IHEDESERT
“Hovedreadful!Howperfectlydreadful!”whimperedLasaraleen。“,Iamshtened。I'mshakingallover。Feelme。”
“eon,”saidAravis,whherself。“They'vegoothenewpalacewe'reoutofthisroomwe'resafeenough。Butit'swastedaterribletime。Getmedowntothatwater-gateasquickasyou。”
“Darling,howyou?”squeakedLasaraleen。“I'tdoanything—notnow。Mypoornerves!justliestillabitandthengoback。”
“Whyback?”askedAravis。
“Oh,youdon'tuand。You'resouic,”saidLasaraleeocry。Aravisdecideditwasnooercy。
“Lookhere!”shesaid,gLasaraleenandgivingheragoodshake。“Ifyousayanoingbadifyoudonmetothatwater-gateatonce—doyouknowwhatI'lldo?I'llrushoutintothatpassageahenwe'llbothbecaught。”
“Butweshallbothbek-k-killed!”saidLasaraleen。“Didn'tyouhearwhattheTisroc(mayheliveforever)said?”
“Yes,andI'dsoohaoAhoshta。Soeon。”
“Ohyouareunkind,”saidLasaraleen。“AndIinsuchastate!”
ButintheeogiveintoAravis。Sheledthewaydowheyhadalreadydesdalonganothercorridorandsofinallyoutintotheopenair。Theywerenowinthepalawhichslopeddowothecitywall。Themooly。Ohedrawbacksaboutadvewhehemostbeautifulplacesyouareoftentooanxiousaoappreciatethem;sothatAravis(thoughsherememberedthemyearslater)hadonlyavagueimpressionofgraylawlybubblingfountains,andthelongblackshadowsofcypresstrees。
&heyre“achedtheverybottomandthewallrabovethem,Lasaraleenwasshakingsothatsheotue。Aravisdidit。There,atlast,wastheriver,fullofreflelight,andalittlelandingstageandafewpleasureboats。
“Good-bye,”saidAravis,“andthankyou。I'msorryifI'vebeenapig。ButthinkwhatI'mflyingfrom!”
“OhAravisdarling,”saidLasaraleen。“Won'tyouind?Nowthatyou'veseenwhataverygreatmanAhoshtais!”
&man!”saidAravis。“Ahideslavewhoflatterswhenhe'skickedbuttreasuresitallupahisownbackbyeggingonthathorribleTisroctoplothisson'sdeath。Faugh!I'dsoonermarrymyfather'ssthaurelikethat。”
“OhAravis,Aravis!Howyousaysuchdreadfulthings;andabouttheTisroc(mayheliveforever)too。Itmustberightifhe'sgoingtodoit!”
“Good-bye,”saidAravis,“andIthoughtyourdresseslovely。AndIthinkyourhouseislovelytoo。I'msureyou'llhavealovelylife—thoughitwouldn'tsuitme。Closethedoorsoftlybehindme。”
&oreherselfawayfromherfriend'saffebraces,steppedintoapunt,castoff,aerwasoutihahugerealmoonoverheadaedmoondown,deepdowheairwasfreshanddasshedrewherbahehootingofanowl。“Ah!That'sbetter!”thoughtAravis。ShehadalwayslivediryandhadhatedeverymiimeinTashbaan。
&eppedashoreshefoundherselfiheriseoftheground,aoffthemoonlight。ButshemaofindthesameroadthatShastahadfound,aashehaddoheendof。thegrassandthebeginningofthesand,andlooked(likehim)toherleftandsawthebig,blabs。Andnowatlast,bravegirlthoughshewas,herheartquailed。Supposihersweren'tthere!Supposingtheghoulswere!Butshestuckoutherdalittlebituetoo)araighttowardthem。
ButbeforeshehadreachedthemshesawBreeandHwinandthegroom。
“Yougobaistressnow,”saidAravis(quitefthathe't,uesopem)。“Hereismoneyforyourpains。”
“Tohearistoobey,”saidthegroom,aoffataremarkablespeediioherewasellhimtomakehaste:healsohadbeenthinkingagooddealaboutghouls。
ForthefewsedsAraviswasbusykissingthetingthenecksofHwiasiftheywerequiteordinaryhorses。
“AndhereesShasta!ThaheLion!”saidBree。
Aravislookedround,aenough,wasShastawhohadeoutofhidihesawthegroomgoinga>
“Andnow,”saidAravis。“There'solose。”AndinhastywordsshetoldthemaboutRabadash'sexpedition。
“Treacheroushounds!”saidBree,shakinghismaampingwithhishoof。“Anattatimeofpeace,withoutdefiawe'llgreasehisoatsforhim。We'llbetherebeforeheis。”
“we?”saidAravis,swioHwin'ssaddle。Shastawishedheou。
“Brooh-hoo!”snortedBree。“Upyouget,Shasta。dwithagoodstarttoo!”
“Hesaidhewasgoingtostartatonce,”saidAravis。
“That'showhumanstalk,”saidBree。“Butyoudon'tgetapanyoftwohundredhorseaeredandvictualledandarmedaartedallinaminute。Now:what'sourdire?DueNorth?
“No,”saidShasta。“Iknowaboutthat。I'vedrawnaline。I'llexplainlater。Bearabittoourleft,bothyouhorses。Ahhereitis!”
“Now,”saidBree。“Allthataboutgallopingforadayandanight,likeinstories,'treallybedobewalkandtrot:butbrisktrotsandshortwalks。Andalkyoutwohumansslipoffandwalktoo。Now。Areyouready,Hwin?Offwego。Narniaah!”
Atfirstitwasdelightful。Thenighthadnowbeengoingonforsomanyhoursthatthesandhadalmostfinishedgivingbackallthesuhadreceivedduringtheday,andtheairwascool,fresh,andderthemoonlightthesaionandasfarastheycouldsee,gleamedasifitweresmreatsilvertray。ExceptforthenoiseofBree'sandHwin'shoofstherewasnotasoundtobeheard。Shastawouldnearlyhavefallenasleepifhehadnothadtodismountandwalkeverynowandthen。