CHAPTERTHIRTEENDEEPMAGITHEDAWNOFTIME
“Yes!andhavehimrescued,”saidtheWitfully。
“Then,”saidthedwarf,“wehadbetterdowhatwehavetodoatonce。”
“IwouldliketohavedoheStoself,”saidtheWitch。“Thatistheproperplace。Thatiswhereithasalwaysbeendonebefore。”
“Itwillbealongtimeoablebeputtoitsproperuse,”saidthed>
“True,”saidtheWitdthen,“Well,Iwillbegin。”
AtthatmomentwitharushandasnarlaWolfrusheduptothem。
“IhaveseeheyareallattheStohHim。Theyhavekilledmy,Maugrim。Iwashiddesandsawitall。OheSonsofAdamkilledhim。Fly!Fly!”
“No,”saidtheWitch。“Thereneedbenoflying。Goquickly。Summonallourpeopletomeetmehereasspeedilyasthey。CalloutthegiantsandthewereiritsofthosetreeswhoareoheGhouls,andtheBoggles,theOgresaaurs。CalltheCruels,theHags,theSpedthepeopleoftheToadstools。Wewillfight。What?HaveInotstillmywand?Willnottheirranksturnintostoheyeon?Beoffquickly,Ihavealittlethingtofinishherewhileyouarea>
&bruteboweditshead,turned,andgallopeda>
“Now!”saidshe,“wehavemesee。Wehadbetterputitagairunkofatree。”
Edmundfoundhimselfbeingroughlyforcedtohisfeet。Thenthedwarfsethimwithhisbastatreeandboundhimfast。HesawtheWitchtakeoffheroutermantle。Herarmswerebareuandterriblywhite。Becausetheyweresoverywhitehecouldseethem,butheuchelse,itwassodarkinthisvalleyurees。
&hevictim,”saidtheWitdthedwarfundidEdmund'sdfoldedbackhisshirtattheookEdmund'shairandpulledhisheadbacksothathehadtoraisehis。AfterthatEdmurangenoise—hizz。Foramomenthe'tthinkwhatitwas。Thenherealized。Itwasthesoundofaknifebeingsharpened。
AtthatverymomentheheardloudshoutsfromeverydireingofhoofsaingofwiheWitfusionallroundhim。Andthenhefoundhewasbeirongarmswereroundhimandheheardbig,kindvoigthihimliedown—givehimsomewihis—steadynow—you'llbeallrightinaminute。”
Thehevoicesofpeoplewhowerenottalkingtohimbuttooheyweresayingthingslike“Who'sgottheWitch?”“Ithoughtyouhadher。”“Ididn'tseeherafterIkhekofherhand—Iwasafterthedwarf—doyoumeantosayshe'sescaped?”“—A'tmihi'sthat?Oh,sorry,it'sonlyanoldstump!”ButjustatthispointEdmuoffi。
&hetaursanduniddeerandbirds(theywereofcoursetherescuepartywhihadsechapter)allsetofftogobacktotheStoable,gEdmundwiththem。Butiftheycouldhaveseenevalleyaftertheyhadgohihavebeensurprised。
Iterfectlystillahemht;ifyouhadbeenthereyouwouldhaveseenthemoonlightshiningonaumpandonafairsizedboulder。Butifyouhadgoneonlookingyouwouldgraduallyhavebeguntothinktherewassomethingoddaboutboththestumpandtheboulder。Ayouwouldhavethoughtthatthestumpdidlookreallyremarkablylikealittlefatmangontheground。Andifyouhadwatgenoughyouwouldhaveseeumpwalkacrosstotheboulderandthebouldersitupaalkiump;forihestumpandtheboulderweresimplytheWitdthedwarf。Foritarticthatsheakethingslooklikewhattheyaren't,ahepresenindtodosoattheverymomeheknifewaskofherhaholdofherwand,soithadbeesafe,too。
&herwokeupm(theyhadbeensleepingonpilesofsinthepaviliohingtheyheard—fromMrs。Beaver—wasthattheirbrotherhadbeenresdbroughtintocamplatelastnight;andwasatthatmomentwithAslan。Assoonastheyhadbreakfastedtheyallwentout,aheysawAslanandEdmundwalkihedeartfromtherestofthecourt。Thereisellyou(andnooAslanwassaying,butitwasaversationwhid。Astheothersdrewurhem,brihhim。
“Hereisyourbrother,”hesaid,“and—thereisalktohimabout>
Edmundshookhaheothersandsaidtoeainturn,“I'msorry,”andeveryohat'sallright。”Andtheedveryhardtosaysomethingwhiakeitquiteclearthattheywereallfriendswithhimagaihingordinaryandnatural—andofoohinkofanythiosay。Butbeforetheyhadtimetofeelreallyawkwardoheleopardsapproaandsaid,“Sire,thereisamesseheenemywhocravesaudience。”
&himapproach,”saidAslan。
TheleopardwentawayaurheWitch'sd>
“Whatisye,Soh?”askedAslan。
“TheQueenofNarniaaheLoneIslandsdesiresasafeeahyou,”saidthedwarf,“onamatterwhichisasmuchteastohers。”