Our Long Awaited Return Book #8

Chapter 11 We've Found Them

We reached Beruna, but the Telmarines were building a bridge there. We hide behind a pile of logs.
"They seem to be preparing for war!" I whisper to Edmund.
He nods in agreement.
"Perhaps this wasn't the best way to come after all," Susan says to Peter.
We watch as a man who I think could have been the instigator riding a horse with two other men examining the project.
We manage to leave without them seeing us, back to the river.
"Well, Lucy," Peter sighs, "You'll just have to tell us what Aslan wanted."
"You mean you believe me?" She asks surprised.
Peter shrugs his shoulders, "There is no other way this there?"
"There's mine," I say.
Peter raises his eyebrows."Your way could have changed too."
"No, it wouldn't not like a river," I cross my arms.
He shakes his head in disgust at me."I'm the High King remember."
"So that's your excuse," I laugh.
"Would you two just stop, you're making this situation worse than it has to be," Ruth scolds us.
"We aren't making anything worse, it's just a friendly competition," Peter laughs, "Isn't it, Key."
"I suppose," I shrug my shoulders.
"But that didn't just sound like a friendly competition," comments Andrew drily, walking past us.
When we reach the precipice again Peter asks Lucy, "So where exactly did you think you saw Aslan?"
"I wish you would all stop acting like grownups. I didn't think I saw him. I did see him." Lucy replies annoyed.
"I am a grownup," Trumpkin says.
Edmund and I try to hold back a laugh at Trumpkin's sarcastic response.
"It was right over...," Lucy steps over to the edge of the cliff.
The ground gives way below her, she gives out a scream.
"Lucy!" Cries Susan, as we all run towards where she fell.
"Here." She answers grinning. She had landed on a ledge, which led to a path down from the cliff.
"By Jove, Lu!" I exclaim, "Guess we find our way across the river rush after all, but we didn't have to go through so much trouble." I glance over at Peter, hoping he got the message, that my way would be better.
We make it across alright and decide to call it a day.
As Andrew and I looked for firewood, we heard someone crying, "Help!"
"What is it?" I ask, grabbing my brother's arm.
"Someone needs help," Andrew says as we both make our way to where the noise came from. We found a young woman, who lay on the ground.
"Are you alright?" I ask.
"Well, my horse threw me," she says, "And I think I might have sprained my leg."
Andrew helps her up, "Who are you?" he asks. I watch as the two of them lock eyes. But my brother looks away.
"Gwenovire, but I prefer to be called Gwen; I am the daughter of a Telmarine soldier," she replies, "Who are you?"
"Well," Andrew begins, he eyes me.
"A Telmarine," I mouth."We can't trust her."
I turn to leave.
"We can't just leave, Key," Andrew protests,
"We have to help."
Gwen leans against a tree, "I can manage." She tries to walk but holds onto the tree for support.
"Perhaps you are in no state to travel," suggests Andrew, "I can help you get to where you need to."
"No," she shakes her head, "All I need is a walking stick."
"Where have you two been?" Inquires Lucy, as she emerges from behind a tree. When she sees Gwen, she looks at Andrew and me, "Who is this?"
"I need to go," Gwen says, as Andrew picks up a stick that would be a great size for a walking stick.
"Would this help?" he questions, "Milady."
Gwen blushes as she meets eyes with Andrew once more. Lucy and I exchange grins; Andrew may be unaware of it, but either he liked Gwen, or they both liked each other.
"What's wrong?" Lucy says, "Is your leg hurt." she grabs for a cordial.
"Well, yes," she nods, "But it's nothing serious."
"Trust me," Andrew replies, "It wouldn't hurt to just take one drop."
Lucy hands the young woman her cordial as she pours a drop into her mouth. The look of evident pain on her face disappears.
"Impossible," she gasps, as she hands Lucy her cordial back."How?"
"Well, this cordial can help heal any injury," I explain.
"I suppose you need to be on your way," Andrew reminds her.
"Yes," she says slowly, looking up at Andrew,
"Thank you." She turns to leave.
"I wonder who she is?" muses Andrew.
"She told you," I roll my eyes, "She is a Telmarine."
"And you like her," Lucy accuses.
"I do not," he protests.
I roll my eyes, "Really because you two were clearly flirting. We should get to collecting that firewood."
When we return, Trumpkin builds a fire and roasts the meat of the bear for supper. Beats having apples all day.
Then we retire for the night.
"Verity," I hear my older brother, Peter, say from across from me.
"What," I mumbled, I turned to face him, laying my arms on the ground and resting my head on them.
Peter looked at me, "I'm sorry."
"Finally," I sigh, "You got some sense into your head."
"I'm not saying it was the best way," he told me, "But I was hard on you. I would never leave you behind, Key."
"I sort of wanted you to," I grinned, "To prove myself."
"I need to prove myself too, it was humiliating, the fact that Trumpkin didn't believe we defeated the white witch," Peter ranted.
"Same," I nodded, "What will the other Narnians think?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there, Verity," he replied squeezing my hand, "But they'll have to believe us."
I scoffed, "Tumnus, Oreuis, the Beavers, and Cliff aren't here anymore. And that bear sure wasn't friendly. And I knew he was wild. I just didn't realize it at first."
"That's why we need to prove ourselves," Peter told me, "Get some rest. And don't worry about the bear. He was wild; it made no difference to him whether you were Queen Verity or just a girl."
I nodded, closing my eyes; I felt Peter wrap an arm around me, and I rested my head on his shoulder.