Yeah. Not so much to say here, other than: Ladies and Gentlemen, please enjoy.
Clip from next chapter:
"Good morning", I replied with a small smile. He moved his hand up from my waist and carefully stroke some of my hair behind my ear. I closed my eyes by the touch and felt totally comfortable with laying so close to him.
CH. 9 I Have a Mystical Power
I had no idea about how long we had waited, just that it was long enough for me to get worried. Mrs. Beaver had been at the door to see if they were coming, at leas five times already, and since I had nothing else to do, I had only been sitting with my back against the wall, clenching the coat which smelled just like Peter.
Then the door flew up and I saw up at the four who rushed inside.
"Hurry, Mother! They're after us!" was the first any of them said, and it came from Mr. Beaver.
"Oh, right then", Mrs. Beaver replied quickly. Then she hurried over to some shelf and began searching for different things.
"What's she doing?" Peter asked whit a hint of fear in his voice. Mr. Beaver only shook his head while he stared in disbelief at his wife.
"You'll be thanking me later", Mrs. Beaver only said. "It's a long journey, and Mr. Beaver gets pretty cranky when he's hungry."
"I'm cranky now!" Mr. Beaver shouted.
While Susan began to help Mrs. Beaver with packing some provisions, Peter hurried over to me.
"Are you okay?" he asked while he knelt in front of me. Then he saw my red eyes and how I was clenching his coat. In some seconds he only stared, then he saw at me with those eyes that told me he was sorry. "Oh, Catty", he whispered. "If I had any idea about... I shouldn't..." He gave up trying to form any sentence, and instead he carefully stroke my cheek.
In some seconds a closed my eyes, but then I opened them and pushed his hand away.
"You have no idea about my feelings, so just stay away", I hissed and he pulled away from me. Then he sighed and turned away. I swallowed. What had I done? One part of me wanted to tell him I was really sorry for what I just said, while the other part of me told me that I meant what I just said.
"Do you think we'll need jam?" Susan asked.
"Only if the Witch serves toast", Peter replied with sarcasm.
Everything inside got silence when the sound of snarling and howling pierced the air. Then something began to dig it's way through the wall. Lucy let out an exclamation of horror, and ran over to Peter. I got to my feet, and without really thinking about it, I took on Peters coat.
"We're caught", I whispered with big, frightened eyes.
"Over here!" Mr. Beaver suddenly said. He had opened a door in the wall that I hadn't seen before. On the other side a hole led straight down some feet before it changed to a plain tunnel. From the roof a rope used for climbing hang down and I stared. Not even the Pevensies knew that I had fear of highs.
Mrs. Beaver stared to climb down, followed by Susan and Lucy. Then I climbed down. The rope hurt under my palms, but not as much as the wound in my side. When I finally reached the bottom, I saw up at Peter who climbed down much faster than I did, and over him I spotted Mr. Beaver.
When the last was down, Mrs. Beaver handed Peter one of two torches, while Mr. Beaver got the other.
"What is this... thing?" Susan asked curiously.
"Badger and me dug it", Mr. Beaver replied. "It comes out right near his place."
"You told me it lead to your mum's", said Mrs. Beaver with some sort of angry look at him.
Then we began on our way through the tunnel. It hurt in my side, something it would've done any way, but since I couldn't stand straight, I had to bow, and that didn't exactly make it any better.
On front of me Lucy tripped over a tree root, and Susan stopped to help her. When our footsteps stopped, we heard something else that made my heart pound with double speed. Barking, not as far behind as I would prefer.
"They're in the tunnel", Lucy whispered.
"Quick, this way!" Mr. Beaver shouted.
"Hurry!" Mrs. Beaver added as she hurried after her husband.
We hurried as much as possible, and soon I could barely breath. I stopped and leant against the wall. Without even thinking about it, I sank down.
"Catty!" Lucy's shout sounded far away and unimportant. I just had to take a small break... Just some minutes.
A hand took my and the same person got me onto my feet. I saw at Peter.
"Come on!" he said and dragged me after. I had accepted that I would become wolf-dinner, but if Peter became too just because I couldn't run any further... I yanked my hand away from his and he turned to me. "Catty, I know you're angry with me, but I'm trying to help you!" He grabbed for my hand again, but I moved away.
"J-just... go. I'm o-only... sinking you", I gasped.
"Oh no, you don't!" he replied, took my hand before I could move any further, and dragged me down the tunnel.
A few times I tried to get out of his grip, but with no result. Then we rounded a corner and nearly bumped into Susan who was helping Lucy up through a hole on the roof. Then Susan climbed up.
