Hermione's Journey

Chapter Fourteen

Mr. Beaver and the children nearly tore down the door when they entered the little wooden hut. Only a few minutes after Hermione had entered the castle, the wolves ran out. No one dared to think about what could have possibly happened to her.

"Hurry, Mother!" Beaver shouted to his wife. "They're after us!"

"Oh, right then," Mrs. Beaver said, perfectly calm, as she began waddling about the room, looking over the shelves.

"What is she doing?!" Peter asked, frustrated.

"Don't worry, you'll thank me later," Mrs. Beaver said as if they were going on a small trip. "It's a long journey and Beaver gets pretty cranky when he's hungry."

"I'm cranky now!" Beaver exclaimed.

Everyone jumped when they began to hear growling, and they all became more frantic as they saw flashes of fur here and there and an occasional paw attempting to knock away the wooden walls of the house.

"Do you think we should bring jam?" Susan asked as she helped Mrs. Beaver pack a few things.

"Only if the Witch serves toast!" Peter answered in disbelief. How could they be going so slowly when their lives were on the line? How could they be thinking of food at a time like this?

"That's enough, dear," Mrs. Beaver thanked Susan and then turned to Mr. Beaver with her arms full. "Well? What are we waiting for?" She did not seem fazed at all by the growls and barks that were shaking the house. Beaver just stared at her a few seconds before shaking his head and muttering things under his breath as he ran on all fours to a cupboard, obviously biting his tongue a lot.

"Come on then!" he ushered the children and his wife into a cupboard, which appeared to be the doorway to a small tunnel. "Hurry up! Let's go!" Beaver leapt down after all of them and slammed the door shut behind him as they dropped down. "This way!" Beaver commanded and passed all of them, and walked as quickly as he could. He grabbed a torch off of the wall and handed it to Peter. "It gets pretty dark," Beaver explained and then continued on his way.

"How long has this been here?" Susan asked as they continued to walk. The children had to bend over so that their heads wouldn't bang against the ceiling.

"Badger and me dug this," Beaver told them all. "It comes up right near his place."

"You told me it lead to your mums!" Mrs. Beaver protested. Before Beaver could reply, Lucy tripped and fell onto the floor of the tunnel. As she pushed herself up, she froze and looked up towards the tunnel ceiling. Everyone heard the same thing. Echoing howls.

"They're in the tunnel," Lucy spoke for the first time since they had left sight of the Witch's palace.

"Quick! This way!" Beaver yelled at them. Peter took up Lucy's hand in his own and pulled her up.

"Hurry!" Mrs. Beaver added as she followed Beaver down further.

"Run!" Peter shouted as the sounds of growls and howls got closer. They all ran off as well as they could while having to bend over in the small space until they reached what appeared to be a dead end.

"You should have a brought a map!" Mrs. Beaver reprimanded her husband.

"There wasn't room next to the jam!" Mr. Beaver retorted harshly and then jumped up. The exit to the tunnel was right there. Everyone followed Beaver out as quickly as they could, and Peter helped Beaver put a barrel against the entrance of the hole.

Lucy looked around and took a step back.

"Oof!" she grunted and stared at horror at what she had fallen on. It appeared to be stone animals around a stone table having a tea party. She got up as quickly as she could and glanced at Mr. Beaver, who was slowly approaching a stone badger.