Together we're stronger (peter pevensie LS)

Chapter 7

We make it to the frozen river as fast as we can, hoping to beat the melting of the river. But when we reach the edge of the river, the cracking of the ice is audible. The ice is chipping and flowing down the river at a fast speed, not to mention the current looks strong, even from up here. "We need to cross, now!" Peter says in a panic. "Don't beavers make dams?" Lucy asks hopefully. "I'm not that fast, dear," Mr. Beaver replies sweetly. "Come on," Peter urges us, grabbing Lucy's arm and leading her to a path to climb down. As I go to follow Susan grabs my arm, looking down at Peter. "Wait! Will you just think about this for a minute?" She vocalizes. Peter stops and spins around to face her. "We don't have a minute," he snaps back. Susan looks at me, hoping I'd side with her. "I'm sorry but he's right. More and more ice is slipping away by the second," I try not to upset her, trying to make her see that we're running out of time. "I'm just trying to be realistic," she mumbles, slightly offended. "No. You're trying to be smart. As usual," Peter retorts back and starts climbing down again. "Being smart isn't a bad thing Su, but we're running out of time to cross," I try to reason. In the distance, we hear a series of howls. "Come on," I grab her arm and pull her with me.

We all climb down as quickly and carefully as possible, so we don't slip and fall into the frigid waters. We make it to the bottom of the cliff's pass and stop behind the beavers. We can hear the ice crackling and I begin to grow nervous. We have to cross quickly but carefully at the same time, and the wolves aren't far behind us now. Peter takes a step forward only for the ice to crack more, I quickly pull him back by his coat, my heart skipping a beat. "Maybe I should go first," Mr. Beaver offers. Peter looks down at him. "Maybe you should," he agrees with the Narnian. Beavers are lighter than people and can check for weak spots in the ice for us to avoid. Mr. Beaver does just that, he takes a few steps, smacking his tail on the ice. The ice cracks a little bit under him, and I grab Peter's hand instinctively. "You've been sneaking second helpings, haven't you?" Mrs. Beaver accuses. "Well, you never know which meal's gonna be your last. Especially with your cooking," Mr. Beaver jokes hoping to lighten the mood as more ice cracks.

When Mr. Beaver is a few feet ahead of us Peter starts forward, more carefully this time. My hand leaves his and reattaches to Lucy's smaller ones as I trail behind her, Susan not far behind. The ice cracks under our weight and Lucy shrieks, letting go of my hand and grasping Peter's arm. I feel Susan grab my arm as more ice begins to crack, teetering her balance. Once she's steadied herself, she lets go of my arm but stays close. "If mum knew what we were doing..." she trails off as she walks. "Mum's not here!" Peter snap, I'd wager more out of fear and worry than annoyance. As we continue walking, I see Lucy look up, the waterfall beside us cracking loudly. "Oh no," she cries out. My head snaps up to where she's looking and instantly wish I hadn't. The White Witch's wolves are running over the top of the frozen waterfall. My stomach drops in terror. "Run!" We all start moving faster, ice cracking quicker under our feet. It doesn't help when a wolf jumps onto the ice in front of us. We turn our heads behind us and see they have us trapped on the ice.

Mr. Beaver hisses at them but a wolf lunges at him, grabbing him by the scruff. "No!" Mrs. Beaver and I shout, but as I shift my weight the ice under my right foot gives way. Susan pulls me towards her, saving me the misfortune of falling through the ice. "Careful Princess," Maugrim sneers at me. I glare at him, a flicker of flame briefly dances across my fingertips, showing my fear. The large grey wolf chuckles darkly. "Get too hot out here and you and your friends will fall right through. Wouldn't want that, now would we?" I swallow down a lump in my throat, glaring at him in anger, but he has a point, I have to have control. The wolf steps towards us menacingly and Peter puts himself in front of the three of us and pulls out his new sword. "Put that down, boy. Someone could get hurt," the wolf continues forward, but we can't move back, the ice behind us has chipped away with the current. My breathing is heavy and my heart pounds in my chest as I tear my eyes away from the rushing current. "Don't worry about me! Run him through!" Mr. Beaver yells only for the wolf holding him to tighten his grip.