Peter turned to me, but I shook my head. "No... this time you go first. I'll protect your back. Go!" He stared at me as if he was wondering if I had gone mad. "Peter, please. I know what I'm doing." It was only a whisper. Then I turned to the tunnel and faced the wolves.
I had no idea about where it came from, but a white light exploded out of my palms, followed by a transparent shield. My hands laid on the shield, and when the first wolf crashed into it, I weakened, not very much, but enough to get tired.
"Catty, now you're coming!" I realized Peter was already up from the hole, and was reaching down for me. I gave the shield one push and it flew down the tunnel. Then I turned to Peter, and with his help I managed to climb up.
Peter and Mr. Beaver rolled a barrel over the opening to sink the wolves who further or later would come.
With a sigh I sank down in the snow with my back to an old tree. I was so tired, and it felt like I could fall asleep nearly anywhere. Then I remembered what had just happened. I rose and turned to Peter who was looking at me.
"Why did you do that?" I nearly shouted at him. He saw confused at me.
"Did what?"
"Why did you come back after me? You could've got killed!" Now I was really shouting. He crossed his arms.
"So you would prefer to become wolf-dinner?" he replied, not confused any longer.
"It was my choice, and if you got killed because of me than I would never have been able to forgive myself!" Angry tears ran down my cheeks, and I dried them away.
"And what about you?" he yelled. "What do you think I would do if you died? Just go on and forget you?"
I didn't know what to answer on that, but it didn't really matter, 'cause he continued.
"Down there... you were so... so selfish! You were only thinking about yourself, and not what we would do if you got killed!"
"T-that's not true!" I tried to defend myself with, but we both knew I was lying. I hadn't been thinking about what they would do or think if I died. I had been... selfish.
"Can't you two stop arguing for two minutes?" Susan interrupted and came between us. "Either you two just stop arguing now, or one of you can go back to the wolves." We both stared at her in shock. "Much better", she sighed. I swallowed and dried some new tears which were running down my cheeks.
That was probably the first time I started to wonder about that vision I had earlier. High King and Queen. Peter and Catharina. It had to be another Catharina.
I glanced over at Peter and wondered about my feelings. Sometimes I just wanted to punch him, but other times, like down in the tunnel, I wanted to lay my arms around his neck and kiss him. I shrugged the thoughts away and concentrated about the situation we had ended up in. I couldn't allow myself to be distracted before we were safe.
Behind Susan Lucy fell over something, and a yelp of surprise left her. We all hurried over to the young girl to see what had happened. She had tripped over some stone-squirrels. I stared at them in shock, and when I glanced around, I saw other statues.
Mr. Beaver stood in front of a statue which looked like a badger.
"I'm so sorry, dear", Mrs. Beaver said and put a comforting hand on Mr. Beaver's shoulder.
"He was my best mate", Mr. Beaver replied sadly.
"What happened?" I whispered and stared at the small squirrels. They couldn't be very old, and they had stone-tears in their eyes.
"This is what becomes of those who cross the White Witch", an unknown voice answered. My head flew up and I stared at a fox. I had no problems telling he was the one who spoke. Peter got Lucy to her feet and held her, and to my surprise he stood in front of me.
"You take one more step, traitor, and I'll chew you to splinters!" Mr. Beaver shouted, and the only thing holding him back was Mrs. Beaver.
"Relax", the fox chuckled. "I'm one of the good guys." He jumped off the roof he had been standing on, and came closer.
"Yeah?" Mr. Beaver replied, still trying to get free from Mrs. Beaver. "Well, you look an awful lot like one of the bad ones!"
"An unfortunately family resemblance", the fox sighed. "But we can argue breeding later. Right now we've got to move."
From the tunnel we heard howling. I felt the panic rise inside me, and my left hand lighted up.
"Close your hand." I jumped when Peter spoke and glanced down at my hand. Then I closed it and the light disappeared.
"Tell me, lad, how good are you at climbing?" the fox asked and stared at a point over us. When I saw up, I swallowed. It was a high tree. "You'd better hurry."
I had no idea about how I got up in the tree, but with Peter in front of me I climbed up and placed myself as high as possible, just like the rest of them.
I ended up beside Peter, but since I had no idea about how much the branch would tolerate, I was about to move to a branch under when Peter grabbed my arm and held me before I got the chance to move. Under us, the barrel moved, and then it rolled away. Wolves sprung up from the hole and gathered around the fox.
"We're looking for some humans", one of the wolves said.
The fox laughed. "Humans? Here in Narnia? That's a valuable bit of information, don't you think?"
