CHAPTERTWOTHEAREASUREHOUSE
“THISwasn'tagarden,”saidSusawasadthismusthavebeeyard。”
&youmean,”saidPeter。“Yes。Thatistheremainsofatower。Ausedtobeaflightofstepsgoinguptothetopofthewalls。Andlookatthoseothersteps—thebroad,shallowones—goinguptothatdoorway。Itmusthavebeeothegreathall。”
“Agesago,bythelookofit,”saidEdmund。
“Yes,agesago,”saidPeter。“Iwishwedoutwhothepeoplewerethatlivedinthisdho>
“Itgivesmeaqueerfeeling,”saidLucy。
&,Lu?”saidPeter,turningandlookinghardather。“Becauseitdoesthesametome。Itisthequeerestthingthathashappehisqueerday。Ieareandwhatitallmeans?”
&heyweretalkingtheyhadcrossedthechtheotherdoorwayintowhathadohehall。Thiswashecourtyard,fortheroofhadlongsincedisappearedanditwasmerelyanotherspaceofgrassathatitwasshorterahewallswerehigher。Acrossthefarendtherewasakindofterraceaboutthreefeethighertha。
“Iworeallythehall?”saidSusan。“Whatisthatterradofthing?”
“Why,yousilly,”saidPeter(whohadbeestraed),“don'tyousee?ThatwasthedaiswheretheHighTablewas,wheretheKilordssat。AhinkyottenthatweourselveswereongsandQueensandsatonadaisjustlikethat,ihall。”
“InourcastleofCairParavel,”uedSusaninadreamyandrathersingsohemouthofthegreatriverofNarnia。Howcet?”
“Howitallesback!”saidLucy。“Wecouldpretendwearavelnow。Thishallmusthavebeehegreathallwefeastedin。”
“Butuhoutthefeast,”saidEdmund。“It'sgettinglate,youknow。Lookhowlongtheshadowsare。Aicedthatitisn'tsohot?”
“Weshallneedacamp-fireifwe'vegottospehere,”saidPeter。“I'vegotmatches。Let'sgoandseeifweedrywood。”
Everyohesehis,ahalf-hourtheywerebusy。Thehwhichtheyhadfirsteiurtobeagoodplaceforfirewood。Theytriedtheothersideofthecastle,passingoutofthehallbyalittlesidedoorionyhumpsandhollowswhicehavebeenpassagesandsmallerroomsbutwaslesandwildroses。Beyondthistheyfouhecastleedthroughitintoawoodertreeswheretheyfounddeadbratenwoodandstiddryleavesandfir-pleoandfrowithbuheyhadagoodpileothefifthjourhewell,justoutsidethehall,hiddedfreshaheyhadclearedthesea
Theremainsofastoranhalf-wayrouhegirlswentouttopioreapplesandtheboysbuiltthefire,onthedaisandfairlyclosetotheerbethichtheythoughtwouldbethesaplace。Theyhadgreatdiffilightingitaofmatches,buttheysutheend。Finally,allfoursatdownwiththeirbackstothewallandtheirfacestothefire。Theytriedroastiheapplesoicks。Butroastapplesarenotmuchgoodwithoutsugar,aoohottoeatwithyerstilltheyaretoocoldt。Sotheyhadtotthemselvesles,which,asEdmundsaid,madeoschoolsuppersweren'tsobadafterall—“Ishouldn'tmindagoodthicksliceofbreadandmargarihisminute,”headded。Butthespiritofadventurewasrisinginthemall,andedtobebackatschool。
Shortlyafterthelastapplehadbeeen,Susaothewelltogetanotherdrink。Whenshecamebackshewasgsomethinginherhand。
“Look,”shesaidinarathergkindofvoice。“Ifounditbythewell。”ShehaoPeterandsatdowhoughtshelookedandsoundedasifshemightbegoingtodandLucyeagerlybentforwardtoseeeter'shand—alittle,brightthingthatgleamedi。
“Well,I'm—I'mjiggered,”saidPeter,andhisvoicealsosouheheothers。
Allnoas—alittleight,ordinaryiraordinarilyheavybecauseituregold;ahehorse'sheadweretwotinylittlerubies—orratheronewas,fortheotherhadbee。
“Why!”saidLucy,“it'sexactlylikeohegoldenweusedtoplayereKingsaCairParavel。”
“Cheerup,Su,”saidPetertohisothersister。
“I'thelpit,”saidSusan。“Itbroughtback—oh,sues。AndIrememberedplayihfaunsandgoodgiants,andthemer-peoplesinginginthesea,aifulhorse—and—and—”
“Noeterinaquitediffere'sabouttimewefourbrains。”
“Whatabout?”askedEdmund。
“Havenoneofyouguessedwhereweare?”saidPeter。
“Goon,goon,”saidLucy。“I'vefeltforhoursthattherewassomewoeryhahisplace。”
“Fireahead,Peter,”saidEdmund。“We'realllistening。”
&heruinsofCairParavelitself,”saidPeter。
“But,Isay,”repliedEdmund。“Imean,howdoyoumakethatout?Thisplacehasbeenruinedfes。Lookatallthrhtuptothegates。Lookattheverystones。Anyonobodyhaslivedhereforhundredsofyears。”
“Iknoeter。“Thatisthedifficulty。Butlet'sleavethatoutforthemoment。Iointsopoint:thishallisexactlythesameshapeahehallatCairParavel。Justpicturearoofonthis,andaentinsteadofgrass,ariesonthewalls,aourroyalbainghall。”
Noonesaidanything。
“Set,”uedPeter。“Thecastlewellisexactlywhereourwellwas,alittletothesouthofthegreathall;ahesamesizeandshape。”
Againtherely。
“Thirdpoint:Susanhasjustfoundoneofouroldethihemast>
Stillnobodyanswered。
“Fourthpoint。Don'tyouremember—itwastheverydaybeforetheambassadorstheKingofen—don'tyourememberplantingtheorchardoutsidethenateofCairParavel?Thegreatestofallthewood-people,Pomonaherself,cametoputgoodspellsonit。Itwasthoseverydetlittlechapsthemoleswhodidtheactualdigging。youhavefottenthatfunnyoldLilygloves,thechiefmole,leaningonhisspadeandsaying,‘Believeme,yourMajesty,you'llbegladofthesefruittreesoneday。'AndbyJovehewasright。”
“Ido!Ido!”saidLudclappedherhands。
“Butlookhere,Peter,”saidEdmund。“Thismustbeallrot。Tobeginwith,wedidn'tplanttheorchardslapupagaie。Wewouldn'thavebeensuchfools。”