Sorry for not writing for so long! My life is too busy. Hopefully you all haven't abandoned me! I promise to write more. Hopefully I'll be able to finish by the end of summer. Enjoy!

The next morning, very solemn farewells were spoken, and a crowd had assembled to see the Dawn Treader off. There were cheers and tears when Caspian made a farewell speech to the Lone Islanders and when the company said goodbye to the Lord, now Duke, Bern and his family, but as the ship, her purple sails standing out vibrantly against the rising sun, and the sound of the trumpet from the shore grew softer and softer, everyone became silent. It was dull for a moment, the faces of those on board long and dull. Susan could only give Caspian a sad smile as she stood next to him. Even Lucy couldn't find a cheerful word to say. Then the ship was suddenly greeted by a burst of wind. The sails became full, a wave rolled beneath her, and the Dawn Treader was a ship again. She turned around the south of Avra to continue her journey onwards.

"We could always come back," Caspian said hopefully as he leaned on the ship looking out at the island. "When we've had our adventure and found all my father's friends. We could come back and have a merry time once more."

"I would like that," Susan mused. "Duke Bern and his family are the most happy people I've met. The feast they put on for us was lovely."

"Yes, it was." Caspian closed his eyes briefly and remembered how Susan felt in his arms as they spun around the room, her warm breath on his neck, her blue eyes locked with his, her arms tight around his waist, her slender body shaking with laughter.

"Susan," he said abruptly, pulling himself out of his daydream.

"Yes?" she responded innocently.

Looking around and seeing that they were quite alone, most of the company being in galley, Caspian continued. "Susan." He smiled has he said her name, as it sweetly fell off his tongue. "I really need to tell you something."

"I'm listening," she smiled.

"When you left, I…after you had gone…not a day has passed during which I haven't thought of you. "

"You are always on my mind as well, Caspian," Susan confessed. "Every moment of every day." She sighed and looked out at the horizon. "I didn't want to leave you. If it were in my power, I would have stayed here with you. I wouldn't have gone back. And then Aslan told me that I could never come back…"

"But here you are," Caspian mused.

"I don't know how long it will last," Susan whispered. "I cannot say how long I will be able to stay this time."

"Susan," Caspian said, turning Susan to face him. "I still love you. I love you as much today as I did the day you left. I have loved you every day since we met, and I will continue to love you for the rest of my life. Even if you were to leave me tomorrow, nothing would change."

"Let us hope that I don't," Susan smiled. "I feel the same way. I love you, Caspian, as I always have and always will. But our days are numbered. They always will be."

Caspian pulled Susan close to him, brushing her hair out of her face and resting a hand on her cheek. "Then let us spend them together."

Susan smiled at him and nodded in agreement. Caspian moved his thumb to stroke her lips. They were soft as silk and parted slightly at his touched, just has he had remembered. Unable to contain himself for a moment longer, Caspian kissed Susan passionately, holding her tightly to him. She responded, kissing him back with all that she had, wrapping one arm around his waist and using the other hand to hold his face. Their lips continued to move together as the sun rose over the Dawn Treader.

Then next few days were delightful. Susan and Caspian being openly affectionate with one another gave a sort of cheer to the whole company. Susan felt as though she was the most fortunate girl in the world. Everyone was pleased. The company awoke each morning to a bright and blue sky and air that grew warmer with each day.

Lucy was spending a good amount of time with Reepicheep, sitting on the little bench in the stern playing chess. It was amusing to see him lifting the pieces, which were far too large for him, with both paws and standing on tiptoe if he mad a move near the center of the board. Lucy often won, however, because the mouse's head was much to full of forlorn hopes, death-or-glory charges, and last stands to be burdened with the trifle of chess.

