THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA
THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE BBC
PART 10
THE PREPARATIONS
PREVIOUSLY: Edmund had betrayed his own brother and sister to the White Witch for selfish desires to have more Turkish Delights and to become the King of Narnia as the Witch promised.. and to personally pay out to Peter for calling him "Beast". He goes to the Witch's house that is full of the stone statues and meets Maugrim the wolf, the Captain of the Secret Police. However, Edmund doesn't receive the warm welcome he had expected from the Witch who harshly berates him for not bringing the other children with him as he was told. To save himself from the Witch's wrath, Edmund reveals to her that Aslan has returned, which only further increased the Witch's wrath. The Witch plans to pursue Edmund's siblings before they reach to Aslan at the Stone Table.
At the same time as Edmund was in the Witch's house, everyone at Beavers' had began to prepare themselves for the long journey ahead. Mr. Beaver had instructed Chirp to keep watch outside of their house for either the Witch or the Secret Police while they were packing the loads to the five sacks. Mr. Beaver, Peter and Lucy were packing their own sacks under Mr. Beaver's instructions, as he carefully chose which were necessary to pack in and which were unnecessary enough to be left behind. Susan, meanwhile,was helping Mrs. Beaver to pack the food supplies into the two sacks that were laid on the table.
"We're doing well." Mrs. Beaver said very coolly despite their dire situation as she packed the supplies into the sack. "And ham... and packet of tea... and sugar... matches."
Susan followed Mrs. Beaver's packing, which seemed to her to go rather slowly and too elaborately without any haste. Not to mention that Mrs. Beaver also seemed to be packing such food supplies that were quite unnecessary at this time of need. With such of slow progress and with the Witch coming for them really tried already restless Susan's patience.
"Mrs. Beaver, we're wasting so much time. The Witch can be here any minute." Susan said rather impatiently though she tried not to sound rude towards Mrs. Beaver.
Mr. Beaver then came to the scene, but unlike Susan, he had no qualms to raise his voice at his mate. "That's what I said!" he chimed.
"Now, now, there! She can't be here for a quarter of an hour at least." Mrs. Beaver scolded in gentle manner as she turned to both her mate and Susan. "Besides, we can't set out on a journey with nothing to eat, can't we?"
Mr. Beaver groaned and went back to help the others to back things, while Mrs. Beaver resumed her own careful packing, until she suddenly remembered something.
"Oh! I think two or three loaves out of the crock over there in the corner." Mrs. Beaver instructed Susan.
Susan sighed from slight exasperation but went to fetch the needed supplies nonetheless.
And as Susan was gone, Mrs. Beaver resumed packing the sacks on her own, holding next a large jar of jam in her clawed paws.
"And, of course, we cannot leave without a jam. We're going to need a lot of jam on our way." she said to herself and loaded the jam into the sack.
Mr. Beaver watched this from across their house, slightly irritated that his partner had to be so methodical. Usually she didn't mind Mrs. Beaver taking her time in packing and packing a lots of food for the trip, especially when they were going on a picnic in some nice spot in the snowy woods whenever they didn't have to worry about the Witch or the trees or the Secret Police, but now that it wasn't the case and the fact that they were in such a hurry to get out of here, his mate's methodical packing was slowly getting on his nerves too.
"Yes." Mr. Beaver said in sarcastic manner. "Only if the Witch will serve us toasts."
With that, Mr. Beaver went back into packing things.
###
Meanwhile, back in the Witch's house, Edmund was having a most disappointing time when he stood in the Witch's throne camber.
During of his long and difficult hourney from the beaver's dam to here, he had kept pushing himself forward due to expecting that the Witch would be nice and hospitable to him as she had been at their last meeting. But ever since he had told her about his family's whereabouts at the beavers, Aslan's return and the Stone Table, the Witch had done nothing of that. She wasn't very nice or welcoming to him at all, but instead was constantly giving him the cold shoulder by ignoring his entire presence in the whole chamber. All she was doing was just pacing back and forth in her chamber rather impatiently, shaking her fists in frustration that it took so long from Ginarrbrick to get the sledge ready.
Edmund was also disappointed that he has not yet received his so much desired Turkish Delight as a reward for all his efforts and trials, so he finally plucked up his courage to ask for them.
"Your Majesty?" Edmund started.
"WHAT?!" the Witch said with the sharp voice, harshly demanding him to tell what he wanted even if she didn't sound interested.
"You said that if I came back into Narnia and brought my brother and sisters with me, I can have some Turkish Delights." Edmund reminded her.
"SILENCE, FOOL! SINCE YOU DIDN'T BROUGHT THEM HERE, YOU SHALL HAVE NONE!" the Witch said harshly and she walked past Edmund, taken aback by her harsh tongue and staring at her with the disappointed frown.
