In Spite of the Arrow Book #9

Chapter 10 The Search

That evening, Peter pulled me aside."You know what's wrong with Susan."
I sighed, "I'm surprised you didn't catch on fast enough."
"What is it, Verity?" He asked.
"It's about Caspian," I replied, "Susan blames it on Thornea, but it was really her own fault. Thornea didn't know any better. You see, what Susan said was she didn't love Caspian, but she does, and now she',s, you know...I don't understand this love nonsense. People make it more confusing than it has to be."
Peter headed towards Susan's room.
"Where are you going?" I asked confused.
"To talk to Susan," he answered.
I followed him, "I shouldn't have told you."
"What that another man hurt our sister again?" He asked annoyed.
"She hurt Caspian," I replied.
"They both did," he answered.
I sighed and followed him into Susan's room, we found our sister crying on her bed.
Peter sat down beside her, "Susan, it's alright." He placed an arm around her.
"How can I tell him I love him?" She asked,
"After I said I didn't."
"Susan, please," I got on my knees, "Do you really truly love him?"
"Why, I know I do," Susan said, "Didn't you know with Ammon?"
I hung my head, "You haven't forgotten Irvin, have you? How can you betray Irvin."
"Irvin's dead, Verity," she retorted."One day you might fall in love again."
I shook my head, "I don't mind the life of a spinster."
"Susan, you barely know Caspian," Peter told her."You can't always go by your feelings."
I sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her, resting my head on her shoulder."Remember Vervan."
"Caspian isn't Vervan, Verity," Susan said upset.
Peter sighed, "Susan, just listen to us."
"I love him, Peter!" She cried, "Don't you understand?"
"It isn't always about love, Susan, with me and Ammon..."
"You don't understand a thing about love!" She shouted, "It took you four years! And Peter you have never fallen in love."
"You might be right," Peter nodded, "But Caspian..."
"He's dull and boring," I stated."And annoying."
"That's not what I meant, Verity," Peter replied.
"I still don't trust him."
"But you're friends?" Susan asked confused.
"Every man you have fallen in love with ends up hurting you in some way; Irvin died, Vervan was a traitor, and Rabadash tried to marry you by force," he explained.
"Caspian won't die," Susan replied, "As long as Verity doesn't make him rescue one of her men in her regime in Tashbaan." She gave me a look.
"It could happen some other way," Peter answered, "I'm just trying to protect you."
"As you always do," Susan answered angrily, "You don't have to shield me from life itself."
"We'll have to leave again, Susan," I retorted, "Don't get your hopes up."
Susan turned to Peter, I could feel her hand trembling. She was crying.
"Susan, I'm sorry," Peter took her in his arms, as she cried upon his chest.
I poured her a glass of water and placed it on the table before wrapping my own arms around her.

