“We'llhavetodoabitofzig-zagginghere,”saidFledge。“Holdontight。”
Hebeganflyingtettiea。Theairgrewdtheyheardthecallofeaglesfarbelowthem。
“Isay,lookback!Lookbehind,”saidPolly。
&heycouldseethewholevalleyofNartowhere,justbeforetheeasternhorizleamofthesea。Andnowtheyweresohighthattheycouldseetiny-lookiainsappearihemoors,andplainsofwhatlookedlikesandfarih。
“Iwishwehadsomeoelluswhatallthoseplacesare,”saidDigory。
“Idon'tsupposethey'rea,”saidPolly。“Imean,there'shere,andnothiheworldooday。”
“No,butpeoplewillgetthere,”saidDigory。“Ahey'llhavehistories,youknow。”
&'sajollygoodthingtheyhaven'tnoolly。“Beobodybemadetolearnit。Battlesanddatesandallthatrot。”
NowtheywereoverthetopofthediesthevalleylandofNarniahadsunkoutofsightbehiheywereflyingoverawildtryofsteephillsanddarkforests,stillfollowingthecourseoftheriver。Thereallybigmountainsloomedahead。Butthesunwasravellers'eyesandthey'tseethingsverythatdire。Forthesunsanklowerahewesternskywasalllikeofurnaeltedgold;abehindajaggedpeakwhichstoodupagainessassharpandflatasifitwerecutoutofcardboard。
“It'soohere,”saidPolly。
“Andmywioache,”saidFledge。There'snosignofthevalleywithaLakeiAslansaid。Whataboutingdownandlookingoutforadetspottospein?Weshan'treachthatplaight。”
“Yes,a'sabouttimeforsupper?”saidDigory。
SoFledgecameloweraheyheearthandamoheairgrewwarmeraravellingsomanyhourswithnothingtolistentobutthebeatofFledge'swings,itwashehomelyahyhechatteroftheriveronitsstohegoftreesiwind。Awarm,goodsmellofsuhandgrassandflotothem。AtlastFledgealighted。Digoryrolledoffaodismount。Bladtostretchtheirstifflegs。
Thevalleyinwhichtheyhadedownwasihemountains;ss,ohemlookihereflesofthesuoweredabovethem。
“Iamhungry,”saidDigory。
&u,”saidFledge,takingabigmouthfulofgrass。Thenheraisedhishead,stilldwithbitsofgrassstigoutoneaouthlikewhiskers,andsaid,“eon,youtwo。Don'tbeshy。There'splentyforusall。”
“Butwe'teatgrass,”saidDigory。
“H'm,h'm,”saidFledge,speakingwithhismouthfull。“Well—h'm—don'tkyou'lldothen。Verygoodgrasstoo。”
PollyandDigorystaredatoherindismay。
“Well,Idothihavearraourmeals,”saidDigory。
“I'msureAslanwouldhave,ifyou'daskedhim,”saidFledge。
“Wouldn'theknowwithoutbeingasked?”saidPolly。
“I'venodoubthewould,”saidtheHorse(stillwithhismouthfull)。“ButI'veasortofideahelikestobeasked。”
“Butwhatoharewetodo?”askedDigory。
“I'msureIdon'tknow,”saidFledge。“Urythegrass。Youmightlikeitbetterthanyouthink。”
“Oh,don'tbesilly,”saidPolly,stampi。“Ofans'teatgrass,ahanyoucouldeatamuttonchop。”
“Foodness'sakedon'ttalkaboutdthings,”saidDigory。“Itoworse。”
DigorysaidthatPollyhadbettertakeherselfhetsomethihere;heselfbecausehehadpromisedthtonhismessageforAslan,and,ifonceheshowedupagaihingmighthappehisgettingback。ButPollysaidshewouldn'tleavehim,andDigorysaiditwasjollydetofher。
“Isay,”saidPolly,“I'vestillgottheremainsofthatbagoftoffeei'llbebetterthannothing。”
“Alotbetter,”saidDigory,“Butbecarefultogetyourhandintoyourpocketwithouttougy。”
Thiswasadiffiddelicatejobbuttheymaheelepaperbagwasverysquashyandstitheyfinallygotitout,sothatitwasmoreaquestithebagoffthetoffeesthahetoffeesoutofthebag。Somegrown-ups(youknowhowfussytheybeaboutthatsortofthing)wouldratherhavegosupperaltogetherthaoffees。Therewerehemalltold。ItwasDigorywhohadthebrightideaofeatingfoureadplah;for,ashesaid,“ifthebaroffthelamp-postturoalittlelight-tree,whyshouldn'tthisturnintoatoffee-tree?”Sotheydibbledasmallholeiurfahepieceoftoffee。Theherpiegthemlastaslongastheycould。Itoormeal,evenaperthey'thelpeatingaswell。
Wheefinishedhisowsupperhelaydown。Thedsatoneonealeaningagainsthiswarmbody,andreadawiheywerereallyquitesnug。Asthebrightyoungstarsofthatnewworldcameouttheytalked:howDigoryhadhopedtogetsomethingforhisMotherandhow,ihat,hehadbeehismessage。Aoohesignsbywhichtheywouldkheywerelookingfor—thebluelakeahagardenontopofit。Thetalkwasjustbeginningtoslowdowsleepy,whensuddenlyPollysatupwideawakeandsaid“Hush!”
Everyoenedashardastheycould。
&wasonlythewirees,”saidDigorypresently。
“I'mnotsosure,”saidFledge。“Anyway—wait!Thereitgoesagain。ByAslan,itissomething。”
Thehorsescrambledtoitsfeetwithagreatnoiseaupheaval;thewerealreadyetrottedtoandfro,sniffingandwhinnying。Thetip-toedthiswayandthat,lookingbehindeverybushaheykeptonthihings,andtherewasoimewhenPollyerfectlyshehadseen-atall,darkfigureglidingquicklyawayierlydire。ButtheyothingandintheendFledgelaydownagainandthere-shatistherightws。Theyweoayedawakemuovioandfrointhedarknessaimesgivingalittleshiverwithhisskinasifaflyhadlightedonhim:butiooslept。