"Hoo hoo! Your Majesty? Hoo hoo!" Snowstorm suddenly said, getting the Queen's attention as she quickly stopped pacing around the chamber and turned to her owl. "Hoo hoo! Our guest is hungry. Hoo hoo!"
The Witch's shot a fierce look at the owl, not really in the mood to bother her already occupied mind with Edmund right now, until Snowstorm quickly proceeded.
"Hoo hoo! We still need him till the time is right according to the laws of the Deep Magic. Hoo hoo!" the owl explained, but not in the slightest degree with sympathy for Edmund, which was already told by the cruel look on his feathered face.
The Witch looked away from the owl, but appeared to be at least reconsidering this.
"And it will not do to have a little brat fainting on the way." the Witch said to herself with the very low voice. Quickly changing her mind, the Witch raised her voice higher. "BRING THE HUMAN CREATURE FOOD AND DRINK!"
The Witch then turned around and walked over to Edmund and offered him a sort of hospitable smile, though with a hint of well-hidden wicked sarcasm.
"Turkish Delight coming right up for the little prince." she said assuringly.
The smile returned to Edmund's face upon hearing this. And as the Witch turned away and returned to her throne, Edmund, with the water in his mouth, remained to where he was, waiting impatiently for a long waited chance to eat those magically sweet Turkish Delight again.
However, when another Dwarf came out from the passage, he wasn't carrying with him the box full of Turkish Delight Edmund had wanted, but instead a wooden tray with an iron bowl with some water in it and an iron plate with a hunk of dry bread on it.
The Dwarf first bowed to the Witch before he went over to Edmund and handed him a tray of water and dry bread, then left without a word. Edmund looked disappointedly at the offered food, and even took the bread from the plate and gave it a repulsive look.
"I don't want a dry bread!" Edmund said sulkily.
However, the Witch wasn't having any of that and gave him a terrible glare that went straight through him like the ice-cold blade. Even Even Snowstorm, angered over Edmund's attitude before the Queen, glared at him viciously and spread his wings up to look intimidating. Edmund immediately and fearfully submitted before such of vicious looks.
"I'm sorry." Edmund apologized meekly.
The Witch, however, didn't accept his apology but added her next words with the stern voice... and the cruel grin "You may be glad enough of it before you may eat again."
Edmund glared at her for her mean words, but didn't dare say anything in return. Miserable, and a little hungry anyway, Edmund just sat down curled up next to the pillar and began to nibble at the bread, though it was so stale he could hardly get it down.
"MAUGRIM!" the Witch suddenly cried out, catching Edmund's attention. "Where is my Chief of Police?! MAUGRIM!"
Maugrim immediately arrived to the throne room, but stopped when he saw Edmund curled up next to the pillar, nibbling miserably a dry bread in his hands. As Edmund looked up at the wolf, Maugrim gave him in return a mocking toothy grin.
"Not so fortunate favorite of the Queen after all." Maugrin jeered.
The wolf then walked up to the Witch and knelt down beside her, and the Witch's gently put her hand over the wolf's head as if petting him.
"Take with you the swiftests of your wolves and go at once to the house of the Beavers." the Witch ordered. "Tear the whole dam down and kill whatever you find there."
Edmund's head shot up, and he looked at the Witch with horrified wide-eyed look, unbelieving that the Witch was actually going to kill his siblings along with the beavers and Chirp.
"If they are already gone, make all speed to the Stone Table, but do not be seen. Wait for me there in hiding." the Witch instructed.
"Seen by who, O Queen?" the Wolf questioned, getting up but staying in a crouched position. "Who is at the Stone Table?"
"Aslan." Snowstorm informed, making Maugrim to growl at the mention of the name. "Hoo hoo! He and the rebels have stationed themselves there to wait for them. Hoo hoo!"
"Yes." the Witch confirmed. "And we must catch them before they cross the river and reach the Table to ally with him."
"Then you must come fast, Your Majesty." Maugrim said.
"Yes, yes, yes!" the Witch hissed. "If they manage to cross the river from the spot where I cannot, I must go many miles to the West to find a place where we can safely across the river. I'll send Snowstorm with you to act as your eyes in the sky. Now go, both of you!"
Both the wolf and the snowy owl bowed to their Queen before they were about to leave the throne chamber. together on the mission.
"And one more thing, you two." the Witch called, making Maugrim and Snowstorm to turn back to her. "If you overtake those humans before they reach the Stone Table, You know what to do." the Witch added with the cruel smile.
Edmund gasped in shock and turned to look both Maugrim and Snowstorm.
"We hear and obey, O Queen." both Snowstorm and Maugrim said in unision, before they left the throne chamber.
Both the wolf and the snowy owl then exited the castle and walked down the stairs to the statue-littered courtyard.
