The Next Right Thing

26

On the castle bridge, a lion roared and Aslan appeared.

Jill, Cara and Eustace turned and the former said, "Oh, Aslan. I'm sorry for the mess we made of things. I forgot the signs and then-"

Eustace cut in. "And we nearly got eaten by Giants. And, well-"

"Silence," Aslan told them. "I'm not here to scold you after you've done well the work I sent you to do in Narnia."

"Please, may we go home now?" Jill asked.

"I have come to bring you home." He let out a roar and the four of them appeared where the children had first arrived. Rushing water sounded and Caspian laid in the water, his head against a rock.

"Son of Adam, go into that thicket and pluck the thorn that you will find there," Aslan instructed and Eustace glanced at the thicket. "Bring it to me."

Eustace walked to the thicket and pulled the thorn from it. He brought it to Aslan who said, "Drive it into my paw."

"Must I?" Eustace asked, hoping he wouldn't actually have to.

"You must."

Eustace dug the thorn into the back of Aslan's right front paw and the Great Lion let out quiet pained growls.

The water surrounding Caspian turned red with blood and the old man became young again. He opened his eyes and stood,. Together, he began walking towards the others. Cara's lip quivered.

"Eustace," the young man said with a smile. "How good to be with you again."

"But he-" Eustace began, glancing at his friend. "Isn't he-"

"We saw him with our own eyes," Jill stated,

"Yes," Aslan confirmed, "he has died. Most people have, you know. Even I have."

Still smiling, Caspian said, "I see what's bothering you. I'm no ghost. If I appeared in Narnia, I suppose I'd be a ghost. But here, in Aslan's Country-"

"Aslan, can we stay?" Eustace asked.

"No, child," Aslan replied and the boy hung his head. "When you meet here again, then you will have come to stay, Now you must go back to your own world."

"But we want to see you again," Jill said.

"And you shall, child."

"What did you mean, sir, that you were there too, in our world?" Eustace wondered.

"I am. But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. That was the very reason you were brought to Narnia. That by knowing me here a little, you may know me better there."

"Aslan," Caspian called as he stepped up to the Great Lion, "I have always wanted to have just a glimpse of their world. Is that wrong?

"You can want wrong things now that you have died, my son," Aslan replied. "You shall see their world for a few minutes of their time." Caspian nodded. "Now. Draw your swords." The five appeared in Jill and Eustace's world. "But use only the flats. Not the blade. For it is cowards and children, not warriors, you fight."

A roar sounded and the gate and a portion of the wall on either side of the gate door was blasted away.

Eustace, Jill, Cara and Caspian ran towards the hole in the wall with their swords and bow and arrow drawn.

The children saw the four approaching and one boy yelled, "Back! Back!" Instantly, the group of children turned and ran away.

The four lowered their weapons, turned, and walked back towards Aslan.

"You must say goodbye, Caspian," Eustace said.

Cara hugged her brother and said, "I'll miss you, Caspian."

Caspian smiled. "And I you, Cara."

Aslan let out a breath and Jill, Cara and Eustace's clothes were transformed to what they had been wearing before their adventure.

The friends shared a look, then turned to look at the rising figures of Caspian and Aslan and they waved.

"Goodbye, Aslan," Eustace and Cara called.

"Goodbye," Jill repeated.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Aslan!"

Caspian faded from view. Aslan let out a roar before he also faded from view.

Back in Aslan's Country, Caspian walked away, as far as the eye could see and further beyond.

---

As soon as she was able, Cara told Edmund of the adventures she, Jill and Eustace had shared in Narnia.

On the night of her eighteenth birthday, Edmund surprised her with a proposal, which she gladly accepted.

Little they knew a mere week later what would happen.