Chapter Nineteen: Eating Crow

Crouched behind a low bush, I carefully bent the bow, pulling the string to my ear as I gazed down the shaft of the arrow. Beyond the iron arrowhead I focused on a large, fat rabbit nibbling on some fading clover. Completely unaware of me, it contentedly moved from flower to flower. I drew in my breath and held it, about to loose the arrow-

"Ak! Ca! Ca! Caa!"

The rabbit darted away and took shelter in the brush. I looked up into the tree above me to see a huge, self-satisfied crow laughing at my expense. I glared at the obnoxious bird as it bobbed its dark head and cawed some more. This spot was ruined, so I picked myself and moved elsewhere across the field. We were three days away from the realm of the Lake King's Daughter and Phillip had refused to budge another step until I returned to our camp with what he considered adequate food to stuff me full. Though I begrudged the time lost from our quest, I knew he was absolutely right. I was dangerously underweight and fighting a cough I feared might become pneumonia from being so long in the lake. I would do Edmund no good passing out for want of rest and food, especially in an area so rich with game. In turn, I ordered Phillip to eat grass until I got back, for he had ignored his own needs in those days I had gone missing and he needed to gain weight as well.

Not much later I was again concealed, this time behind the roots of a fallen tree, watching some gray squirrels chasing each other around the base of the trees. They weren't my favorite eating, but I wasn't about to be choosy and they made a good enough stew. I pulled an arrow out of the quiver on my back and notched it.

"Caw! Ca! Ca! Akakak!"

I was getting mad now. The crow had followed me and loomed overhead again, shifting from side to side as the squirrels scattered. I slammed the arrow back into the quiver and stood up, glaring hard at the bird.

"Caw! Caa! Caa!" he mocked and leered, well pleased with himself for spoiling my hunt.

I was hungry and tired and now I was being harassed.

"Caa! Ca! Akk!"

I felt my jaw tighten and I narrowed my eyes. A motion at the edge of my vision caught my attention and I saw a woodcock in the field. The crow lowered his head defiantly as I reached for another arrow. It was a battle of wills. I notched the arrow and pulled the string almost to my ear once again.

"Caw! Akkk!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

As it turned out, dressed, roasted, and seasoned with salt and a handful of wild garlic, crow was rather good eating. While a little stringy and tough, I wasn't so very picky at that point and the rule in Narnia was you ate what you shot while hunting regardless. I felt a certain vindication as I chewed, thinking the crow himself might be pleased that he made for a tough meal. I could think of a thousand sarcastic comments Edmund and even Susan would be coming up with to fit this occasion and I couldn't help but chuckle as I ate.

Phillip looked at me curiously. "King Peter?"

I had to put the bird down as I started to laugh aloud. It took me a good ten minutes to explain what 'eating crow' meant and how it applied to my dinner. Phillip finally caught on and exclaimed,

"Ah! I see! Like when Edmund said he put his hoof in his mouth!"

That set me off even harder and I all but rolled on the ground. Finally I managed to calm down enough to say, "Exactly! Say something stupid or thoughtless, and eat crow when you have to take it back or apologize. Only in my case, it's really the crow that gets eaten."

Phillip laughed at that, understanding my meaning. I finished almost all the crow, then set to work on the woodcock. The rabbits I would save for tomorrow. Once I had eliminated my feathered nemesis, hunting had been a simple task. I had found some thistles growing in the field and I had peeled and roasted the stems and boiled the roots, finishing this feast with some half-dried, red-orange rose hips from a twisted little rose bush Phillip had spotted. I was craving buttered bread and sharp cheese, and I would have given almost anything for bacon and eggs right now. Most everything I dug up, while nutricious, tasted like dirt no matter how well I cleaned and cooked it. The only saving grace about this situation was that I knew it wouldn't last forever and once back in Narnia I promised myself I would eat bread and butter at every single meal for a month at least.

The next morning I nibbled on the last bit of crow as an experiment. It wasn't as good as last night's meal, and that just set me off laughing again.

"What they say is right, Phillip," I finally managed to explain. "Crow is best eaten warm."

He shook his head. Clearly he thought the bird had gone to my head, but it felt so good to laugh after struggling to deal with with the aftermath of the Lake King's Daughter. I couldn't wait to tell Ed and the girls this story, just because I wanted to hear every snide, sarcastic, and biting comment they could come up with about their older brother the High King eating crow.