By the end of that day, Lucy was unsure how much more of the Void she could take. In the late afternoon, Peter had reluctantly informed them that if they kept with the Purple's trail, they would no longer be traveling due north, and so the three siblings had cut a slight angle off of it, again into the wilderness. Timothy's absence had still left a bit of a lull in their conversation, since Lucy didn't want to talk about what had happened or why, but perhaps it was for the best since all three were getting rather low-spirited and exhausted.
In the approximate two hours they'd then traveled before making camp (perhaps "camp" was too generous a word; Lucy meant finally sitting down with the intent not to get up until the next day), they had run into more trouble than in the full day they'd spent on the Purple's path. Edmund had stepped on what looked to be solid ground, only to have it crumble underneath him and plunge his leg into the den of some creature, which hadn't been happy to see him – by the time Lucy and Peter had managed to yank him out again, his boot (but thankfully not his leg) had been half-shredded. However, since they had nothing with which to fix it, he'd had to carry on anyway.
Then, later on, when Peter had tried to lift Lucy all the way over an overgrown nurse log, his tired arms had buckled and sent them both crashing down to the filthy ground. Apologizing profusely, Lucy had resolved not to be such a baby, and helped her brother up before deciding to cut hand-holds in the log. This had been a bad idea – her dagger easily split apart the crumbling wood and seconds later, a swarm of maggot-like creatures had poured from the hole like blood from a wound. In the end, after furiously brushing the things off her, Lucy had simply had to let Edmund give her a leg up while she lifted herself with two young trees that had rooted on the log. Being short was sometimes a terrible disadvantage.
But it proved to be a big advantage later, when it was time for them to sleep. Without any clearings or breaks in the scenery predictable, they were forced to stop for the night in an area just like most of the others – the only difference was that this one had a strange rock cropping on it, one that might have been a cave. They knew the dangers of sleeping out in the open, especially on the slime that the tree roots seemed to produce, and no one was keen on spending the night in it, but the cave opening was too small for Peter or Edmund to fit into it. Reluctantly, they agreed to let their sister go first, and she took the small, enchanted druid-light that Edmund had taken along from Narnia, and crawled inside with her dagger out.
"Be careful, Lucy," Peter warned. "If you see anything strange at all, come right back out."
Lucy nodded, though he could only see the back of her boots so it didn't matter much. Truth be told, she was terrified – but with her resolution not to be babied had naturally come a resolution to be more helpful. It was all good and fine to be the cheery one, but Peter's earlier incident had reminded her that her brothers were often too stubborn to ask for help, even if they needed it, and so she had taken it upon herself to insist. To her enormous relief, the cave appeared to be deserted – a rather warm, dry thing of dirt, probably caved out by some long-gone animal, about five feet high. There were no passages that led any further back, which was of course a comfort, and none of the ooze of the open floor. So Lucy left the dryad-light in the center of the alcove, and crawled back out.
"It's safe," she told her brothers. "Actually rather lovely. Ceiling will be too low for you to stand, it's even a bit low for me, but fine."
Peter nodded and helped Lucy out of the hole. Then, he and Edmund drew their swords and clumsily cut out a larger hole so that they could each crawl through, though Peter still had to squirm a bit; he was already broad-shouldered, and the armor only accentuated it.
Grouped about the light in the little hole, the three weary travelers split out some of the last of their rations, the bread slightly stale and rather smushed and the spread for it, a paste made out of some vaguely tomato-like vegetable, tasting like it might have been out a little too long. Still, it was something, and the three of them were so tired and hungry that everything tasted as sweet as Cair Cake. When they were done eating, no one wasted any time chatting, except to quickly determine who would take what watch. Knowing that middle watch was the least-favorite, since it cut the sleep clean in half, Lucy immediately volunteered for it, and though her brothers did try to protest and say she needed her beauty sleep, they let her take it and she knew they were grateful.
With Edmund up, watching over both his siblings, soon Peter and Lucy were out cold, grateful to be out of the wind and perhaps just alive. It had been two and a half days since they'd left the safety of Tamitha. Perhaps twice that since departing from Narnia. Lucy dreamed longingly of her home country that night, of bringing her sister home safe and sound, and of a long, hot bath. She longed for more of the simple times, when she and her sister would just sit on the ramparts to watch the sun rise over the eastern ocean, or when her brothers after their training would playfully teach her to spar with a short sword or quarterstaff. She missed the nights when she would fall asleep in Susan's chambers, or Susan in hers, talking and giggling like the girls they were, despite all their responsibilities.
Most of all she just missed having her sister around. Though she loved her brothers dearly, there was a connection she had with Su that could not be replaced by either one of them. Edmund was her playmate, a masterful trickster and often just fun to watch for his growing pains, especially when he got Peter riled. Peter was her protector, and perhaps her idol as well; she had seen him as a king long before he'd ever had the title, and he could always bring a smile to her face just as she could bring one to his. But Susan was something aside from either of them. Susan could be fun (though Lucy often teased her for the opposite), but mostly, Susan understood. Peter and Edmund were well-intentioned, but seemed unable to understand being upset just because she was upset. They always wanted to find a solution. But sometimes Lucy didn't want a solution – she wanted someone to listen and pat her back and say "it's okay – I understand." And that was Susan.
Susan, who they would find tomorrow, Lucy told herself when it was her turn to watch the cave entrance. Her heart skipped a beat in nervousness and excitement. They were close. So close.