The snowfall hadn't stopped yet, but it didn't stop the wolf and the snowy owl from leaving for their tasked mission.
There, in the bottom of the stairs, Maugrim craned his neck upwards and let out a blood-curdling howl that echoed across the courtyard.
"OOOOWWWWWWWW-WOOOOWWWWWWWW!"
And within seconds, the howl was answered by eleven new wolves in their anthropomorphic forms that emerged from amongst of the statues and the other shadows. They immediately formed into the line in front of Snowstorm and Maugrim.
"Do we have a mission, sir?" the largest of the seven new wolves who had the grayish-brown coat asked, stepping forward as if he was Maugrim's second in command.
"Yes. Hoo hoo! To the beavers' dam, wolves! There are the traitors and the enemies of the Queen hiding! Hoo hoo! Our orders are to capture and kill them before they can reach the Stone Table! Hoo hoo!" Snowstorm, who appeared to be one of the Witch's high-ranked lieutenants along with Maugrim, only higher-ranked than the wolf.
"Let's go!" Maugrim snarled.
Snowstorm then took off in the flight, transforming to his regular animal form and flew over the wall and towards the beavers' dam.
Maugrim then crouched down on his all fours and transformed too into his regular wolf-form, and his underlings went through the same transformation, before the pack of eight ferocious wolves, the Witch's feared Secret Police, ran out of the open door in the gate and followed Snowstorm into the darkness and towards their destination.
###
Meanwhile, in the beaver dam, the beavers and the children had finally finished their preparations: with the children having bundled themselves into their coats and all five sacks loaded full of necessities for the trip to the Stone Table and the burning lantern standing in middle of the table.
Now that they were all ready, they were all gathered around the table, waiting for the moment to leave.
However, all they were waiting for was Mrs. Beaver, who was running around the house making the last minutes preparations, like fetching the stuff from here and there before packing them into the sack, before she remembered at the last minute that she had forgotten something else. She was even trying to do more than just one thing and be in many places at the same time.
This felt to be taking forever. The children were waiting restlessly for Mrs. Beaver to be finally, just finally ready with her things. They shook their heads impatiently, eyed the windows warily and mumbled to each other that would they ever make it to the trip with this progress? Mr. Beaver was banging his clawed paw against the table in frustration.
"Mrs. Beaver!" Mr. Beaver exclaimed aloud, having reached the end of his patience. "We really must be on our way!"
Mrs. Beaver then came over to them, carrying in her arms a bunch of striped black and white scarffs, which she began coolly wrap around the children's necks to that they could be warmer during the journey in this cold weather.
"We have still time before she arrives, dear." was Mrs. Beaver's only answer to that.
Mr. Beaver groaned with the facepalmed.
"But don't we want as big head start as possibly, if we're to reach Aslan and the Stone Table before her?" Peter said, equally impatient as Mr. Beaver was with Mrs. Beaver was with this unnecessary waste of time, as well as growing even more worried for his sisters' safety.
"And you've got to remember, Mrs. Beaver." Susan said. "As soon as she comes here and finds out we're gone she'll be off at top speed."
"That she will, but we can get there before her whatever we do." Mrs. Beaver said. "Bless you. She'll be on the sledge, and we'll be walking."
These words, however, were far, far less comforting than what Mrs. Beaver had intented, as the children knew that they can't outrun the Witch on the sledge - let alone her Secret Police - by walking in the thick snow.
"You mean... we have no hope?" Lucy asked dreadfully.
###
Meanwhile, in the valley where the Witch's house was, Snowstorm was gliding in the sky against the moonlight in his regular owl form, flying across the plain, and ahead of Maugrim and his wolf pack as they galloped through the thick snow as fast as horses, leaving the castle. quickly behind and keeping on Snowstorm's heels.
The wolves behind Maugrim let out the feral barks and blood-curdling howls as they followed their captain, letting everybody know that they were coming.
The snowy owl and the wolves soon reached to the entrance of the valley and headed to the western-south, towards the valley where the river and the beaver's dam and house were.
###
Back at Beaver Dam, Lucy was unfortunately overcome with so much fear, with the dreadful thoughts filling her head that they would never get to the Stone Table and Aslan in time before the Witch or her Secret Police would catch them and - who knows - what they might do to them when they dp, and on top of that, she was very worried about Edmund's current condition and what might have befallen to him in heer clutches, that she couldn't contain herself anymore and had started to cry.
"Now, now. Shhhh. Now, don't you fuss, dear." Mrs. Beaver said gently, tapping in motherly manner Lucy's shoulder whilst comforting her, until she turned to look sideways at Susan "Just get me a clean handkerchiefs out of drawer over there."
Susan immediately got up and went to fetch the handkerchiefs Mrs. Beaver had ordered.
