Helena Pevensie (Caspian Love Story)

15. The Gentle Giants

Jill and Eustace gave an awkward attempt at a bow while Puddleglum stood still and Helena, keeping a firm grip on the marsh-wiggle's hand swept into the most graceful courtesy she could muster. Thankfully, she had done many a courtesy while feeling weak and tired at the conclusions of performances so even her imperfect attempt drew the attention of some of the giantesses in the room.

Eustace stepped forward and delivered the same message Jill had said to the porter as Jill seemed too indisposed. Jill had, in fact, begun to cry. Helena never afterwards thought about it, but if she had, she would have probably supposed it was due to the rough journey they had had that day and the pitiful amount of food they had eaten. Perhaps also because of the cold. As it was, however, this instantly threw the queen into such a storm of pity that they were each swept away into separate rooms.

Helena soon found herself in a large bath and after that was over, changed into fresh clothes with the promise that her old things would be brought back to her when they had been cleaned. Then, after eating what she wanted, Helena sunk into bed.

.

The warmth did Helena good but when she awoke the next morning after having gotten several hours of sleep, she did not feel much better. Her head ached less but she was still sore and found herself coughing and her nose running. She felt sure now that she had a fever. The giantess tasked with taking care of her had soon gotten the information out and as a result, Eustace, Jill, and Puddleglum were not allowed to come and see her for fear of their getting sick as well.

Therefore, Helena was left alone with her hazy fever dreams as she slept fitfully throughout the day. The first of these dreams came just after she had eaten some soup in the morning and gone back to sleep. She dreamed she was standing at the top of a high cliff, staring down at hazy letters. Try as she might, she could not make them out.

The next dream came when she was just between sleeping and waking. In this, she was back home during another time when she was sick before she had left. Peter had faked sickness to be able to stay home with her and spent the whole day nursing her back to health.

In this fashion, she passed through her feverish haze.

.

"But what are we to do," Eustace cried. They had just, by climbing up onto Jill's window seat, discovered that the narrow trench into which Jill had fallen was the E in the message Under Me.

"We must leave at once," Jill said.

"But what about Helena," Eustace said. "They won't let us see her and we can't just leave her here." They all fell into silence, each one deep in thought.

At long last, Jill said, "I'll talk to the queen. She thinks I'm an infant anyway. What if I can convince her to let me see Helena."

"It may be the best shot we have," Eustace admitted.

"Better than nothing," Puddleglum said.

.

It was about half an hour after one o'clock when the door to Helena's room opened and Jill, Eustace, and Puddleglum entered. Helena was still laying in bed and a small giantess was pressing her forehead with a damp cloth. Sweat covered the sheets and she seemed to be dreadfully ill. Eustace instantly rushed forward and after some convincing, the giantess left them, leaving Eustace to attend to Helena. At the sound of the door closing, she opened her eyes.

"Eustace," she said weakly. Attempting to sit up, she asked, "Where's Peter?"

Gently pushing her back to lay down, Eustace said, "He's not here, Helena. Peter's back in England."

"But he was just here," she said in confusion. They all shared worried looks. Once Helena had fallen back asleep, the remaining three stared at each other, their minds working frantically.

"What are we to do?" Jill asked. "We can't leave her here but we must be going at once."

After a long pause, Eustace said, "We'll bundle her up in as many cloaks and blankets as we can find and someone will carry her."

"I'll do it," Puddleglum said. It was soon settled that while Eustace and Jill ran about the castle charming everyone and trying to find a good way and time to get out, Puddleglum would stay with Helena. He had only been with her for a few hours when the children appeared again - they had entreated the giantess upon her return to leave the door cracked - and informed the marsh-wiggle that they had found a way out.

Eustace and Puddleglum kept careful watch of the door while Jill got Helena dressed in her old clothes which had been brought, but with some of the warmer socks provided. Then she covered her in the warm, fur-lined cloaks the giants had provided and a few blankets before stuffing some more clothes under the covers to make it appear as though Helena was still in bed. This in place, the four set out, Helena carried quite comfortably in Puddleglum's arms with her long hair tucked out of sight under the many large hoods which concealed her face.

Puddleglum waited with Helena out of sight in the kitchens while Jill and Eustace charmed the giantess in charge of the washing up. They had climbed atop a table and were looking through a book. Suddenly, however, Eustace went very white, pointing something out to Jill. The next moment she pointed to something below it.

Soon, however, the giantess fell asleep with a great snore and, climbing down from their perch, the two children gestured to Puddleglum, whispering, "They were going to eat us. That's what the lady meant when she said we were for their Autumn Feast." The marsh-wiggle paled slightly but said nothing as they set out over the snow.