Chapter 5: The Fight at the Lamp-Post
"Ho! Empress, are you? We'll see about that," a voice called from the crowd.
Another voice yelled out, "Three cheers for the Hempress of Colney 'Atch." Others joined in the cries.
Jadis, thinking she was being recognized as royalty, bowed as a flush of color came to her cheeks. Dione, though far more naïve than her sister, knew that the crowd wasn't being sincere and knew that this couldn't end well. When the crowd's cheers turned to laughter, anger crept over Jadis' face. She switched her knife to her left hand and did a terrible thing.
Jadis reached over with her right hand and wrenched a cross-bar off the lamp-post she had crashed into as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Though she had lost most of her magic, Jadis hadn't lost any of her strength when she arrived in London; she could break iron as if it were a stick of barley sugar. She tossed her weapon in the air, catching it as it fell back down and then brandished it at the crowd, urging the horse forward.
Digory saw his opportunity, he darted between the horse and the railings, making his way forward. Dione was close behind, worried that the poor boy would get hurt in the chaos. Digory wished the horse would stay still for a moment so that he might catch the witch's heel, while Dione wished the distressed animal would calm down before it hurt itself or someone else.
Dione suddenly pushed her way forward, passed Digory, rushing towards the horse and her sister. Jadis had intended to bring the iron bar down on the chief policemen's head, but Dione had gotten in the way. A sickening crack echoed in the princess' ears and a blinding pain rushed down her arm where the bar had struck it. It was surely broken.
"Sister!" Jadis cried. "What are you doing? These men do not deserve your protection."
"Nor do they deserve your hatred and anger," Dione responded, clutching her arm close to her chest. "We are guests here."
While this exchange was happening, Polly had joined Digory outside. She'd rushed out the moment she'd been allowed out of bed.
"Quick, Digory. This must be stopped." Polly said, surprising Digory.
"You are a brick," commented Digory. His plan quickly changed. "Hold on to me tight. You'll have to manage the ring. Yellow, remember. And don't put it on till I shout."
Jadis swung the iron bar again, though there was no one close enough to be hurt, Dione stumbling back to avoid the swing.
An angry roar rose up from the crowd: "Pull her down. Get a few paving stones. Call out the Military." Those shouting had seen the younger girl step in to protect the policeman and could tell from her clothes she was connected to the crazed woman somehow. She'd stepped in against her own countryman. Though most were getting as far away as they could as fast as they could.
The Cabby, however, was the bravest and kindest Londoner present was keeping close to the horse. He dodged one way and the other to avoid the bar, while still trying to catch Strawberry's head.
The remaining crowd booed and bellowed. Someone threw a stone that sailed over Digory, Polly, and Dione's heads. Then Jadis' voice rang out like a bell over the crowd, sounding almost happy.
"Scum! You shall pay dearly for this when I have conquered your world," she shouted. "Not one stone of your city will be left. I will make it as Charn, as Felinda, as Sorlois, as Bramandin."
Digory finally caught the Witch's ankle, only to be kicked in the mouth. His lip split, filling his mouth with blood.
From nearby, Uncle Andrew was heard, his voice a trembling scream, "Madam – my dear young lady – for heaven's sake – compose yourself."
Digory made a second grab at Jadis' heel but was again shaken off.
Jadis made another swing with the metal bar only for Dione to lunge forward and catch it with her unbroken arm.
Digory made a third grab for Jadis' ankle and managed to keep hold this time. "Go!" he shouted at Polly, and all the angry voices vanished, the faces twisted in rage disappeared and it was quiet. Except for Uncle Andrew.
The group seemed to take longer to move into the Wood, as Uncle Andrew's moans and whines were heard, protesting the sudden change.
"Oh, oh, is this delirium? Is it the end? I can't bear it. It's not fair. I never meant to be a Magician. It's all a misunderstanding. It's all my godmother's fault; I must protest against this. In my state of health too. A very old Dorsetshire family."
"Bother!" thought Digory. "We didn't want to bring him along. My hat what a picnic." Out loud he called, "Are you there, Polly?"
"Yes, I'm here," came the blonde's reply. "Don't keep shoving."
"I'm not," Digory began to protest, but their heads popped out of the pool and into the warm, green sunshine of the wood.
As everyone stepped out of the pool, Polly cried out, "Oh look! We've brought the old horse with us too. And Dione. And Mr. Ketterly. And the Cabby. This a pretty kettle of fish."
When Jadis saw that she was once again in the wood, she went pale and leaned down until her face touched the horse's mane. She felt deathly ill. Uncle Andrew was shivering, mostly from the stock of the events so far. Dione, still holding onto the iron bar, looked up at her sister's pale face, worried though slightly weary.
