Disclaimer: I own Chloe, Aidan, Lark, Fenris, and Morwyn. Sibella owns Icis, Ellamae, Fritz, Einar, and the colonel. Everything else is owned by C.S. Lewis and the wonderful people at Walden Media.
Chapter 7: The Great Chase, Double-Agents, and Another Cluster
The Beavers and the children, by this point, were hurriedly packing for an escape. Mr. Beaver was certain, with Edmund's betrayal, it wouldn't be long before the Witch's police would be at their door.
Mrs. Beaver was packing all of their bags, and Mr. Beaver was getting extremely irritable at how long she seemed to be taking. Meanwhile, Peter, Susan, and Fritz were grabbing random pieces of furniture and shoving them up against the windows and door in case the Wolves were too quick for them, Einar was sniffing around for any dogs (a.k.a. other Wolves besides Aidan), and Ellamae, Chloe, and Lucy were scrambling around trying to speed up Mrs. Beaver's packing process, since, as Mr. Beaver so accurately put it, "There's no time to lose!"
"Now, Mr. Beaver," said Mrs. Beaver coolly, "just pass me that ham, and here's a packet of tea, and there's sugar, and some matches, and if someone will get two or three loaves out of that crock over there in the corner…"
"Mrs. Beaver, what are you doing?" asked Susan.
"Packing a load for each of us, dearie," answered Mrs. Beaver. "You don't think we'd set out on a journey with nothing to eat, did you?"
"But ve don't have time for zis," said Fritz, setting three loaves of bread on the table. "Zey vill be here any minute!"
"Oh, don't start getting cranky, dearie," said Mrs. Beaver to Fritz. "Mr. Beaver gets cranky without food."
Mr. Beaver then burst, "I'm cranky now!"
Ellamae's wings fluttered and her antennae perked up, startled by Mr. Beaver's anxiety, and she gathered half a dozen clean handkerchiefs from one of the drawers by the table. As she flitted to Mrs. Beaver's side, handed her the handkerchiefs and went looking for another loaf of bread, she thought about the approaching Wolves.
Oh, Aslan, please keep us safe…and Icis, too, wherever she is…there is still hope for Narnia, we must survive!
Outside, Maugrim, Aidan, and the Wolves weren't too far away from the Beavers' dam, and Aidan was hoping and praying that the Beavers, Ellamae, Fritz, and the children were already gone. When the dam was in sight, Maugrim stopped, as did the other Wolves, waiting and panting in the cold air.
Maugrim then turned after a glance at the Beavers' dam to his Wolves. "Take them."
Chloe, unsure of what else to hand Mrs. Beaver and frustrated at how long this was taking, crept up to one of the windows. Careful not to knock down the chair that was blocking it, she moved as close to the window as she could to peek outside. What she saw made her gasp and she could not stifle a yelp of fright. Everyone else in the house jumped, startled by her cry.
Einar, acting up at a strange scent, woofed softly beside Chloe, and then barked and growled.
"What is it, Chloe?" Peter asked, watching as she quickly backed away from the window.
Fritz was startled by Einar's barking and hastily pulled on his leash, yanking the dog away from the window. The dog whined from the sudden sharp pain but Fritz quickly relaxed on the leash and pat him on the head as an apology.
Chloe looked with terrified green eyes to the others, finding her voice again. "They're here, can we go now? Please? Without the kitchen sink?" Her last remark was directed at Mrs. Beaver.
Mrs. Beaver, startled by Chloe's remark, was now a bit more jumpy herself. "Oh! Right, then!"
As everyone quickly gathered their packs, Mr. Beaver bolted to the back room and flung open a trapdoor. "Come on," he barked, "down the tunnel!"
As the Wolves outside were digging into all the doors and windows of the dam, the Beavers, the Pevensies, Ellamae, and Fritz dragging his barking dog jumped down the trapdoor just before any of the Wolves burst in. Before they got any further into the tunnel, Fritz turned around and saw the trapdoor open, and poked his head out to find the door's latch.
"C'mon, we've gotta get outta here!" Mr. Beaver shouted at Fritz, tugging on his foot.
