Chapter Eleven: The Broken Door
Lucy continued to lead the group towards Mr. Tumnus' house, navigating the frozen woods well for a young girl who had only been there twice. As they walked, the group started splitting up into twos. Georgie and Edmund stuck close together at the back, always staying, at least, three or four steps behind so as not to be heard by the others. Peter has moved to walk with Lucy and could be heard asking questions about the land, trying to make it up to his youngest sister for not believing in her right away. That left Susan and Lily to talk with one another.
"So what was it you and Peter were talking about so intently?" Susan asked, looking sideways at her brunette friend.
"He wanted to thank me for believing in Lucy. You know, about Narnia existing." Lily replied, shrugging her shoulders.
"Really? That seems like it would be a quick conversation, not one that would cause the two of you to fall so far behind." Susan teased, bumping shoulders with Lily.
"I guess he just didn't want anyone to hear. Then we talked about our brothers and how close they've gotten."
"Ah, and that's the type of conversation that causes one to blush?" Susan asked, smirking slightly.
Lily furrowed her brow and turned to look at the other girl. "I wasn't blushing." There was a pause as she tried to remember if she had blushed or not. "Besides, if I had, it is cold here.
Susan turned to her, biting her lips to hide a smile "I never said you were the one blushing."
"Susan!" Lily cried before throwing her arms around the girl and laughing. Susan laughed as well, placing an arm around Lily's waist. The suddenness of it caused the others to look at them, which only led to more laughing.
The topic was then switched to boys and lasted for just about the rest of the walk. After that, the only one talking was Lucy as she chatted happily about how kind Mr. Tumnus was. Every once and a while she would look over her shoulder and inform everyone that they would be there soon or that they were almost there.
"He'll prepare all sorts of things for us. There will be cake, toast with jam, and tea-" Lucy was in the middle of telling them all what would happen once they reached his house once again when she stopped mid-sentence.
From the top of a hill, they could see a door nestled in the middle of a large rock wall. Although it was quite a ways away, the children could see that it was hanging off it hinges as though it had been kicked in. From the look of shock on Lucy's face, Lily could only assume that the door belonged to Tumnus. With a gasp, the young girl took off down the slope towards the ruined door.
"Lucy!" Peter cried before running after his sister.
Lucy's feet were small and the snow was deep, but she somehow managed to close the distance between her and the door in a matter of seconds, the other children right behind her. Reaching the door, Lucy couldn't help but fight back a few tears when she saw the state of it up close. Claw marks, like ugly scars, marked the otherwise beautifully carved door. Against the requests of the others, she slipped into the house and saw that it was in an even worse state.
Following the young girl inside, Lily observed that it looked like a tornado had gone through the place. The stuffing had been ripped out of the chairs and couches, books were lying on the floor, their bindings destroyed, pictures also lie on the floor with their frames bent and glass shattered. She had never even met the faun and she felt terrible for whatever had happened to him to leave so much destruction.
"Who would do something like this?" she asked, her voice heavy from trying holding back tears that had begun to form in her eyes.
The sound of glass cracking filled the room, drawing everyone's attention behind them. Edmund had accidently stepped on a fallen picture, causing the glass to break even more than it already was. Noticing everyone's eyes on him, he quickly moved his food and muttered a 'sorry'.
"Peter, what's that on the wall?" Susan inquired, pointing at a piece of parchment hanging on the wall close to her older brother.
Peter walked over and pulled the bottom of the parchment, tearing it free from the nail holding it to the wall. He carried it over to the open door so that it would use the sun to better see the words. After clearing his throat, he began to read:
The former occupant of these premises,
The Faun Tumnus, is under arrest and
awaiting his trial on a charge of High Treason
against her imperial Majesty Jadis, Queen of Narnia,
Chatelaine of Cair Paravel, Empress of the Lone Islands,
Also to comforting her said Majesty's enemies,
harboring spies and fraternizing with Humans.
Signed Maugrim, captain of the Secret Police,
Long live the Queen!
When he was finished, he lowered the paper and glanced at Susan who looked frantic.
"Now we really should go," she pressed. It had all seemed like a good idea at the time. But now the situation seemed to be getting dangerous.
"But we have to help him!" Lucy protested frantically.
"It's out of our hands, Lu," Peter said, agreeing with Susan. He too felt like it might be a good time to head home.