Of all of the arrivals, Strawberry the horse was doing the best. He was much calmer, giving a shake of the head and a cheerful whinny. Then he became quiet for the first time since Jadis had stolen the cab. His ears lifted off his skull and the fire was extinguished from his eyes.
"That's right, old boy," the Cabby said, patting the horse's neck. "That's better Take it easy."
Now, having run down the streets of London and having the Witch kicked him into a fury, Strawberry was quite thirsty, and being surrounded by ponds, he did what any horse would have, he went to get a drink. He walked slowly to the nearest pool and stepped in.
Digory was still holding the Witch's heel and Polly was holding Digory's hand. One of the Cabby's hands was on Strawberry; and Uncle Andrew, still very shaky, had grabbed on the Cabby's other hand. Jadis was still slumped over the horse holding the iron bar which Dione was still holding the other end of.
"Quick," said Polly, shooting Digory a look. "Greens!"
And so, Strawberry never got his drink; instead, everyone found themselves sinking into darkness. Strawberry neighed and Uncle Andrew whimpered.
"That was a bit of luck," Digory commented. Nobody said anything for a moment, then Polly spoke up.
"Oughtn't we be there now?" They were still surrounded by darkness.
"We do seem to be somewhere," said Digory. "At least I'm standing on something solid."
"This is not Charn," Jadis' voice said out of the darkness. "This is an empty world. This is Nothing."
"It's not quite Nothing," Dione responded, though it did look like Nothing. There were no stars, and it was so dark nobody could see anything. "There's potential for life. Everything is sleeping."
Under their feet was cool and flat, it could have been ground, but it certainly wasn't grass or wood. The air around them was cool and dry, and no wind blew.
"My doom has come upon me," Jadis' voice was calm, a horrible sort of calm.
"Oh, don't say that," Uncle Andrew babbled. "My dear young lady, pray don't say such things. It can't be as bad as that. Ah – Cabman – my good man – you don't happen to have a flask about you? A drop of spirits is just what I need."
"Now then, now then," the Cabby's voice came, a good firm, hardy voice. "Keep cool everyone, that's what I say. No broken bones anyone? Good." Dione said nothing about her arm, too distracted by the sleeping world. "Well there's something to be thankful for straight away, and more than anyone could expect after falling all that way. Now, if we've fallen down some diggings – as it might be for a new station on the Underground – someone will come and get us out presently, see! And if we're dead – which I won't deny it might be – well, you got to remember that worse things 'appen at sea and cha's got to die sometime. And there ain't nothing to be afraid of if a chap's lead a decent life. And if you ask me, think the best thing we could do to ask the time would be to sing a 'ymn."
And he did. He sang a harvest thanksgiving hymn about crops being gathered in. It seemed unsuitable, considering where ever they were felt as though nothing had ever grown there, but it was the song he remembered best. The cabby had a fine voice and the children soon joined in, with Dione hummed along distractedly; it was very cheering. Uncle Andrew and Jadis did not join.
Toward the end of the hymn, Uncle Andrew crept over to Digory and plucked at his nephew's elbow. Digory knew it was his Uncle from the smell of brandy and cigars and good clothes. Digory was pulled away from the others. When the pair was a little distance off, Uncle Andrew pulled Digory close to whisper in his ear.
"Now, my boy," Uncle Andrew's breath tickled his ear. "Slip on your ring. Let's be off."
"Fool!" screamed Jadis, who had very good ears heard the plot, leaping off the horse. "Have you forgotten that I can hear men's thoughts? Let go the boy. If you attempt treachery I will take such vengeance upon you as never was heard of in all the worlds from the beginning."
"And," Digory added, "if you think I'm such a mean pig as to go off and leave Polly – and the Cabby – and the horse – and Dione – in a place like this, you're mistaken."
"You are a very naughty and impertinent little boy," said Uncle Andrew.
While those three were arguing, Dione heard something as well. Her ears were just as good as her sister's and she heard music, beautiful, wonderful music.
"Do you hear that?" she asked.
"Hush!" cried the Cabby, he could hear it too. They all listened.
In the darkness, a voice was heard singing, and something was happening. It was very far away and Digory couldn't describe where it was coming from. Sometimes the voice seemed to be coming from everywhere, other times it seemed to be coming from the earth beneath them.
The song had no words, barely a tune, but no one had heard anything like it before. It was incomparable. It was the most beautiful thing they had heard, they could hardly bear it. Even the horse seemed to like the music. He gave a whinny that a cab-horse would give if he found himself back in the field he'd played in as a foal and saw his loved one coming across the field to bring him a lump of sugar.
