Chapter Eleven: Flight

~o*o~

Eustace had felt that he was greatly wronged when he found out that he wasn't included in the prophesy. For a while he thought that perhaps it had meant him instead of one of the others, but he knew deep down inside that it didn't.

He decided to leave when it began to get dark. The Beaver was just saying that their lives wouldn't be worth a shake of his whiskers if the witch knew about them when Eustace slipped out the door.

There was snow on the dam so he didn't slip as he started for the two hills. He ran for a while, afraid of being found out and getting dragged back by those fiends, Peter and Edmund. The hills seemed so close, but as he walked they got no closer and he remembered that he had forgotten his coat, for it was bitterly cold.

He fell in snow drifts up to his neck and had to claw his way out. The trees seemed to grab at him and he thought about how nasty Edmund was and how gentle and lovely the white lady was. Though, he decided as he ran into a tree and got loose again, she could have made it a little easier to get to her house.

Finally, he hit a road of packed snow and made much more progress. It led up between the hills until finally he came to the edge of a valley and there, shimmering in the moonlight, was a castle.

It was made of stone, but now it had been so coated with ice that it looked like it had been made of glass.

Eustace stumbled forward again and reached the gates within fifteen minutes. He vaguely wondered why the gates stood open and why they weren't guarded, but he had no time to think about that as he slipped into the courtyard.

Inside was a sight that nearly took his breath away.

~o*o~

"Where will we go then?" Peter asked.

"Perhaps we can get to Ettinsmoor," Mr. Beaver said, "It's a chance she won't look for us there and it's not so far away. It's the one place that isn't under her infernal snow and ice."

"Do you have a map of the area?" Peter asked.

"I think I had one somewhere," Mr. Beaver looked around, "Ah," he said and pulled one out from under the mattress of one of the bunks. Mrs. Beaver quickly cleared away the dishes and he laid it flat on the table.

Peter leaned forward and studied it. It showed the cost lines of three countries against the ocean, Narnia, Archanland and Calormen and another land bound country, Telmar, just to the west of Narnia.

"Look here, what is this Telmar place?" he asked, pointing to it. "Does the witch rule it too?"

"Practically," Mr. Beaver said. "It served as her staging ground for the invasion of Narnia."

"And Archanland?" Peter said, staring at a long, thin country to the south.

"The good and just Lune is king there," the beaver said, "that's where we get most of our food smuggled in from."

"Then," Peter said, "I propose we go there. Her castle is here…and we'd have to walk right past it to go to Ettinsmoor. Archanland appears to be closer, too. I think we're more likely to get caught going to Ettinsmoor."

"We will probably get caught going to Archanland as well," Mr. Beaver said, "when the witch got in, a lot of Narnians escaped to Archanland, the great Narnian counsel sits at the castle of Anvard. You might be right; we could even get an army together." Mr. Beaver was starting to warm to the idea. "We could stay with friends along the way; we could even go to the house of my friend tonight."

"No," Peter said, "We don't want to put anybody else in danger. We must go straight to Archanland. How far is it?"

"Oh, a good eighty miles from here," Mr. Beaver said.

Peter glanced at Lucy, "It might take us a while," he said uncertainly.

"We can't just stand here talking! Let's start packing!" Mrs. Beaver exclaimed.

"Packing?" Mr. Beaver started, "but we haven't got time!"

"Time? Poof!" Mrs. Beaver said, "You run up and get some sacks down from the rafters. Have you ever heard of someone setting out in the middle of winter with no provisions? Never heard of anything so ridiculous!"

Susan quite agreed with her and shoved what was left of the bread into one of the sacks Mr. Beaver dropped down from the rafters. Several pairs of snowshoes rained from above.

"Beaver size, they'll be too small for you, but at least they'll help a little bit," Mr. Beaver said as he handed down another pair, "Made them for the kids before they left home. Always have an extra pair around just in case."

Mrs. Beaver put Mr. Beaver's tinderbox in one of the sacks.

"We really must be going!" Mr. Beaver said.

"But I'm not half ready yet!" Mrs. Beaver rushed past him with a ham, "Chibb! Can you get some handkerchiefs? Where is the other ham? I can't find it!"

