Chapter Nine: Heading Back

It was too late that day to make the attempt to return to Narnia. None of the dwarves had truly slept since they were changed to stone; though their bodies had not required it at the time, they could feel the effect now, and Thompkins especially looked exhausted.

David smuggled more food out to them along with blankets and cushions to form makeshift beds, and flattered himself that his mother had no idea he had anything in the treehouse. She merely smiled and let him continue to think so, grateful that at least it wasn't an owl this time. He had raided the mousetraps on that occasion, and wound up with a badly bitten finger when his new pet turned out not to be as tame as he thought. But she had caught a glimpse of the dwarves as they crossed the lawn to the treehouse, and fancied them escaped circus performers of some sort.

The next morning, Mrs Grahame allowed David and Jenny to eat their breakfast in the treehouse. She packed the food for them herself, being sure to put plenty in; even then, David was naïvely sure his mother had no suspicions.

After breakfast, he changed the dressing on Thompkins' leg, frowning when he saw how inflamed the wound was. "You really should let Dad see this," he said sternly.

"I'll be all right," Thompkins insisted gruffly, wincing as David applied more iodine to the raw flesh.

David pressed a hand to Thompkins' forehead. "You don't have a fever, so I guess it's not infected," he said doubtfully. "I suppose you do have healers in Narnia?"

"Aye, an' if the White Witch is truly gone, they shouldn't be that hard ta find," Dekhoffyn supplied.

David sighed and began bandaging the knee once more. "All right, then," he agreed reluctantly, getting to his feet. "I'll go get a few things we need, and then we can be off."

He returned shortly pulling a small red wagon, which he left at the foot of the ladder. "Jen, I think you'd better go in the house and distract Mum so she doesn't see us leaving."

Jenny's face fell. "But I wanted to come to Narnia, too!"

"We'll wait for you," David promised impatiently. "Just go ask Mum to do something at the back of the house; in about twenty minutes you can come to where the path enters the woods, and we'll be there."

Jenny sighed. "All right," she agreed reluctantly. Giving Cuddy one last pat, she scrambled down the ladder and ran toward the house, looking back once as if afraid of missing something.

"The two o' ye are comin' ta Narnia with us?" Thompkins asked with raised eyebrows, not having missed Jenny's words.

David grinned. "I hope so."

"It may not be safe fer ye, son of Adam," Thompkins warned.

David shrugged. "It wasn't safe in the book, either, but they ended up all right. Anyway, we don't have time to discuss it here; Jenny's not the best judge of time, and if she's afraid we'll leave without her, her twenty minutes is apt to be a little short. So unless you want to risk Mum seeing you…"

He held out his arms to Cuddy, and the rabbit jumped into them with little hesitation for the trip down from the treehouse.

Thompkins came next, slowly; his knee had stiffened overnight, and going down put more strain on it than going up. When he reached the bottom, he clung to the ladder, white-faced, and wondered if he was going to be sick.

"Here," David said quietly. "I brought the wagon for you to ride in."

Thompkins nodded silently and accepted David's aid into the wagon without arguing; it was plain he couldn't manage a walk of more than a few yards.

Dekhoffyn cast an anxious glance at him as he tucked his friend's staff into the wagon beside him. "Mebbe ye should see th' boy's father," he worried.

Thompkins shook his head. "I'm all right. Just try not to hit any bumps there, son of Adam."

David exchanged a worried glance with Dekhoffyn, but picked up the wagon's handle without saying anything. Small though he might be, Thompkins was an adult, and David didn't feel he had the right to bring him to his father by force.

Next chapter coming next week!

I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know! (Note that this story is formatted using British spellings.)

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