Chapter 12: Pressing Matters

"Mrs. Beaver, I have a surprise for you!" Mr. Beaver called as the small group filed in.

"It better be those fish I asked you to get." A grumpy female voice called from somewhere deeper in the small home. A few seconds later another beaver wearing an apron bustled into the room. When she saw the children she gasped and wobbled on her feet. "Those aren't fish."

She ran to them and began to reverently look them over. "You've come at last! Oh, I never thought I'd live to see this day!" She said excitedly, bouncing on her tiny feet. The five teenagers all looked at each other in confusion, but neither beaver cared to elaborate.

"Oh, you must be starving." Mr. Beaver said, grinning at his wife's excitement. "Let me take your coats while the missus' finishes with dinner."

The humans shrugged out of their coats and piled them up next to the door. They sat in near silence while Mrs. Beaver made her way around the room collecting dishes and utensils for the meal. By the time that the food was put in front of them their stomachs had been complaining for quite a few minutes. They ate hungrily, ignoring the fact that no one had spoken in more than half an hour.

Without the food as an excuse not to talk, the eldest Pevensie decided to address the elephant in the room.

"Couldn't we just go to the Witch and plead Tumnus' case?" Peter asked quietly.

"Oh, you could go all right." Mr. Beaver nodded as he took a sip from the mug in his hand.

"But few who enter that castle ever come out again." Mrs. Beaver finished for him.

"Then... Mr. Tumnus is?" Lucy whispered, tears coming to her eyes. Mrs. Beaver patted her head consolingly.

"There is hope, child." She said soothingly.

"Indeed. The greatest hope there ever was." Mr. Beaver said, his eyes shining. Five pairs of confused eyes met his grinning face. "Aslan is on the move." He whispered conspiratorially. It seemed as if a warm breeze floated through the room as he spoke the name. Peter, Susan, Lucy, and their new friend Ari stared in silence, strangely feeling calm.

"Who's Aslan?" Edmund blurted from his seat in the back of the room. The Beavers gaped at him in shock.

"You don't know?" Mr. Beaver questioned incredulously. Edmund shook his head while his siblings and the redhead agreed with him.

"Oh, my. You do come from a bad place." Mrs. Beaver said quietly as she shook her head.

"He's only the king of the whole wood! Lord of all Narnia!" Mr. Beaver said as he jumped out of his chair.

"He's been gone for a long time, but now he's back!" Mrs. Beaver said, waving her hands in the air.

"Aye! He's gathering an army at the Stone Table. Now we'll be able to sort out this mess and rid ourselves of the White Witch once and for all!" Mr. Beaver said firmly.

"Won't she just turn him to stone like everyone else?" Edmund asked, arching a black eyebrow in question. Beaver threw back his head and laughed loudly. Edmund glared, feeling stupid for even asking.

"Trust me, boy. If the White Witch can so much as look Aslan in the eye I'll be surprised." Beaver chuckled, draining his drink. He set his mug down on the table with a thump. "But, you'll see for yourself soon enough. We set out in the morning."

"For where?" Peter asked.

"The Stone Table." Beaver answered. "If we're going to save Tumnus, we're going to need Aslan to do it."

"But you just said that he was getting ready to fight a war!" Susan protested. Beaver leaned across the table, his face lit by the candle light.

"And he'll need every hand he can get." He said lowly. Susan shot Peter an alarmed glance.

"We just left our home to get away from a war!" Susan exclaimed.

"And what about me?" Ari spoke up for the first time. Eyes turned to the redhead. "I've seen death happen right before my eyes before, and I'm in no rush to get myself involved in something that's going to make me relive that I just want to go home."

"What are you-" Lucy began, giving her an inquisitive look. Peter cut her off.

"Look, I know you mean well, but this all sounds too dangerous." He said as he stood. "I'm sorry that we can't help. Thank you for dinner."

"But what about Mr. Tumnus?" Lucy objected, giving him the same shocked look as the Beavers.

"Lucy, it's time we went home. Come on." He said. Susan nodded her head enthusiastically. Peter's eyes scanned the room to land on Edmund's empty chair. He turned to the rest of the room's occupants. "Where's Edmund?"

Lucy ricocheted to the door which had been left barely ajar. Footprints led from the dam and across the river.

"Edmund!" Peter called.

"When did he leave? Does anyone know?" Beaver asked, his eyes darting between everyone.

"I don't remember..." Susan said, her voice slightly shaky.

"It's vital that we remember exactly what he heard." Beaver said. He looked at them gravely.

"Why?" Ari asked, dreading what the answer would be. Mr. Beaver pointed at the tracks that led towards the two dark hills in the distance.

"Because he's gone to her."


Author's Note: I meant to upload this last week... Sorry about that.. But, it's up now and I hope you all enjoy it. I've got the rest of the story sitting in my docs right now, so I may just go ahead and upload the rest of it. Eh.. I don't know.

Sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter than the rest. It's just how my writing flowed when I was doing this chapter, and I decided to stop then.