Mrs. Beaver then turned back to Lucy. "Of course, we have hope." she assured, just as Susan returned with half a dozen handkerchiefs and pu them onto the table.
"True that we can't get there before her but we can keep undercover and go by ways she won't expect and perhaps we'll get across the river before they'll catch us." Mrs. Beaver explained, as she took the blue handkerchief and handed it to Lucy.
Both Peter and Mr. Beaver glanced at each other, perplexed by Mrs. Beaver's choice of words.
"PERHAPS?!" they bith exclaimed in unision.
"True enough, Mrs. Beaver, but it is time we were OUT OF THIS!" Mr. Beaver exclaimed impatiently.
###
Meanwhile, back at the Witch's house, the Witch had told Edmund to get out of her sight and bother her no longer with his presence while she was occupied with plotting to capture the his siblings, the beavers and the chirp as well as dealing with her current problem of Aslan and his plans to overthrow her from her position as Queen of Narnia.
But she had also sternly warned Edmund not to leave the house - and not even to the courtyard until she says so - by telling that she will have him severely punished if her guards and spies caught him outside of the house.
And so, Edmund soon found himself wandering in the dark and cold corridors of the house all by himself and rather aimlessly.
Edmund was extremely disgusted with how things had suddenly changed for him: first he was treated well, with open welcome, and like royalty, and now he was treated miserably like an unwanted guest and kept in the house like a prisoner against his own will... though the latter words sounded a bit too hypocritical for him, as he had come to this house pretty willingly at first.
And his disappointment was further fuelled that the passages and halls of this house - which he had began to view uncomfortable and downright lousy one - were not filled with Turkish Delight, just more "stupid" statues.
And speaking of food, Edmund was still holding a dry piece of bread in his hand, of which he barely managed to eat even a quarter. In fact, he had pretty much lost all his appetit for it from the very first nibbled piece he had just barely managed to get down.
In his moping thoughts, Edmund hadn't paid attention or even cared where he was going, and by how he was completely obliviously walkingdown the flight of stone stairs that led to the cold and dreary half-round stone chamber lit by torches. There were small arch doorways which had the iron bar doors, making them look like a prison cells, as well as this whole chamber looked as if it was a dungeon.
The dungeon too was littered with the frozen statues, some standing outside and the rest inside their prison cells that had been left open save for one, and all of them were facing towards the stairs.
To Edmund's left, outside the cell at the bottom of the stairs, stood a stone leopard, a large stone bullmastiff, and two young stone Centaur foals, and behind them stood an adult female stone Centaur, presumably the foals' mother. The foals shielded themselves with their arms as the female centaur appeared to be pleading for the lives of her children. Inside the cell was a male stone Centaur who seemed to be struggling against the weighted shackles in his horses legs as it watched in horror at the other Centaurs outside his cell as if it was the female Centaur's husband and father of the foals.
Inside the next cell, a couple of stone deer does were leaning against the wall of their cell, one doe had one and another doe two frightened stone fawns in their arms. They shared their cell with a small female stone bear that was soothingly holding two small bear cubs sitting on its lap. And in front of the cell was even larger fierce-looking female stone bear standing protectively in front of the adolescent bear cub that stood by its' mother's side. They were most likely the families of those stags and bears Edmund had seen at the courtyard and in the Witch's throne room.
In the third cell, just outside of it was standing a covering group of two stone Fauns, one stone Dwarf, one stone Dryad and a stone rabbit, while in the cell on the left side stood two stone badgers and another adolescent stone bear, and on the right side of the cell stood two stone squirrels, a stone hedgehog and two stone Satyrs, and just in front of the open door stood another petrified family of Dwarfs, with the mother clutching to its' covering children while the father stood protectively in front of them.
Outside of the fourth cell, there was a stone bull ready to charge at the door, a stone Dwarf holding a pickaxe, and inside was three frightened stone Dryads and a stone Satyr who leaned against the wall while shielding themselves with their arms. Near the door of the cell lay also a very sad-looking stone sheep-dog with its head down, as if it had accepted its fate with great sadness.
The fifth cell was the only cell which door had been closed, with no statues standing outside of it at all.
And finally, in front of the sixth and last cell to Edmund's right was standing a scared-looking stone donkey attempting to back away while shielding itself with its hooved arms, and next to it was standing a stone kangaroo that was shielding itself too with its paws. Inside of their cell, there was a stone female donkey and a stone foal fearfully covering in their cell's corner while a horrified-looking female stone kangaroo that reached through of the bars towards the other kangaroo outside.
Edmund, however, chose not to pay attention in the statues, even when he leaned against the statue of the kangaroo and looked down at the bread in his hands for one last time with disgusted look on his face.
But at the last moment when Edmund, out of frustration, was about to throw the bread away...
"Hey?" called a quiet and miserable voice from the cell next to him. "You there."
