by Chris Wright
He'd seen By-Ends and his friends. We stayed to see what they would do, for they had no real love for the King. The four hurried up the hill and went to the mouth of the cave, and I wondered if they'd ever come out.
I pulled Hopeful by the arm. "We have to stop looking back," I said. "We must keep going."
When we'd walked for some distance beyond the hill, Hopeful stopped suddenly, saying, "Look at that. What is it?"
A white pillar stood by the side of the road. As we came nearer, we saw it was in the shape of a woman, with her face turned away from the Celestial City.
"Do you think she was a pilgrim?" Hopeful whispered.
"I don't know," I said. "Whatever it is, I wonder why it's here."
We walked round it, and studied it closely. Hopeful noticed some carved words. They were hard to read, and at first neither of us could make them out. But after puzzling over them a little, I read, "Remember Lot's Wife."
"I know what it is," I said. "I read about her in the library at the House Beautiful."
Then I told Hopeful how the King had once rescued a man named Lot, with his wife and two daughters, from a city that was being destroyed for its wickedness.
"The King sent an angel to bring the family out, and the angel told them not to look back. But Lot's wife did look back, because she was sad for what she was leaving behind, and the moment she turned she became a pillar of salt."
"What a dreadful thing," Hopeful said. "I was like her a few minutes ago, ready to look at the silver. I'm glad you stopped me turning back when Demas called us."
CHAPTER 29
The River of the Water of Life
Just as it was starting to get dark, we came to the bank of a broad river. A sign said it was the River of the Water of Life, where pilgrims could rest safely. It seemed a good place to stay, so we drank some cool, clear water from the river, which was pleasant and made us feel less tired.
Hopeful reached up for some fruit growing from one of the trees, and I picked a handful of the leaves and rubbed them gently into the wounds where I'd been beaten in Vanity Fair. Immediately I could feel the juice from the leaves soothing my cuts and bruises.
On each side of the river we saw a meadow covered in wild flowers. It was a safe place to rest, so we lay down and were soon fast asleep. We woke as the morning sun rose over the hills, and ate some more fruit and drank from the river.
That morning we bathed in the cool water, and I felt my whole body being refreshed. So there we rested in perfect safety, eating the fruit, and drinking the healing water.
After staying there for several nights I felt fully recovered from my beatings in Vanity Fair, and ready to continue with the journey. But we stayed longer than necessary, simply because the place was so pleasant.
"I wonder if we're far from the Celestial City," I said early one morning, as the sun rose over the trees. "Come on, Hopeful, it's long past time we were on our way again."
Hopeful nodded in agreement. "Perhaps after this long rest we'll be able to travel faster than ever," he said, yawning.
I wasn't really looking forward to a long walk. Although the rest by the River of the Water of Life had done me good, I'd become lazy. I was hoping the path would be smooth and easy from now on.
CHAPTER 30
An Easy Path
We left the River of the Water of Life that morning, and travelled slowly along the Way of the King all day, our muscles aching from lack of walking. My legs felt tired and my back hurt. Late in the afternoon we came to a place where a stile led off into a broad, green meadow. A sign said By-Path Meadow. I recognised the name as meaning Two-Path Meadow, so probably one path was just as good as the other for pilgrims.
We'd already come a long way, and I felt too exhausted to go much farther. The path leading from the river was rough and stony, and my feet felt sore.
I stopped when I reached the stile, and leaned over it. A hedge divided the meadow from the Way of the King, and I could see a smooth, grassy path running close to it.
"Let's walk along this path for a little way," I suggested, turning to Hopeful. "The stones here are so hard they're hurting my feet."
"And mine," Hopeful said, "but I don't think that path is safe."
"Oh, it's all right," I said confidently. "Look, it runs close to the hedge. We'll be able to climb back onto the Way of the King whenever we want to."
Hopeful still seemed unhappy. "All right," he said at last, "if you're sure it's safe, I'll go with you."
