The Lost Legacy

Chapter 9: Some Supporting Evidence

It was colder than it had been that morning. When Thomas and Riverrun reached the forest border from that morning when they had rested, Trumpkin exclaimed silently. "Crows and crockery!"

The entire river was frozen now. 

"I'm surprised that they haven't attacked yet. It's clear that her powers have been affecting the weather here for a while now. It's only increasing."

"They would be stupid to. We have guarded the castle well."

"What do we bring back as proof?"

"We can't take the ice back. That's for sure."

Sophie gave a small shaky laughter. "We are on the same track. How about the staff?"

He looked at her like she was going Dorothy. "The staff? Wouldn't that be too obvious?"

"What if we take back the broken one? The one King Edmund broke in the First Battle of Beruna? That's what the hag used to bring her back, isn't it? Because we have the remains of the other staff back in the castle treasury."

Trumpkin had a smile on his face now. "I like where this is going. How do we do this?"

So, they made a plan. It was stupid and reckless but, in the end, it was a plan – the only plan they had in hand.

"I'll wait here," informed Trumpkin, hiding behind the trunk of a tree.

"You know the signal, right?" Sophie asked him and just as she did, someone walked out of one of the tents.

The White Witch.

Sophie dropped onto the ground as Jadis looked directly in their direction. The timing being perfect, a deer walked by next to the two. Trumpkin tried to silently shoo it away and after it did, the Witch went out for a stroll.

Sophie looked up and he understood what she wanted to say. "That just makes our work a whole lot easier."

She crouched down and jogged to the Witch's tent, assuming that it was hers. It was the only one without the Narnia sigil on it, the one that was spreading around after Caspian was crowned. She peeked inside, being halfway in and halfway around. She looked behind her shoulder to make sure that no one saw her.

She tip-toed inside the tent once she was sure that no one would see her. There was a light coming from somewhere that illuminated the entire place even though it was the middle of the night, helping her make a quick scan of the room. Her eyes immediately fell upon a long staff next to a bunch of swords. That was the new one that the White Witch was going to use. Sophie swooped through the mini armoury and when her eyes fell upon broken pieces of glass, a small laugh left her.

She had found the broken staff.

Right then, the secret signal of Trumpkin mimicking a bird was heard throughout the camp, alerting Sophie that Jadis was returning. Instinctively, her head turned in the direction of the signal. One of the sides of the tent started to move and she heard the second signal, which was to distract the Witch if Sophie was still inside the tent by the time she came, which had been an impromptu but important decision.

Sophie went to the closest flap of the tent and was once again half inside and half outside. She saw half of the Witch's pale-skinned body entering the room and without wasting a second, Sophie went completely out of the tent.

She looked at Trumpkin and he started running at the same time she did. They needed to get out of there as soon as possible. They ran and ran and stopped only when they reached the horses by the river.

"Do you have it?" He asked, panting.

Sophie showed him the staff and his eyes widened up. He never thought that he would be seeing it again in his life but he knew that both of them had made assumptions that they thought was for the best.