But this pleasant time did not last. There came an evening where Susan, glazing idly astern while holding Caspian's arm, saw a rack of clouds building in the west with amazing speed. Then a gap was torn in it and a yellow sunset poured the gap. All the waves behind them seemed to take on unusual shapes and the sea was a drab or yellow color, much like a dirty canvas. The air grew cold and the ship seemed to move uneasily, feeling the danger pulse behind her. The sail would be flat and limp one minute and then wildly full the next. Susan was just about to voice her concerns to Caspian when Drinian called for all hands on deck. With a look of concern, she allowed Caspian to lead her to the center of the deck. Soon, the ship became frantically busy. The hatches were battened down, the galley fire was put out, and men went aloft to reef the sail. Before they had finished, the storm had hit them. It seemed to Susan as though a great valley in the sea opened just before their bow, and they rushed down into it deeper down that she would have believed possible. A great gray hill of water, higher than the mast, rushed to meet them. It looked like certain death, but they were tossed onto the top of it. Then the ship seemed to spin around. A cataract of water poured over the deck. The poop and forecastle were like two islands with a fierce sea between them. Up aloft, the sailors were lying out along the yard desperately trying to get control of the sail. A broken rope stood out sideways in the wind as straight and stiff as if it were a poker.

"Susan, take Lucy and get yourselves below," Caspian called.

"Will you be alright?" Susan shouted back, grabbing Lucy by the hand.

"Yes, I'll be fine! I'll look after Edmund. Get yourselves below! I love you."

All the next day and all the next it went on. It went on till one could hardly even remember a time before it had begun. And there always had to be three men at the tiller and it was as much as three could do to keep any kind of course. And there always had to be men at the pump. And nothing could be dried, and one man was lost overboard, and they never saw the sun. Caspian spent what time he could with Susan in her cabin, while she spent most of her time comforting the frightened Lucy.

All the while Eustace was a nuisance to the entirety of the crew. He called the storm a hurricane, complaining about the enormous waters every night and every day for the thirteen days that it lasted. He often pointed out how unintelligent those on the ship were, not even possessing a rocket or flare to signal their distress. He was, like all other men on board the ship, put to work, and complained about being treated as a slave, having many a word to say about the shortened rations and general lack of sleep. Things turned especially sour the night that the mast was lost.

After a few dreadful days had passed, the winds begun to die down. Drinian had had the crew fashion a jury-mast, by stetting the bowsprit upright and lashing it to what was left of the real mast. This allowed the Dawn Treader to catch a bit of wind from the west, putting it further east in its travels. The next morning, the crew spotted a mountain-like mass of land far off to the southeast. Feeling completely drained, the ship headed towards the island. Three days later late in the evening, the Dawn Treader landed in the bay of the island, but no one was allowed to go ashore on Caspian's orders because it was quite dark and everyone deserved a rest.

When morning came, the ship found itself enclosed in a bay surrounded cliffs and crags that Susan was reminded of a Norwegian fjord. In front of them, at the head of the bay, there was some level land heavily overgrown with cedars and a rapid stream that plunged through them. Beyond that was a steep jagged ridge and beyond that a vague darkness of mountains which ran into dull-colored clouds so that you could not see their tops. The nearer cliffs were streaked here and there with white lines, which everyone knew to be waterfalls. Indeed the whole place was very silent and the water of the bay as smooth as glass. It reflected each and every detail of the cliffs. The scene would have been pretty in a picture but was quite a fearsome sight in real life. All stood on deck silent before it. It did not seem welcoming to visitors.

The whole ship's company went ashore in two boatloads and everyone drank and washed deliciously in the river. Susan basked in the cool water of the stream. It felt marvelous to be able to splash around and stretch her legs after being confined to her cabin on board for so long. Feeling refreshed after a nice wash and swim, she slipped back into her clothes and walked along the river back to where the rest of the crew was meeting. On her way, she caught a glimpse of Caspian in the water, shirtless. As he bathed himself, Susan could see each muscle in his chest flexing and relaxing. She wished to be in the water with him. Embarrassed at the though and feeling her cheeks growing rather warm, Susan hurried along to the rest of the crew as to not be caught spying by Caspian.

