Tug-of-War
Lucy pulls Creature over in the highlands, in a little slope beside the hidden Loch.
It is night by now, but a warm glow comes from the small stone house at the waterside. A lantern hangs outside the door, illuminating a gravel path to the porch, and Creature rolls hesitantly beside her as they slowly tread up the lane.
"Don't be nervous," Lucy says to Creature. She lays a gloved hand on its compass. It gives an uncertain creak, nudging her leg with a handlebar.
Before they ever reach the porch, however, the door flies open and a large, womanly figure blocks the light in the doorway.
"Lucy Pevensie!" calls the woman in very robust tones. She laughs and descends the steps, arms enveloping the younger woman in a tight welcome. "Aha! Let me look at you! You've grown again!" Then, in a slightly more reproving voice, "And, my dear, you are quite late!"
Creature can't quite whimper, but it manages to give an equally pathetic sound as some of the air wheezes from its tires.
"Aha?" says the woman. "I see you've brought that contraption again. Darling, I must tell you. With every respect to your brother and to your own common sense, that mess of metals will be the death of you."
Here, Creature revs, incensed.
"At least it will be a familiar death," Lucy says pleasantly. "But Aunt Polly, we really must skip all of this tonight. I've come on Narnia business."
"Narnia business? Well! Tell me what an old sorceress can do for you."
As it turns out, when a Kelpie kidnaps a king of Narnia and a very rich heiress, there is nothing an old sorceress cannot do.
It is night by now, but a warm glow comes from the small stone house at the waterside. A lantern hangs outside the door, illuminating a gravel path to the porch, and Creature rolls hesitantly beside her as they slowly tread up the lane.
"Don't be nervous," Lucy says to Creature. She lays a gloved hand on its compass. It gives an uncertain creak, nudging her leg with a handlebar.
Before they ever reach the porch, however, the door flies open and a large, womanly figure blocks the light in the doorway.
"Lucy Pevensie!" calls the woman in very robust tones. She laughs and descends the steps, arms enveloping the younger woman in a tight welcome. "Aha! Let me look at you! You've grown again!" Then, in a slightly more reproving voice, "And, my dear, you are quite late!"
Creature can't quite whimper, but it manages to give an equally pathetic sound as some of the air wheezes from its tires.
"Aha?" says the woman. "I see you've brought that contraption again. Darling, I must tell you. With every respect to your brother and to your own common sense, that mess of metals will be the death of you."
Here, Creature revs, incensed.
"At least it will be a familiar death," Lucy says pleasantly. "But Aunt Polly, we really must skip all of this tonight. I've come on Narnia business."
"Narnia business? Well! Tell me what an old sorceress can do for you."
As it turns out, when a Kelpie kidnaps a king of Narnia and a very rich heiress, there is nothing an old sorceress cannot do.