To the Reviewers!

Your input was totally inspiring, as usual. Without you all there would BE no story.

And thanks to some of you who remembered the poor butterfly. No worries. I left it out for a little urgency in this chapter.

You may remember Lewis states, "And they stamped out the last bit of the Witch's army." Then he says something about, "A hag there, a werewolf here, a killing there." That's not a direct quote, but something like that.

Well, you may have noticed I left out any remnants of the Witch's army that escaped without forhead mark or going to prison.

But that's just so we can have a little excitement later, for goodness sake. –evil laugh…………

with His love,

Pippin

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Chapter 37, another Truth about Leyli

We'd only brought our horses so far, maybe twenty yards or so through a few thickets, when Edmund suddenly shouted, "Stop, stop!"

"What!" I responded, pulling my horse abruptly to a stop. Edmund didn't stop like he suggested, but wheeled in a horrifying turn (the horse looked like it might tip over or break a rib) and dashed madly from the direction he had come.

"Wait!" I called. "Wait up, Ed!" Leyli clutched me around the waist.

I followed him close behind until he reined his horse and leapt from the saddle before it had quite stopped. He landed in a heap and ran to the center of the clearing. It was the exact clearing where the fox had been which we left only moments before.

"What is this all about?" I pulled in and dismounted, handing the reins to Leyli. Thinking quickly, she nudged the horse into a trot to move alongside Edmund's horse, panting heavily, and grabbed its loose rein.

"I'd almost forgotten!" cried Edmund, laughing with relief. "The dove touched him too."

"Him WHO?" I asked, kneeling next to him. Edmund was peering down at a butterfly. A butterfly! Of all the cheek…

"You nearly killed your horse," I said seriously.

"Oh, hardly," scoffed Edmund. "I couldn't leave this one behind."

The butterfly was nestled in the grass, testing its wings, which turned from gray to orange. With each melting of the stone bits, its wings flapped harder.

"Come on," hissed Edmund, carefully nudging it from behind, giving it a little lift. The butterfly pushed itself up, wriggled a moment, and then soared upward and into the sky.

"Well, that's that," I said, giving Ed a hand up. "You've done YOUR good deeds for the day."

"Sure," Edmund smiled and turned. "Leyli—had you got m'horse?" he broke off and stared forward.

I turned and could see what he was seeing.

Leyli was staring at us with a confused look. "Well?" she asked, wondering if Edmund was going to finish or not.

She couldn't see a row of ravenous, saliva-dripping wolves lined behind her, in the formation of attack.

"Leyli," I said calmly. "Bring the bloody horses over here."

Leyli chirruped to the horses and brought them up. More wolves darted from the underbrush and joined the line. It continued in a circular formation…they were planning to trap us in the clearing.

In a flash I was on my horse, Edmund was on his, and the wolves leapt to us, howling with teeth bared and tongues lolling.

Leyli cried out with the realization of the creatures hidden beneath the bramble. Our horses shot forward and with a startled scream, broke from the clearing and thundered out of the branches. We guided them across another clearing, over a bit of blackberry vines, and into a meadow with sparse trees scattered around.

The wolves stayed close on our heals.

Suddenly Leyli shouted in my ear, "Peter! Wait! Stop! Edmund fell!"

Edmund had been riding only a foot or two behind, I thought I would have seen it. Just as I slowed to turn, it gave the wolves enough chance to overtake the horse. They leapt atop it and bit at its heals. As my horse reared and neighed in terror, I fell backwards into the swarm of wolves. Before I could hit the ground, I saw Edmund far ahead…he was still on his horse, and he was just turning to see me.

I hit the ground with a bone-crunching thud and flipped over on my head, screwing my neck at an awful angle and landing straight a top the back of a wolf, crushing it to the ground. The wolf scrambled and limped out of the way. My horse bolted in fright and shot out of sight, Leyli sitting upon the ground, looking nearly calm at just being tossed from a horse. Edmund was galloping towards me.

Things were bleary as I saw the gray throngs of hairy, dirty bodies surrounding me in a quick circle, barking. Another circle took advantage of Edmund's return, chewed the horse until it fled from all existence, and surrounded Edmund when he fell to the ground directly on his backside.

The wolves paid absolutely no attention to Leyli.

Almost at once, I knew we had been betrayed.

"Welcome, Stranger," said the first wolf, sneering and licking his fangs. "This is a fine surprise. Or else…not so surprising. We're happy to welcome you to our end of the woods."

"You expected us, then," I said hoarsely, staring at Leyli. She had a look of sympathy, even fright, but she stood and came to me.

"Yes," she said, giving a half-smile that looked very sad. "You were expected."

"You traitor!" exclaimed Edmund in shock. "And a Narnian, too."

Leyli look pained. "If that's how you look at me." She held out a hand, whispering, "Can I help you up, Peter?"

I shoved her hand out of my face and struggled to my knees. "No," I managed. "Thanks. You've done enough!" black dots swam before my eyes as I managed to stand. The two circles of wolves gathered together, and Edmund rushed over and stood next to me, breathing hard.

"Are we going to die?" he whispered. It didn't sound like the question he would normally ask. I looked down at him.

"Die?" I asked. "No, we're not going to die. I don't know what will happen."

"Alright, alright," interrupted Leyli. "Enough. Let's hear the terms of the wolves."

"Right," sneered the wolf. "Our terms."

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Leyli is just one pile of confusion, isn't she? First she's annoying, then she's cool, and now she is your first choice for murder. Lol.

Read and Review, my dears!

PS: How was school this week?