...Disclaimer: You know, if anyone actually did want to sue, they probably wouldn't sue ME. If they did, they would want to sue everybody else here, too, and that just isn't practical. Everyone knows that a small number of the things in this story belong to C. S. Lewis.
o
o
o
Peter soon found that when the people of Dailitcen said 'immediately,' they meant immediately. They were not setting out immediately as in 'first thing tomorrow morning,' but immediately as in 'five minutes from now.' Xerxes and his schoolmates (for so the other boys turned out to be) borrowed some supplies from whoever lived closest, and were leaving the city before Peter knew what was happening.
"Where is Mount Niol, exactly?" asked Peter after they had been walking for a while.
"No one knows," said Xerxes, who seemed to be leading. "It's been so long since anyone has been there. Some are even beginning to say that it never existed."
"Then how do you know which way to go?"
"Legend says that it lies somewhere to the northeast," said Xerxes.
"Then we're going someplace we don't know how to find, that might not even be there?" said Peter doubtfully.
"It's there," said Xerxes, and would not speak to him again until they stopped to eat lunch.
Crystal offered everyone blackberry and honeysuckle sandwiches from her basket, but no one would try them except Peter and Xerxes. The other boys politely refused, and Martha would eat nothing but applesauce. The sandwiches were hard to describe, but they were a bit too flowery for Peter's taste. Xerxes seemed to enjoy them, however, perhaps because they were so 'different.'
Peter made himself a sandwich of something like peanut butter from one of the backpacks of supplies, and then sat down by Xerxes to eat it. "How far do you expect we'll have to go?" he asked.
"I have no idea," said Xerxes. "It may be three miles or three thousand miles. It may take two days or two years. But we'll know Mount Niol when we see it."
"If it takes two years, we'll run out of supplies," said Peter. He did not think that Xerxes was quite responsible enough to be leading an expedition of any sort. He was barely older than Peter, and here he was running blindly off with hardly any notice, no map, and no clue. There was a decent, well-paved road, but there was no telling how long they would follow it. A legendary mountain would surely not have a highway leading straight to it, and Peter was sure they would get hopelessly lost.
However, he had chosen to go on this trip, disorganized as it may be. Peter finished his sandwich and helped the others put things away, and then it was time to continue their journey.
They walked along the road for several hours, until they came to a town. It was smaller than the city they had come from, but looked much the same otherwise. There were the same kind of brightly painted brick houses and a similar open-air meeting place. A sign said in large block letters, "WELCOME TO," after which the painters had apparently lost interest, as there was no name. Underneath someone had scribbled the word 'nowhere,' in ink, which someone else had crossed out with chalk and written 'everywhere.' Peter couldn't see the point to the graffiti, or the sign itself.
People came running out of their houses to stare at them. If it had just been Xerxes and the other Dailitcenian boys, no one would have noticed them, but Peter, Martha, and especially Crystal attracted more attention than porcelain dolls at a yard sale.
By the time they reached the meeting place, there was a small crowd following them. Xerxes explained their errand, and two families volunteered to let them sleep in their houses.
Peter found himself sharing another violet-colored guest room with a boy that looked like Xerxes. He wondered if he was Xerxes.
"Give the password," said Peter.
"What password?" asked the boy.
Peter thought he could see why the people here were so distant. This boy was just like any other boy in the group, so what would be the use of asking him about himself? And if Peter told him anything personal, he would know that someone knew, but not who knew. It must be next to impossible to make friends.
"Never mind," said Peter, as he climbed into one of the beds.
The boy followed his example. He was asleep in five minutes, but Peter lay awake for a while thinking about the errand they were on. He finally decided that it was necessary, but they should have brought a compass.
o
o
o
...Note: This story is finally moving again. I do have an excuse for not updating in so long. My internet connection quit. It's surprising how unmotivated you can be when you can't read reviews.
...When I said "this was getting kind of depressing," I didn't exactly mean the story itself, but the thoughts around it. Actually, there was something planned in the story that would have been depressing, but I changed it.