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Well, Bella can run, now, though probably not to outrun Aslan, so she will try. After him she goes.

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James, giggling, chases him too.

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Aslan is very much faster than they are, but he occasionally almost lets them catch him, and now and then he chases back and tosses one or the other of them in the air, only to catch her and put her back on the grass and be off again.

When the sun is quite up Aslan stops abruptly to pounce on them and roll them over in a heap, and they feel just as one ought to in the bright morning, not the least bit hungry or thirsty or sleeplessly tired.

"And now," says Aslan, "I feel I am going to roar. You ought to put your fingers in your ears."
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Bella giggles and does exactly that.

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James too. But she watches. She bets Aslan roaring is going to be a sight.

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It is. It's spectacularly loud, and the trees before him bend like blades of grass in a great wind.

When he has done, and the girls have taken their hands from their ears, he says, "We have a long journey to go. You must ride on me."
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Oh wow. Bella isn't going to second-guess him on that. Up she goes.

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And up goes James behind her! This is logical, since if James were in front her sword and shield would make an uncomfortable surface for Bella to potentially bump her face on.

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And this way around they are quite comfortable as Aslan takes off. He is swifter than the fastest racehorse, tireless and leaping over small and medium-sized obstacles, and the day is dawning a beautiful spring full of blossoms and new leaves and the smell of grass.

They are going towards two hills that nestle up against each other at the base.
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"The Witch's house," says James to Bella.

She remembers.
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"Yes," says Aslan.

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"Are you just going to - go for her directly without having to have the entire battle at all?"

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"Not quite. Hold tight, children."

And with a flying leap he is over the outer wall surrounding the Witch's castle, and in a courtyard, full of statues.
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"—Those are people," says James, almost as soon as she glances at one.

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"They were and they will be again," says Aslan, kneeling to let the girls off of his back, and he breathes on a stone lion, then whirls around to see to a naiad, and then continues bounding about the courtyard attending to each statue great and small.

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"Oh - look," says Bella, peering at his first subject, where color is bleeding into him from nose onward.

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The stone lion is becoming an un-stone lion, in a gradual process reminiscent of fire spreading over a lit page. As soon as his head is free, he shakes it vigorously, restoring golden life to the stone fringe of his mane. He pauses for a yawn and a stretch as living colour works its way down his back, then shakes himself all over and bounds after Aslan to jump and dance and lick him with gratitude and happiness.

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"Wow," breathes James.

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Aslan is never still, though he acknowledges this and other gestures of gratitude with evident joy. Soon the courtyard is full of romping delighted creatures, colorful and madly traipsing, unicorns and dryads and one good-natured giant.

When the courtyard's statues have all been released, Aslan calls, "Now, look alive, everyone, inside the house, search every corner! You never know where some poor prisoner might be concealed!"

And everyone bursts into the Witch's house, which is quite empty of live occupants while she prepares elsewhere for war.
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James goes looking - and of course she reports whoever she finds - but there's a particular person she's looking for. And when she locates him, she runs to find Aslan immediately.

"I found Tumnus!"
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"Show me, then," says Aslan, and he follows her.

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She shows him directly to the faun-statue, tucked away in a corner.

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And presently that Faun is awake and alive again, patting himself down in amazement.

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"Are you okay?"

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"I - I do believe I am!" says Tumnus, as Aslan bounds off again.

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