Fritz glanced down at Mr. Beaver and shrugged. "Vell, ve shouldn't let ze Volves have easy access to us, should ve? It vill slow zem down." With that, he reached up and slammed the door shut over his head, throwing them into darkness save for the lit torch held by Peter further in.
Ellamae almost stumbled into the tunnel, and her wings were fluttering wildly and exploding with showers of pink sparks, trying to focus on where she was. Everyone passed her, Peter and Susan almost trampling her, but Fritz, being the last one in the tunnel and having been around her long enough to recognize her glow-in-the-dark Fairy dust when she's excited, swept his hand down behind her, scooped her up into his arms, and carried her with him like holding a small kitten.
Chloe, still wide-eyed with fear, especially in this cramped tunnel, was ahead of Peter and Susan due to her strong desire to get away from the Wolves but was now remembering her other phobia: the dark. With Peter's torch behind her, she could scarcely see what was ahead in the tunnel and now stopped in her tracks, trembling as she whimpered, "Peter…"
She then felt Lucy's hand take hers and her friend's voice tell her, "It's okay, Chloe. Come on."
Chloe, embarrassed by this younger girl's bravery relative to her own, could only whimper slightly again and was relieved once Peter, Susan, and the torch caught up to them.
Suddenly, everyone came to an abrupt stop when they came to a dead end in the tunnel. Fritz was the last one to stop, and when he saw the dead end, he almost dropped Ellamae, who gasped and flapped her wings, trying to hold on to his arm.
Mrs. Beaver gasped, horrified. "You should've brought a map!" she cried at Mr. Beaver.
Mr. Beaver huffed, frustrated. "I couldn't fit it in the bag next to the jam!" At this, he looked up, sniffing the air, and at spotting another hole in the wall with moonlight gleaming through it, he jumped through it, followed by Mrs. Beaver, and the others climbed up and crawled through it till they reached the outside.
As they all scrambled out of the hole and Peter, Fritz, and Mr. Beaver were pushing a barrel over the opening, Lucy tripped over something hard and fell on her seat in the snow. Peter, Fritz, and Mr. Beaver turned to see if she was all right, and they all looked down at what Lucy tripped over; it was a small stone statue of a Squirrel holding a spoon in his mouth, but with a terrified expression on his face. All stood still for a moment, glancing around at other silent little houses, all of the Animal inhabitants turned to stone, with snow already starting to mound up on their backs.
Mr. Beaver looked to his left, and he stopped, his mouth dropping open, and his eyes almost turning misty; a few feet away from him was the statue of a Badger, standing up on his hind legs, and starting to cover his terrified face with his front paws.
As Mr. Beaver touched the stone Badger's snow-covered shoulder, Mrs. Beaver touched her husband's shoulder, and said, "I'm so sorry, dear."
Mr. Beaver was silent for a moment, and then said, "He was my best mate."
Ellamae was still looking at the stone Squirrel Lucy had tripped over, when she noticed other small figures on the ground, and flew down from Fritz's shoulder for a better look as Einar whined a little and sniffed at a stone Bulldog standing in the doorway of one of the nearby huts. As she looked more closely at the other stone figures, Ellamae's wings and antennae perked up as she clapped a hand to her mouth and gasped. She realized that they were smaller baby Squirrels, from the looks on their faces terrified and squealing as they started to huddle near their father before they died.
Ellamae's wings and antennae then drooped as she sniffed and her eyes grew misty. "Even the young had to die," she muttered, her voice choking up as she ran her hand over one of the baby Squirrels' faces.
Lucy scrambled to her feet and stood next to Susan and Chloe, all three girls looking like they were about to become nearly as emotional as Ellamae. In a second, however, they were all startled to hear a new voice.
"This is what becomes of those who cross the Witch." All heads turned to see a Fox appear from behind a rock, smirking.
Mr. Beaver's mournful look disappeared instantly and was replaced with one of pure anger. "You come any closer, traitor, and I'll tear you to splinters!" He, in fact, started to move towards the Fox but Mrs. Beaver held him back.
