Chapter Twenty-one: Wolves by the River
They didn't have to go far to find the tents they would be staying in, maybe a minute at most. And once they entered, they found that they were filled with many things that one normally didn't expect to find in a tent. In the tent the girls shared, there were three beds all positioned around a small fire pit. Separating the beds were two small dressers filled with fresh dresses, clean undergarments and cloaks. Three chairs sat around a small table placed off by the entrance. Next to the fire sat three large tubs filled with steaming water.
"Thank goodness, we can bath!" Lily cried, running to one of the tubs and dipping her hand inside to test the temperature. It was just right. From her reflection in the water, she could see that he hair was a mess or knots and twigs from sleeping on the ground and trekking through the woods for two days. Her skirt and button up were both wrinkled and damp, something that unsettled her as well.
From behind her, Susan let out a faint giggle. "There wouldn't be a particular reason why you want to bath so badly, is there Lily? Or should I say, person."
Lily could feel her face growing hot as a blush began to appear on her cheeks. "No," she said before reaching over towards one of the beds to grab a pillow to throw at Susan. The other girl dodged it, though, laughing.
Lucy, who had popped down on one of the other beds, smiled knowingly at Lily, "If you say so."
Wanting to change the subject, Lily moved over towards one of the dressers and pulled out a towel before starting to unbutton her shirt. "So are you guys saying you're not going to take one then?"
"Oh, I never said that. Throw me a towel too, will you," Susan asked, walking over to one of the tubs to claim it hers. Lily just smiled and grabbed two more towels.
After taking turns looking away so that the others could get into the basins, the three girls sat in silence for a while just letting the warm water soak into their skin. They sat there for about five minutes before they began actually washing the dirt and grime from their travels off of their bodies. There was only one bar of soap, so they had to share. But it smelled so sweetly of flowers that it was very much worth the wait. They even worked it into their hair so as to freshen those up as well.
Once they were all finished and had towels wrapped around their bodies, they moved back to the dressers and began to pick out dresses to wear. Susan put on a dark green dress that made her look lovely, the color complementing her dark hair nicely. For Lucy, a cute light blue dress that matched her eyes and made them stand out. Lily was holding up purple dress, but had it snatched from her hands and was instead handed a dark blue one by Susan.
"It's Peter's favorite color," she chuckled, "I'm sure it will cause him to blush as soon as he sees you wearing it."
Lily let out a small scoff and rolled her eyes but accepted the dress from her friend anyway. She didn't want to argue and risk Susan catching onto how a faint blushed covered her own cheeks at the thought of Peter seeing her in the dress. There was also a small twinge in her stomach as well, one that caused her not to trust her own voice.
"Your highnesses, are you decent?" a voice asked from the other side of their tent.
"Yes," Susan called once Lily had pulled the dress over her head and straightened it.
The three girls looked at the entrance and watched as two female fauns and a female centaur appeared. They all smiled and greeted the girls before offering to do their hair. The girls all accepted gratefully. The two fauns each selected a sister while the centaur went to work on Lily.
The girls then had their hair brushed out and done up. Both Susan and Lucy ended up with similar hairstyles. The top layer of hair was separated into two braids before being brought together and held with moss and small flowers. Lily's hair was intricately braided into a single braid that went over her left shoulder and had flowers woven throughout it.
"You are very talented, thank you so much!" Lily said when her hair was complete and she had a chance to admire the work that had been put into doing her hair.
The centaur smiled down at her. "You are very welcome, my lady."
Lily let out a small chuckle before shaking her head. "Oh, there's no need for that, you can just call me Lily," she insisted.
"As you wish," she smiled.
After that, the fauns and centaur turned to leave but were stopped by Lily.
"Excuse me, but I was wondering if there was a nice place nearby that you know of that we could relax at?" It was true that she was tired, but she wanted to be outside. There were too many things to take in.
The three Narnians all shared a look and spoke together for a few moments before one of the fauns turned to her. "There is a river nearby that is very calming, especially with the snow and ice gone."
"Thank you!" Lily called as the Narnians left the tent. She then turned to Lucy and Susan. "Care to go to the river with me?"
"I would love too," Lucy answered, walking over to Lily and taking her hand. The two then turned to look at Susan who seemed to be thinking it over.
