Chapter 36
Lucy looked more closely at the princess. The silvery fair ringlets falling down over her shoulders gave her an air of fragility, but Lucy was beginning to suspect that this was not the case. The princess gazed back at her, her eyes a vivid gentian blue, her calm gaze betraying nothing. I think I'm going to have a few words with this young lady, thought Lucy grimly. Just as soon as I get a chance.
There was no time for further reflection, however. Lucy spoke with sudden decision. "All right then, I think we'd better leave. Jo, you go first, and the princess can follow you. I'll bring up the rear."
Jo nodded her agreement but the princess flushed angrily. "Do you not think that I had better go first?" she inquired politely, but with a steely note in her voice
"No I don't think so," said Lucy firmly. "Jo and I would feel a lot better if you stayed in between us for the moment." She spoke with calm authority and the princess gave in at once, following Jo meekly through the trapdoor in the wall. Lucy sighed, and clambered in after her. Just for once it would be nice to escape through a door where I didn't have to crawl, she thought.
The passage she found herself in, however, was remarkably short. In no time at all Lucy found herself standing in a little wood. Jo and the princess were already there. Jo raised a quizzical eyebrow at Lucy but made no remark.
"Now we must go and find our horses," stated the princess calmly. "But what about the army?" objected Jo. "They won't see us," was the simple reply.
Jo and Lucy looked at each other again, but let it go and followed the princess through the woods. Soon they came to a clearing where three horses were tethered securely.
Lucy blinked. "How did those horses get there?" she asked in surprise.
The princess smiled. "I arranged it this morning," she said. "I thought we might need them."
"Something isn't right here," whispered Jo in Lucy's ear. Lucy nodded but didn't reply. She looked at the princess. "We need to get away from here, but I think we need to have a serious talk. And soon." The princess looked mutinous but did not speak. She lightly swung herself up on a snow-white horse and waited while Lucy and Jo did likewise.
Lucy was quite at home in the saddle (having learned to ride as a queen of Narnia). Jo had more difficulty. As she attempted to mount her house, it neatly circumvented her efforts by walking around and around in circles. In the end, Lucy (biting her lips in an effort not to laugh) dismounted and came to the rescue. She held the horse while a scarlet-faced Jo managed to climb into the saddle.
Lucy looked at the princess again. "All right, how do we find Mr Tumnus?" she asked.
The princess looked back at her demurely. "Like this," she said. She leaned forward and whispered something into her horse's ear. With a startled whinny it took off through the wood, galloping wildly.
There was no time to lose. Lucy also urged her horse into a gallop and set off after the princess. "Come on!" she yelled back to Jo, who was left alone in the wood.
"But I don't know how to ride!" she called back. "Not another one!" groaned a voice nearby. Jo looked around startled. "Who said that?" she asked.