We climbed over the stile into the meadow. The grass felt soft and pleasant to our feet, and not far in front we saw a man walking along by the hedge.
I called to him. "Can you tell us where this path leads?" Well, I wanted to be sure.
"To the Celestial City," the man said.
"There you are," I said to Hopeful. "I told you it was the right way." Then I called again to the man, "Who are you? May we walk with you?"
"My name is Vain-Confidence," the man said, stopping to talk, "but I'd rather walk by myself."
That struck me as rather unfriendly, but I told Hopeful we might as well follow Vain-Confidence. "And if there's any danger we can keep an eye on him, and know in time to avoid it."
Hopeful still looked worried, and when night came, and the shadows grew so thick that we could no longer see Vain-Confidence, he told me he felt frightened.
Suddenly we heard a cry, and a sound of someone falling into a deep hole like a mine shaft. Hopeful seized my arm and clung to me, making me shake with fear from head to foot.
"What can have happened?" I asked. I called loudly to Vain-Confidence, but we received no answer, although we could hear someone groaning as if in terrible pain. Then the sound stopped. Although we searched in the darkness, we were unable to find anyone.
"I'm sure we're not in the right way," Hopeful said, "but it's too dark to see anything."
I didn't answer. I knew I'd done wrong in climbing over the stile, and I wondered how I could have been so foolish as to think that any path would be safe if it wasn't the Way of the King.
Then, before I could speak again, I felt heavy drops of rain on my face. A blinding flash of lightning darted across the sky, followed almost instantly by a roar of thunder. The rain poured in torrents, and the thunder and lightning were worse than anything I'd ever heard or seen in the City of Destruction.
"How was I to know we were going the wrong way?" I muttered, but I knew it was all my fault. I turned to Hopeful. "I'm so sorry. I deserve to be in this danger, but you would never have come if I hadn't persuaded you."
"I might have done," Hopeful said. "I could have tried harder to stop you, but I thought you knew what you were doing, because you've been a better pilgrim than I have."
"Let's turn round," I said. "And let me go first in case we run into any more danger."
But Hopeful no longer trusted me, and insisted on leading the way back to the stile. By this time the heavy rain had already filled the streams that ran through the meadow, flooding the path by the hedge. In places the water was so deep that we could scarcely keep our footing, and I began to think we'd be drowned before we could get back to the Way of the King.
The storm showed no sign of stopping, and although we struggled on, we found it impossible to make our way back in the darkness. So we sat down under some dense bushes close to the hedge, and fell asleep.
CHAPTER 31
Giant Despair
I woke with a fright, as a loud voice shouted, "What's that I see shining in the bushes?"
I caught sight of a giant striding through the long grass of the meadow, and he was coming our way. The giant must have seen my armour, even though it was badly splashed with the mud we'd walked through the night before.
"Who are you?" the giant called in a deep, booming voice.
I raised my head. The giant had shaggy hair and a rough beard, and clothes made of the skins of wild beasts. I cried out with fear, and this woke Hopeful who sprang up in alarm.
"What are
you two doing on my land?" the giant demanded.
"We're pilgrims," I answered, feeling so afraid I could scarcely speak. "And we've lost our way."
"Is that so?" the giant bellowed. "You're trespassing here, and it looks as though you trampled over my crops last night. You must come along with me."
The storm was probably to blame for the damage to the giant's crops, but I knew that if we tried to run away he would catch us in a moment. The giant led us across the fields to his house, which had the name Doubting Castle above the massive doorway. Once inside, the giant threw us into a dark, stinking dungeon, and sat watching us.
Hopeful crept close to me and we sat together until the giant grew tired and went away. I was afraid he would lock us up for ever, and then we'd never reach the Celestial City.
Suddenly we heard a banging on the door of our dungeon, and a woman's voice said loudly, "My name is Diffidence. I am the wife of Giant Despair. My husband tells me he found you both sleeping in his meadow. Oh, how pleased I am to know that you're locked securely in here. My husband is coming to beat you without mercy. And then he'll beat you again. Ah, here he is now. My, what a large stick he has to hit you with." And she screeched with laughter.
