Our Long Awaited Return Book #8

Chapter 7 The Bear

Our little friend's name had been Trumpkin, and he had been the most stubborn dwarf I'd ever met. We had been rowing down the boat, heading to the Shuddering Woods, where Caspian and his sister had last been seen. We had used the boat that we had stolen from the Telmarines. Peter, Andrew, and Edmund had been rowing.

"They're so still," Lucy said quietly, as she looked at the trees.

"They're trees, what would you expect?" Trumpkin remarked drily.

"They used to dance," Lucy told, her eyes lighting up.

"Why aren't they doing it now?" Ruth questioned just as softly. She glanced over at Trumpkin.

"Wasn't long after you left that the Telmarines came, those that could retreat to the woods. The trees retreated so deep into themselves they hadn't been heard from since," he explained, his voice full of disdain for us."

"Why did Aslan let this happen?" Lucy asked.

"Aslan!" The dwarf raised his eyebrows, "Thought he abandoned us when you lot did."

"We're not a lot; we're the Kings and Queens of Old," I told him, annoyed, crossing my arms. "And I don't want to be treated as such."

"You left us, didn't you?" he questioned.

"We didn't mean to leave, you know," Peter continued.

"That makes no difference now, does it?" Trumpkin answered.

"Get us to the Narnians and it will," Peter replied.

"And we'll defeat the Telmarines, just you wait; with my well-thought-out strategies, there's no doubt about it." I assured him.

"And my leadership," Peter added.

We reached the bank of the river, and Lucy, Ruth, and I climbed out to explore. The others pulled the boat out of the water. I picked up a stone and looked at it before flinging it into the water. I saw a bear drinking from the river.

"Verity, remember Cliff, that bear who was your most loyal servant?" Lucy asked me as we walked towards it.

"Yes, what if that's one of his descendants? Probably been told lots about Queen Verity the Faithful, who saved Cliff from a cliff edge," I replied, grinning.

"Hello there," Lucy said warmly to the bear.

The bear gave a growling reply. The tone of the growl was hostility, not camaraderie, but Lucy and I ignored his warning.

"It's alright, we're friends," Lucy continued towards him.

"Lucy, I think he might be a wild bear," I told her, grabbing her hand.

He had reared up and growled louder. "Stay back, your majesties!" cried Trumpkin from behind us.

I pulled out my sword, and as Lucy screamed, she ran away. I didn't; I swung my sword at the bear, fear pounding within me.

"Shoot, Susan, Ruth, shoot!" cried Edmund.

I stepped back, losing my courage, pulling Lucy into a run, who tripped, and we both fell to the ground. An arrow reached the bear, who fell lifeless to the ground, right beside us.

The boys run towards us. I could feel myself trembling, anchoring myself with Andrew's arm, who had come up to me. Peter helped us both up and put a comforting arm around Lucy, while Andrew placed an arm around me.

He pointed his sword at the bear, and I did the same, as did Edmund and Peter and Drew. Ruth clung to Edmund's arm.

"Why didn't he stop?" Susan asked confused

"He should have known better than to attempt to harm two girls like that," Andrew said. 

"I suspect he was hungry," Trumpkin replied.

"What if he were

 a descendant of Cliff? If he was, how dare he charge at us? I saved his forefather!" I ranted.

"Maybe he wasn't," Andrew replied, trying to cheer me up.

"Thanks," Lucy said quietly to Trumpkin.

"He was wild," Edmund stated, as Trumpkin sat down to cut the bear for fresh meat.

"I don't think he could talk at all," Peter answered.

"He wasn't a talking one. I should've known, but I just wanted to say hello," I explained, justifying my stupidity. I let go of Andrew's grip.

"No," Trumpkin said, shaking his head, "Get treated like a dumb animal long enough; that's what you become. You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember."

Lucy buried her head against Peter and cried, and he wrapped an arm tighter around her.

"You mean..." I said, "The Telmarines did this to the Narnians."

"Yes, their goal was to exterminate all of us Narnians. They haven't succeeded yet," Trumpkin answered drily.

I touched the Star of David necklace my Jewish friend Sarah had given me. That nasty German dictator, Hitler, had been attempting to do the same in our world. I hadn't heard from Sarah since her family had moved to France.

I turned to go, leaving my siblings behind, hoping they didn't see me. I climbed up a tree and waited for Trumpkin to finish.

"Key!" I heard Peter call my name, "It's time to leave!"

He looked up at me, "Come on down."

I sighed, "Couldn't you just leave me alone for a moment?"

"You've been up on that tree for more than a moment," he said gruffly. He held out his hand, but I ignored him. "In case you've forgotten, I can get down a tree myself! Better than you. Isn't that why Dad called me monkey?" Monkey had later been shortened to Key because Mom had hated when Dad called me it.

Peter shrugged his shoulders, "Since you're so independent, maybe you could go alone."

"You'd get lost without me," I told him, crossing my arms.

"I'm the High King," Peter snapped, "I should know the very land I ruled once. I don't need an intelligent little sister to tell me what to do."

I glared at him as we joined the others. "What's wrong with you and Peter?" Edmund whispered to me.

"I bet you can guess," I remarked sarcastically.

"Guess what?" Ruth asked curiously.

"You and Peter need to learn something, Key," Edmund sighed, "You're too proud about your intelligence, and I don't see any Pete... well, he thinks he's in control of all Narnia."

"I don't think Edmund could be any more correct." Ruth nodded.

I ignored them. They only seemed to have been trying to annoy me again, as always.