All the members of the ship shared a nice hearty meal on the shore, followed by some much needed rest. Susan dosed off for quite some time with her head on Caspian's lap. When most people awoke and began to stir, Caspian sent four men back to the ship and the day's work begun. And, my, was there much to do! The casks had to be brought ashore and the faulty ones mended if possible and all refilled. A tree—a pin if they could get it—must be felled and made into a new mast. Sails must be repaired. A hunting party had to be organized to shoot any game on the island. Clothes had to be washed and mended. There were also countless small breakages that the ship had received from the storm, and those had to be mended as well. The Dawn Treader hardly looked like the same ship that had departed from Narrowhaven. She was quite crippled and discolored and looked almost like a wreck.

Eustace lay under a tree and heard all of these plans and felt his heart sink. Was there going to be no rest? It looked as if their first day on the longed-for land was going to be quite as hard work as a day at sea. Then a delightful idea occurred to him. Nobody was looking, being too busy with dividing tasks. Why couldn't he simply slip away? He would take a stroll inland, find a cool, airy place up in the mountains, have a good long sleep, and not rejoin the others until the day's work was over. He felt it would do him good. But he would take great care to keep the bay and the ship in sight so as to be sure of his way back. He wouldn't like to be left behind in this country.

He at once put his plan into action. He rose quietly from his place and walked away among the trees, taking care to go slowly and in an aimless manner so that anyone who saw him would think he was merely stretching his legs. He was surprised to find how quickly the noise of conversation died away behind him and how very silent and warm and dark green the wood became. Soon he felt he could venture on a quicker and more determined stride.

This soon brought him out of the wood. The ground began sloping steeply up in front of him. The grass was dry and slippery but manageable if he used his hands as well as his feet, and thought he panted and mopped his forehead a good deal, he climbed away steadily. This showed, by the way, that his new life, even though he didn't suspect it, had done him some good; the old Eustace would have given up on the climb after about ten minutes.

Slowly, and with several rests, he reached the ridge. Here he had expected to have a view into the heart of the island, but the clouds had now come lower and nearer and a sea of fog was rolling to meet him. He sat down and looked back. He was now so high that the bay looked quite small beneath him and miles of smooth sea were visible. Then, the fog from the mountains closed in all around him. It was thick, but not cold. He lay down and turned this way and that to find the most comfortable position to lay in.

But he didn't really enjoy himself, or at least not for very long. He began, almost for the first time in his life, to feel very lonely. At first this feeling grew very gradually, and then it came to worry him all the time. He could not hear the slightest sound, no matter how much he strained his ears. Suddenly it occurred to him that he could have very well been lying there for hours. What if the others had left without him? Perhaps they had let him wander away on purpose simply to leave him behind! He lept up in a panic and began the descent.

At first, he tried too quickly, slipped on the steep grass, and slid for several feet. Then he thought this had carried him too far to the left and as he came up he had seen precipices on that side. So he clambered up again, as near as he could guess to the place he had started from, and began the descent afresh, bearing to his right. After that, things seemed to be going better. He went very cautiously, for he could not see more than a yard ahead, and there was still perfect silence all around him. It is very unpleasant to have to go cautiously when a voice inside your head is telling you to hurry all the time. For every moment the terrible idea of being left behind grew stronger. If he had understood Caspian and the Pevensies at all, he would had known, of course, that there was not the slightest chance of their doing any such thing. But he had persuaded himself that they were all fiends in human form.

"At last!" exclaimed Eustace as he cam slithering down the slide of loose stones and found himself on the level. "And now, where are those trees? There is something dark ahead…Why, I do believe the fog is clearing!"

And indeed it was. The light increased every moment and made him blink. The fog lifted. He was in an utterly unknown valley and the sea was nowhere in sight.