The robin rushed to obey, but when he was done, a few loose feathers fluttered down around Mrs. Beaver's ears. Lucy picked up one of the little feathers and put it in her pocket.

"We really have to go now!" Mr. Beaver said.

"But we can't possibly leave without butter," Mrs. Beaver said, wrapping a scarf around Lucy's neck, "do you think the spinning wheel is too big to take?"

"Yes, much too big!" Mr. Beaver said, "Now put on your snowshoes!"

"But I can't bear the thought of that witch fiddling with my spinning wheel!" Mrs. Beaver cried.

"Just put on your snowshoes," Mr. Beaver said wearily, "they could be here in a moment!"

All four children had scarves and snowshoes on and a sack of provisions and Mrs. Beaver had finally been persuaded to leave. Life was good.

It was a bit of a trick to get though the door with snowshoes on, but they finally managed it. With snowshoes, they were able to go much farther much faster, and as Mr. Beaver pointed out, they didn't leave as deep tracks which the falling snow would easily cover.

It was frightfully cold and the coats the children had on were but poor protection over their thin summer clothes. Mr. Beaver led them to the end of the dam, then up a little slope the next moment they were among the trees on a small narrow path that no one would have noticed on less they were on it. It sloped downwards until they were walking down a little gorge.

"Not as much snow down here," Mr. Beaver said, "Much easier going."

Chibb decided to land on Susan's shoulder and talk to her, because he hadn't yet gotten too.

She asked him about himself and why he stayed with the beavers and he told her that his parents had been messengers between Archanland and Narnia and had been killed by the witch's vultures.

"Birds can get back and forth a lot better than animals can," Chibb explained.

"Why didn't they stay in Archanland where they were safe?" Susan asked.

Chibb looked horrified, "this is our country! We can't desert her!"

Susan smiled, she felt that same way about England, especially now with the war coming on. She tried to think how she would feel if Hitler took over England and realized that she would act the same way as Chibb.

Lucy was already tired and this long walk after her bedtime was very fatiguing and she was close to tears when Mr. Beaver ducked into a think bunch of bushes and disappeared.

She followed after and saw Mr. Beaver's tail disappearing down a hole. She scrambled after and found herself in a small earthy room in the ground. She huddled up next to the wall.

Edmund came down next, then Susan and Chibb, then Mrs. Beaver and finally Peter, who had stayed out to see that everyone made it in safely.

It was quite cramped in there and Lucy was nearly sat on by Peter, and Edmund howled because Susan stepped on his hand. Finally they were all sitting with their backs against the wall and their feet, a jumble in the middle.

"What is this place?" Edmund asked.

"A hiding place for animals in bad times," Mr. Beaver said, "No one knows about it anymore, so we're safe here."

"It's rather uncomfortable," Mrs. Beaver sniffed, "If you bunch hadn't been in such a hurricanal hurry I could have brought some pillows!"

Lucy yawned, but now that she was sitting down she didn't feel so tired, but it was so bitterly cold. Shivering uncontrollably seemed to be a natural state.

"Is there anything to drink?" She asked.

There was some scuffling as Mrs. Beaver fished around in her sack.

"Ah," she said, "here it is!"

She handed it to Lucy who took a sip. It was strong, bitter and sweet all at the same time; it made her feel warm down to her toes and slightly light headed. A moment later she was asleep.

Mrs. Beaver joined her and Mr. Beaver, Peter, Edmund, Susan and Chibb stayed awake, talking about their route.

"I have an idea," Chibb said after a moment, "I could fly ahead and see if I can get them to send a search party for you."

"It's dangerous," Mr. Beaver said warningly, "Remember your parents, Chibb."

"It's worth a try," Chibb said, "I'll leave this minute!"

And before anyone could stop him he flew out of the hole, leaving behind a cloud of feathers.

A/N: Well, Eustace really has many reasons for going to the witch. If he had been brought up better…you see, when his parents were alive, life revolved around him in some ways. He was probably spoiled and ignored at the same time.

Coming up: Stone

In which Eustace has a very hard time and the rest continue their journey.