Page 9 (1/2)
CHAPTER NINE
WHAT LUCY SAW
SUSAN and the two boys were bitterly tired with rowing before they rounded the last headland and began the final pull up Glasswater itself, and Lucy&039;s head ached frolare on the water Even True to be over The seat on which he sat to steer had been made for men, not Dwarfs, and his feet did not reach the floor-boards; and everyone kno uncorew more tired, their spirits fell Up till now the children had only been thinking of how to get to Caspian Now they wondered what they would do when they found him, and how a handful of Dwarfs and woodland creatures could defeat an ar on as they rowed slowly up the windings of Glasswater Creek - a twilight which deepened as the banks drew closer together and the overhanging trees began almost to meet overhead It was very quiet in here as the sound of the sea died away behind them; they could even hear the trickle of the little streams that poured down from the forest into Glasswater
They went ashore at last, far too tired to atteh ain) see After a little silent ether in the e beech trees
Everyone except Lucy went to sleep at once Lucy, being far less tired, found it hard to get cootten till now that all Dwarfs snore She knew that one of the best ways of getting to sleep is to stop trying, so she opened her eyes
Through a gap in the bracken and branches she could just see a patch of water in the Creek and the sky above it Then, with a thrill of ht Narnian stars She had once known them better than the stars of our oorld, because as a Queen in Narnia she had gone to bed land And there they were - at least, three of the summer constellations could be seen from where she lay: the Ship, the Hammer, and the Leopard "Dear old Leopard," shedrowsier she was getting ht-tihter She kne that then h she couldn&039;t see the an to feel that the whole forest was coot up quickly and walked a little distance away from their bivouac
"This is lovely," said Lucy to herself It was cool and fresh, delicious s everywhere
Soinning to sing, then stopping, then beginning again It was a little lighter ahead She went towards the light and came to a place where there were fewer trees, and whole patches or pools of ht and the shadows sowas or what it was At the sa up, burst into full song
Lucy&039;s eyes began to grow accustoht, and she saw the trees that were nearest herfor the old days when the trees could talk in Narnia came over her She knew exactly how each of these trees would talk if only she could wake them, and what sort of human form it would put on She looked at a silver birch: it would have a soft, showery voice and would look like a slender girl, with hair blown all about her face, and fond of dancing She looked at the oak: he would be a wizened, but hearty old man with a frizzled beard and warts on his face and hands, and hair growing out of the warts She looked at the beech under which she was standing Ah! she would be the best of all She would be a gracious goddess, smooth and stately, the lady of the wood
"Oh, Trees, Trees, Trees," said Lucy (though she had not been intending to speak at all) "Oh, Trees, wake, wake, wake Don&039;t you remember it? Don&039;t you remember me? Dryads and Hah there was not a breath of wind they all stirred about her The rustling noise of the leaves was al as if to listen to it
Lucy felt that at any in to understand what the trees were trying to say But the ale resuht the wood looked(as you so to reet it, but it vanishes before you really do) that she had just : as if she had spoken to the trees a split second too soon or a split second too late, or used all the right words except one, or put in one word that was just wrong
Quite suddenly she began to feel tired She went back to the bivouac, snuggled down between Susan and Peter, and was asleep in a fewfor theht in the wood (for the sun had not yet risen) and everything dah-ho," said Trus and queens don&039;t overfeed your courtiers!"
They stood up and shook themselves and looked about The trees were thick and they could see no more than a few yards in any direction
"I suppose your Majesties know the way all right?" said the Dwarf
"I don&039;t," said Susan "I&039;ve never seen these woods in ht to have gone by the river"
"Then I think you ht have said so at the time," answered Peter, with pardonable sharpness
"Oh, don&039;t take any notice of her," said Edot that pocket compass of yours, Peter, haven&039;t you? Well, then, we&039;re as right as rain We&039;ve only got to keep on going north-west - cross that little river, the what-do-you-call-it? - the Rush - "
"I know," said Peter "The one that joins the big river at the Fords of Beruna, or Beruna&039;s Bridge, as the DLF calls it"
"That&039;s right Cross it and strike uphill, and we&039;ll be at the Stone Table (Aslan&039;s How, ICaspian will give us a good breakfast!"
"I hope you&039;re right," said Susan "I can&039;t remember all that at all"
"That&039;s the worst of girls," said Edmund to Peter and the Dwarf "They never carry a map in their heads"
"That&039;s because our heads have sos seeht they had struck an old path; but if you know anything about woods, you will know that one is always finding iinary paths They disappear after about five minutes and then you think you have found another (and hope it is not another but more of the same one) and it also disappears, and after you have been well lured out of your right direction you realize that none of them were pats at all The boys and the Dwarf, however, were used to woods and were not taken in for more than a few seconds
They had plodded on for about half an hour (three of the) when Trumpkin suddenly whispered, "Stop" They all stopped "There&039;s so us," he said in a low voice "Or rather, so up with us: over there on the left" They all stood still, listening and staring till their ears and eyes ached "You and I&039;d better each have an arrow on the string," said Susan to Trumpkin The Dwarf nodded, and when both boere ready for action the party went on again
They went a few dozen yards through fairly open woodland, keeping a sharp look-out Then they carowth thickened and they had to pass nearer to it Just as they were passing the place, there ca out fros like a thunderbolt Lucy was knocked down and winded, hearing the twang of a bowstring as she fell When she was able to take notice of things again, she saw a great gri dead with Trumpkin&039;s arrow in its side
"The DLF beat you in that shooting htly forced smile Even he had been shaken by this adventure
"I - I left it too late," said Susan, in an eht be, you know - one of our kind of bears, a talking bear" She hated killing things
"That&039;s the trouble of it," said Truone dumb, but there are still some of the other kind left You never know, and you daren&039;t wait to see"
"Poor old Bruin," said Susan "You don&039;t think he was?"
"Not he," said the Dwarf "I saw the face and I heard the snarl He only wanted Little Girl for his breakfast And talking of breakfast, I didn&039;t want to discourage your Majesties when you said you hoped King Caspian would give you a good one: but ood eating on a bear It would be a sha a bit, and it won&039;t delay us s, I should say - kno to skin a bear?"
"Let&039;s go and sit down a fair way off," said Susan to Lucy "I knohat a horrid messy business that will be" Lucy shuddered and nodded When they had sat down she said: "Such a horrible idea has come into my head, Su "
"What&039;s that?"
"Wouldn&039;t it be dreadful if so wild inside, like the animals here, and still looked like men, so that you&039;d never knohich hich?"
"We&039;ve got enough to bother about here and now in Narnia," said the practical Susan, "without is like that"
When they rejoined the boys and the Dwarf, as ht they could carry of the bestto fill one&039;s pockets with, but they folded it up in fresh leaves and h to know that they would feel quite differently about these squashy and unpleasant parcels when they had walked long enough to be really hungry
On they trudged again (stopping to wash three pairs of hands that needed it in the first strea, andin the bracken The stiffness froan to wear off Everybody&039;s spirits rose The sun grearmer and they took their heloing right?" said Edmund about an hour later
"I don&039;t see hoe can go wrong as long as we don&039;t bear too ht, the worst that can happen is wasting a little ti off the corner"
And again they trudged on with no sound except the thud of their feet and the jingle of their chain shirts
"Where&039;s this bally Rush got to?" said Edht we&039;d have struck it by now," said Peter "But there&039;s nothing to do but keep on" They both knew that the Das looking anxiously at theed on and their an to feel very hot and heavy
"What on earth?" said Peter suddenly