Whisked Away

51. A Marsh-wiggle

Shifra's POV
The wind tugged gently on my white locks as I flew, the cool air thoroughly waking me up. Eustace's voice broke through the air as we set out for the land of the Marsh-wiggles of Narnia. "Yes, I do remember it," Eustace was saying, "We had woken up like he did on any old day, but then practically out of no where we saw these slimy-looking rocks. Little did we know that we had just stumbled upon a sea serpent."

"Tu-whoo, tu-whoo it must have very frightened you. What ever did you do?" The owl asked, a slight shiver running down his feathery spine.

"Well," the boy replied, a sort of proud look overtaking his face, "I went at it with my sword as hard as I could."

"Broke Caspian's second best sword in the process," I interrupted, a grin slipping over my features. The three of us continued our conversation until we came upon a flat plain. In the dark it appeared to be a clustered patch of dark islands encased in lines of a slightly different shade. We landed and I could finally see that the little islands were surrounded by channels of water, but they were mostly so narrow it was no trouble at all to go from island to island.

I was the first to call out, bellowing, "Puddleglum! Arise if you please. We have an urgent matter on which we must speak with you, on Aslan's business." My old businesslike speech and mannerisms had returned to me, sharpening my dialect and tone as a diamond cuts stone.

"Tu-whoo, tu-whoo we must speak with you," Glimfeather added.

"Owls ahoy!" A voice called, bringing with it a lantern not very brightly lit. "What is it? Is the king dead? Has an enemy landed in Narnia? Is it a flood? Or dragons?" With the light and the voice also came a figure. By the lantern's dim light, I could distinguish very long legs and arms, but not much else.

"I shall explain the matter fully to you after these children have gotten to bed. Have you any place for them to sleep?" I asked, my sharp businesslike tone slightly louder than the marsh-wiggle's.

"Alright, see," he replied in a voice that gave off a sort of pleasant indifference. I could tell that he was the sort of person that took things as they came. "They can sleep very nicely in the wigwam, but I doubt they'll sleep a wink tonight as likely." Well, he also seems to anticipate the worst, but I could tell that he was the sort of person I would very much like on a journey such as this.

Puddleglum led the children into the wigwam and soon returned, but first lit a fire and pulled out his pipe. "You mind?" Puddleglum asked politely, gesturing to the long, wooden pipe in his hands.

"Not at all," I replied, "So, about this business."

Before I could continue or even begging to explain the situation, Puddleglum commented, "Very businesslike, straight to the point. I like that. Not one to take much nonsense I suppose."

"I suppose not," I acknowledged, allowing a small smile to slip through. "So I suppose you've heard of the story of Prince Rilian."

The marsh-wiggle nodded solemnly, "Not many who haven't, I suppose."

I agreed. "Aslan has sent those two children to find him."

"Well..." Puddleglum replied after a long pause, "If it were anyone sending them other than Aslan I'd say they were crazy, but seeing as he did and not some reckless warrior, I suppose it's best to help. No good going against Aslan. He's always right, they say, and I reckon they're right."

"So you'll help?' I asked, not looking up at him, but instead gazing clearly at the fire.

"Oh of course," he replied as if it had been obvious. "No reason not to, I dare say and as I said, Aslan sent them so it's up to us to help."

"Well with that sorted out," I finished, drawing the conversation to a close, "I think I shall try and get some sleep. We have little else to discuss without the children present."

"Well I don't reckon you'll sleep well what with nightmares or rain or thunder, but maybe you'll get lucky." I merely smiled and walked off to the wigwam. I had not seen a marsh-wiggle in years, in fact I had forgotten about them entirely until I had been speaking with Puddleglum. He was probably the most cheery one i had met in my travels, but I certainly liked him well enough.

As I lay down the rest I could not help but look forward to the morning. It was such fun to see how people unfamiliar with march-wiggles will react to their constant doubt.