Chapter 10- The Spell Begins to Break

Now we must go back to Mr. and Mrs. Beaver and the other three children. As soon as Mr. Beaver said “There’s no time to lose,” everyone began to put their coats on except Mrs. Beaver, who started packing sacks for them all to carry. Finally they got outside and Mr. Beaver locked the door and they all set off, carrying their loads over their shoulders.

It would have been a pretty enough scene to look at through a window from a comfortable armchair. Even as it was, Lucy did enjoy it at first. But as they went on walking and walking and walking, and the sack she was carrying felt heavier and heavier, she began to wonder how she was going to keep up at all. She stopped looking at the dazzling brightness of the frozen river and the whiteness of the treetops and the great moon and countless stars, and could only watch the short legs of Mr. Beaver in front of her, going as if they would never stop. At last Lucy was so tired that she was almost asleep and walking at the same time. Suddenly she saw that Mr. Beaver had turned to the right and was leading them up a steep hill into the thickest bushes. As she came fully awake, she saw Mr. Beaver vanishing into a little hole which was almost hidden under the bushes.

Lucy immediately stooped down and crawled in after him. She heard noises behind her and in a moment all five of them were inside.

“Where is this?” said Peter’s voice, sounding tired in the darkness.

It’s an old hiding place for beavers in hard times,” said Mr. Beaver, “and a great secret. It’s not much of a place, but we must get a few hours’ sleep.”

It wasn’t nearly as nice as Mr. Tumnus’ cave, Lucy thought, just a hole in the ground. But it was dry. It was very small so that when they all lay down they were a pile of clothes together. What with that and being all warmed up from their long walk, they were really quite snug. Then Mrs. Beaver handed around in the dark a flask of something from which everyone drank. It made you cough a bit at first, but then it made you feel wonderfully warm after you swallowed it, and then they all went straight to sleep.

It seemed to Lucy only the next minute (though really it was hours and hours later) when she woke up feeling a little cold, dreadfully stiff, and thinking she would like a hot bath. But immediately after that she was very wide awake, and so was everyone else. In fact they were all sitting up with their mouths and eyes wide open listening. It was the very sound they had all been thinking of (and imagining they heard) during their walk last night. It was the sound of bells.

Mr. Beaver was out of the cave like a flash the moment he heard it. Maybe you think, as Lucy thought for a moment, that this was a very silly thing to do? But it was really a very sensible one. He knew he could move under the bushes without being seen and he wanted above all things to see which way the Witch’s sledge went. The others sat in the cave waiting and wondering. They waited nearly five minutes. Then they heard something that frightened them very much. They heard voices. “Oh,” thought Lucy, “he’s been seen. She’s caught him!” Great was their surprise when, a little later, they heard Mr. Beaver’s voice calling to them from outside the cave.

“It’s all right!” he was shouting. “Come out, Mrs. Beaver. Come out Sons and Daughters of Adam. It’s all right! It isn’t Her!”

So Mrs. Beaver and the children climbed out of the cave, blinking in the daylight with dirt all over them.

“Come on!” said Mr. Beaver, who was almost dancing with delight. “Come and see! This is bad news for the Witch! It looks as if her power is already crumbling.”

“What do you mean, Mr. Beaver” said Peter as they all climbed up the steep bank of the valley.

“Didn’t I tell you,” answered Mr. Beaver, “that she’d made it always winter and never Christmas? Didn’t I tell you? Well, just come and see!” And then they were all at the top and did see.

It was a sledge, and it was reindeer with bells on their harness. But they were much bigger than the Witch’s reindeer and they were not white but brown. And on the sledge sat someone everyone knew the moment they set eyes on him. He was a huge man in a bright red robe with a hood that had fur on the inside and a long white beard all over his chest. Everyone knew him because, though you see people like him only in Narnia, you often see pictures of them in our world, the world on this side of the wardrobe door. But when you really see them in Narnia it is different. Some of the pictures of Father Christmas in our world make him look only funny and jolly. But now that the children actually stood looking at him, it wasn’t like that. He was so big, and so glad, and so real, that they all became very still. They felt very glad, but also very solemn.

“I’ve come at last,” he said, “She has kept me out for a long time, but I have got in at last. Aslan is on the move. The Witch’s power is weakening.”

And Lucy felt that deep feeling of gladness that you only get when you are being solemn and still.

“And now,” said Father Christmas, “for your presents. There is a new and better sewing machine for you, Mrs. Beaver. I’ll leave it at your house for you. And for you, Mr. Beaver, when you get home you will find your dam all finished and repaired.”

Mr. Beaver was so happy that he opened his mouth very wide and then found he couldn’t say anything at all.

“Peter, Adam’s Son,” said Father Christmas.

“Here, sir,” said Peter.

“These are your presents,” was the answer, “and they are tools, not toys. The time to use them is perhaps very soon. Use them well.” With these words he handed to Peter a shield and a sword. The shield was silver, with a red lion, as bright as a new strawberry. The handle of the sword was gold, and it had a sword belt and everything else it needed, and it was the perfect size and weight for Peter to use. Peter was very silent and solemn, for he felt that they were a very serious kind of present.

“Susan, Eve’s Daughter,” said Father Christmas, “these are for you,” and he handed her a bow and a quiver full of arrows and a little ivory horn. “You must use the bow only in great need,” he said, “for I do not want you to fight in the battle. It does not easily miss. And when you put the horn to your lips and blow it, then wherever you are, I think help of some kind will come to you.”

Last of all he said, “Lucy, Eve’s Daughter,” and Lucy came forward. He gave her a little bottle and a small dagger. “In this bottle,” he said, “is a medicine made from the juice of the fire-flowers that grow in the mountains of the sun. If you or any of your friends is hurt, a few drops will heal them. And the dagger is to defend yourself in great need, for I don’t want you in the battle either. And now” – here he suddenly looked less serious- “here is something for the moment for you all!” and he pulled out a large tray with five cups, a bowl of sugar, some cream, and a big teapot, hot and steaming. Then he cried out “Merry Christmas! Long live the true King!” and he and the reindeer were gone from sight before anyone realized he had started.

So down the steep hill they went and back into the cave. Mr. Beaver cut some of the bread and ham into sandwiches and Mrs. Beaver poured tea, and everyone enjoyed themselves. But long before they had finished enjoying themselves, Mr. Beaver said, “Time to be moving on now.”