The Voyage - Edmund Pevensie

8

The next day we spent at sea, introducing the new crew members and finding jobs for them to do, cleaning and repairing small things on the ship, and even repairing things like some of the crew's clothes. That job mainly fell to Lucy who was the only one on the ship who could sew well. I tried to help, really I did. But I could only manage small patches before I poked my fingers too many times and gave up. While my aunt had wanted me to practice sewing and needlework growing up since they were the things "proper ladies" did, I never had the patience for them. Instead, I'd snuck away from my lessons to go to the training yard with Caspian until eventually my aunt and governess gave up, ruling me a lost cause. This was the only time in my life that I wished I'd gone to just a few more sewing lessons. 

When I got too frustrated with the small needles, I made my way over to where Edmund had sat himself this morning with his new sword. I could see he'd already made a lot of progress, uncovering a significant portion of the blade. It was almost therapeutic, the way he'd scrape off parts of the barnacles and crust that had accumulated on the sword over the years from where it'd been stored, then rub it with the cloth until the shiny metal finally became visible again. We didn't talk much as he worked. I knew he was really focused and I didn't mind the silence. 

It seemed a peaceful kind of silence had settled over the deck, or at least as quiet as you could get onboard, when out of nowhere Eustace came barreling up from below deck. He was running into crewmate after crewmate as if the White Witch was at his heels. I was just about to ask what the hell he was doing, when I saw Reep following him. 

We all watched as Reep used a rope to swing in front of Eustace, cutting him off. 

"We're on a boat you know," Reep said, then to my surprise drew his blade and pointed it at the boy. I turned to look at Edmund to see if he'd step in for his cousin, but it didn't seem like Edmund had even lifted his head at the commotion. 

"Can't we discuss this?" Eustace as saying. In answer, Reep slashed the front of Eustace's shirt. 

"That, was for stealing." Then, the mouse jabbed his blade at the boy and for a second I was worried the mouse had lost his mind to be stabbing people on deck, but when his blade came away with an orange I understood. "That was for lying, and that!" Reep declared, using the orange still on his blade to smack Eustace's cheek. "...was for good measure."

As Reepeicheep and the crew chuckled, I finally noticed the kitchen knife in the boy's hand which was shaking. I raised my eyebrow, wondering whether he was actually going to use it, and then he lashed out at the mouse. Unlucky for him, Reepicheep was an extremely skilled fighter and dodged the sloppy lunge with ease. 

"That's the spirit!" he called, leaping over Eustace. "Now we have ourselves a duel!" The orange was flung at Drinian who caught it without blinking, and the rest of the crew gathered round to watch.

With Reep egging him on, Eustace made a couple of lunges although all it did was make the boy look a bit foolish as the mouse was quite agile and was dodging and rolling away from each blow. 

"Stop flapping your arms like a drunken pelican," Reep instructed. "Poise! Keep your blade up. Up!" Eustace did as he was told and raised his blade although it was still shaking, and lunged again. "Lead with your feet. Not your left, your right!" Reep called as he smacked Eustace's legs for emphasis all while avoiding the boy's sloppy and slow jabs. 

And then, to Eustace's horror, Reepicheep fell off the side of the ship. Or, at least that's what it appeared like. It was one of Reep's favorite tricks and he tried to get away with it all the time against new opponents. Hell, I'd even fallen for it the first time we'd dueled on deck. As Eustace continued to peer over the side of the deck completely unaware Reep was right above him on the rope, the mouse used his tail to poke the boy's far shoulder which made him spin away, giving the perfect opening for Reep to send Eustace sprawling across the deck. The boy hit one of the baskets as he went down, and a high pitched scream sounded on deck. For half a second, I thought that scream belonged to Eustace.