~By the Lion's Mane: See You Again~

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

~Eustace~

Puddleglum advised us to keep moving forward. They were likely not enemies, he said, but we shouldn’t look as if they intimidated us. By the time we’d reached the foot of the bridge, they were upon us.

They were both humans, I saw to my relief. I still wasn’t overly fond of talking animals and fauns and centaurs and all of those strange kinds. One was apparently a man, outfitted in black armor with his visor down and astride a black horse. He didn’t have any other kind of identifying features, such as a coat of arms on his shield or a banner on his spear.

The other was a lady, who was the very opposite of the armored figure. She was sitting side-saddle on a white horse (I don’t know what kind, but it seemed very delicate and likely to have delighted Lucy, had she been there) and had long, loose hair that was very dark and shining. Her skin was pale and her face was lovely and young, and she was wearing a long, pretty green dress, and... well, she was, if I think about it, probably the prettiest person I had ever seen, except for Ramandu’s daughter.

“Good day, travelers,” she called out to us in a song-like voice, trilling her r’s. “Some of you are young pilgrims to walk this rough waste.”

“I’m not that young,” I blurted at the same time as Puddleglum said very stiffly, “That may be, Ma’am.”

We exchanged a glance. Jill rolled her eyes at me, which irritated me, and then said like a know-it-all, “We’re looking for the ruined city of the giants.”

“The ruined city?” said the lady. “That is a strange place for you to be seeking. Why ever would you want to find it?”

“We’ve got to—“ started Jill, but Puddleglum cut her off and explained stiffly that we should probably keep our business to ourselves. I thought to tell him he should stuff it. Didn’t he realize how boorish he sounded to be talking like that to such a lady?

I eyed the black knight. In all this time, he had remained ramrod straight and hadn’t made a peep. I couldn’t see anything behind his visor, but I wondered—with a shiver—who, or what, was in there.

“...This road leads to the castle of Harfang,” the lady was saying, “where dwell the gentle giants. They are as mild, civil, prudent, and courteous as those of Ettinsmoor are foolish, fierce, savage, and given to all beastliness. You’d be wise to spend the winter there. There you shall have steaming baths, soft beds, and bright hearths.”

“I say!” I exclaimed at the thought. “That’s something I’d like! Think of sleeping in a bed again.”

“Yes, and having a hot bath,” said Jill dreamily. “Do you think they’ll ask us to stay? We don’t know them, you see.”

The lady smiled dazzlingly. “Oh yes! Only tell them that the Lady of the Green Kirtle salutes them by you, and has sent them two fair Southern children for the Autumn Feast.”

“I’m not really a child, I’m sixteen!” I corrected at the same time Jill said, “Oh, thank you, thank you ever so much!”

She glanced at me reprovingly.

With a charming goodbye, the Lady and her knight then started their horses up the slope of the giant bridge and away. I felt a twinge at seeing her go; I would have liked to have talked to her for a while longer.

“Well!” said Puddleglum in his usual manner. “I’d give a good deal to know where she’s coming from and where she’s going. Not the sort that you’d expect to meet in the wilds of the north. Up to no good, I’ll be bound.”

I shared an exasperated look with Jill. We’d both grown used to Puddleglum’s morose nature and habit of assuming the worst of everyone and every situation.

“Oh rot!” I exclaimed. “I thought she was simply super. And think of hot meals and warm rooms. I do hope Harfang isn’t a long way off.”

“Same here,” said Jill in a rare moment of agreement. “And hadn’t she a scrumptious dress.  And the horse was simply delightful!”

Puddleglum muttered about knowing more about her.

“I was going to ask her all about herself, but how could I when you wouldn’t tell her anything about us?” complained Jill.

“Yes, and why were you so stiff and unpleasant? Didn’t you like them?” I asked.

“Them? Who’s them? I only saw one.”

“Didn’t you see the knight?” Jill was perplexed.

“I saw a suit of armor,” Puddleglum sniffed. “Why didn’t he speak?”

“Perhaps he was shy,” Jill suggested. “Or perhaps he just wants to look at her and listen to her lovely voice. I’m sure Eustace would agree,” she mocked.

My face grew hot. But Puddleglum continued and ignored the barb.

“I was wondering what you’d see if you lifted up the visor of that helmet and looked inside,” the Marshwiggle remarked thoughtfully.

“Hang it all! Think of the shape of the armor! What could be inside it except a man?” I exclaimed, pushing back the voice inside my head that had moments ago been wondering the same thing.

Puddleglum suggested someone invisible, or a skeleton.

“Really, Puddleglum, you do have the most horrible ideas! How do you think of them all?” Jill said in angry disgust.

I was losing my patience and my temper. I was ready to get out of the cold damp and on to Harfang, and these morons were discussing invisible people!

“Oh, to hell with his ideas!” I exclaimed. “He’s always expecting the worst, and he’s always wrong. Let’s think about those Gentle Giants and get on to Harfang as quickly as we can.”

I turned and began to stride down the road. “I wish I knew how far it is,” I muttered to myself.

“Now hold on just a moment!” Puddleglum commanded. I stopped and turned around with a huff.

And then we had a quarrel. Jill and I wanted to go on to Harfang, of course, but Puddleglum was against the idea. But when Jill and I asked him what he suggested we do instead, he had no good plan. Ultimately we won out. After all, winter was on its way, and we were in the far reaches of the north, where winter was far deadlier and more miserable than in Narnia.

The next few days were the most miserable we had encountered up until that point in our journey. Before, I had been short-tempered and cold and tired of the same stringy pheasant we had every night, but now I wished I could go back to that. The country became much rockier and even more barren, so we had no wood or anything to burn at night for our fires. Our food supplies dwindled dangerously, and there was a strong, chilled wind blowing in our faces the entire time.

We hardly spoke at all, and the only thing that kept me going was the hope that we would reach Harfang soon. But though that served as my motivation, it also blackened my mood every time I thought of a warm bed and real food and compared it to what we had each night instead.

At last we passed through a gorge and tall, black firs rose up on either side of our broken, stony road. Before us stretched a wide, rocky plain and beyond that were more mountains with their jagged peaks capped with snow. But on the plain, through the falling darkness, we saw rows of yellow lights.

“Look, look!” Jill cried, pointing.

“Harfang!” we cried, while Puddleglum said gloomily, “Harfang.”

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A/N: I'm sorry it's been so long coming! I just moved into college Saturday, and today I started class. So it's going to be pretty busy. New chapters probably will take a while for me to write because I'm going to be studying and keeping up with all my schoolwork, but I promise that, even if it takes forever, I AM GOING TO FINISH THIS STORY. So there. :D

But seriously, thanks for reading and commenting and voting, guys. I really appreciate!