The Chronicles of Narnia - Complete 7 Books in One Edition - C. S. Lewis

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and wondering if they could take it to bits when the two girls rushed into the room and said, "Look out! Here comes the Macready and a whole gang with her."

      "Sharp's the word," said Peter, and all four made off through the door at the far end of the room. But when they had got out into the Green Room and beyond it, into the library, they suddenly heard voices ahead of them, and realised that Mrs. Macready must be bringing her party of sight-seers up the back stairs—instead of up the front stairs as they had expected. And after that—whether it was that they lost their heads, or that Mrs. Macready was trying to catch them, or that some magic in the house had come to life and was chasing them into Narnia—they seemed to find themselves being followed everywhere, until at last Susan said, "Oh bother those trippers! Here—let's get into the Wardrobe Room till they've passed. No one will follow us in there." But the moment they were inside they heard voices in the passage—and then someone fumbling at the door—and then they saw the handle turning.

      "Quick!" said Peter, "there's nowhere else," and flung open the wardrobe. All four of them bundled inside it and sat there, panting, in the dark. Peter held the door closed but did not shut it; for, of course, he remembered, as every sensible person does, that you should never never shut yourself up in a wardrobe.

      Chapter VI

       Into the Forest

       Table of Contents

      "I wish the Macready would hurry up and take all these people away," said Susan presently, "I'm getting horribly cramped."

      "And what a filthy smell of camphor!" said Edmund.

      "I expect the pockets of these coats are full of it," said Susan, "to keep away moths."

      "There's something sticking into my back," said Peter.

      "And isn't it cold?" said Susan.

      "Now that you mention it, it is cold," said Peter, "and hang it all, it's wet too. What's the matter with this place? I'm sitting on something wet. It's getting wetter every minute." He struggled to his feet.

      "Let's get out," said Edmund, "they've gone."

      "O-o-oh!" said Susan suddenly. And everyone asked her what was the matter.

      "I'm sitting against a tree," said Susan, "and look! It's getting lighter—over there."

      "By jove, you're right," said Peter, "and look there—and there. It's trees all round. And this wet stuff is snow. Why, I do believe we've got into Lucy's wood after all."

      And now there was no mistaking it and all four children stood blinking in the daylight of a winter day. Behind them were coats hanging on pegs, in front of them were snow-covered trees.

      Peter turned at once to Lucy.

      "I apologise for not believing you," he said, "I'm sorry. Will you shake hands?"

      "Of course," said Lucy, and did.

      "And now," said Susan, "what do we do next?"

      "Do?" said Peter, "why, go and explore the wood, of course."

      "Ugh!" said Susan, stamping her feet, "it's pretty cold. What about putting on some of these coats?"

      "They're not ours," said Peter doubtfully.

      "I am sure nobody would mind," said Susan. "It isn't as if we wanted to take them out of the house; we shan't take them even out of the wardrobe."

      "I never thought of that, Su," said Peter. "Of course, now you put it that way, I see. No one could say you had bagged a coat as long as you leave it in the wardrobe where you found it. And I suppose this whole country is in the wardrobe."

      They immediately carried out Susan's very sensible plan. The coats were rather too big for them so that they came down to their heels and looked more like royal robes than coats when they had put them on. But they all felt a good deal warmer and each thought the others looked better in their new get-up and more suitable to the landscape.

      "We can pretend we are Arctic explorers," said Lucy.

      "This is going to be exciting enough without any pretending," said Peter, as he began leading the way forward into the forest. There were heavy darkish clouds overhead and it looked as if there might be more snow before night.

      "I say," began Edmund presently, "oughtn't we to be bearing a bit more to the left, that is, if we are aiming for the lamp-post." He had forgotten for the moment that he must pretend never to have been in the wood before. The moment the words were out of his mouth he realised that he had given himself away. Everyone stopped; everyone stared at him. Peter whistled.

      "So you really were here," he said, "that time Lu said she'd met you in here—and you made out she was telling lies."

      There was a dead silence. "Well, of all the poisonous little beasts—" said Peter and shrugged his shoulders and said no more. There seemed, indeed, no more to say and presently the four resumed their journey; but Edmund was saying to himself, "I'll pay you all out for this, you pack of stuck-up, self-satisfied prigs."

      "Where are we going anyway?" said Susan, chiefly for the sake of changing the subject.

      "I think Lu ought to be the leader," said Peter, "goodness knows she deserves it. Where will you take us, Lu?"

      "What about going to see Mr. Tumnus?" said Lucy. "He's the nice Faun I told you about."

      Everyone agreed to this and off they went, walking briskly and stamping their feet. Lucy proved a good leader. At first she wondered whether she would be able to find the way, but she recognised an odd-looking tree in one place and a stump in another and brought them on to where the ground became uneven and into the little valley and at last to the very door of Mr. Tumnus' cave. But there a terrible surprise awaited them.

      The door had been wrenched off its hinges and broken to bits. Inside, the cave was dark and cold and had the damp feel and smell of a place that had not been lived in for several days. Snow had drifted in from the doorway and was heaped on the floor, mixed with something black, which turned out to be the charred sticks and ashes from the fire. Someone had apparently flung it about the room and then stamped it out. The crockery lay smashed on the floor and the picture of the Faun's father had been slashed into shreds with a knife.

      "This is a pretty good wash-out," said Edmund, "not much good coming here."

      "What's this?" said Peter, stooping down. He had just noticed a piece of paper which had been nailed through the carpet to the floor.

      "Is there anything written on it?" asked Susan.

      "Yes, I think there is," answered Peter, "but I can't read it in this light. Let's get out into the open air."

      They all went out in the daylight and crowded round Peter as he read out the following words:—

      "The former occupant of these premises, the Faun Tumnus, is under arrest and awaiting his trial on a charge of High Treason against her Imperial Majesty Jadis, Queen of Narnia, Chatelaine of Cair Paravel, Empress of the Lone Islands, etc., also of comforting her said Majesty's enemies, harbouring spies and fraternising with Humans.

      Signed FENRIS ULF, Captain of the Secret Police,

      LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!"

      The children stared at each other.

      "I don't know that I'm going to like this place after all," said Susan.

      "Who is this Queen, Lu?" said Peter. "Do you know anything about her?"

      "She isn't a real queen at all," answered Lucy, "she's a horrible witch, the White Witch. Everyone—all the wood people—hate her. She has made an enchantment over the whole country so that it is always winter here and never Christmas."

      "I—I wonder if there's any point in going on," said Susan. "I mean, it doesn't seem particularly safe here and it looks as if it won't be much fun either. And it's getting

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