Surprised and curious, Edmund walked slowly away from the kangaroo statue to the bars of the fifth cell and looked inside.
There were no statues in the cell save for one young stone fox that sat sobbing in the left corner with a paw raised to protect itself.
But looking to his right, Edmund saw someone hiding in the shadows, standing still and almost motionless as if it was a statue too, but it looked more life-like unlike the others.
"If you're not going to eat that..." the figure said, indirectly requesting for the bread in Edmund's hand if he wasn't going to eat it.
Edmund looked down at the bread in his hand, before he shrugged his shoulders and held it out towards the figure between the bars. From his point of view, he didn't mind giving his bread to this prisoner at all. He was all welcome to have it. At least he'd be rid of it himself.
The figure then started to move towards the bars and the bread Edmund was holding out for him, but at a rather slow and clumsy pace.
"I wish I could move faster, but... but... my legs!" the figure excused this with the wailing voice.
Edmund looked down at the figure's legs as they came out to the torches' light, and was surprised to see that they were more goat-like with yellowish white hair. The legs were clambed into a heavy irons linked with very short chain, greatly limiting the space to move the one's legs.
The figure then came fully into the light, leaning heavily and exhausted against the wall next to the barred door.
The figure was a Faun, slightly taller than him and he had a reddish skin and curly hair.
However, Edmund gasped from shock upon seeing the Faun's grotesque condition: his strange but pleasant faces were littered with nasty and barely healing bruises, with one eye swollen and a streak of dried blood running out from the corner of his mouth. He also had the scars running along his chin line, as if he'd been shaven not so gently, and there, where he apparently used to have a two small horns, were only left the pair of stumps cut off nearly from the bases. The Faun's coat was torn to shreds from the backside, revealing the barely healed scars from lashing. And the last thing Edmund was, much to his horror, was that the Faun was holding in his hand something that looked like the severed tail.
The Faun took the bread from Edmund's hand, and Edmund, once the bread left his palm, quickly pulled his hand away from between the bars.
As the Faun began to hungrily chew on the bread he held with both hands in front of his mouth, Edmund looked him over one more time, before daring to say something.
"What... what's happened to you?" he asked meekly.
The Faun looked up at him for a short moment, before he looked away while chewing his bread.
"Days ago the Secret Police forced their way through the door of my cave and told me that there was a warrant for my arrest. They sacked my house and took me here in irons." the Faun said with the low voice.
"They told me that I will be taken before the Witch for the trial." the Faun added.
"Did you got it?" Edmund asked quietly.
The Faun scoffed at this bitterly.
"Hmph! It wasn't even a trial. More likely a torture and interrogation at the same time. And now look at me! I've been severely beaten up. My beard's been plucked out. My horns sawn off and my tail's been cut off." the Faun wailed miserably for his bad condition and the loss of his beard, horns and tail.
Injuries suffered by this Faun, both curable and permanent, made Edmund irresistibly feel a great deal a pity for him. And this was the first time Edmund actually felt sorry for someone besides himself.
"And for what?!" the Faun continued. ""Charged for high treason against their Queen? Comforting her enemies? Harbouring spies? And above all, fraternising with Humans?""
Edmund's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped slightly from surprise as he recalled those exact words from that warrant left in that cave where that Faun Lucy had met had lived in.
"All this just because I couldn't bring myself to do something so horrible that I would regret for the rest of my life: To kidnap the Daughter of Eve, Lucy Pevensie, for the White Witch as per her orders in exchange that she'd let me live! I decided instead to follow my moral compass and let Lucy go even if I knew this would happen! I don't know when or how, but I know that someone in these woods somehow learned of this and turned me in, likely out of her empty promises."
Edmund gasped when the realization dawned to him, that this Faun must be that particular Faun whom Lucy had met when she first venture into Narnia through the wardrobe.
"Mr... Tumnus?" Edmund assumed out loud.
the Faun, who was indeed revealed to be Mr. Tumnus, sighed sadly. "What's left of him."
Edmund then turned away from the Faun, but his last words had caused him to feel butterflies in his stomach, and they rang inside of his head, reminding him about the fact that it was he who had turned this Faun in to the White Witch in the first place, but he felt a great deal of hesitation to reveal it to him - and he couldn't say whether it was from a feeling of guilt or the common fear of the consequences after confessing having done something bad - even if they were separated by these bars.
Mr. Tumnus then realized something and looked up at Edmund through the bars. He didn't recognize the boy but him knowing his name nonetheless gave him a possible idea.
"How do you know my name?" Mr. Tumnus asked. "You know Lucy Pevensie?"
Edmund looked back at the Faun over his right shoulder and hesitated to speak at first... until the words came out of his mouth as if by themselves.
"I'm... I'm her brother. Edmund." Edmund stuttered.
