Come Home - E. Pevensie [2]

3 - Wandering King

Susan and Lucy were on either side of me, their hands swinging with mine as we hiked through the thick trees. Peter had taken the lead, and Edmund and Trumpkin trailed behind us.

"I don't remember this way." Susan said as we approached a patch of uneven rocks.

Peter turned and flashed us a cocky smirk before turning back. "That's the problem with girls. You can never carry a map in your heads!" He called. I scrunched my nose.

"That's because our heads have something in them." Lucy retorted. Susan and I laughed.

"I wish he'd just listen to the DLF." I sighed to the girls.

"DLF?" Edmund asked, pausing his stride to send me a questioning look.

"Dear Little Friend!" Lucy snickered, looking back at Trumpkin.

The dwarf huffed. "Oh, that's not patronizing, is it?" He said as we came to a stop.

"I'm not lost." Peter muttered to himself, spinning slowly to look at all of the unfamiliar rock passages.

"No," Trumpkin hopped to the rock directly behind the High King. "You're just going the wrong way."

"You said you last saw Caspian at the Shuddering Wood, and the quickest way there is to cross at River Rush." Peter argued. Trumpkin sighed.

"But, unless I'm mistaken, there's no crossing in these parts."

Peter's jaw clenched. "That explains it. You're mistaken." He turned quickly around and continued forward.

Edmund caught up to my side, and I looped my arm through his with a sigh.

"I was hoping his temper would improve once we came back." I muttered. Edmund nodded, his lips in a tight line.

"He feels threatened. We've been gone too long, too many things have changed. He's just trying to pretend they didn't." He shrugged. I let out another sigh as we stopped. Peter had led us to the edge of a cliff, about 200 feet above a rushing river.

"Over hundreds of years, water eroded the earth's soil..." Susan began to explain. Peter cut her off with a curt "oh, shut up".

Edmund turned to Trumpkin. "Is there a way down?" He asked politely.

"Yeah," Trumpkin scoffed. "Falling." He turned on his heel and walked in the opposite direction. "Come. There's a ford at Beruna. Any of you mind swimming?"

Susan caught up with Edmund and me. "Anything's better than walking." She muttered. I nodded and began to follow Trumpkin.

"Aslan?" Lucy spoke softly. "Aslan!"

I whipped my head around. Lucy was grinning widely, her arm pointed across the river. There was nothing on the other side besides more trees and rocks.

"Don't you see? He's right..." Lucy trailed off as she turned back, seeing what the rest of us saw. Nothing.

"Do you see him now?" Trumpkin asked dryly. Lucy glared at him quickly before meeting my eyes.

"I'm not crazy. He really was there! He wanted us to follow him." She said.

I walked forward as Peter squinted to the empty rock. There was no sign of a lion, no tracks, or disturbed bushes. But that didn't stop me from believing Lucy. Aslan had his way of making himself quiet when he wanted to be.

"I'm sure there are any number of lions in this wood Lucy, just like that bear." Peter said firmly. I scoffed.

"Don't you think she'd know Aslan when she sees him?" I said, right as Lucy said "I think I know Aslan when I see him."

She turned to me and shot me a large grin, to which I winked at.

"Look," Trumpkin spoke up again. "I'm not about to jump off a cliff after a lion that doesn't exist." Lucy and I glared at the dwarf.

Edmund licked his lips. "The last time I didn't believe Lucy, I ended up looking pretty stupid." He said. Lucy sent him a grateful smile as I nodded.

"Aslan always told me that when in doubt, I should trust my friends. What kind of rulers would we be if we didn't?"

Peter shook his head. "Why wouldn't I have seen him?"

"Maybe you weren't looking." Lucy said softly.

"I'm sorry, Lu." Peter shot another glance at the rock before turning his back and following Trumpkin. Susan lingered but followed.

I wrapped an arm around Lucy's shoulder and gently led her towards Edmund, who was waiting for the both of us.

We traveled for at least another hour before finding something new. In the midst of trekking down a slope in the forest, brown leaves floated in front of us. Lucy grabbed my hand, recognizing the pattern.

A dryad began to take shape. He was a stout man with a wide smile. Lucy and I reached our hands out to him. Suddenly, his smile contorted into a face of great pain, and he disappeared with a scream. Lucy and I jerked our hands back, looking at the now empty space in horror. Susan, Edmund, and Peter had wide eyes as well.

"What the bullocks was that?" Trumpkin scowled.

"A dryad," I replied slowly as Lucy wrapped her arms around my waist, burying her face in my chest. "I've never seen one scream like that. He must have..." I trailed off as the rhythmic sound of pounding filled my ears.

Quietly, I advanced, a hand on my sword. Peter and Edmund hastened their steps to catch up with me.

We came upon a large clearing by the Beruna river. There were dozens of men in the same armor that the men holding Trumpkin wore. Telmarines. They were chopping down trees and forming a bridge across the river. They were almost a third way through, maybe more. We ducked behind a pile of logs.

"Perhaps this wasn't the best way after all." Susan whispered. After a unanimous agreement, the group backed up slowly into the forest and retreated to the River Rush.

"So, where did you think you saw Aslan?" Peter sighed.

Lucy crossed her arms and glared at him. "I wish you'd all stop trying to act like grown-ups. I didn't think I saw him, I did."

Trumpkin cleared his throat and shuffled his feet. "I...am a grownup." He mumbled. Edmund and I stifled a laugh.

Lucy walked back to where she was standing before. "It was right around..." She suddenly dropped through the soil with a scream.

"Lucy!" We cried as we rushed to the hole she had fallen through.

Relievedly, she was sitting on a ledge a few feet below with a small grin on her face.

"Here!"

We helped ourselves down the hole and onto the path. It was very steep and very narrow, so we crossed it one at a time. Halfway through my foot was caught in an exposed root, nearly sending me off the edge as I tried to untangle myself.

Edmund grabbed my waist with one of his hands and balanced me again. I let out a big breath and thanked him. He nodded with a smile and motioned for me to continue, his body moving closer to mine now.

Once we finally managed to complete the precipitous descend, we began to cross the river. Lucy hopped from rock to rock, smiling down at the water. I watched as she slipped on a loose rock, smiling softly when Trumpkine steadied her with a shy smile.

By the time we reached the other side of the river, it was dark, so Peter decided we would make camp. We quickly gathered sticks and ignited a fire.

Grateful to finally be resting my legs, I settled down nicely near the fire with the girls on my left and Edmund on my right, facing my direction.

Smiling tiredly, I managed to slip out a "goodnight, Eddie" before falling into a much-needed rest.