“Whatisthis?”saidPeter,stoopingdownoticedapieceofpaperwhichhadbeehroughthecarpettothefloor。
“Isthereanythi?”askedSusan。
&hinkthereis,”aI'treaditinthislight。Let'sgetoutintotheopenair。”
Theyallwentoutiandcrowdedrouerashereadoutthefollowingwords:
Theformerotofthesepremises,theFaunTumnus,isuandawaitinghistrialhTreasonagainstherImperialMajestyJadis,QueenofNarnia,eofCairParavel,EmpressoftheLoneIslafhersaidMajesty'senemies,harbspiesandfraternizing>
signedMAUGRIM,oftheSecretPolice,
LOHEQUEEN!
Thestaredateachother。
“Idon'tknowthatI'mgoihisplaceafterall,”saidSusan。
“WhoisthisQueen,Lu?”saidPeter。“Doyouknowanythingabouther?”
“Sheisn'tarealqueenatall,”answeredLucy;“she'sahorriblewitch,theWhiteWitch。Everyohewoodpeople—hateher。Shehasmadeamehewholetrysothatitisalwayswinterhereamas。”
“I—Iwohere'sanypointingoingon,”saidSusadoesn'tseemparticularlysafehereanditlooksasifitwon'tbemueither。Andit'sgettingcoldereveryminute,andwehtnothiaboutjustgoinghome?”
“Oh,butwe't,we't,”saidLuly;“don'tyousee?We'tjustgohome,his。ItisallonmyatthatthepoorFaunhasgotintothistrouble。HehidmefromtheWitethewayback。That'swhatitmeansbyftheQueen'senemiesandfraternizingwithHumans。Wesimplymusttrytorescuehim。”
“Alotwecoulddo!”saidEdmund,“wheevengotanythi!”
“Shutup—you!”saidPeter,whowasstillveryangrywithEdmund。“Whatdoyouthink,Susan?”
“I'veahorridfeelingthatLuisright,”saidSusan。“Idon'twanttogoastepfurtherandIwishwe'dhirytodosomethingforMr。Whatever-his-nameis—ImeantheFaun。”
“That'swhatIfeeltoo,”saidPeter。“I'mworriedabouthavingnofoodwithus。I'dvbadgettihingfromthelarder,onlytheredoesn'tseemtobeayofgettingintothistryagainwhenonceyou'vegotoutofit。Ithinkwe'llhavetogoon。”
“SodoI,”saidboththegirls。
“Ifohepoorchaprisoned!”saidPeter。
Theywereallstillwwhattodo,whenLucysaid,“Look!There'sarobin,withsucharedbreast。It'sthefirstbirdI'veseenhere。Isay!—IwonderbirdstalkinNarnia?Italmostlooksasifitwaosaysomethingtous。”TheotheRobinandsaid,“Please,youtelluswhereTumnustheFauo?”Asshesaidthisshetookasteptowardthebird。Itatonceflewawaybutonlyasfarastothehereitperdlookedatthemveryhardasifituoodalltheyhadbeensaying。Almostwithoutnotigthattheyhaddohefourortwo。AtthistheRobinflewawayagaireeandoncemorelookedatthemveryhard。(You'thavefoundarobinwitharedderchesthtereye。)
“Doyouknow,”saidLucy,“Ireallybelievehemeansustofollowhim。”
“I'veanideahedoes,”saidSusan。“Whatdoyouthier?”
“Well,wemightaswelltryit,”aer。
TheRobiouhematterthhly。Itkeptgoingfromtreetotree,alwaysafewyardsaheadofthem,butalwayssoheycouldeasilyfollowit。Inthiswayitledthemon,slightlydowheRobileshowerofsnowwouldfalloffthebrahecloudspartedoverheadaersuandthesnowallaroundthemgrewdazzlinglybright。Theyhadbeentravellinginthiswayforabouthalfanhour,withthetwogirlsinfront,whenEdmundsaidtoPeter,“ifyou'renotstilltoohighandmightytotalktome,I'vesomethingtosaywhichyou'dbetterlistento。”
“Whatisit?”askedPeter。
“Hush!Notsoloud,”saidEdmund;“there'snthegirls。Buthaveyourealizedwhatwe?”
“eter,lhisvoicetoawhisper。
“We'refollowingaguideweknownothingabout。Hohichsidethatbirdison?Whyshouldn'titbeleadingusintoatrap?”
“That'saill—arobin,youknow。TheyoodbirdsioriesI'veeverread。I'msurearobinwouldn'tbeside。”
“Itifestothat,whichistherightside?HothattheFauherightandtheQueen(yes,Iknowwe'vebeentoldshe'sawitthewrong?Wedon'treallyknowanythiher。”
“TheFaunsavedLucy。”
“Hesaidhedid。Butho?Andthere'saoo。Hasaideaofthewayhomefromhere?”
&!”saidPeter,“Ihadn'tthoughtofthat。”
“Andnoereither,”saidEdmund。