"Why not," she replied before following them outside.
It was easy to find the river; a small footpath led them straight there, Right away, Lily thought it was beautiful.
The grass was green and covered with flowers. Someone must have gone off ahead of them because a tent had been set up a few feet away from the river stocked with everything that they would need: towels, chairs, blankets, and even a table. Walking over to the tent, Lily removed her quiver and bow and rested them on a chair. Lucy and Susan followed behind and removed their presents as well.
"Our mother hasn't had a dress like this since before the war," Susan commented as she walked over to the river and let the water run over her feet.
Lily followed behind. Gathering up her skirt so that the hem brushed the top of her knees, she walked into the river and let the cold water hit her legs. "Mine neither."
Lucy stepped forward and stood next to her sister. "Maybe we could bring them both back some. Two whole trunks full!" A large smile appeared on her face at the thought.
Susan smiled for a second before her sadness reappeared. "If we ever make it back home." The three slipped into a silence until Susan realized what she had said. "I'm sorry that I'm like that. We used to have fun together."
Lucy nodded. "Yes," she smiled sadly causing Susan to look down. "Before you got boring," she added with a smile.
"Oh really?" Susan asked before bending down and scooping water into her hands. Lucy knew what was about to happen, but she had no way to stop it.
Lily, who had been silently watching the two sister's conversation, smiled and soon joined in. Letting go of the skirt of her dress, she bent down and started scooping water in her hands to throw at the sisters. She liked seeing the two of them this way, having fun and laughing together.
The water fight went on for a few minutes until Susan decided she had had enough. Laughing, she walked out of the river and towards the tree where they had hung their towels. Lucy and Lily both shared a look before continuing to splash her, sending as much water her way as they could.
"Stop it!" Susan cried in-between her laughing.
Fine!" Lily said as she bent over and clenched her stomach, which was hurting from laughing so much. "Grab us some towels too please," she added as Lucy and herself started making their way out of the river as well.
They had just made their way onto the bank when Susan grabbed the first towel. Pulling it from the branch, she revealed the wolf hiding behind it. Right away, all three girls let out screams of surprise.
"Please don't run," the wolf begged, the familiar voice marking him as the leader of the pack that had hunted them, "We're tired. And we'd prefer to kill you quickly."
Susan looked at the wolf for a second before darting her eyes over to her horn and arrows that were resting on the table under the tent. Looking back at the wolf, she threw the towel and got it stuck on its head.
"Lucy, the tree!" Lily cried, pushing the young girl away from the wolf and towards the closest tree. Lifting her up, she waited until Lucy had grabbed a branch before letting go. Lily then turned around and tried to find Susan, spotting her by the chair, her ivory horn in hand. "Susan, hurry!" she yelled before reaching up and grabbing a branch.
She had just pulled herself up when she heard Susan running towards them, two wolves coming closer and closer behind her.
"Jump, Susan, jump!" Lucy yelled as tears slowly started to slip down onto her cheeks.
Susan complied, jumping when she was close to the tree and grabbing a branch so that she was off the ground. Her feet dangled low, though, low enough for the wolves to jump and snap at her feet. With her horn in her hand, it was hard for her to pull herself up to safety. Her only defense was to kick her feet and hope that made contact with a wolf's head and knocked them out.
"Lucy, grab the horn and call for help," Lily said as she bent down and tried to help Susan get up.
Lucy did as she was told, climbing down slightly so that she could grab her sister's horn. As soon as she had it, she climbed back up the tree and placed the horn to her lips and let out a couple loud blasts. While she did that, Lily grabbed Susan's arms and helped pull her up into the tree. Below them, the wolves continued to jump and growl at them.
One of them rested its front paws on the tree and pushed off in the hopes of getting closer to the girls. It missed by a couple inches. The girls had nothing to do but sit on their branches and hope that someone would come and help them soon before the wolves found a way to reach them.
Author's Note: The girls are in a bit of a pickle. Next chapter has another Peter/Lily moment towards the end. And then the chapter after that deals with the boys being reunited with their siblings! Yay! Thanks so much for the reviews last chapter: sarahmichellegellarfan1, White Hunter, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, Scout out, and Airedhiella. Thanks, everyone else for reading and following and favoriting this story. I love you all! See you Monday.