue. When I looked closer, I saw that it was a badger. The animal had a look of terror on his face, and had his arm raised up as if to protect himself.
"I'm so sorry, dear." Mrs. Beaver said softly. Mr. Beaver reached up and gently touched the statue's arm.
"He was my best mate." He mumbled. Whoa! Is this the badger that the beavers are always talking about? Why is he stone? I wondered. The three Pevensies and I walked a bit closer, but stayed a distance away from the beavers. Lucy held Peter's hand, as we all looked around the clearing. Nearby, I saw another statue of a bulldog, and yet another of a boar.
"What happened here?" Peter asked exactly what the four of us were thinking.
"This is what becomes of those who cross the Witch." A voice came from close by. Peter instinctively put out his arms to hold Lucy, Susan, and I from advancing. I looked to where the voice had come from, and saw a red fox standing on the roof of one of the small houses.
"You take one more step, traitor, and I'll chew you to splinters!" Mr. Beaver shouted, and he tried to walk forward but was stopped by Mrs. Beaver's hold on his arm.
"Relax. I'm one of the good guys." The fox chuckled, jumping down onto the ground.
"Yeah? Well you look an awful lot like one of the bad ones." Mr. Beaver replied, trying again to step forward, but still unsuccessfully, due to his wife.
"An unfortunate family resemblance. But we can argue breeding later. Right now we've got to move." Fox replied, shrugging. Peter pulled Lucy close and put his arm around her. Just then, we heard a howling sound coming from the tunnel.
"What did you have in mind?" Peter looked toward Fox, who smiled.