The_Complete_Chronicles_of_Narnia_(volumes_1-7,_in_order_of_publication)

false alarms, for what seemed hours and hours, the clock ticked on and one big fly - high
up and far out of reach buzzed against the window. It was one of those houses that get
very quiet and dull in the afternoon and always seem to smell of mutton.
During his long watching and waiting one small thing happened which I shall have to
mention because something important came of it later on. A lady called with some grapes
for Digory's Mother; and as the dining-room door was open, Digory couldn't help
overhearing Aunt Letty and the lady as they talked in the hall.
"What lovely grapes!" came Aunt Letty's voice. "I'm sure if anything could do her good
these would. But poor, dear little Mabel! I'm afraid it would need fruit from the land of
youth to help her now. Nothing in this world will do much." Then they both lowered their
voices and said a lot more that he could not hear.
If he had heard that bit about the land of youth a few days ago he would have thought
Aunt Letty was just talking without meaning anything in particular, the way grown-ups
do, and it wouldn't have interested him. He almost thought so now. But suddenly it
flashed upon his mind that he now knew (even if Aunt Letty didn't) that there really were
other worlds and that he himself had been in one of them. At that rate there might be a
real Land of Youth somewhere. There might be almost anything. There might be fruit in
some other world that would really cure his mother! And oh, oh - Well, you know how it
feels if you begin hoping for something that you want desperately badly; you almost fight
against the hope because it is too good to be true; you've been disappointed so often
before. That was how Digory felt. But it was no good trying to throttle this hope. It might
really, really, it just might be true. So many odd things had happened already. And he had
the magic rings. There must be worlds you could get to through every pool in the wood.
He could hunt through them all. And then Mother well again. Everything right again. He
forgot all about watching for the Witch. His hand was already going into the pocket
where he kept the yellow ring, when all at once he herd a sound of galloping.
"Hullo! What's that?" thought Digory. "Fire-engine? I wonder what house is on fire.
Great Scott, it's coming here. Why, it's Her."
I needn't tell you who he meant by Her.
First came the hansom. There was no one in the driver's seat. On the roof - not sitting, but
standing on the roof swaying with superb balance as it came at full speed round the
corner with one wheel in the air - was Jadis the Queen of Queens and the Terror of
Charn. Her teeth were bared, her eyes shone like fire, and her long hair streamed out
behind her like a comet's tail. She was flogging the horse without mercy. Its nostrils were
wide and red and its sides were spotted with foam. It galloped madly up to the front door,
missing the lamp-post by an inch, and then reared up on its hind legs. The hansom
crashed into the lamp-post and shattered into several pieces. The Witch, with a
magnificent jump, had sprung clear just in time and landed on the horse's back. She
settled herself astride and leaned forward, whispering things in its ear. They must have
been things meant not to quiet it but to madden it. It was on its hind legs again in a