"I see... you two have the same noses." Mr. Tumnus said with a small smile, tapping his nose to demonstrate jis point.
Edmund turned away from the Faun, letting out the sad sigh.
###
Meanwhile, in the upper stairs, Ginarrbrik, wearing his polar bear fur on and the coiled whip in his hand, entered in the Witch's throne chamber and bowed to his Queen, who had already bundled into her thick polar bear fur.
"Your Majesty." Ginarrbrik began. "The sledge is ready."
"No bells?" the Witch asked.
"No bells." Ginarrbrik confirmed. "We'll creep upon them in silence."
"Excellent. Now let's fetch that brat and be off at once." the Witch said, before she craned her neck up and cried. "GUARDS!"
Then the Witch was approached by three rather grotesque-looking short and fat creatures with the heads of the monstrous pigs, each of which had a long tusks peeking out from their mouths. They were all wearing a thick fur armor for protection from the cold. One in the middle wore a leather hood over its head and carried a crudely made short but broad sword in the fur-sheath that hung in its belt, where it also carried the bunch of keys, indicating that this one was a prison warden. The second pig-headed guard to the warden's left was wearing a metal helmet with the hood and a bull-like horns and was armed with the round metal shield and halberd-spear, and third pig-headed guard to the warden's right had a helmet with the metal spike on top of it and was armed with the shield and the spiked club.
"Your Majesty?" the middle pig-like creature said - between of pig-like snorting - and bowed to the Witch along with his underlings.
"Where's the boy? the Witch asked swiftly.
"In the dungeons, Your Majesty, speaking to that Faun." the warden snorted.
"Is he now?" The Witch asked, sounding rather pleased to hear where Edmund was and grinned cruelly...as if this had just offered her a chance for something before she leaves for the hunt of the other children and their fugitive animal friends.
"Come along you!" she ordefed as she picked up her wand and stood up from her throne to make her way down into the dungeons.
###
Meanwhile in the dungeons, now that he had recognized Edmund as Lucy's brother, Mr. Tumnus' thoughts immediately turned from mourning his condition to Lucy. He turned back to Edmund, who was still sitting next to his cell's barred door in his own thoughts.
"Is your sister all right?" he asked.
Being snapped out of his thoughts by the uestion, Edmund turned around to look at Mr. Tumnus again, before the Faun repeated himself, desperate to know if Lucy was safe and well, and thus to know that his suffering for doing a right thing were not in vain.
"Edmund, tell me. Is she safe?"
However, Edmund looked away, a very troubled now. He didn't know how he could tell Mr. Tumnus that he had given away Lucy's whereabouts to the Witch and that she was now hunting her and the others down. Of course, the thought or theory that they would have already left the beavers' dam after noticing his absence crossed his mind for a moment, but he wasn't entirely sure about that either.
"I don't know." Edmund confessed.
Mr. Tumnus frowned, confused and troubled as well.
"You don't know?" he frowned, before his eyes went wide when he realized another thought.
Edmund was here. Here in the Witch's house, just like him!"
"How did you ended up in here? Why are you even here, in this dreadful place, anyway?" Mr. Tumnus asked, troubled.
Edmund felt the butterflies in his stomach again. Of course it had to come to this that Mr. Tumnus had to ask how he ended up in here... or why he was here at all. Edmund hesitated to answer because of his direct role of bringing this upon to Mr. Tumnus, and that he had at the same time endangered his own family for his own selfish gain.
"How indeed?" said the voice behind them all of the sudden, making both Edmund and Mr. Tumnus to snap out of their conversation and turn around and see that the White Witch, Ginarrbrik and the three nasty and ugly-looking pig-headed guards had all quietly and without their notice appeared to stand right behind of them.
"The sledge is ready, Son of Adam. We're leaving right away. But first, there's one thing to do left." the Witch's said, eyes firmly on Edmund.
Ginnarbrik grinned repulsively and the pig-headed guards made the big-like snorts in the manner of sniggering.
"Release the Faun!" the Witch ordered the warden.
The warden snorted before it walked up to the Mr. Tumnus' cell's door and took one of the keys out of the bunch. Mr. Tumnus backed away from the door as the warden unlocked and opened the sharply creaking door and went inside.
Edmund peeked inside and saw as the warden roughly brought Mr. Tumnus to the floor before taking the mallet from its belt. Edmund flinched
Edmund flinched from horror and discomfort - while the corners of the Witch's lips curved up into sadistic smirk - when the warden brought its mallet down on the irons in Mr. Tumnus legs, removing the bolts that kept the irons around his goat-like ankles, but also making the Faun groan sharply in agonizing pain. After freeing the Faun, the warden dragged him out of the cell and threw him in front of the Witch.
"Do you know why you're here, Faun?" the Witch asked.
