The Jewel of Narnia (The Chronicles of Narnia) Complete

Chapter Six

The group finally arrived at the frozen river then they got worried when they saw that a part of the frozen waterfall was actually melted. The only thing left frozen was the waterfall. Mara didn't know how she felt about going across the river. She had a slight fear of drowning. The river was too strong for them to swim. Even if they tried, the current would swallow them whole. Peter said, "We have to cross now!" Lucy looked at Mr. Beaver and said, "Don't beavers make dams?" Mr. Beaver replied, "I'm not that fast, dearie." Peter said, grabbing Mara's hand, "Come on!" Susan said, "Will you stop and think about this for a minute?" Mara replied, sighing, "We don't have a minute, Susan." Susan said, rolling her eyes, "Just trying to be realistic." Peter replied, glaring at his sister, "No, you're trying to be smart, as per usual!" He pulled Mara with him, who had taken Lucy's hand into hers. They paused when they heard the howling of the wolves and it sounded close.

They didn't hesitate to run down to the river, going ace a rocky wall to get to the frozen part of river. Mara stepped on the ice, making it crack slightly. Mr. Beaver stepped in front of her and said, "Maybe I should go first." Mara nodded then stepped aside, giving him room to do so. She knew that he was much lighter than her and had the better chance. The rest of the group watched as the beaver carefully stepped on the ice and tapped it with his tail, double checking it. It cracked a little bit underneath him, not fazing him. Mrs. Beaver shouted, "You've had a second helping, didn't you?!" Mr. Beaver shouted, "Well, you never know which meal be exactly your last! Especially with your cooking!" Mara snickered, she thought that Mrs. Beaver's scolding was actually amusing, that is if you weren't the one being scolded. She grabbed Peter's hand as they inched their way onto the ice, slowly. As they did so, cracks started to appear and they began to get bigger. Lucy let out a terrified scream, clutching Peter's other hand. Susan said, looking around, "If Mum knew what we were doing......" Peter snapped, "Mum's not here!!" Lucy shouted, seeing the waterfall crack, "Oh, no!" Peter shouted, "Run!!" They began to run, but careful to not make the ice crack even more, but stopped when a wolf jumped in front of them, causing Lucy and and Mara to scream. Mr. Beaver tried to scare the wolf, only for the wolf to jump onto him. Mrs. Beaver shouted, fearing for her husband's life, "No!!"

Peter and Mara then remembered Father Christmas' words and drew their swords, pointing them at the wolves. The wolf smirked and said, chuckling evilly, "Put those down, children. Someone could get hurt." Mara said, glaring at the wolf, "Take one more step and I'll run you through!" Susan said to her friend, "No, don't, Mara! Maybe we should listen to him!" The wolf said, his eyebrow raised, "'Mara'? Ah, Amara, the daughter of Aslan and Aria, the Princess of Narnia, has returned. It's an honour to meet you, Your Highness." He licked his teeth, causing Peter's protective side to stand out and for Mara to glare at him. Peter said, pointing his sword at him even more, "Stay away from her!" The wolf cackled and replied, "Trying to be her lord protector, aren't you? How sickening. Leave now while you can and your brother leaves with you."

Susan said to her brother, fearing for her younger brother when the wolf had mentioned him, "Stop, Peter! Maybe we should listen to him!" Peter and Mara didn't lower their swords at Susan's outburst. They knew that the wolf couldn't be trusted. He was just toying with them. The wolf said, "You should listen to your sister. This isn't your war. All my queen wants is for you to take your family and leave. The princess can go if you wish." Mr. Beaver shouted, "No, Peter! Narnia needs you! Run him through while you still have the chance!" The wolf said, rolling his eyes, "What's it gonna be, Son of Adam? I won't wait forever, neither will the river." Mara's eyes trailed over to the river to see that the waterfall was melting and breaking. Lucy shouted, holding onto her brother, "Peter!" Peter glanced around, his mind racing to come up with a plan. He shouted, "Hold onto me!" Everyone did as they were told, as he raised his sword then threw it into the ice below them, to keep them steady. The ice broke and the current began to throw them around. Somewhere around the line, Mara had lost grip of Peter was now under water, struggling to swim.

The rest of the group made it to shore and were now drenching their coats from the water. Lucy said, noticing that Mara wasn't with them, "Wait, where's Mara?" Everyone began to panic and called out Mara's name, with Peter calling her name the loudest. Susan said, seeing a golden light shine through the water, "Look!!" Everyone turned to where Susan was pointing and they watched, hoping it was Mara. Suddenly, a young lioness submerged from the water, struggling to swim to shore. Peter rushed to get a large branch and gave it to the lioness, helping her get to shore. The others rushed to help Peter and pushed the large branch, while the lioness gripped it with her jaws. The lioness breathed heavily as she got onto shore, panting almost. Lucy stepped closer to her and said, questionably, "Mara, is that you?" The lioness replied, lifting her head to show the lion necklace, "Who's the only person you think of who can turn into a lion and who has a lion necklace, Lucy?"

Lucy grinned and wrapped her arms around Mara's big furry neck. Peter said to his younger sister, stepping over to the two, "Now, Lucy. Let her breath. She just had a rough swim." Susan said to Mara, "How did you that? Turn into a lioness, Mara?" Mara stood and shaked her fur from the water, causing Peter, Susan, Lucy, and the beavers to groan as the water got onto them. She replied to Susan, "I'm not sure, Susan. I was under water, about to close my eyes, then it felt like a bright gold light was surrounded me. I opened them then I was in this." Mrs. Beaver said, grabbing everyone's attention as she watched them put them on except for Mara, "I don't think you will need those coats anymore." She nodded at the trees then back at the river. The children and young lioness saw that ice and snow was melting. They then continued their journey to Aslan and Aria's camp. Along the way, Narnia began to get warmer and warmer so they left their coats on a nearby tree branch.