Fear: The Horse and His Boy

Chapter 5

Aravis's first suggestion was that they should swim across the river below the city during the night and not go into Tashbaan at all. But Bree had two reasons against this.

One was that the river-mouth was very wide and it would be far too long a swim for Hwin to do, especially with a rider on her back.

The other was that it would be full of shipping and of course anyone on the deck of a ship who saw two horses swimming past would be almost certain to be inquisitive.

Shasta thought they should go up the river above Tashbaan and cross it where it was narrower.

But Bree explained that there were gardens and pleasure houses on both banks of the river for miles and that there would be Tarkaans and Tarkheenas living in them and riding about the roads and having water parties on the river.

In fact it would be the most likely place in the world for meeting someone who would recognise Aravis or even himself.

"We'll have to have a disguise," Alvina said.

Hwin said it looked to her as if the safest thing was to go right through the city itself from gate to gate because one was less likely to be noticed in the crowd.

But she approved of the idea of disguise as well. She said, "All the humans will have to dress in rags and look like peasants or slaves. And all Aravis's armour and our saddles and things must be made into bundles and put on our backs, and the children must pretend to drive us and people will think we're only pack-horses."

"My dear Hwin!" Aravis said rather scornfully. "As if anyone could mistake Bree for anything but a war-horse however you disguised him!"

"I should think not, indeed," Bree said, snorting and letting his ears go ever so little back.

"I know it's not a very good plan," Hwin said. "But I think it's our only chance. And we haven't been groomed for ages and we're not looking quite ourselves, at least, I'm sure I'm not. I do think if we get well plastered with mud and go along with our heads down as if we're tired and lazy—and don't lift our hooves hardly at all—we might not be noticed. And our tails ought to be cut shorter: not neatly, you know, but all ragged."

"My dear Madam," Bree said. "Have you pictured to yourself how very disagreeable it would be to arrive in Narnia in that condition?"

"Well," Hwin said humbly, "the main thing is to get there."

Though nobody much liked it, it was Hwin's plan which had to be adopted in the end. It was a troublesome one and involved a certain amount of what Shasta called stealing, and Bree called "raiding".

One farm lost a few sacks that evening and another lost a coil of rope the next: but some tattered old boy's clothes for Aravis to wear had to be fairly bought and paid for in a village.

Shasta returned with them in triumph just as evening was closing in.

The others were waiting for him among the trees at the foot of a low range of wooded hills which lay right across their path.

Everyone was feeling excited because this was the last hill; when they reached the ridge at the top they would be looking down on Tashbaan.

"I do wish we were safely past it," Shasta muttered to Hwin. "Oh I do, I do," Hwin said fervently.

That night they wound their way through the woods up to the ridge by a wood-cutter's track. And when they came out of the woods at the top they could see thousands of lights in the valley down below them. Shasta had had no notion of what a great city would be like and it frightened him. They had their supper and the children got some sleep.