Helena Pevensie (Caspian Love Story)

22. The Fall of the Underland

Rilian went first to the stables where he withdrew his own horse Coalblack and the witch's horse Snowflake. Jill, who attended a riding school during the holidays, quickly got Snowflake saddled and bridled while Rilian took care of his own horse. They both mounted and Eustace got up behind Rilian and Puddleglum behind Jill.

"Which horse can take more weight?" Helena asked, looking between the two already heavily burdened horses.

"Half a moment," Rilian said, hopping down. Disappearing back into the stables, he returned with another horse already in a saddle and bridle, this one a deep brown. "I had forgotten the witch's other horse, Cosmos. Can you ride?" Helena nodded and quickly mounted. Then with a click of her tongue, she got the horse moving. All three horses, once away from the castle, broke into a gallop. They moved like lightning through the streets amidst the chaos of the earthmen, many of whom seemed to be terribly afraid of them. There was now a bright, red light coming from beyond the city but none of them dared to investigate. The waters were, as the sound of rushing water had hinted, rising and they needed to get out before it overtook them.

As they came to the entrance of the dig site, however, they were able to glance over to see that the bright red light was coming from a large opening in the ground. Earthmen were jumping into it, gleeful looks on their faces. The three horses had come to a stop as they watched. "I suppose that is their true home," Helena said.

"I shouldn't wonder the witch took them," Puddleglum said. "Probably most convenient."

"Come on," Rilian said, nudging his horse forward. The others soon followed and they moved forward. The red light which had been illuminating their path suddenly disappeared with a terrible roar. They were left now with only the grey light and the sound of that rushing water. Helena glanced back and saw that the water had now almost reached where the incline of the dig site began.

"The water's getting closer!" she called. They spurred their horses forward. The roof which had for so long been so high above them was lowering and after they had been riding about an hour, they all had to dismount so as to not hit their heads. Then, the lights, which had for some time been looking a little low, went out. The total blackness came as such a shock that Jill let out a little scream.

"Courage, friends," Rilian said. "Whether we live or die Aslan will be our good lord."

"That's right, sir," said Puddleglum in the darkness. "And you must always remember there's one good thing about being trapped down here: it'll save funeral expenses."

"Come," Helena said. Her voice was steady but the others could hear some fear in it. "Puddleglum and Eustace, go to the front and try to find the end of the dig site while we three lead the horses." The two obeyed and they went on in that way for about an hour. The water seemed to have slowed, but they could still hear it coming nearer.

"I say," said Eustace, "are my eyes going wrong or is there a patch of light up there?"

Before they could answer, Puddleglum said, "Stop! I've hit a dead end. And it's earth, not rock. What were you saying Scrubb?"

"By the lion," said Rilian. "Eustace is right. There is a sort of-"

"But it's not daylight," Jill said. "Only a cold, blue sort of light."

"Better than nothing, though," said Eustace. "Can we get up to it?"

"It's not overhead," said Puddleglum. "It's above us, but it's in the wall that I've run into. How would it be, Pole, if you got up on my shoulders and saw whether you could get up to it?"

After a bit of struggling, Jill got up on the marsh-wiggle's shoulders and as each of them called up to her to ask what she saw, she said, "I say-" Her voice had become suddenly muffled but when she had found her voice again, she leaned forward and shouted as loud as she could, but none of them could hear or understand what she was saying.

Then, as the patch of light was completely covered or blotted out, Puddleglum began shouting, "Quick! Help! Hold on to her legs! Someone's pulling her. There! No, here. Too late." Jill was gone and the patch of light returned to them as clear as anything.

"Jill!" they all cried.

"Why the dickens couldn't you have held her feet?" said Eustace snappishly.

"I don't know, Scrubb," Puddleglum replied miserably. "Born to be a misfit, I shouldn't wonder. Fated. Fated to be Pole's death. Not that it isn't my own fault as well, of course."

"This is the greatest shame and sorrow that could have fallen on us," Rilian said. "We have sent a brave lady into the hands of enemies and stayed behind in safety."

"Don't paint it too black, sir," said Puddleglum. "We're not very safe except for death by starvation in this hole."

"I wonder," said Eustace. "Am I small enough to get through where Jill did?"

As it turned out during his attempt, the same thing that had happened to Jill happened to him but before they could begin to really panic, Jill's voice called, "It's all right! We've come up in Narnia! We're going to dig you out!" What Jill had really come up in was a group of fawns, dwarves, and talking beasts dancing in the moonlight and throwing snowballs. These were who were digging them out.

Helena smiled and as the patch of moonlight grew, she glanced over at Rilian to see that he was filled with nervous excitement. "You hear that," she said breathlessly. "Narnia again, Rilian. You're home." The emotions attached to her words overcame him and a few tears pooled in his eyes.

Blinking them away, he said, "Thank you, Helena. You have saved me twice today and I can never repay you."

"Nonsense," Helena said with a small laugh, although she could not help her own tears of relief. "You can repay me by living a long, happy life here and ruling as wisely as you know how, just as your father has."

"I give you my word, Helena," Rilian said.

It took about half an hour for the earth to be cleared away and although the water had continued to rise, it did not go higher than where they now stood. Once the earth was cleared away, however, they stepped out. Puddleglum came out first, followed by Helena leading the dark brown horse, Cosmos, and Snowflake. At last, Rilian came leading Coalblack behind him.