The Fox laughed slightly. "Relax. I'm one of the good guys," he said, coming closer despite Mr. Beaver's warning.
"Funny, 'cause you look an awful lot like one of the bad ones!" Mr. Beaver snapped, pulling against Mrs. Beaver's grip.
"An unfortunate family resemblance," the Fox replied with a sigh. "But we can argue breeding later. Right now we need to move."
"Ha! Yeah, right, I wouldn't trust you as far as the missus could throw you," Mr. Beaver argued, though he quickly added to his wife, "No offense, dear."
"Beaver! Take it down a notch, will you?" Another Wolf, a female by the sound of her voice, crept out from behind a tree. It was hard to tell in the overcast night, but her fur seemed to be a golden color. Chloe couldn't help but admire it and wonder if it would shine in the sunlight. "Hard as it is to believe sometimes, he really is on our side. Listen to him."
As the Wolf approached them, Chloe took notice of the color of her eyes—a rich chocolate brown that was vaguely familiar but Chloe wasn't sure how.
Fritz, just as startled as the rest of them, whipped around at the Fox, Einar growling and barking on instinct, and reached to his belt for his Luger. Then his eyes widened as he looked to the Fox, and down at his holster; his handgun was gone. Alarmed that he was unarmed, he yanked on his Dog's leash again and Einar yelped and whined.
At the sight of the Fox, Ellamae's wings and antennae shot up, and she flitted up onto Chloe's shoulder. She then peeked out from behind Chloe's hair, curiously glancing at the she-Wolf. "Lark?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"
The she-Wolf, Lark, shook her head. "It doesn't matter right now. You all have to keep moving, or—" She cut herself off, her ears perking up as if listening for something. "Everyone hide, right now. Those of you who can climb, I recommend this tree right here. Those who can't"—in this instance, she was looking at Einar—"find somewhere else. Quickly! They'll be upon you in moments!" With that, she took off somewhere out of sight.
The Fox glanced after Lark and then to the children and the Beavers. "Just do what she says, I'll distract them."
Everyone seemed to space out for a moment, suddenly realizing that the Fox and Lark were on their side, and then started doing as they were told. Before Fritz started climbing up the tree, though, he led Einar behind some thick bushes and tied his Dog's leash to a nearby tree trunk. As he was securing a tight knot, he whispered to Einar, "Stay, boy, and keep kviet." Einar whined a little, and from the Dog's sad expression, he was reminded of his empty holster, where his hand Luger should have been. He then huffed, smirking, and added, "Sorry, boy, I vas just as scared as you vere." After a pat on his Dog's head, he whispered, "Now, lay low, and stay kviet until ve come for you." He then started climbing up the tree, helping Lucy and Chloe on the way up.
They did not climb the tree a moment too soon. Once they were high in its branches, the Wolves emerged from the tunnel, only to meet the Fox. Growling, they slowly surrounded him, cutting off any way of escape. All while this occurred, the Fox began to speak.
"Hello, gents," he greeted, laughing a little nervously. "Lost something, have we?"
"Don't patronize me!" Maugrim snarled in response. "I know where your allegiance lies. Where are the humans?"
"Humans in Narnia? Since when did that happen?" the Fox questioned but Aidan roughly seized him in his jaws, causing him to yelp in pain.
Up in the trees, everyone was terrified for the Fox's life, especially Susan, Lucy, and Chloe, but Peter and Fritz clapped their hands over the girls' mouths.
As Fritz sat between Lucy and Chloe, he covered their mouths, and as he took them away, he gently squeezed their arms and whispered, "Steady, steady."
He was then reminded of his Dog, Einar, and his eyes widened and his jaw dropped open. He looked down from the tree and peeked at Einar down behind the bushes where he had been instructed to hide. Einar was a good, obedient, and intelligent Dog but as he watched the talking Fox being tortured by talking Wolves, he appeared to be in much confusion and fear as his ears folded back and now and then he whined.
