TUMNUS: THE UNTOLD STORY
Tumnus peeped out from behind the tree he was hiding behind. Thankfully he could hear no sound so no one appeared to be following him. Blessing the falling snow for covering up his tracks, he quickly scuttled to the next tree. His heart fluttering nervously, he peeked out from behind it as he imagined hideous eyes watching him from the bushes. He clutched the precious bundles closer to him.
Witch or not, the woodland Narnians were all going to get their Christmas presents. He'd been meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Beaver lately as part of the underground movement against the White Witch. They had decided that since her magic was keeping Father Christmas from coming and bringing gifts, they would have to supply their little corner of Narnia with gifts themselves. They'd worked quietly in the tunnel under the Beavers' house for months. Tumnus knit or carved little things for his woodland friends to the best of his ability and with what little resources he had. Mr. and Mrs. Beaver wrapped them lovingly with their little paws.
Tonight would be what they had been planning and scheming for many a cheerless night in Tumnus' cave or the Beavers' house. Cold as it was, beads of sweat appeared on Tumnus forehead as he thought of all they were risking. With a sigh of relief, he spotted the lamppost shining between the trees. That meant he was halfway home. The tricky part would be to go past the clearing without being seen or at least not looking too conspicuous. Taking a deep breath, he made his way to the edge of the clearing and hesitantly stepped into the light.
"Goodness gracious me!"
Someone – or something – was standing right next to the lamppost and looking straight at him. With a shock, Tumnus realized that in his eagerness to get home quickly, he had not taken care to walk as quietly as he could. His footsteps must have alerted the creature to his presence. But for the moment it looked just as startled as he was. This gave him time to scrutinize it more carefully. It had two legs, but it was definitely not a Faun. For one thing, it was smaller and wore strange garments that he had never seen on any Narnian.
Suddenly, a voice from the past seemed to float into Tumnus' head: "But, Father, when the two Sons of Adam and the two daughters of Eve come to defeat the Witch, how will we know it is them?" It was his own voice when he was only a small Faun. He had been sitting on the hearth rug in front of the fireplace in the cave which he lived in now but had then belonged to his father. Father had taken his pipe out of his mouth for a moment to answer.
"My father told me when I was as small as you, and his father before him. At the very dawn of time, three such Sons of Adam and one Daughter of Eve were present. They had two legs like us but wore considerably more clothes. One planted the Tree of Protection which was mysteriously blown down on a perfectly sunny day, thus allowing the White Witch to come down and conquer Narnia."
Remembering the words of his father, Tumnus heart skipped a beat as he gazed at the small being. But then his heart sank. How could such a frail-looking thing be any match for the power of the White Witch? And where were the other three? Did the prophecy not say that two Daughters of Eve would come? And what about the Sons of Adam? They were nowhere in sight. As these things ran through his mind, he had another flashback. It was also in his cave, but quite different from the first scene.
"Father, what is going on?"
He could hear the howling of the wolves outside coming closer. Then came a scratch-scratch-scratching of claws at the door. Before Father went to answer it, he looked at Tumnus mournfully. Tumnus thought that he had never seen him look so old.
"Whatever happens, my son, never lose hope. Aslan will return and the four thrones in Cair Paravel will be filled. My heart tells me that this will happen in your own lifetime."
With that, he flung open the door to reveal a big Wolf standing there.
"Camus the Faun, you are under arrest for disobeying orders regarding enemies of Narnia. Your refusal to capture humans who threaten the reign of our queen has landed you a life sentence in the Dungeon of Ice. Have you any last words?"
"Only that I believe in a free Narnia," said Camus, loud enough for his scared son to hear. An ogre who was standing behind the Wolf now stepped up. He forced Camus to face the wall as he tied his hands behind him. Then he seemed to notice Tumnus for the first time cowering on the hearth rug.
"What about him, Captain?"
The Wolf Captain scrutinized Tumnus with his sharp, yellow eyes.
"Take the father away. I will take care of this one."
The ogre grunted and shoved Camus cruelly outside. Tumnus could still hear his cries of pain even as he and the Wolf were now alone. Captain Maugrim, for that was the Wolf's name, now turned his attention to him. But instead of gobbling him up, as Tumnus thought he would surely do, Maugrim adopted quite a different tone.
"Now, you look like a smart young lad. Are you smart enough to stay out of trouble?"
Tumnus said nothing. His fear and the trauma of seeing his father being taken away like that kept him silent.
"If you will work for the queen and obey her commands," continued the Wolf, "you will be spared the same fate as your foolish father."
Maugrim turned to go, but as he crossed the threshold he stopped and said, "Think about it." Then he left, leaving the Faun child alone with his tears and the snow drifting into the cave from the open door.
Now, years later, Tumnus thought about the choice he had made and what he now had to do. He bowed quickly to the little stranger to hide the tears in his eyes and blinked them away as he straightened up again. Then he paused. Perhaps it was not necessary to take this innocent soul. Maybe he had only made a mistake. Hardly daring to breathe, he asked, "Excuse me – I don't want to be inquisitive – but should I be right in thinking you are a Daughter of Eve?"
"My name's Lucy," replied she. Does she have to make this so difficult? thought Tumnus. He decided to rephrase the question.
"But you are – forgive me – you are what they call a girl?"
"Of course I'm a girl."
Tumnus pressed on.
"You are in fact Human?"
"Of course I'm Human," said the girl, looking a little puzzled. Tumnus saw that she was confused and decided to take it easy on her. He spoke kindly and befriended her and finally invited her to his cave.