The next day, Edmund had been riding his horse when he came running up to him but Thornea. She had convinced Susan to come with her for a walk down to the river. Edmund knew she had other intentions than to apologize; a grin was written her face.
"Where's my sister?" He asked.
"On a boat with Caspian with no oars," she explained casually."I made them sit in the boat then sent them off."
Edmund got down from his horse, "Are you crazy! You could have killed them!"
"Why?"
"The River Rush's current heads to the waterfall; no one makes it out alive," he yelled, shaking her shoulders.
"I didn't know and I was only trying to help them," she stuttered, "They love each other."
"And because they do, you tricked into sitting in a boat with no oars available and letting it drift down a river rush," he mumbled sarcastically.
"I didn't know," her lip began to tremble.
"I hate you," he glared at her."We let you go free and now you endangered my other sister and Caspian."
He climbed on his horse.
"Where are you going?" The girl asked.
"To tell the others, maybe we can rescue them before it's too late," he said angrily.
He found Verity in the courtyard talking with Leona.
"Why, don't you try riding again?" Leona inquired."I was thinking you could write something special for my brother's coronation, like a theatrical."
"Would anyone want to see that, It's a waste of time anyways," scoffed Verity.
"Verity! Leona!" He ran over to them, "Caspian and Susan are on a boat with no oars, headed for the waterfall."
"How did that happen?" Leona asked her face a pale white.
"Thornea, I don't have time to explain," he grabbed Verity's arm, "We need to find the bodies."
"Not the bodies, Ed," she punched him in the arm, "They're alive. Come on, Leona, we have to tell Peter."
They found Peter and Trumpkin on the balcony of the castle.
"Pete!" Edmund shouted, "It's Susan and Caspian, they're in trouble!"
He and Trumpkin came down to them and Edmund told them what happened."And it's all that Thornea's fault."
"She didn't know any better," Verity protested, "But it was still very stupid of her."
"What?" Ruth and Lucy came up to them and Edmund had to explain it all again.
"We have to hurry if we want to see them alive," I said.
"Head to the river," Peter ordered, "All of you, I'll find a rope."
I grabbed Lucy's hand and followed Edmund, who led the way to the river.
"Will we ever find them?" Ruth asked, "I mean the waterfall..."
"Is about 16 miles from here," Trumpkin explained, "They would have plenty of chances to jump off."
"But the rapids," Leona protested.
"We'll find them," I stated.
When we came to the river, we walked along the bank, calling their names. Peter showed up with more Narnians to help look. Rain soon fell upon us, and the sky grew dark. The hope of finding them seemed gone until Lucy cried, "Look, the boat! And it's tied up to a tree."
"They must be safe," Peter sighed with relief.
"Where could they have gone?" I asked as we climbed down the cliff to the bank.
"Home maybe," Peter said.
"So we should go back?" Ruth asked.
"I think that would be the best decision," Trumpkin agreed.
"Or maybe, they're lost," Edmund answered.
"Lost," scoffed Leona, "Caspian and I know this place by the back of our hands. Except this place doesn't look too familiar."
"We better look for them then," Peter said, he and the men and Edmund climbed back up the cliff. We girls followed, and just as I was about to reach the top, I heard Lucy scream. My head flipped around; my sister had fallen down the precipice, and now she was stuck in a slough, waist deep.
"Lucy!" I exclaimed.
"Verity, I'm sinking, I can't get out!" she cried. I climbed down, laying down on a large rock, stretching my arms out to my sister. "Verity, be careful," Ruth cautioned. My dress had gotten mud all over the front, but as if I cared if I ruined a dress. I never cared; a dress was a dress, and I had many. As much as I could muster I tried to pull her out, but I couldn't.
"Peter! Edmund!" I yelled, "It's Lucy, she's stuck!"
My brothers came in an instant to the bottom of the cliff, "Hold on, Lucy," said Peter; he lay down next to me and grabbed Lucy's arms. He, too, couldn't pull her out.
"It's the dress," I stated, "it's weighing her down." I reached out and tore it off her.
Peter tried again and, this time, was able to get her out. She collapsed on the ground beside her.
"I don't know how it happened. One minute, I was climbing u,p, and the next, I tumbled down into the slough." She explained. Peter pulled her close to him as she cried against his chest.
"Ruth, Leona," he said, "Take her home. Trumpkin, you go with them."
Ruth took Lucy's hand and led her up to the path, and the four of them made their way home.
We made our way to the top of the precipice. We found ourselves in the woods. I looked back at the direction of the slough.
"The slough of Despond," I muttered. Remembering pilgrim's progress.
"What?" Edmund asked.
"Doubt, discouragement, that's what made her sink," I replied, "That's what it's made of."
"Verity, use your head. Doubt and discouragement are the mud?" He asked confused.
"That's what it represents," I said.
"Peter!" I heard someone shout! It was Susan!
We all ran to where the voice came from. We found Caspian carrying a very wet and dirty Susan. Quite a sight to behold, Susan was always neat and clean. Caspian was in the same state.
"What happened?" Peter asked.
Susan jumped from Caspian's arms and limped towards him, crashing into his arms.
"Thornea got us both to come down to the river and made us talk, getting us to sit into that boat, and before we knew it, she had untied the boat, and the oars were gone," she cried, "She's such a dreadful girl!"
"How did you survive?" Edmund asked.
"We jumped and swam to the shore, and I tripped on a rock and sprained my ankle," she explained.
"Come on," Peter lifted her into his arms, "Let's go home."
"Verity, your dress!" Susan cried.
"What," I shrugged my shoulders, "You're in a no better state." I retorted.
Edmund and I lead the way back to the castle.
"I wonder," I mused, "Did Thornea's attempt work?"
"What getting them to fall in love?" He asked upset.
"I hope it doesn't work; who would want dull Prince Caspian as a brother-in-law," I answered, annoyed.
"He's not dull, Verity," he retorted."How is he dull?"
"Never mind," I sighed.
When we came home, we all got cleaned up, and then the six of us siblings gathered in Susan's room.
"How's your leg?" Peter asked as he set her down on her chair.
"How did you make it out alive?" Ruth asked as she brushed Lucy's hair.
"Caspian, made me jump," she explained.
"Caspian?" Lucy asked, "Do you like him."
A blush came across Susan's face.
"You shouldn't meddle in someone's romantic affairs, Lu," I retorted from my place beside Susan, "Do you like him?"
"Girls..." Susan sighed, "I don't just like him, I love him."
Peter stiffened a bit and I knew how he felt.
"So you told him," he finally said.
"I didn't," she shook her head, "But he rescued me."
"You rescued yourself, didn't you?" I asked.
"He made me jump," she said upset.
Edmund sighed, "She's right, we wouldn't have Susan here if Caspian hadn't made her jump."
"What happened to you all?" Susan asked, "You three were covered in mud from head to toe."
"Lucy, fell into the Slough of Despond, which we didn't see at first," I explained."We helped her out."
"You already came up with a name?" Peter asked.
"I didn't come up with it," I stated.
They all exchanged confused looks."And if it wasn't for Aslan, you wouldn't be here not Caspian."
And I was right.