The Voyage - Edmund Pevensie

17

We made it back to the beach in complete silence. Lucy and Caspian walked next to each other with me behind them, and Edmund trailing behind all of us. When we got there, I could see a few baskets the crew had used to gather whatever they could, although it didn't look like a lot.

"What food did you find?" Caspian asked. Rhince leaned down by the baskets, an apologetic look on his face. 

"It's volcanic your majesty. Not much grows." Cas nodded in understanding and the men began to load what little there was in the boats. After a quick scan of the beach, I couldn't help but notice one person was still missing. 

"Where's Esutace?" I asked. 

"I believe he's out, not helping us load the boats," Reep supplied. When one more scan of the beach didn't reveal the boy, that telltale sign of worry began to naw in my gut. I scanned the area around us for another minute or so, hoping that he'd pop out from behind a rock. Or that he was about to appear on the trail we'd just come from. When he didn't appear, I started to call out.

"Eustace? Eustace!" The only answer was a hiss of steam from a nearby geyser. 

"Edmund, I have a bad feeling about this," Lucy said and I nodded. 

"I agree Lu, he should be here. How long has he been gone?" I asked the mouse.

"Since we docked, I believe." Anxiety coiled in my gut. 

"You mean he's been gone this whole time?" I asked concerned. No one could give me an answer, the men just looking between themselves. Anger began to bubble up inside, mixing in with the worry. While I understood Eustace wasn't the most fun person to be around, he was still a young boy. A young boy, who was a stranger to this land and it's rules and had been missing on a mysterious island all afternoon. One that apparently had pools that could kill a man should he fall in. He should've been looked after better. Reep at least had the decency to look a little guilty. 

 Ed sighed, drawing my attention. 

"I'll go find him." He began to walk away, and Caspian and I shared a look.

"We'll come with you." Ed nodded and the three of us made our way back towards the center of the island. 

Passing the crevasse where we'd found the golden pools, we continued in our search with each of us calling out for Eustace. With every call that wasn't answered, my heart sunk a little lower. 

"By Aslan I hope he's alright," I whispered to myself. 

"Knowing my cousin, I'm sure he's fine. Probably busy talking a stone to death," Ed said as he walked ahead of me. At his comment, my anger boiled over.

"This isn't funny Edmund." My comment had enough sharpness and bite that it caused both Ed and Cas to stop and look at me. 

"Eustace has been gone all afternoon, and nobody seems worried. And we just found a dead man not even 30 minutes ago." I stared hard at them. "I know that he's not your favorite person Ed, but he's your cousin. Your blood. And while he's here, like it or not, he's your responsibility. He's our responsibility while he's on our ship." I looked at Caspian for that last point. "And he could be hurt right now. Or got lost and is now scared and confused. So, I don't want to hear anymore joking until we find him. Got it?" Both of the boys' eyes were wide, but they didn't object. With that settled, I strode past them without looking and kept scanning the area. I heard whispering behind me as I moved ahead and I thought I caught something like "she's scary, isn't she?" but I didn't turn around. 

After a dozen or so more minutes of searching, the gleam of something in the sun caught my attention. I felt the boys catch up to me as we all came to a stop, staring at the mounds and mounds of gold glittering in the sun.

"Treasure," Edmund confirmed.

"Trouble," Caspian corrected and I couldn't help but agree with my brother. 

We made our way down into the small ravine, being careful to try and not disturb anything. Ahead of me, Ed caught sight of something and jogged to pick it up off of the ground. The sight of the singed, brown shoe made my mouth go as dry as the sand underneath my feet. 

"Eustace..." Ed whispered. Up ahead, something else caught our attention and Caspian and I followed Ed as he slightly staggered to a pile of clothes. Clothes that had been burned and singed just like the shoe. 

"No... no, no..." Ed gasped, grabbing Eustace's clothes in his hands. I bent down and gingerly picked up the boy's green notebook that had been lying next to the clothes. The same journal that Eustace never went anywhere without. 

"Oh cousin," Ed said softly and my heart thudded painfully. I lightly placed my hand on Ed's shoulder, squeezing in comfort but also to keep myself stable. I felt like I was falling, like the very ground was slipping underneath my feet. And as I stood there, I kept trying to remember the last thing I'd said to him was. Was it kind? Had I been rude? But my brain couldn't seem to process. Yes, I'd been worried, but I hadn't actually believed that he could be dead. Immediately I felt guilty. Like the fact that I had said that I was worried about Eustace getting hurt, actually caused him to get hurt. My heart beat faster in my chest. 

"Cat was right... he was just a boy." Edmund's voice was laced with confusion and sadness.

"I'm sorry," Caspian said softly. 

"I never should have left him," Ed said ruefully. 

"We..." I said shakily. "We never should have left him." Ed looked up at me, and we shared a look that said more than words. How he was sorry for what had happened earlier today, how I was sorry for the loss of his cousin, and how we were both reeling from this news. 

"What could have happened to him?" Edmund asked aloud. 

"This place?" Cas started. "Anything. And he wasn't the first." I looked up to see my brother kneeling next to a skeleton a few feet away. Looking at it, I was at least glad we hadn't found Eustace that way. At least it meant that he hadn't suffered.

"It's Lord Octesian," Caspian told us. Spotting the sword we needed, I stepped away from Ed to grab it. 

"We'll need his..." Caspian trailed off when he was me unsheathe the blade. "...sword."

We walked back to the beach in complete silence, just like we'd done earlier. However, this time the mood was much different. I held Edmund's hand, both of us trying to offer each other support while coming to terms with what just happened. I knew Edmund was also trying to figure out how he was going to tell Lucy. Not to mention Eustace's parents whenever they went home and left Narnia. 

Suddenly, a screeching roar filled the air. My gaze shot to the sky, but I couldn't see anything. Nevertheless, we quickened our pace to the remaining boat that had been left for the three of us to two back to the Dawn Treader. Ed and I jogged down to the boat, eager to rejoin the crew when the sound of wings made me turn. 

If my soul could have left my body, it would've been in Aslan's country doing a jig with the White Witch faster than you could say Narnia. Because a whole ass dragon was flying straight at us. No, not us I realized as I saw its line of sight. 

At Edmund.