"Your reward is your life!" growled Maugrim to the Fox. "It's not much," he laughed, "but still…"
As this was going on, Ellamae looked down at Einar herself, and she used the Fox's predicament as an opportunity for distraction. She then glided down from the tree and into the bushes next to Einar. Hugging the Dog's paw, Ellamae looked up at Einar, and stroking his leg, she whispered, "It's all right, boy, it's all right, stay calm."
Aidan realized he was biting the Fox too hard but he had no remedy for that now. He'd have to apologize later, and he hoped the Fox would make up some sort of answer so he wouldn't have to kill him.
The Fox winced, still in pain, but sighed as if he was about to commit a terrible betrayal and was ashamed of himself. "North. They ran north."
"Smell them out," Maugrim ordered the other Wolves, and they started to rush off in the direction the Fox pointed them. Aidan released him, tossing him aside into the snow.
Chloe watched the Wolves leave and grew considerably calmer once they were out of sight.
As the Wolves disappeared north, everyone up in the tree sighed with relief. With that, they all started to climb down from the tree to tend to the Fox. Ellamae and Einar came out from the bushes, with the Dog curiously sniffing the Fox to see if he was still alive.
A few minutes later, the group built a bonfire for everyone to get warm while Mrs. Beaver tended to the Fox's wound.
Moments later, Aidan returned, panting. "You'd be surprised how hard it is to sneak away from those guys…" He looked over at the Fox. "You holding up okay?"
"I wish I could say your bark is worse than your bite," the Fox answered him. "I thought we rehearsed this, Aidan. You weren't supposed to—OW!" he yelped at Mrs. Beaver.
"Oh, stop squirming. You're worse than Beaver on bath day," she told him.
Mr. Beaver looked over at the children. "Worst day of the year," he said matter-of-factly.
Peter, on the other hand, rose to his feet as soon as he saw Aidan. "Whose side are you on, anyway?!" he demanded angrily.
Aidan, taken aback by Peter's outburst, hesitated before answering calmly, "Why don't you ask your brother that?"
Peter moved dangerously toward the Wolf. "Don't you dare throw that one back in my face, you—"
"What're you gonna do? Strangle me with your bare hands? Don't forget, I've got claws and teeth—you don't stand a chance, just ask Fox—" Aidan teased, but he was interrupted by Lark.
"Aidan! Don't forget who you're speaking to!"
Aidan glanced over at Lark. "The king, right, my bad, but if you ask me, he could use a little attitude adjustment."
Lark only responded with a low growl, to which Aidan said nothing, turning back to Peter.
"My apologies, Your Majesty," he said, very subdued. "I'll explain myself immediately. I'm a spy, you see—I really am on Aslan's side but Jadis thinks I'm on hers. I kind of have to keep that illusion going if I want to help anyone, including myself at this point."
"And this spy jig, if you ask me, is stupid and dangerous. Any day now you're going to get caught, and then she'll kill you," Lark interrupted.
"Really? It's dangerous? I could die? I had no idea! With how smart she is, and my loose tongue, I thought it would be the easiest, safest job I could ever have," Aidan snapped at her. "Shut up, Lark. No one asked you," he added, not in the least bit sarcastic.
"When you're made of stone, don't come crying to me," she said simply.
Aidan sighed with annoyance and muttered under his breath, "If I was made of stone, I couldn't come crying to you, could I?" But he watched the three Pevensies, Chloe, and Fritz, and added quickly before Lark could say anything else, "Any questions?"
Fritz's eyes narrowed as he watched Peter, Aidan, and Lark argue with disgust but certainly no surprise. First he argues viz me vhen I came here just as confused as he is, immediately assumink me an enemy even if I am viz one of his friends, ze little Fairy, he thought, zhen he turns on zose whom he considers his REAL friends. As ze rate he's goink and especially if he's goink to be a king, who vill be his friends or subjects? In my opinion, his court vould be pretty small. If he is to be a king at all. At this thought, Fritz could only huff and shake his head before he looked to Ellamae and Einar again.