After he had beaten us almost unconscious, Giant Despair left us again in the dark. We felt so bruised from the heavy blows that we lay on the ground twisting and turning in pain for most of the night.
The next day Despair visited us again, and seemed surprised to find us still alive. He told us he wanted us dead soon, but if we didn't wish to die by starving to death, we could drink some of the poison he was leaving with us.
I begged Giant Despair to set us free. This made him so angry that he opened the prison door and rushed at us with his stick. I think he would have killed us, but he fell down in a fainting fit and lay on the ground unable to move.
Giant Despair's wife was watching from the shadows. She slammed the door shut, and the evil grin on her face faded quickly. "You stupid fellow," she shouted at him. "You've lost the use of your hands again. I told you not to stay out in the sun too long. I hope you're not going to let these two escape. It wouldn't be the first time pilgrims have got away." Then she hurried forward and turned the key firmly in the lock.
"What shall we do?" I whispered to Hopeful, as soon as we were alone. "I'd rather die than be here. Isn't it better to drink the poison than starve to death slowly?"
"I know it's terrible in this place, but the King wouldn't want us to take our own lives," Hopeful said. "If the giant has another fit, he may forget to lock the door. Then we can then slip out before his strength comes back."
CHAPTER 32
The Key of Promise
That evening, Giant Despair came down to the dungeon again. He was probably hoping to find us both dead, but although we were weak, we were still alive and hadn't touched a drop of the poison.
Giant Despair frightened me so much with his terrible looks and words that I hid in a corner of the dungeon. When at last I looked round, the giant was gone and only Hopeful was with me.
"I think we'll have to take the poison," I said. "I can't bear it here in this stinking place any longer, and we're never going to escape."
"You mustn't talk like that," Hopeful told me confidently. "You're forgetting all the things that have happened since you left the City of Destruction. You weren't afraid to fight the Destroyer, and the King helped you conquer him. You passed safely through the Dark Valley, and even in Vanity Fair the King didn't let the people kill you. Let's trust in him and wait a little longer."
The giant came again later that day, and when he saw we'd still not taken the poison, he told us we would soon wish we'd never been born. When we heard the giant tell his wife about it, she sounded even more angry than her husband.
"Take them into the courtyard tomorrow," she screeched. "Let them see the bones. Then perhaps they'll drink the poison. If they don't, put their eyes out so they'll never be able to see again, and then let them wander in the valley for ever."
The giant told Diffidence that this sounded like a good plan, and in the morning he dragged us out of the dungeon and led us into the courtyard that was scattered with bones. I had to turn away, and the giant seemed pleased to see how frightened we looked.
"These are the bones of pilgrims," he told us. "They came into my meadow, as you did, and I brought them to my castle. In a few days your bones will lie here in Doubting Castle with the rest."
Then he beat us with his stick, and we lay all day in our dark prison wondering whether our troubles would ever end.
That night, Despair came down with his wife to peer at us through the bars of the dungeon. Hopeful sat with me in the far corner to get as far away from them as possible.
"I just don't understand why they're so brave," Despair said to his wife.
"Perhaps," Diffidence replied, "they think someone is coming to save them. Or maybe they have a key hidden in their clothes to open the doors when we're not watching. You've lost prisoners in that way many times."
The giant looked at his wife and grunted. "If they had one of the King's keys, they'd have used it by now. But if it keeps you happy, wife, I'll search them in the morning. Now leave me alone. I'm going upstairs to sleep."
Neither I nor Hopeful could sleep that night, and after talking together for some time, we called to the King's Son, begging him to help us. Of course, we should have done it long ago, but we were too ashamed that we'd taken the wrong path, to ask for help. We were prisoners in Doubting Castle, and I think giant Despair's name had affected us, and so had his wife's, Diffidence. Her name meant Reserved or Timid, and we'd certainly been too timid to approach the King -- until now.
