Chapter 3

The ruins stood as a reminder of a past life. Covered in ivy, some rose high in the air and some were only stumps. Lucy bit into an apple as she looked around trying to remember, just as the others were.

"So this is Narnia?" Samantha whispered to herself. Samantha came up behind Lucy who was gazing out across the water. "Wonder who lived here?" She said. Samantha turned around and saw Susan holding something in her hand. "I think we did," Susan said to Lucy. Lucy furrowed her brow and walked toward Susan as Edmund and Peter came around the corner. Samantha followed and stood beside Peter. Hey that's mine," Edmund said reaching for the object. "From my chess set," He said holding the piece in his hand. "Which chess set?" Peter asked. "I didn't exactly have a solid gold chess set in Finchley, did I?" Lucy turned and gasped. "It can't be!"

The Pevensies followed her and Samantha stood back at the bottom of a small set of steps. "Don't you see?" Lucy said anxiously. She moved Peter in front of a rock. "Imagine walls," Then she moved Susan. "And columns there," she pointed. "And a glass roof," They stood in their bare feet remembering the day so vividly in their minds.

"Cair Paravel," Peter said finally. As the rest of the siblings let the somber epiphany sink in, Samantha looked out over the precipices. The wind whistled over the cliffs, through the ravines of Narnia but the inhabitants of the magical world where unaware of the visitors that had finally returned.

Edmund knelt beside a rock. "Catapults," He whispered. "What?" Peter said confused. "Cair Paravel didn't just become like this, it was attacked," He said standing up. They looked toward a decaying monument and walked closer to examine it. Peter walked up to a wall and beckoned Edmund over. Slowly they pushed the wall to reveal a wooden door. Peter broke through it and it creaked open before falling off its hinges. Peter looked down into the darkness. He ripped a piece of his shirt and attempted to tie it around a stick.

"I don't suppose you have any matches?" He asked Edmund. "No, But I do have this," He replied pulling out a silver flashlight. Samantha tried to hide her smile but Lucy's small giggle forced it out of her. Peter shook his head in amusement as Edmund handed him the torch.

The five of them ventured down into a tunnel. Samantha followed them through an iron gate and smiled in amazement at what lay before her. "I can't believe it, it's all still here." Peter was incredulous. There were four golden trunks laid out on either side of the room with a statue standing behind it. Lucy held up a dress to her small body. "I was so tall." She reminisced. "Well, you were older than." Susan smiled.

Samantha watched smiling as her friends rediscovered their past. "As opposed to hundreds of years later, when you're younger," Edmund said with a helmet on his head that was a few sizes to big. Peter blew the dust from a golden shield and looked down at the face of the great lion. He looked up and approached his statue. "What is it?" Lucy asked Susan. "My horn, I must've left in on my saddle the day we went back," Peter opened the lid of his trunk and smiled touching the hilt of his sword. He picked it up and sheathed it relishing in the sound and the mirror reflection of the blade.

"When Aslan bares his teeth, winter will meet its death," Peter read the inscription on his sword. "When he shakes his mane," Lucy began. "We shall have spring again," Samantha finished touching the cold wall, oblivious to the stunned look on the faces of her friends.

"How-" "Peter! Look," Susan said pointing to another door. He turned and walked cautiously over to it, the four people behind him watching anxiously. The knob turned and it swung open to reveal a golden gate. It was clean and shiny, gleaming as if brand new. There was an inscription on the handle that Peter read aloud.

"When Aslan is gone, the land shall be silent and still, when he roars, Narnia will be alive once again." He looked over his shoulder at the four sets of curious eyes. Turning back, he continued. "When The Voice of Narnia returns and her song echoes through the darkness, the forest will awaken to hear the refrain and she will bring to life a world once lost. With the death of winter and the birth of spring, illuminated by Aslan's roar, she will keep Narnia safe when the Kings and Queens can return no more."

The Pevensies were confused. "Peter, will you open it, please," Samantha asked quietly. He turned toward her pleading eyes and twisted the handle stepping back as the gate opened.

The round room illuminated as if by magic and they found it was covered with white marble. Peter stepped into the chamber with Susan following, then Lucy, Edmund, and Samantha entering last Tapestries hung on the walls telling of the King's and Queens of old. Samantha felt the soft thread of the rugs and looked up trying to find the source of light. Peter walked toward the only wall not covered by the thick embroideries.

A golden statue stood, frozen in time. He looked closely and it began to take shape in his mind. Those eyes, those lips, that hair. The statue's hair was long and it's eyes; powerful. "Su," He called his sister over. "Who does this look like?" He asked.

Susan looked at it for a total of five seconds before gasping. Slowly, their heads both turned toward Samantha who was looking up. They looked back at the statue then back at their dear friend.

"Samantha, you've never been to Narnia?" Peter asked. "No." She said with a lack of certainty. She saw the statue and went over to them. She examined the statue as Peter and Susan had done before her, then it hit her. She stumbled back. "H-how-I," She pointed. "It's you." Peter whispered. "Well," Lucy smiled. "Open the chest." Samantha trunk and lifted the lid of the trunk, amazed to find so many things.

She swept the dark green dress that lay on top against her body. A bow and arrow were tucked into a corner and she pulled them out. The pouch that held twelve arrows was soft dark leather and stitched with gold. The arrows themselves where tipped with white feathers. There was a dark brown cloak soft as silk and meant for her touch. Lucy broke the trance with a startled cry. She held a read scarf in her hands.

A moment of silence followed as memories flooded back. Lucy's voice was weak and quiet, "Everyone we knew, Mr. Tumnus and the beavers, they're all gone." She mourned. Susan's eyes were downcast.

Peter, sword still in hand, spoke steadily. "I think it's time we found out what's going on." He looked at Edmund and then over at Samantha. Lucy nodded her eyes glassy. The sadness that hit Samantha overwhelmed her senses and she didn't understand how she could be mourning something that she never knew so strongly. It was as if she shared their memories and the loss of them.

She smoothed Lucy's hair on her head, "Come, we must gather our things, Lu." the younger girl nodded and they each departed to their own chest, finding things to aid them in the quest to discover the truth.

Chapitre trois est finis!