Mr. Tumnus slowly craned his neck up at the Witch, and, despite grimacing in pain he felt in his legs, shot up at the Witch a defiant glare.
"For two reasons: Because someone who likes you so much sold me out to you. And because I believe in free Narnia." Mr. Tumnus stated proudly.
However, seeing the cruel smile on the Witch's lips and after hearing Mr. Tumnus' explaining, again, that the reason why he was here was that someone sold him out to her, Edmund grew a very worried how this was gonna go.
"Correct, Faun." the Witch said as if in the manner of the proud teacher for the correct answer to some question. "You're here... because our dear Edmund here..." the Witch said, turning to point her wand at Edmund. "so willingly turned you in... for the handful of sweeties."
Edmund's heart skipped the beat now that the Witch cruelly revealed to the Faun his role in turning Mr. Tumnus in to her. His eyes soon met Mr. Tumnus', as the Faun had turned to look at him in shock and confusion.
"What?" he gasped softly, still staring at Edmund.
"And ironically...Edmund here offered willingly, without objection, and without question, to hand over his own brother and sisters, including this little Lucy, to me... to have as much of sweeties as he ever wanted in exchange."
Now Edmund couldn't even look at the Faun, as his shock and confusion upon this revelation turned into a horror and anger. Edmund could just lower his head down in shame.
The Witch smiled cruelly again at the effect this had on both Edmund and Mr. Tumnus, before she turned to her guards. "Haul the Faun up, and make him stand on his own feet. And Ginarrbrik?" the Witch said, turning to her Dwarf. "Take the human creature up to the sledge. I'll be up there soon after I've disposed off the dead weight."
Both Mr. Tumnus and Edmund looked up at the Witch, horror wrapped over their faces, especially Mr. Tumnus' as the Faun was well aware what was going to happen to him.
Then their eyes met: Edmund stared at Mr. Tumnus in distress of what was going to happen to him, but Mr. Tumnus only returned to it with utter disbelief and cold disappointment towards him for his actions.
"You were going to hand over Lucy, your own sister, to the hands of this woman in exchange for her enchanted food?" Mr. Tumnus chided with the scowl as he was forcibly hauled up to his feet by the pig-headed guards.
"I didn't know..." was all Edmund could say in his own defense before Ginarrbrik impatiently nudged him in the side with his whip, before beckoning him to move..
"Don't be too hard on Edmund with your hypocrisy, Faun." the Witch chided mockingly in Edmund's defense. "Remember that you too initially intended, or you were supposed to hand that brat over to me in the first place, and you knew very well what you had to do."
Mr. Tumnus frowned at the Witch for a moment before leaning his head forward to give one last scowl at Edmund, who, despite Ginarrbrik pushing him constantly and roughly forward towards the stairs, looked over his shoulder at the scene between Mr. Tumnus and the Witch.
"At least I had my conscience!" Mr. Tumnus declared coldly after him.
Edmund grimaced in shame when those words hit him hard down to the core, before he turned miserably away and kept walking from the scene.
But as he was led away by the Witch's Dwarf, Edmund turned slightly to look at his left, and he saw the manifestation of his conscience walking at the same pace with him and the Witch's Dwarf, casting a very disappointed glare at Edmund.
"At least Mr. Tumnus here had the conscience over what he was doing, unlike you after you said you never had such of thing when you came here. And now because of you, you both are going to face the consequences." the "other" Edmund stated before vanishing.
But as he was being led behind the corner in the stairs, Edmund looked one last time over his left shoulder into the dungeon, where the Witch and Mr. Tumnus - now hauled up and forced to stand on his own feet, which he did with great weakly and difficulty - stood opposite to each other.
However, they went behind the corner right at the very momenth when the Witch let out the savage-sounding shriek and lifted her want over her head.
"No! No! NO! NO! NOOO!" Mr. Tumnus pleads echoed in the dungeons.
Edmund then stopped in the middle of the stairs and turned violently around, ignoring Ginarrbrik's commands to keep moving and his threats to whip his legs back into motion otherwise, and looked at the wall before him.
Then there was a sound like a crack of the thunder and the wall was illuminated by a rapidly flashing bright light as in lightning, that Edmund could see the silhouettes of both the Witch and Mr. Tumnus in it. The silhouettes showed the Witch whipping her wand towards Mr. Tumnus who tried to shield himself with his arms, before the Faun went instantly and completely immobile.
Then all the lightning ceased, though Edmund kept staring at the wall, his face frozen into wide-eyed look of horror.
"Keep moving!" Ginarrbrik told him before roughly shoving him forward up the stairs.
###
Meanwhile, back at the Beaver's house, when Mrs. Beaver had - finally - finished the last minute preparations, they were just about to go. Each of the children - with their necks and heads wrapped up with Mr. Beaver's scarfs - had offered to carry at least one of the sacks so that the beavers did not have to carry more than just one sack themselves, which both beavers greatly appreciated.
