WITHOUTaglanceatJillthelionrosetoitsfeetandgaveonelastblow。Then,asifsatisfiedwithitswork,itturnedandstalkedslowlyaway,backintotheforest。
“Itmustbeadream,itmust,itmust,”saidJilltoherself。“I’llwakeupinamoment。”Butitwasn’t,andshedidn’t。
“Idowishwe’dnevercometothisdreadfulplace,”saidJill。“Idon’tbelieveScrubbknewanymoreaboutitthanIdo。Orifhedid,hehadnobusinesstobringmeherewithoutwarningmewhatitwaslike。It’snotmyfaulthefelloverthatcliff。Ifhe’dleftmealoneweshouldbothbeallright。”ThensherememberedagainthescreamthatScrubbhadgivenwhenhefell,andburstintotears。
Cryingisallrightinitswaywhileitlasts。Butyouhavetostopsoonerorlater,andthenyoustillhavetodecidewhattodo。WhenJillstopped,shefoundshewasdreadfullythirsty。Shehadbeenlyingfacedownward,andnowshesatup。Thebirdshadceasedsingingandtherewasperfectsilenceexceptforonesmall,persistentsound,whichseemedtocomefromagooddistanceaway。Shelistenedcarefully,andfeltalmostsureitwasthesoundofrunningwater。
Jillgotupandlookedroundherverycarefully。Therewasnosignofthelion;butthereweresomanytreesaboutthatitmighteasilybequiteclosewithoutherseeingit。Forallsheknew,theremightbeseverallions。Butherthirstwasverybadnow,andshepluckeduphercouragetogoandlookforthatrunningwater。Shewentontiptoes,stealingcautiouslyfromtreetotree,andstoppingtopeerroundherateverystep。
Thewoodwassostillthatitwasnotdifficulttodecidewherethesoundwascomingfrom。Itgrewclearereverymomentand,soonerthansheexpected,shecametoanopengladeandsawthestream,brightasglass,runningacrosstheturfastone’sthrowawayfromher。Butalthoughthesightofthewatermadeherfeeltentimesthirstierthanbefore,shedidn’trushforwardanddrink。Shestoodasstillasifshehadbeenturnedintostone,withhermouthwideopen。Andshehadaverygoodreason;justonthissideofthestreamlaythelion。
Itlaywithitsheadraisedanditstwofore-pawsoutinfrontofit,likethelionsinTrafalgarSquare。Sheknewatoncethatithadseenher,foritseyeslookedstraightintohersforamomentandthenturnedaway—asifitknewherquitewellanddidn’tthinkmuchofher。
“IfIrunaway,it’llbeaftermeinamoment,”thoughtJill。“AndifIgoon,Ishallrunstraightintoitsmouth。”Anyway,shecouldn’thavemovedifshehadtried,andshecouldn’ttakehereyesoffit。Howlongthislasted,shecouldnotbesure;itseemedlikehours。Andthethirstbecamesobadthatshealmostfeltshewouldnotmindbeingeatenbythelionifonlyshecouldbesureofgettingamouthfulofwaterfirst。
“Ifyou’rethirsty,youmaydrink。”
TheywerethefirstwordsshehadheardsinceScrubbhadspokentoherontheedgeofthecliff。Forasecondshestaredhereandthere,wonderingwhohadspoken。Thenthevoicesaidagain,“Ifyouarethirsty,comeanddrink,”andofcoursesherememberedwhatScrubbhadsaidaboutanimalstalkinginthatotherworld,andrealizedthatitwasthelionspeaking。Anyway,shehadseenitslipsmovethistime,andthevoicewasnotlikeaman’s。Itwasdeeper,wilder,andstronger;asortofheavy,goldenvoice。Itdidnotmakeheranylessfrightenedthanshehadbeenbefore,butitmadeherfrightenedinratheradifferentway。
“Areyounotthirsty?”saidtheLion。
“I’mdyingofthirst,”saidJill。
“Thendrink,”saidtheLion。
“MayI—couldI—wouldyoumindgoingawaywhileIdo?”saidJill。
TheLionansweredthisonlybyalookandaverylowgrowl。AndasJillgazedatitsmotionlessbulk,sherealizedthatshemightaswellhaveaskedthewholemountaintomoveasideforherconvenience。
Thedeliciousripplingnoiseofthestreamwasdrivinghernearlyfrantic。
“Willyoupromisenotto—doanythingtome,ifIdocome?”saidJill。
“Imakenopromise,”saidtheLion。
Jillwassothirstynowthat,withoutnoticingit,shehadcomeastepnearer。
“Doyoueatgirls?”shesaid。
“Ihaveswallowedupgirlsandboys,womenandmen,kingsandemperors,citiesandrealms,”saidtheLion。Itdidn’tsaythisasifitwereboasting,norasifitweresorry,norasifitwereangry。Itjustsaidit。
“Idaren’tcomeanddrink,”saidJill。
“Thenyouwilldieofthirst,”saidtheLion。
“Ohdear!”saidJill,cominganotherstepnearer。“IsupposeImustgoandlookforanotherstreamthen。”
“Thereisnootherstream,”saidtheLion。
ItneveroccurredtoJilltodisbelievetheLion—noonewhohadseenhissternfacecoulddothat—andhermindsuddenlymadeitselfup。Itwastheworstthingshehadeverhadtodo,butshewentforwardtothestream,kneltdown,andbeganscoopingupwaterinherhand。Itwasthecoldest,mostrefreshingwatershehadevertasted。Youdidn’tneedtodrinkmuchofit,foritquenchedyourthirstatonce。BeforeshetasteditshehadbeenintendingtomakeadashawayfromtheLionthemomentshehadfinished。Now,sherealizedthatthiswouldbeonthewholethemostdangerousthingofall。Shegotupandstoodtherewithherlipsstillwetfromdrinking。
“Comehere,”saidtheLion。Andshehadto。Shewasalmostbetweenitsfrontpawsnow,lookingstraightintoitsface。Butshecouldn’tstandthatforlong;shedroppedhereyes。
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