“Merry Christmas! Long Live the true King!” Father Christmas shouted back to us as his voice faded in the distance; echoing all around us.
We watched him until his sled, with him inside it start to diminish.
Suddenly, Lucy exclaimed, “Look, he left a sack on the floor! Why don’t we open it?”
We all knelt down in the slowly melting snow and took out its contents.
“Oh,” Susan gasped in delight.” it’s a tea set with some sugar and cream! How lovely!”
Meanwhile, Peter was showing his sword proudly to Mr. Beaver.
“Why don’t stand there talking,” reproved Mrs. Beaver. “Let’s eat or else the cream will get cold!”
We carried the food into the cave and then Mr. Beaver cut the bread and ham and made them into sandwiches. The meal was delicious and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.
“So how do you feel, Peter, in this world?” I asked.
Peter seemed surprised by my question. “Well, to be honest, I can’t really put together my feelings right now. I actually don’t know! But I do feel a great deal stronger than in our world. Must be the air,” he said wistfully.
“Do you miss our world?” I asked softly.
He thought for a minute. “I can’t say I don’t miss it, but this will be an adventure that I will never forget. I won’t want to go back into the wardrobe because it seems I feel that if we go back into the wardrobe, we won’t be able to come back.”
“And how about the rest of you?” I said looking at Susan and Lucy.
“I love it here!” Lucy said without hesitation.
Then Mr. Beaver said, “Time to be moving on now.”
As we reluctantly stood up, I looked over to Susan and asked, “What about you, Susan?”
Susan sighed. “Well,” she said slowly. “I guess it’s not that bad,” she paused. “But it simply isn’t logical!”
Inside I winced; was Susan was already showing her uncertainty with Narnia? How long would it be until she would stop believing about Narnia?
Mrs. Beaver advised, “You should leave your coats behind,” she glanced around, “The Witch’s power is crumbling.”
And indeed, it was. It was like an enchanting dream! Winter was vanishing right before our eyes. It was gorgeous outside; seeing all the color from the blooming bluebells to the bright, cheerful fall colors of the leaves spring alive. The mossy path felt soft beneath our weary feet, the warm sunshine bathed us in delight, the tall, green elms stood in pride, and the bushes were overflowing with flowering current. The sweet smell of spring was overpowering. It was no doubt; how long do you suppose spring was kept from becoming alive again?
We walked with relaxation, for hours; for we knew that the Witch could no longer use her sledge. We kept exclaiming to each another, “Look at that bush of bluebells!”, “I say, there’s a kingfisher!’, or “This is stunningly beautiful!”
Mrs. Beaver kept interjecting, “You think it is beautiful now? Wait ‘till you see the sunset!”
Before we knew it, the darkness began to fall, and dawn was ready to launch. Blue, pink, and purple mists streaked the sky, the sun was faintly golden; oh, words cannot describe how heavenly it was!
“This is so much like a dream, except we are living it!” Susan remarked in awe.
Mr. Beaver said, “It is beautiful, right? Well, this is what happens every day.”
“Beautiful?” cried Lucy. “It’s more than beautiful! Why, it’s—I can’t even put it into words!”
“It’s not long now,” Mr. Beaver said simply.
Not far off was a hill. Soon we were climbing it.
“This is going to be a treacherous climb,” Peter laughed nervously as he raised his head, trying to look at the top of the mountain.
So up we went holding each other’s hands.
“Why did I ever agree to come here anyway?” Susan muttered to herself.
“You had to; after all, you were running away from Mrs. Macready,” I said knowingly.
Susan turned her head sharply. “How did you know that?”
I realized my mistake. “Oh! I didn’t mean that! I’m so sorry! Uh, never mind!” I said quickly.
To my relief, Susan just gave a small toss of her head and continued on.
It really was a treacherous climb!
Lucy panted, “I’m beginning to wonder if I can really make it to the top!
Suddenly, Peter pointed below us. “Wow, look!” he exclaimed.
Our eyes followed his hand.
I gasped in reply. “This is amazing!”
“By Jove,” Peter whispered. “the sea!”
For at that moment, we were standing at the peak of the mountain and we could see almost everywhere…and then we saw the Stone Table.
It was a gray slab of stone supported on four upright stones with cravings and symbols on it. It gave me a curious feeling when I looked at it.
“The Stone Table,” we whispered.
As I stared at the Stone Table, I thought, Starting now, it is going to be an interesting and maybe terrifying adventure--even more than it has been now.