AN: Hello again! I'm sorry it's been a while since I last posted. I shan't tell you how much of the delay was because I've been ridiculously busy and how much was because of that detestable writer's block, but they both factored in. Hopefully this chapter will be a bit more legible now that I've figured out the "Horizontal line" feature.

Maybe that was overkill. But here's chapter three: The Council at Beaversdam.

After Mr. Beaver was done telling him the history and wonders of Narnia, Peridan began to be very hungry. They had not yet eaten breakfast when the Beaver came, and by now it was nearly nine o'clock. Thankfully Bricklethumb had slipped away from the conversation to fry some eggs, and just then his voice came from the front of the house.

"Breakfast is getting cold, brothers and friends. You'll want to come and have a bite before we leave."

"Where are we going," Peridan asked Duffle.

"Why to Beaver's dam, of course. For the meeting, you know."

"What's this meeting about, anyway?"

"It's a resistance meeting. All of us will be there- Myself, Mister Beaver you see here, and all the other resistance leaders within ten mile or so of his home. There's maybe twenty of us that meet once or more every month. Last time, we decided the next meeting would be on the twenty-third of August (that's today), at Mr. Beaver's dam. And today, you and the others ought to come with us, since you're very important news. We'll be deciding what to do with you there, but you've got to eat something first"

And Peridan, the Beaver, and Rogin and Duffle sat down at the table, but Bricklethumb insisted on making sure Peridan's cup remained full of milk, the Beaver's of beer, and his brothers' of strong black coffee. It was a pleasant meal, consisting mainly of meat, eggs, and what vegetables could be grown in the deep winter, although there were a few nicer things that had been imported from Archenland. Finally Duffle convinced him to sit down and eat, and they told stories of the old days: stories of King Gale the Dragonslayer, and of Moonbow the Hare, of the beautiful Queen Swanwhite and of King Frank the Fifth. Peridan also told stories of his world, of the giant Paul Bunyan, of Thomas Jefferson, whom he explained was "kind of like a king, only the people chose him and he only served for eight years", and of a Sergeant Alvin York, who had single-handedly defeated at least twenty men in a big war some fifteen or twenty years ago.

Finally everyone had eaten their fill, so the dwarfs drew lots to determine who should wash the dishes, and Duffle was the unlucky one. So he set off to work, and the others did what they could to set the rest of the house at order. By ten o'clock they were all done, and so they packed five bags and began the journey to Mr. Beaver's dam. This was the first Peridan had been outside of the small house, and he was astonished by the weather, for though in New York it was summer, here, on what should have been the hottest day of summer, snow covered the ground in a layer at least a foot deep. But Rogin explained, "It's all part of her curse, that," and they kept on going.

It was about noon by the time the ground started sloping very sharply down, and the trees thinned out till eventually there were none. And a minute later, they all stood at the edge of a fairly wide river. There was a dam here, and you could tell the water had been frozen in an instant, for on one side the ice was quite smooth, but on the other, it was frozen in the act of falling over the dam, so that there were long icicles hanging down from it, and sticking out from its wall, and standing up from the water below, and all the water that had been hanging along in midair when the freeze came was lying on top of the river on the lower side of the dam. About halfway across this dam was a small house, or (as might be supposed) the small entrance to a much larger house. And the Beaver declared, "here we are! My wife's made provision for all the resistance to eat a meal or two here, so make yourself at home for awhile until we begin our meeting."

By this time several people had arrived, so that there were two rabbits, a Centaur, a Bear, a faun, and five Dwarfs (including the three with whom Peridan came) assembled on top of the frozen pond. Mrs. Beaver called them in to eat, and so they did, and over the next hour more and more strange people arrived, until at last there were well over a dozen. And now Mr. Beaver silenced them and motioned for Duffle to speak.

"As you may know," Duffle began, "Our friend Cordatus is sick today and could not be present at this meeting. I cannot come close to his expertise in conducting business, but I shall make an attempt. It appears the first matter on our agenda is the election of a representative to go to the next Annual Narnian Resistance Council. Do I have any nominees?"

And so business went on, with Duffle conducting announcements and elections and more things until it was nearly sunset, and then he finally announced the last matter of business. This was the question of what to do with Peridan, and so he was taken up where everybody could see him and argue about him. It didn't seem he had much say in it, but they eventually decided he was to g to some place called "Archenland" until it was safe for him to return to Narnia. Whether they wanted him to be a king or not he couldn't tell, but as long as he kept his head he didn't care at this point.