Einar was sitting next to Fritz while Ellamae was trying to tend to the Fox's wound with Mrs. Beaver. On hearing Peter's highly emotional outbursts, Ellamae perked up, her antennae pointing straight up and her slightly fluttering wings emitting sparks of pink and blue light, a few even red as they illuminated new sparks of blood in her angry face.
Finally, the Fairy voiced what Fritz was thinking silently when she heard Aidan ask the humans if they had any questions. "I may have one, Aidan," she responded, "for Peter, although your question didn't pertain to me." Peter looked to Ellamae, and with a slight bow of her head, she coolly asked, "With all due respect to Your Majesty, what right do you have shooting Aidan down, someone who just saved your life, and the rest of our lives as well? In Aidan's defense, you're not king yet. And I thought the conduct of a king was to gather as many followers as possible, that means getting them on your side." With that, the group fell silent, as Ellamae kept looking at a now indignant Peter.
Aidan was surprised by Ellamae's own outburst and cleared his throat, knowing from the look on Peter's face that he wasn't going to say anything, anyway. "You know what, that's enough. If anyone owes anyone an apology, it's me. Peter, you're dealing with a lot right now, one huge thing being that your brother's life is at risk. Then there's my seemingly contradictory actions—understandably confusing—and instead of explaining myself right away, I chose to be the rather cheeky fellow that I am. I feel that it would be unfair to expect you to remain calm, especially after all this, and I'm sure I haven't even covered half of it. So starting right now, you ask, I answer directly. No beating around the bush, so to speak."
Peter sat back down, not looking at anyone for a moment. He glanced back up at Aidan. "How's Edmund?" he asked.
"He and Spike got sent to the dungeon right before I had to leave. He should be okay right now. The bad news: he told her you were at the Beavers'. The good news: that's all he said. And I managed to cause a distraction before Spike could add anything, like about Aslan, but to do that, I had to rat out Icis," Aidan explained, sending a glance Ellamae's way, curious as to how she would take that.
Ellamae glanced up at Aidan when he mentioned Icis, but she then sighed and hung her head. Poor Icis, she thought, that she had to come to this…well, I guess only Aslan can help her now as well.
On hearing Ellamae's rebuke at Peter, Fritz raised his eyebrows and rubbed his chin, trying to hide a smirk. Vell spoken, Ellamae, he thought. He then looked to Aidan again. "Speakink of ze colonel," he spoke up, "have ve any uzzer veapons? I believe he stole my handgun. After our little—ahem—close encounter viz ze Vhite Vitch's Volves, I sink ve vill need all ze protection ve can get."
Aidan winced. "That colonel is just insistent on being a pain in everyone's—eh, never mind. No, Fritz, I'm afraid we're lacking in the weapons department. Our best bet is to get to Aslan as fast as we can."
"We?" Lark questioned. "You're going with them? What about your all-important cover?" she added in a mocking tone.
Aidan glanced at her. "I figure with the colonel around, it'll be over soon enough anyway, so why worry my dear sister further by being around when they find me out?" He stuck out his tongue at her. "And what do you mean by 'them'? You're not coming with us?"
Lark shook her head. "Fox and I have a different assignment."
"We were sent to gather more troops for Aslan's army," the Fox explained, and then added in a lower voice, "by the Lion himself."
Aidan's jaw dropped.
"You've seen Aslan?" Mr. Beaver spoke up.
"What was he like?" Mrs. Beaver added excitedly.
The Fox smiled a little. "Like everything we've ever imagined."
The children watched the discourse between these Animals in silence until Susan finally chimed in.
"But…we're not fighting any witch," she said, indicating herself and the other children.
The Fox stared at her in disbelief as Aidan rolled his eyes with increasing annoyance.
"How many times do we have to explain this—we can't go to war without you," he said, not even bothering to stifle any frustration in his voice.
"Surely, King Peter—" the Fox nearly pleaded, looking right at him.
Peter glanced at Aidan and the Fox, then at the girls before he looked at the ground again. After a moment of silence, he said simply, "We just want our brother back."
The rest remained silent, and Fritz and Ellamae glanced at each other and down at Einar on the ground, when the Dog nuzzled his master's hand and whined softly.