TWELVE: STRAWBERRY’S ADVENTURE

Aslan asks Digory if he is ready to undo the wrong he brought on Narnia by awakening and importing the Witch. When Digory begs for help for his mother, Aslan shares his grief but explains Narnia’s longer needs: a tree must be planted to keep the Witch away for years. He commands Digory to fetch an apple from a garden beyond the western mountains.

Aslan directs Digory to the Western Wild and describes a blue lake and a hill with a walled garden at its end. To aid the quest, Aslan transforms Strawberry into Fledge, father of flying horses, and asks him to carry Digory. At Queen Helen’s prompting, Polly is allowed to go, and King Frank helps the children mount.

Fledge takes flight, and they cross Narnia’s varied lands toward the towering western cliffs. After zigzagging upward past the great waterfall, they pass beyond Narnia into wild hills and forests, continuing west as the sun sets behind jagged peaks.

As night and cold set in, Fledge proposes landing to rest. On the ground, Digory and Polly face hunger; Fledge grazes but reminds them Aslan likes to be asked for needs. Polly produces sticky toffees; they eat eight and plant the ninth, hoping it might grow, recalling the lamppost.

They settle under Fledge’s wings and review Aslan’s signs—the blue lake and gardened hill. Disturbed by noises, they search the dark and Polly thinks she glimpses a tall, dark figure slipping west. Finding nothing, they return to rest. The children sleep; Fledge keeps wary watch before dozing off.