"Gawd!" said the Cabby. "Ain't it lovely?"
"Wonderful," whispered Dione. "It's absolutely wonderful."
Then two wonders occurred at the same time. The voice was joined by countless voices, more than could be counted. The voiced were harmonized with the first, but much higher on the scale: cold, tingling, silvery voices. The second was that the blackness overhead suddenly was broken by billions of points of light – single stars, constellations, and planets, so big and so very bright. The new voices and the new stars, all at once, as if it was the stars themselves singing, and that the First Voice, the deep one, had made them appear and made them sing.
"Glory be!" exclaimed the Cabby. "I'd ha' been a better man all my life if I'd known there were things like this."
The Voice on the earth was louder now, and more triumphant. The voices in the sky, after singing loudly with it for a while, began to get fainter.
But now, something new was happening. Far away, and down near the horizon, the sky was turning from black to grey, like the sun was rising. It grew steadily lighter. In the light, the shapes of hills standing up in the distance were seen. All the while, the Voice kept singing.
Soon it was bright enough to see each other. The Cabby and the children had open mouths and shining eyes; they were drinking in the sound, looking as if it reminded them of something.
Dione was kneeling on the ground, looking as the light in pure awe. Her eyes fluttered shut as she listened and a calm, serene smile crossed her face. It was like she knew what the Voice was saying, and she seemed to glow in the growing light. She felt the Magic all around her and the pain in her arm seemed to disappear without her realizing it.
Uncle Andrew's mouth was hanging open too, but he looked as if his chin had simply dropped away from his face. His shoulders stooped, and his knees shook, he was not enjoying the Voice. He would have crawled into a rabbit's hole to get away from it if he could.
But the Witch looked as if she could also understand the music. Her mouth was shut, her fists were clenched. Ever since the song began, she had felt that the world was filled with Magic, and she could tell her sister could feel the power as well, based on the subtle glow she was giving off. The Magic was different from hers, more like Dione's Magic, and stronger than her Magic. She hated it. Jadis loved her sister and her Magic, but on Charn, it was weaker, more controllable. She hated this Magic. She would have smashed that world, any world, all worlds if it would stop the singing.
Even the horse stood with his ears perked forward and twitching. He would stomp his feet and snort. He no longer looked like a tired old cab-horse; he now looked like the offspring of a battle horse.
The eastern sky was changing from white to pink to gold. The Voice rose and rose, 'til the very air around the ragtag group seemed to vibrate with it. And just as it swelled to the mightiest and most glorious sound it had produced so far, the sun rose.
Dione had never seen such a beautiful sun. The sun over Charn had been old, ancient, and red. The sun in Digory's world seemed younger and warmer. But this sun was so much younger, seeming to laugh as it rose for the first time. Its beams shot across the land and the travelers could see where they were for the first time.
They were in a valley that had a broad, swift river running east towards the sun. To the south there were mountains, to the north, there were smaller hills. The valley had no trees, bushes, or even a blade of grass. But the rocks and earth were varying, vivid colors. The colors were exciting until the Singer appeared. Then everything else was forgotten.
It was a Lion. Huge, shaggy, and bright, facing the rising sun. His mouth was wide open in song and he was standing about three hundred yards away.
"This is a terrible world," Jadis said. "We must fly at once. Prepare the Magic."
"I quite agree with you, Madam," chimed in Uncle Andrew. "A most disagreeable place. Completely uncivilized. If only I were a younger man and had a gun – "
"Garn!" interrupted the Cabby. "You don't think you could shoot 'im do you?"
"And who would?" asked Polly.
"Your shot would not hit its mark if you tried," Dione added, as she stood to face the man. "I would not let it."
"Prepare the Magic," commanded Jadis once again.
"Certainly, Madam." Uncle Andrew replied, cunningly. "I mush have both children touching me. Put on your homeward ring at once, Digory." He wanted to leave the Witch there.
"Oh, it's rings, is it?" Jadis cried. She would have had her hands on Digory's rings before you could say knife, but Digory grabbed Polly and shouted out:
"Take care. If either of you come half an inch nearer, we two will vanish and you'll be left here for good. Yes: I have a ring in my pocket that will take Polly and me home. And look! My hand is just ready. So, keep your distance. I'm sorry about you," he looked at Dione and then at the Cabby, "and about the horse, but I can't help that. As for you two," he looked at Uncle Andrew and Jadis, "you're both magicians, so you ought to enjoy living together."
"'Old your noise, everyone," commanded the Cabby, who wasn't paying all that much attention to the argument anyway. "I want to listen to the moosic."
That's when they realized the song had changed.