Chapter 35
Jo suddenly found that her knees were trembling. She looked at Lucy and saw that she was a little pale. Neither girl wanted to venture beyond the tapestry.
"Well then," said Jo, taking a few deep breaths.
"Quite," agreed Lucy. She cautiously peered around the edge of the tapestry and then beckoned to Jo. The small chamber in which they presently found themselves was deserted, but the splintered chairs and scrape marks on the floor bore evidence that a struggle had taken place in there quite recently.
Lucy spoke in a low voice. "I remember this room. It's the anteroom to the main dining hall. I expect that the screaming we've been hearing has been coming from there." Lucy was quite right. Pressing their ears to the wall separating them from the Great Hall, the girls could plainly hear the sounds of the Narnians engaged in combat with their attackers.
Lucy frowned. "What do you think we should do?" she asked Jo. "The princess could be in there or she might be hiding somewhere else in the castle."
"Well if she's in there we can't help her at the moment," said Jo decidedly. "Not unless that cordial of yours can make us invisible!" Jo decided to ignore Lucy's snort of disgust at this and continued hastily, "so there's no point in trying to get in there to look for her. We can't stay in here, so perhaps we should look elsewhere in the castle."
Lucy hesitated. She knew Jo was right, but it seemed cowardly to leave the Narnians to fight off the invaders. Lucy still thought of them as her subjects. Peter her brother would never have abandoned them. He would have fought alongside them, until the very end.
Jo seemed to guess what she was thinking. "You can't help them that way Lucy," she said gently. "We have to stay out of sight and try and find this princess." Lucy turned to face her. "I know," she said, her eyes very bright. "Let's keep going."
Turning away from the door that led into the Great Hall, the girls began to wander through a series of rooms that opened into one another. Just as they reached an enormous corridor lined with suits of armour (some strangely small, Jo thought), Lucy broke away and stood stock still in front of a wall of portraits. Jo followed her in surprise and saw that she was gazing lovingly at a large portrait at eye level.
"Lucy, what are you doing!" exclaimed Jo.
Lucy smiled at her. "It's Mr Tumnus," she explained. "I suppose it was done after we left Narnia."
Jo stared at the painting in surprise. It was a very handsome study of a faun (somewhat portly), dressed nattily in evening attire and smiling somewhat awkwardly. An inscription beneath the painting ran thus: Mr Tumnus Painted in the twentieth year after the disappearance of the High King Peter and their Majesties King Edmund, Queen Susan and Queen Lucy.
A small card had been inserted into the frame of the picture. It said: On loan from the Septimus Bartholomew Tumnus collection.
Lucy and Jo continued to stare at the picture, Lucy rather dreamily, remembering happier days in Narnia and Jo in shock, as she assimilated the fact that Lucy's best friend in Narnia had probably walked around with a tail draped over his arm. But they were interrupted by the sound of running feet. Someone was coming into the room!
Lucy glanced around wildly and then pulled Jo into an embrasure, pulling the velvet curtain across to hide them. They crouched down on the floor behind a large pot and waited. They heard a door open and close softly. Cautious footsteps were heard and then to their dismay the velvet curtains were slowly pulled back.
Lucy and Jo looked up in dismay and saw a small person regarding them gravely. Jo was the first to speak. "I say," she said, "are you the princess by any chance?"
"I am," replied the child, in silvery tones. She continued to eye them solemnly. Lucy and Jo stared at her in some astonishment. She was a dainty little maiden, with silvery fair curls falling over her shoulders and a serene little face. There was a slightly stubborn set to her chin. Lucy suspected that despite her angelic appearance, this princess was accustomed to having her own way.
Jo spoke again. "I say you know; we must get out of here. You're in terrible danger. We've come to rescue you." Lucy smothered a giggle behind her hand. Jo sounded terribly serious. Lucy knew it wasn't really funny, but she couldn't help laughing.
She hurriedly coughed and said "she's right, we really should go."
"I do not wish to go anywhere," said the princess simply. She looked at them both and then seated herself on a convenient chair. Lucy blinked in surprise. She had not previously noticed any furniture in their hiding place.
Jo spoke again. "Look, I know you don't want to leave your home, but we really have to. I'm sure Lucy knows lots of places we can hide you for a while."
"Lucy?" queried the princess. "I'm Lucy," said Lucy. "I was once a queen here in Narnia, with my sister and my two brothers. Aslan sent Jo and me to help you. Jo's right. We really must find a way out of the castle and somewhere to hide. I wish Mr Tumnus were still here," she added, almost to herself. "He was always good in tricky situations."
The princess looked up. Lucy seemed to have caught her interest. "Do you mean Mr Septimus Bartholomew Tumnus?" she asked in surprise. "I know where he lives."
Lucy stared blankly at her, but Jo was quicker. "Yes," she replied simply. "Can you take us there?"
"Of course," said the princess, "but it's a day's ride to his home." "That's no good then," groaned Jo, "we don't have any horses. I'm sure that army downstairs has cut off access to the stables."
"I can get us there," declared the princess in her silvery voice. She seemed to have forgotten her refusal to leave.
Jo nudged Lucy, who took the hint. "That would be wonderful," she said politely. "Can you show us a safe way out of the castle too?"
"Of course," stated this peculiar child. "We can just go through this trapdoor and then through the passageway that opens into the wood." She pointed to a door that had suddenly appeared in the wall. It had certainly not been there before. Jo and Lucy looked at one another. What was going on?