Roses | Peter Pevensie

Chapter Nine

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Rosemary stared down at the river in despair. So much of the ice had already melted away, breaking away in pieces and revealing the strong current underneath. The waterfall was still frozen, but it wouldn't be for much longer.

"We need to cross. Now!" Peter insisted.

"Don't beavers make dams?"

"I ain't that fast, dear!" Beaver replied.

"Come on!" Peter urged, beginning to climb down the cliffside.

"Wait," Rosemary shrieked. "Can we just think about this for a minute?"

"We don't have a minute," Peter replied angrily but his words were drowned by the howling of wolves. "Unless you'd rather be eaten by them, we need to move."

Rosemary carefully stuck as close to cliffside as possible as they made their descent, but froze when they reached the water level. The ice was falling away fast, and it was thinning out too. Her fear intensified when she watched Peter put his foot down on the ice only for it to sink under his weight. "I don't like this. I can't do this."

"Rosemary, you have to," said Susan. "It's the only way."

"I can't swim, alright?" Rosemary admitted. She felt the embarrassed flush in her cheeks and looked away. "What if I fall in?"

"Okay, I'll go first," Beaver decided. With every step he took further onto the ice, he checked its strength. When he cleared each patch of ice, the others followed. Beaver was almost halfway across when they realized Rosemary still hadn't moved.

Peter carefully moved back to Rosemary and reached out his hand. "We can do it together, Rosemary. I promise I won't let go of you."

"I...I don't know if I can do it," Rosemary cried. The ice was slowly receding closer and closer to the group. The others continued to move but Peter was still waiting for Rosemary on the ice.

"Look, we either take our chances walking across the ice or we swim for sure. I know which one I would choose." Peter looked expectantly at Rosemary and without another thought, she took his hand and stepped exactly where Peter stepped. But it didn't matter how careful she is. The ice began to groan and crack, splitting underneath their feet. "Just keep moving, Rosemary. We're halfway there."

"If Mum knew what we were doing..." Susan drawled from up ahead. Rosemary and Peter were so close to catching up with them.

"Mum's not here, Susan. But the wolves are! Run!" Peter tightened his grip on Rosemary, pulling her behind him as the wolves ran across the top of the waterfall. They no longer had time to be careful. They just had to hope the ice would hold their weight.

The wolves dropped down from seemingly nowhere, stopping them from moving forward any further. Growls sounded from behind them and Rosemary closed her eyes. They were surrounded. Beaver growled at the wolf but was no match for the secret police member. It pounced on Beaver, holding him beneath its paws.

Letting go of Rosemary, Peter unsheathed his sword, pointing it at Maugrim.

"Put that down, boy," Maugrim chuckled. "Someone could get hurt."

"Don't worry about me. Run him through!" Beaver yelled, still struggling to get away from the wolf.

"I have a message from the Queen - leave now while you still can, and your brother leaves with you."

Peter kept his sword raised at the wolf as Susan yelled from beside him, "Stop, Peter! Maybe we should listen to him."

"Smart girl," Maugrim laughed.

"Don't believe him. Anybody on the side of someone so vile has no problem with lying," Rosemary spat.

"Another Daughter of Eve? Why are you in Narnia?" Maugrim wondered. "No matter. You're not part of the prophecy so I'll ignore you for now. Listen, Son of Adam, this isn't your war. All my Queen wants is for you to take your family and go."

"I don't believe you," Peter uttered over the rushing water. The ice was still breaking away at an alarmingly fast rate.

"Just because some man in a red coat hands you a sword, it doesn't make you a hero!" Susan shouted, but she was doing more harm than good. "Just drop it!"

"What's it going to be, Son of Adam? I won't wait forever, and neither will the river."

Rosemary looked to the river at Maugrim's words. Her panic intensified along with the cracking ice. "Peter! The waterfall!"

Peter lowered his sword and they all turned to see what Rosemary was pointing at. The ice on the waterfall was now beginning to break. It would burst in seconds. Peter turned back to Susan. "Fine, I'll drop it. Hold onto me!"

Peter thrusted his sword into the ice just as the ice on the waterfall finally bursted. The wolves were washed away as the four kids desperately grabbed onto each other. Rosemary gripped Peter's coat and shoulder. From the other side, Susan held onto the back of Peter's coat, with Lucy trapped between the two Pevensie children.

Over the roar of the rushing water, Peter instructed Rosemary to close her eyes and hold her breath. She didn't hesitate and did so just as the raft went under. Even though she had enough time to take in a lungful of air, it seemed to shrivel up and disappear entirely the moment they went under. Water invaded her lungs through her mouth and nose. It plugged her ears and managed to slip beneath her eyelids, making them feel like snowballs. It felt a lot like when she jumped off the cliff in England; her lungs were burning and her ears began to ring. When they finally surfaced, any remnants of snow on the ice raft were gone and it became a lot harder to stay on the patch of ice. Rosemary began to slip, pulling Peter's coat off his shoulder. He tried to pull her back up to the best of his abilities and with the small boost, she was able to grab hold of the sword. One hand wrapped overtop of Peter's hand on the hilt and the other wrapped around the blade. Her hands were so cold, she didn't feel the metal bite into her skin but watched her blood run down the blade, diluted by the water that sprayed up in their faces.

When their small sheet of ice finally reached the shore, Rosemary was the first to crawl onto the hard rock, flipping onto her back and sighing in relief. Wet, heavy snow fell from the trees onto her face but didn't care. She was alive, something she didn't think she'd be so thankful for given her current mindset.

"It's official. I hate the water," Rosemary declared and Peter laughed as he dragged himself onto the rocky shore beside her.

"Guys!" Susan cried, holding up a wet fur coat. It was Lucy's fur coat, but there was no Lucy inside of it. Susan was paler than ever and her brother quickly became the same shade as her. Frantically looking around, Susan screamed out for her sister, the name echoing through the woods.

"LUCY!"

Rosemary scrambled to her her feet, joining in on the search. While Peter and Susan focused on the river, Rosemary searched the riverbank, eventually spotting a small figure making their way towards them. "There!" She pointed down the riverbank and began running, careful not to roll her ankle.

"Has anyone seen my coat?"

Everybody sighed in relief, and Peter rushed to wrap the soaking wet coat around Lucy. "I'm so sorry, Lu. Are you alright?"

"Just a little cold, is all."

"Don't you worry, dear. Your brother's got you well looked after," said Beaver.

"But I don't think you'll be needing those coats anymore," Mrs. Beaver whispered, looking into the woods. Ahead of them, a single tree shook off a layer snow, revealing the small pink flowers beneath it. In front of their very eyes, the flowers began to bloom. "Spring is on its way."

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