"Maybe Susan and Peter are right, Lucy," Lily said slowly. "We should probably start heading back." She wanted nothing more than to be on Lucy's side, but even she had to admit that things were starting to get out of their control.
"You don't get it, do you? I'm the human! He helped ME!" Lucy cried, putting as much emphasize on the 'me' as she could. She needed them to understand just what Mr. Tumnus had done for her.
Peter looked down at his youngest sister. "Maybe we should call the police," he suggested, wanting nothing more than to keep Lucy from breaking into tears.
"These are the police!" Susan snapped, grabbing the parchment from Peter's hands.
"Besides, he's a criminal!" Edmund pointed out.
"If he was arrested for helping you, Lucy, then what do you think they'll do if they catch us?" Georgie asked.
Peter shot a look at the three before turning towards Lucy. "Don't listen to them, Lucy. We'll think of something."
Suddenly, from outside, there came a quiet sound, almost like air escaping from a balloon. 'Psst'. Exiting the house, the children tried to find the source of the noise. There was nothing there except for a bright chest robin. They watched as the bird flew to a branch a few feet away, looked at them, and repeated the sound. 'Psst'.
"Did that bird… just 'psst' us?" Susan asked, recognizing the sound now. She turned to her blonde brother only for him to shrug his shoulders.
"Should we follow it?" Lily asked, watching as the bird once again few away before landing on a branch within eyesight.
As a form of answer, Lucy just started off after the bird with the others following close behind. The bird flew from tree to tree, leading them a ways into the forest before stopping. The children looked at it in confusion before rustling in some nearby bushes drew their attention.
Unsure of what it might be, Lucy reached over and grabbed Lily's hand while the brunette girl moved to station themselves behind Peter and Georgie. They all stood there for a moment before a large beaver slowly made its way out of the bushes. At once, everyone was relieved to see that it wasn't something vicious that might jump up and attack them all. Gently, so as not to spook the creature, Peter started to make his way towards the animal.
"Here, boy…come here…" In between words, he clicked his tongue against his teeth, his form of a beaver call. Once he was closer, he slowly stretched out his hand to allow the creature to get his scent.
The beaver sat there looking at it for a few seconds before shocking the children. "I'm not gonna smell it if that's what you want!" It exclaimed.
The beaver had spoken! Looks of surprise covered all six children's face as Peter pulled his hand away and straightened up. To make the situation a little less uncomfortable, a few of them started to laugh, Lucy being one of them. But that quickly stopped when the Beaver spoke again.
"Lucy Pevensie?" It asked.
"Yes?" Lucy asked, slowly releasing Lily's hand and taking a step forward.
The beaver got on his hind legs and offered the young girl a handkerchief. Lucy looked at it with confusion etched on her face before reaching out a taking it. "This is the handkerchief I gave to Mr.—"
"Tumnus," the beaver interrupted, nodding his head sadly, "He gave it to me just before they took him."
Lucy balled the small piece of cloth in her hand before looking back at the beaver. "Is he alright?" she asked, afraid of the answer.
The children watched as the beaver turned his head to look from side to side. "Further in," he instructed before turning around and taking off into the woods.
Lucy, Lily, and Peter all started to follow it right away, but Susan held Peter back.
"Peter, what do you think you are doing?" she asked, her hands on her hips.
"She's right. How do we know we can trust this beaver?" Edmund asked as well, stepping forward.
"He could be leading us into a trap for all we know," Georgie added.
"He says he knows the faun," Peter pointed out. He figured that if Lucy knew the faun, and the faun knew this beaver then he had to be all right.
"He's a beaver—He shouldn't be saying anything!" Susan countered.
Peter opened his mouth like he was going to reply but was interrupted by the beaver poking its head out of the bushes. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes. We were just talking," Peter replied, placing a smile on his face.
"That's better left for safer corners," the beaver said before turning around and taking off into the woods a second time.
Lucy turned her head and looked at the surrounding foliage. "He means the trees," she informed everyone before starting off after the beaver, Lily right behind her.
Author's Note: I would just like you all to know that I have finished editing this story and have moved onto the sequel. Yay! There are a few extra chapters so I'm thinking of changing up the posting schedule. Instead of Monday and Friday, I'm thinking of adding like Wednesday. Thanks so much for the reviews on last chapter: Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, Airedhiella, White Hunter, Scout out, sarahmichellegellarfan1, and Nikkie995. Thank you everyone else who had favorited or followed this story!