Another wolf snatched the fox up in his jaws. His teeth flashed in the moonlight. I gasped and Peter laid his hand over my mouth. Behind me I heard Susan do the same to Lucy.
"Your reward is your life", the first wolf continued. He looked as if nothing had happened, or like it was just a normal part of the day, and I had no problems with believing in that. "It's not much, but still. Where are the fugitives?"
The fox whimpered, and I wanted to cover my ears. There were only two problems. One, I didn't dare to move, and two, Peter was holding me so close that I couldn't move.
The fox suddenly glanced up at us, and I knew he would tell where we were hid. I couldn't blame him. How could I, when he otherwise would die?
"North", he finally whispered, and I got really surprised. "They ran north." He didn't betray us. Relief washed over me, followed by concern.
"Smell them out", the wolf demanded, and the one holding the fox threw the small animal away, just like a doll. I buried my face in Peters shoulder and didn't want to see what happened down there. I didn't want to hear the yelp of pain which came from the fox as he reached the ground.
Non of us climbed down before we were sure the wolves were gone, and then I understood I wasn't able to get down.
"You can let go of me now", Peter said and I realized I was still clenching his arm. "I've lost the feeling in my fingers." Quick I let go of him and he started to climb down. I was left like the last. Again.
"Er... Peter?" I asked tentatively and saw down at him through the branches. "I-I don't know if I can get down." I swallowed and moved closer to the stem.
Peter frowned up at me. "You have fear of highs?" I only nodded. "Why haven't you told it earlier?"
"There was no need earlier!" I piped and tried to focus on nothing but Peters face. With a sigh he climbed back up to me.
"Put your feet where I tell you to, and I'll hold you so you don't fall." After telling me this, he put his right arm around my waist and held me close. I tried to hide that I blushed when I was forced to hold on to him.
All the way down, I was very aware of his body close to mine, and when he let go of me, I missed it. I missed his arm around me, the feeling of someone holding me. My thoughts went to Dad and I felt guilty. He was dead, and I hadn't thought about him since... when? I didn't even remember that. How long had we been in Narnia? It felt like ages, but when I thought back, it was still the same day. How was it possible?
Mrs. Beaver began to command the others around, and soon a small fire was dancing on the clearing. We gathered around it and tried to catch some warmth, while Mrs. Beaver took care of the fox's wound.
From time to time he came with a small yelp of pain, and Mrs. Beaver hushed on him and told him he would be okay, he just shouldn't act like a small girl. She even told him that I acted more grown up, and I was a girl. When she said it, I wasn't sure how to react or feel, so I ended up staring at the fire, pretending small creatures were dancing in the flames, laughing and asking me to join them.
"Excuse me, Mr. Fox, but what exactly happened to the animals that lived here?" Lucy asked and saw at the fox with her huge, brown eyes.
"They were helping Tumnus", he replied with a sigh. "The Witch got here before I did."
A new yelp came from him when Mrs. Beaver tried to clean his wound properly.
"Are you all right?" the small girl asked in a quiet tone.
"Well, I wish I could say their bark was worse than their bit. OW!" He turned to look at Mrs. Beaver, but she didn't really notice it.
"Stop squirming!" she only chided. "You're worse than Beaver on Bath day!"
"Worst day of the year", said Mr. Beaver and shrugged.
Mrs. Beaver got finished with the wounds, and the fox got to his feet. "Thank you for your kindness," he said in a polite tone, "but I'm afraid that's all the cure I have time for."
"You're leaving?" inquired Lucy.
"It has been a pleasure, my Queen, and a honour", he replied with a deep bow, "but time is short, and Aslan himself has asked me to gather more troops."
A gasp came from Mrs. Beaver who slapped her paws over her mouth.
"You've seen Aslan?" Mr. Beaver asked with excitement.
"What is he like?" Mrs. Beaver added.
"Like everything we've ever heard", the fox answered after taking some seconds thinking. "You'll be glad to have him by your side in the battle against the Witch."
"But we're not planning on fighting any witch!" Susan said and I could smell an argue was on the way.
"But surely, King Peter", the fox said. "The prophecy!"
"We can't got to war without you!" Mr. Beaver added.
Peters eyes wandered to first Susan, then Lucy and at last me. His eyes were really blue, and I knew I didn't want to argue with him. Not right then, and not later. He sighed and turned back to the talking animals. "We just want our brother back."
Well. I hope you like it. I know they didn't move a long way through this chapter, but I think I like how it went out.
Please, review and tell me what you think, and thanks for the reviews I already have got. I would be very happy if you could please continue giving me ideas, and I'll think about if I want to use it or not.
Love all of you ;)