Once a Queen

Rushing River

They stood on a ledge overlooking the frozen river, watching as chunks of ice slowly melted and were whisked away on the fast current. A waterfall that appeared almost glacial loomed on their left, and Elise knew it was only a matter of time before that too broke and cascaded water. Peter quickly assessed the situation and grabbed Lucy's hand, beginning to make his way down to the bank of the river. Susan grabbed his arm in an attempt to stop him.

"We need to cross, now!" Peter yelled at her, not understanding why she wanted to wait any longer.

"Don't beavers make dams?" Lucy's small voice asked, and had they not been worried about crossing, Elise may have laughed at the question.

"I'm not that fast, dear," Mr. Beaver's response was. Even in the face of danger, he was still being kind and humoring the young girl.

More of the ice broke away, steadily growing closer to the base of the waterfall, where they intended to cross.

"We need to move," Elise said, now taking up Lucy's other hand and helping her down the icy rocks to the bank. She left her bickering brother and sister behind them, silently agreeing with Peter. She didn't understand Susan's fixation with always being right. They were currently stuck in an entirely impossible world, with talking beasts and a Witch that wanted to get rid of them: what part of all that had happened needed to be thought about logically?

Elise could hear Peter climbing down behind her, and she turned to see Susan still at the top, hesitating. A distant howl seems to make up her mind, and she follows the rest of them down without any more complaint.

Peter puts his foot down on the ice, having instinctively moved to the front of the group, but flinched back when it merely cracked under his weight. At this point, Elise was worried that they may never get across in time.

"Wait," said Mr. Beaver, replacing Peter at the bank. "Maybe I should go first."

"Maybe you should," Peter replied hesitantly.

Mr. Beaver moved stealthily across the ice, stepping lightly and slapping his tail along the cracks to try and find the safest passage across. The ice creaked underneath him, and more small cracks started to appear as he shifted along, shuffling his feet under him.

Mrs. Beaver stared at her husband aghast. "You've been sneaking second helpings, haven't you?" she accused him.

Mr. Beaver seemed to deflate slightly in shame. "Well, you never know which meal's gonna be your last, especially with your cooking," he retorted.

Elise almost couldn't tell if that was an insult or a praise to his wife's dealings in the kitchen.

Realizing that they couldn't wait any longer, Peter once more led the slow-moving charge across the ice, carefully placing his feet down where Mr. Beaver had checked, while everyone else followed Peter's footsteps.

Peter kept his tight hold on Lucy, so Elise made sure to check behind her, where Susan nearly stumbled as the ice broke beneath her. She gratefully grasped Elise's arm when it was offered, and clung to her older sister as they lightly stepped across the river.

"If Mum knew what we were doing..." Susan muttered, pulling on Elise's arm when she nearly slipped again. Thankfully, Elise stood firm, though she admonished her sister with a stern look.

"Mum's not here," Peter's childish yet true bite back seemed to silence their moody younger sister.

They only made it a few steps further before Lucy noticed the chipped ice and snow falling from the top of the waterfall, glancing up with a horrified look in her eyes. "Oh no!" she cried, alerting the others to the wolves that had found them.