"Not too heavy?" Mr. Beaver asked from Susan as she carried one of the sacks over her left shoulder.
"No, sir." Susan responded.
Mr. Beaver then went over to Lucy and gently adjusted the thick fur scarf over her head to make it sit more comfortably and at the same time to keeop her head warm... ironically making it to look like a hood that she had not in her own coat.
Mr. Beaver then moved on, until he suddenly gasped when Peter accidentally hit him with the sack he was carrying when he turned around.
"Oh, sorry, Mr. Beaver!" Peter apologized.
"That's fine." Mr. Beaver said, not minding about it.
However, he stopped in his tracks when he noticed his mate holding and rubbing longingly the potted plant in her claws, letting out sad sighs as she knew she would have to put it behind him. However, a smiling expression appeared on her face as he looked at it, as if reconsidering it, but Mr. Beaver thwarted those intentions by gently taking the potted plant from his mate's paws and placing it back on the table, much to Mrs. Beaver's disappointment.
"Right." Mr. Beaver said, turning back to the children. "Everything's ready? Then let's..."
However, he was soon cut off when Mrs. Beaver spoke up, once again considering of taking something unnecessary with them.
"I suppose the sewing machine's too heavy to take?"
The children groaned all out loud at this another delay, with Mr. Beaver gaping at his mate in utter disbelief.
"Yes. It is!" Mr. Beaver practically yelled. "A great deal too heavy. You don't really think you'll be able to use it on the run, do you?!"
"But I can't abide the thought of that Witch fiddling with it, and breaking it or stealing it, as likely as not." Mrs. Beaver reasoned.
Mr. Beaver snorted frustrated, unable to believe that Mrs. Beaver was so worried about her sewing machine even though they should be more worried about their own lives right now!
"Oh, please, please, please!" Lucy begged.
"We must hurry." Susan reminded.
Mrs. Beaver sighed disappointedly and in defeat that she indeed had to leave the sewing machine behind. "Yes, yes. I'm ready."
Her mate and the children sighed hearably, relieved that the last minute of preparations and the delays were finally over. "At last!" they sighed.
Mr. Beaver immediately began to lead the children towards the door, with Mrs. Beaver following right behind of them. However, she all of the sudden stopped and exclaimed.
"Ah! Let me have a one final thing. Then we will go, I promise you." she told them, earning a shocked looks from everyone, before she went to fetch that "one final thing" from somewhere in the house.
"ARGH!" both Mr. Beaver and the children groaned in frustration at this yet another delay.
All of the sudden, Chirp, in his anthropomorphic form, bursted through the door into the house and looked a rather urgent.
"CHIRP, CHIRP! HURRY UP, EVERYONE! THE SECRET POLICE ARE COMING! THEY'RE ALMOST HERE! CHIRP, CHIRP!"
The children gasped fearfully at these dreadful news, with Mr. Beaver turning to his mate and... "MRS. BEAVER! WE NEED TO LEAVE NOW!"... roared from the top of his lungs.
"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" Mrs. Beaver exclaimed, slightly taken aback by her mate's fussing. "My dear, usually you're not this cranky except when you're hungry."
"I'M NOT HUNGRY BUT I AM VERY CRANKY NOW!" Mr. Beaver exclaimed.
###
Meanwhile, Snowstorm, Maugrim and his wolf-pack had already reached to the woods surrounding the valley where the river and the beaver's dam and house were.
At high speed they flew/galloped through the snowy forest and very, very soon they would reach their destination and their prey. And if the children, the beavers, and robin don't finally leave the house before the Secret Police gets there, they'll be trapped in there and be like offered in a tray.
###
And meanwhile, at the Witch's house, both impatient Ginarrbrik and miserable Edmund were waiting in the sledge in middle of the statue-littered courtyard for the White Witch to arrive. The snow fell heavily on them, covering their heads and shoulders with it, and Edmund had to wrap his arms around of his body to keep himself warm.
Before long, the Witch finally came out of her house into the courtyard after her dark deed in the dungeons. She sat beside Edmund on the sledge, but took no notice of him at all.
"Open the gate!" she ordered.
Then a several pig-headed guards, whom Edmund hadn't seen when he first arrived to the castle, appeared to the courtyard and hurried to fulfill the Witch's orders to open the castle's heavy iron gates wide enough for the Witch's sledge to go right through of them.
"Drive!" the Witch ordered Ginarrbrik.
Ginarrbrik then whipped up the horned horses and the Witch and Edmund drove out of the courtyard and under the archway and on and away into the darkness and the cold, with the gates closing behind of them.
The hunt had started!
TO BE CONTINUED...