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THE WOLVES HOWLS ECHOED AROUND the five as they quickly sprinted back inside the Beavers dam. "Hurry up, Mama!" Mr Beaver yelled, "They're after us!". Mrs Beaver jumped to her feet and rushed towards the kitchen.
"What's she doing?!" Peter yelled frantically, while Eliza shut the door, trying to calm her rising nerves.
"Oh, you'll be thanking me later," Mrs Beaver rushed, taking out items to make food, "It's a long journey and Mr Beaver gets very cranky when he's hungry."
"I'm cranky now!" Mr Beaver raged while the sound of wolves grew closer. Eliza shut the door swiftly, and backing away from it, to stand beside her siblings.
"Do you think we'll need jam?" Susan questioned as Mrs. Beaver wrapped the food.
"Only if the witch serves toast!" Eliza snapped back in pure panic, earning a glare from her older sister, "Don't be daft Susan!". The four Pevensies gasped upon hearing the sound of barks and howls surrounding the outside of the dam. The wolves began tearing away at the outer layer of the house, and eventually managed to break through, only to be met by emptiness.
Eliza ran after Mr. Beaver as he led them down a small underground tunnel. Peter was holding a flaming torch as he urged the others to hurry on.
"Badger and me dug this. Comes out right near his place." Mr. Beaver explained in a hurry.
"You told me it led to your mum's!" Mrs. Beaver spoke up accusingly, Lucy stumbled on a root, as the howling started once one.
"Lucy!" Susan cried out, helping the younger girl off of the muddy floor.
"They're in the tunnel." Lucy said with wide eyes, Eliza shook her head in shock and kept running, everyone else in pursuit.
"Hurry!" Mrs Beaver yelled, her urgency clearly visible.
"Run!" Peter shouted at Susan and Lucy, who were a bit behind. "Quick! Quick! Quick!"
They continued to run further but soon arrived to dead end causing Eliza to turn to the beavers in disbelief.
"You should have brought a map!" Mrs. Beaver groaned in annoyance, hitting her husband lightly over the head.
"There wasn't room next to the jam!" Mr. Beaver panicked, suddenly jumping up and into a hole, Mrs. Beaver soon followed with Susan then Lucy. Peter climbed out and offered to help Eliza who swatted his hand away as she fell out of the tunnel.
Peter and Mr. Beaver were quick roll a barrel in front of the hole to barricade it. Mr. Beaver turned towards Lucy, who had fallen and his little face dropped when he saw what Lucy had tripped over – little woodland creatures turned to stone. Mr. Beaver walks up to a stone Badger and touches its paw, as the Pevensies looked down.
"I'm so sorry, dear" Mrs Beaver murmured, placing a hand on her husbands shoulder.
"He was my best mate." The male beaver whispered in response, sadness filling his tone. The Pevensie's all looked at their feet as the guilt consumed them.
"What happened?" Eliza asked hollowly, looking around at all the statues. The six jumped as a fox suddenly appeared on a little ledge above the Badger hole.
"This is what becomes of those who cross the Witch" the fox stated, sitting down on the ledge, overlooking the six.
Mr. Beaver looked furious, "You take one more step, traitor, and I'll chew you to splinters!" He threatened, being held back by his wife.
"Relax." The Fox reassured, glancing at the Pevensies, "I'm one of the good guys."
"Yeah? Well, you look an awful lot like one of the bad ones." Mr Beaver unwaveringly snapped back in frustration.
"An unfortunate family resemblance. But we can argue breeding later. Right now we've got to move." The Fox warned, looked precariously around the woods.
"What did you have in mind?" Peter begun, as all of them listened to what the fox said next.
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WOLVES BURST out of the barreled up hole and encircled the Fox who was in the process of covering the Pevensies tracks with his tail before they came.
"Greetings, gents. Lost something, have we?" The Fox asked innocently. Eliza clutched onto the tree branch for dear life as the six 'outlaws' hid up at the top of a tree.
"Don't patronize me! I know where your allegiance lies. We're looking for some humans." Maugrim snarled, circling the Fox.
Fox laughed obnoxiously, "Humans? Here in Narnia? That's a valuable bit of information, don't you think?" He replied. One of the other wolves pounced on the fox and grabbed him harshly in his jaws. Peter clamped a hand over Lucy's mouth to stop her from crying out.
Maugrim walked right up to him. "Your reward is your life. It's not much, but still. Where were the fugitives?" He hissed.
The Fox hanged his head in shame and pointed his paw. "North. They ran north." The confessed.
"Smell them out." Maugrim commanded, the wolf cast the fox aside and ran off leaving Fox to lie still on the ground.
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THE FIRE CRACKLED as the Pevensies gathered around it. Eliza stared straight into the flames being completely silent, her mind wandering trying to distract herself from Edmunds capture. Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the Fox yelping as Mrs Beaver attempted to sort out his wound.
"They were helping Tumnus. The Witch got here before I did. Ow! Oh!" Fox said, his face twitching in pain.
"Are you all right?" Lucy asked softly in concern, leaning towards the woodland creature.
Well, I wish I could say their bark was worse than their bite. Ow!" The fox jumped, moving away from the beaver.
"Stop squirming! You're worse than Beaver on bath day." Mrs Beaver reprimanded, as Mr Beaver shook his head.
"Worst day of the year." Mr Beaver grumbled, making Susan, Peter and Lucy chuckle as the fox stood up slowly.
"Thank you for your kindness, but that's all the cure I have time for." The Fox thanked, stretching out his paws.
"You're leaving?!" Lucy questioned in confusion,
"It has been a pleasure, My Queen, and an honor, but time is short and Aslan himself has asked me to gather more troops." the fox bowed to Lucy,
Mr. Beaver perked up at the sound of Aslan, "You've seen Aslan?" He queried, as Mrs. Beaver asked what he was like.
"Like everything we've ever heard. You'll be glad to have him by your side in the battle against the Witch" the fox told the kids,
"But we're not planning fighting any witch." Susan protested, while the fox looked a tad lost.
"-But surely, King Peter, the prophecy!" The Fox continued, looking towards the oldest Pevensie, who looked very uncomfortable.
"We can't go to war without you" Mr Beaver added, glancing towards Peter.
The oldest boy took a shaky breath in, "We just want our brother back." Peter said shaking his head. A pang of hurt ran through Eliza's body at the simplest mention of her twin. If only she'd noticed he'd gone earlier, then maybe they wouldn't be in this situation.
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