“Youdon'tkher,”saidJillindignantly。
“YesIdo,ifonlyyoudidn'tkeep。I'vegotitnow。That'stheeast,fatothelaurels。Now,willyousaythewordsafterme?'’
“Whatwords?”askedJill。
“ThewordsI'mgoingtosay,ofcourse,”aaow—”
Andhebegan,“Aslan,Aslan,Aslan!”
“Aslan,Aslan,AslaedJill。
&ustwogointo—”
Atthatmomeheothersideofthegymwasheardshoutingout,“Pole?Yes。Iknowwheresheis。She'sblubbihegym。ShallIfetchherout?”
Jillaaeglaher,diveduhelaurels,andbegansgupthesteep,earthyslopeoftheshrubberyataspeedwhichdidthemgreatcredit。(OwingtotheethodsofteagatExperimentHouse,olearnmuathsorLatinsofthatsort;butoaboutgettingawayquidquietlywhenTheywerelookingforone。)
&aminute'sscrambletheystoppedtolistehehattheywerebeingfollowed。
“Ifonlythedoorenagain!”saidScrubbastheywenton,andJillthetopoftheshrubberywasahighstonewallandinthatwalladoorbywhichyoucouldgetoutohisdoorwasnearlyalwayslocked。Buttherehadbeentimeswhenpeoplehadfounditopeherehadbeeime。Butyoumayimagihememoryofevepeoplehoping,andtryingthedoor;forifitshouldhappentobeulendidwayofgettiheschoolgroundswithoutbeingseen。
Jillahveryhrubbyfromgoingalodoubleuhelaurels,pahewall。Ahedoor,shutasusual。
“It'ssuretobenogood,”saidEustacewithhishandonthehahen,“O-o-oh。ByGum!!”Forthehahedooropened。
Amomehofthemhadmeahroughthatdoorwayiime,ifbyahedoorwaswheuallyopeoodstockstill。Forwhattheysawwasquitedifferentfromwhattheyhadexpected。
Theyhadexpectedtoseethegray,heatheryslopeofthemupanduptojoiumnsky。Instead,ablazeofsuhem。ItphthedoorwayasthelightofaJunedaypoursintewhehedoor。ItmadethedropsrassglitterlikebeadsahedirtinessofJill'stear-staihesunlightwaswhatlydidlooklikeadifferentworld—whattheycouldseeofit。Theysawsmoothturf,smhterthanJillhadeverseenbefore,andbluesky,and,dartingtsshtthattheymighthavebeenjewelsebutterflies。
Althoughshehadbeenlongingforsomethihis,Jillfeltfrightened。ShelookedatScrubb'sfadsawthathewasfrighteoo。
“eon,Pole,”hesaidihlessvoice。
“wegetback?Isitsafe?”askedJill。
Atthatmomeedfrombehiefullittlevoiowthesqueaked。“Everyoneknowsyou'rethere。DowwasthevoiceofEdithJaotohemherselfbutoheirhangers-onandtale-bearers。
“Quick!”saidScrubb。“Here。Holdhan'tgetseparated。”Aekening,hehadgrabbedherhandahroughthedoor,outoftheschoolgrounds,outofEngland,outofourwholeworldintoThatPlace。
ThesouhJackle'svoicestoppedassuddenlyasthevoitheradiowhenitisswitchedoff。Instantlytherewasaquitedifferentsoundallaboutthem。Itthhtthingsoverhead,whiowturobebirds。Theyweremakingariotouswasmuusic—ratheradvancedmusicwhi'tquitetakeihearing—thanbirds'songseverareinourworld。Yet,ihesinging,therewasasortofbaesilenbihefreshheair,madeJillthibeoophmountain。
Scrubbstillhadherbythehandandtheywerewalkingforward,staringaboutthemoneveryside。Jillsawthathugetrees,ratherlikecedarsbutbigger,grewiion。Butastheydidnotgrowclosetogether,andastherewash,thisdidalongwayioleftandright。AndasfarasJill'seyecouldreach,itwasallthesame—levelturf,dartingbirdswithyellonflyblue,orrainbowplumage,blueshadotiherewashofwindinthatchtair。Itwasaverylo。
Rightaheadtherewerenotrees:oheywentstraightonwithoutspeakingtillsuddenlyJillheardScrubbsay,“Lookout!”aherselfjerkedback。Theywereattheveryedgeofacliff。
Jillwasohoseluckypeoplewhohaveagoodheadfhts。Shedidn'tmiandingontheedgeofaprecipice。ShewasratherahScrubbfherback—“justasifIwasakid“,shesaidandshewrenchedherhandoutofhis。Whenshesahitehehadturned,shedespisedhim。
“What'sthematter?”shesaid。Andtoshowthatshewasnotafraid,shestoodveryheedgeindeed;infact,agooddealhahenshelookeddown。
ShehatScrubbhadsomeexcusefwhite,fornoourworldistobeparedwiththis。Imagihetophestcliffyouknow。Andimagineyourselflookingdowtom。Andtheheprecipibelowthat,asfaragaiimesasfar,twentytimesasfar。Andwhenyou'velookeddownallthatdistanelittlewhitethingsthatmight,atfirstglaakepresentlyyourealizethattheyareotlittlewreathsofmistbuttheenormouswhite,puffycloudswhicharethemselvesasbigasmostmountains。Andatlast,ihoseclouds,yougetylimpseoftherealbottom,sofarawaythatyouakeoutwhetherit'sfieldorwood,orlaherbelowthosecloudsthahem。
Jillstaredatit。Thethatperhaps,afterall,shewouldstepbatheedge;butshedidn'tliketoforfearofwhatScrubbwouldthink。Thenshesuddeshedidn'tcarewhathethought,andthatshewouldjollywellgetawayfromthatheandneverlaughatalikisagairiedtomove,shefoundshesseemedtohaveturoputty。Everythingwasswimmingbeforehereyes。
“Whatareyoudoing,Pole?eback-blitheri!”shoutedScrubb。Buthisvoiceseemedtohealongwayoff。Shefelthimgrabbibynowshehadnotroloverherownarmsaherewasamomentonthecliffedge。Jillwasthtenedanddizzytokshewasdoing,buttwothingssherememberedasloheyofteoherindreams)。OshehadwrenchedherselffreeofScrubb'sclutches;theotherwasthat,atthesamemoment,Scrubbhimself,withaterrifiedscream,hadlosthisbalanehurtlihs。
Fortunately,shewasgivehishehaddone。Somehuge,brightlyalhadrushedtotheedgeofthecliff。Itwaslyingdown,leahiswastheoddthing)blowing。N,butjustblowingfromitswide-opeh;blowingoutassteadilyasavaersu。Jillwaslyingsoclosetothecreaturethatshecouldfeelthebreathvibratihroughitsbody。Shewaslyingstillbecauseshe'tgetup。Shewasnearlyfainting:indeed,shewishedshecouldreallyfaint,butfaintsdon'tefortheasking。Atlastshesaher,atinyblackspegawayfromthedslightlyupwards。Asitrose,italsogotfartheraway。Bythetimeitwasnearlyohecliff-topitwassofaroffthatshelostsightofit。Itwasobviouslymovingawayfromthematagreatspeed。Jill'thelpthinkingthatthecreatureathersideay。
Sosheturnedahecreature。It