"The King's Son will hear us," I said confidently, "even though we can't see him."
I had a sudden thought. It was as though the King's Son was whispering to me, reminding me of something Giant Despair's wife had said.
"Oh, how stupid I've been," I said quietly. "We've stayed here all these days in this dark, stinking dungeon, when we could have got away. When I was leaving the House Beautiful, Discretion gave me a Key called Promise. I remember seeing these words on it: 'I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.' If we tell the King's Son that we're sorry we took the wrong path, I believe this Key will open every one of the giant's locks and take us out of this prison into the light."
We knelt on the filthy floor and begged the King's Son to forgive us for going the wrong way, then reminded him of his promise on the key, knowing it was for us.
Hopeful sprang up. "Let's try it," he said in excitement. "It's not morning yet, and Despair and his wife may still be asleep."
We felt carefully in the darkness until we found the lock of the dungeon door. I pushed the Key of Promise into it, and it turned easily. With our hearts beating fast we stepped over the threshold and listened.
A dim light shone down the passage, and we soon found our way to the gate leading into the courtyard. I slid the Key into the lock, not daring even to whisper.
The Key turned quietly and the gate swung open. I slipped through and Hopeful followed. The moon was shining brightly, and only one more door stood between us and the green meadow.
But this last lock was stiff, and although I tried with all my might, I was unable to turn the Key.
"Oh, do try harder," Hopeful cried. "We have to escape before the giant hears us."
"I am trying," I insisted, "but the lock's much too stiff."
Hopeful put his hands with mine on the Key of Promise. "I can feel it turning," he said, and in another moment the lock came undone.
We pushed the gate open quickly, but the rusty hinges made such a noise that Giant Despair came running down the stairs. I thought he'd catch us, but just as he reached the doorway his large stick dropped from his hands, and he fell heavily to the ground.
The sun was just coming up over the horizon as we ran towards the stile that led back to the Way of the King.
CHAPTER 33
The Delectable Mountains
We jumped over the stile and sat down by the roadside, out of breath from running. Somehow, I felt sure Despair wouldn't follow us now we were no longer on his land.
"Well, I'm glad Discretion gave me the Key," I said, as soon as I thought we were safe.
Hopeful agreed. "I don't think we could have escaped without it."
I nodded. "When I held that Key, I thought of all the promises the King's Son has made. But it's a pity pilgrims don't know where that path leads. Maybe we should write a warning on a stone and set it up near the stile."
"We can try," Hopeful suggested. "First, we need to find a stone."
We looked up and down and soon found a large, smooth rock lying in the grass.
"This will do," I said. "You mark out the letters, and then we'll push it into the right place."
Hopeful found a large iron nail by the stile, and began to carve some words on the stone. He took some time over his task, but finished it at last.
Over this stile is the way to Doubting Castle,
which is kept by Giant Despair.
He despises the King of the Celestial Country,
and seeks to destroy his holy pilgrims.
The Key of Promise opens all the giant's locks.
We pushed the stone across the grass, and placed it close to the stile so that no one could pass by without seeing it.
"It will be sure to save someone," Hopeful said. "I'm glad you thought of it."
As we walked on, slowly and painfully, we came to a place where a range of hills rose in front of us.
Hopeful pointed ahead. "I wonder what the view is like from the top. It looks as though the Way of the King goes right over these hills."
The hills looked familiar, and then I realised why. "I saw them in the distance when I was at the House Beautiful," I told Hopeful, "but I can't remember what they're called. I think there are some shepherds there who help pilgrims."
As we came close to the mountains, we found gardens and orchards, and vineyards and fountains of water, so we took the opportunity to wash ourselves clean of the filth and smell from the giant's dungeon. Then we ate some of the fruit and drank clear, fresh water from a spring.
The shepherds weren't far above the path, and four of them hurried down to greet us. "Welcome to the Delectable Mountains," they said. "This country is called Immanuel's Land. It belongs to the King's Son, and you can sometimes see the King's City from the top of these hills."