Close Your Eyes

05

After nearly being traded, the same evening, Eustace snuck into the pantry. He made sure no one was following and grabbed an orange and hid it in his shirt.

"Are you aware stealing rations is a capital offence at sea?" Reepicheep asked loudly. Eustace jumped and fell back into pans hanging behind him. "Up here." Reepicheep folded his arms.

"Oh, you," Eustace muttered.

"Men have keelhauled for less."

"For what?"

"For treason and sneakiness and general nuisancery. Look, just hand over the orange and we'll let the matter pass." He held out his paw.

Eustace decided to play dumb and made his way towards the stairs. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Reepicheep inched his tail towards Eustace's shirt as he said, "Allow me to cla-" Eustace grabbed his tail and he gasped.

Eustace narrowed his eyes. "Look, I've had quite enough of you."

Reepicheep unsheathed his sword and pointed his tiny sword at Eustace. "Unhand the tail," he ordered in a low, threatening voice. "The great Aslan himself gave me this tail. No one, repeat, no one touches the tail. Period. Exclamation mark."

The blade was closer than Eustace preferred, so he said in a fearful tone, "Sorry."

"Now, I will have the orange, then I will have the satisfaction." Reepicheep used his tail to throw a knife into Eustace's hand.

Eustace raised his hands in defence. "Please. Please, I'm a pacifist."

"En garde!" Reepicheep cried as he took a fighting stance.

Eustace glanced at the mouse before running up to the main deck. He bumped into Tavros.

"Watch it," Tavros warned.

"Sorry," Eustace apologised, knocking over a crew member as he scrambled through, and Reepicheep kept up the entire time.

"Trying to run away? We're on a boat you know," Reepicheep reminded Eustace, swinging on a rope and landing on a barrel, sword pointed at him.

The crew, started gathering around to watch what was happening. Lucy was standing to one side watching them with Clara next to her. Edmund was still working on the sword.

"Look, can't we just discuss this?" Eustace asked, hoping to change Reepicheep's mind.

Instead, Reepicheep sliced Eustace's shirt open. "That is for stealing." He stabbed the sword into the orange and pulled it out. "That is for lying, and that was for good measure." He hit Eustace across the face.

Eustace no longer wanted to just fight, but wanted revenge. He was in a place he didn't think existed, called names, mocked, and misunderstood. But being hit, by a mouse of all things, might be the worst of all. He swung his knife at Reepicheep, and the mouse continued laughing.

"That's the spirit! We have ourselves a duel. Catch!" He threw the orange to the side and one of the crew members caught it easily. "Now, come on! Take your best shot."

Eustace lunged at Reepicheep and he jumped to the side. "Is that it? Come on, boy." Eustace swatted the air again and Reepicheep rolled the the side. "Focus! Focus!" Eustace continued swishing the air. "Yes! Ha!"

Eventually, Reepicheep took on another fighter's stance and was growing irritated. "Stop flapping your wings like a drunken pelican! Poise." Eustace stared at the knife he was holding. "Keep your blade up. Up! Up! That's it! Now-"

Eustace kept trying to hit Reepicheep, but he was too quick. He kept leaping onto different levels, somersaulting, and swinging across ropes.

"Yoo-hoo! Over here!" he called. "Now, lunge with your foot. Not your left, your right." he told Eustace, tapping his legs for effect. "Got it? Come on. Be nimble! It's a dance, boy, a dance." He had inched his way to the edge.

Eustace kept hitting Reepicheep and the mouse began wobbling before he fell off the edge. "Oh no!"

Eustace peered over the edge and looked for Reepicheep. He felt a tapping on my shoulder and turned to see the mouse. He swung Eustace around and pushed him to the floor. "And that is that!"

The boy fell into a wicker basket and knocked it over, causing a scream to come from the basket. Meanwhile, the crew was laughing at Eustace's failure.

Lucy and Clara ran over to the basket and Clara helped a little girl out. "Look!" Lucy exclaimed.

The girl's father walked over to her. "Gael? What are you doing here?" She nervously stared at her father. He hugged her tightly. "Here."

One crew member walked over to her and said, "Looks like we have an extra crew member." He leaned closer to her and offered her the orange, which she accepted.

Lucy and Clara said to the girl, "Welcome aboard."

"Are you all right?" Clara asked softly.

Eustace watched the exchange. His cousins had spoke often of the Graceful Queen, and he now could see how much their words rang true.

"Your Majesties," Gael answered with a bow.

Lucy and Clara shared a smile before the brunette said, "Call us Lucy and Clara. Come on." They left for Caspian's cabin, the one they were staying in.

"Come on. Look lively," the captain ordered.

The crew went back to work and Reepicheep leaned casually on a wooden beam. Eustace picked up the knife and walked along the deck.

Reepicheep praised the boy. "Good match. I'll make a swordsman of you yet."

Eustace gave him a small smile and his expression instantly changed to a frown. "Yes, well, if the playing field were a little more even... would have been an entirely different result." He left to put the knife where Reepicheep had grabbed it.