The fleeing children fail to notice that the sleigh has a full set of bells on-or else don't stop to think that Jadis would not have hung bells on her sleigh while on the hunt. On the way, a sleigh notices them and gives chase, forcing them to hide. The only sour note is that the beaver notices that Edmund is 'enjoying the scenery'-specifically the same two mountain peaks that he was earlier gazing. The beaver has a wife (Dawn French), who acts like a typical good-natured scold-until she sees the four Pevensie children, and bows in obeisance to them as if they are somehow important and deserving of a high honor, which puzzles the children. The beaver leads them all to his house, which he has built in a dam in the frozen river. The beaver gives Lucy back her handkerchief, says that Tumnus gave it to him just before his arrest, and encourages them all to follow him 'further in,' and not to talk anymore until they are out of the woods-because some of the trees might actually inform the Witch against them. Just then a small robin gives them an unmistakeable signal to follow, and leads them out into the open, where they meet a beaver (Ray Winstone) who can actually talk to them. It is signed with the paw-print of a wolf, and the name Maugrim, identified as 'captain of the secret police.' Susan wants them to return home, but Lucy insists on staying, to try to help Tumnus. The other children find hiding places (Edmund pushing Lucy out of a closet after declaring that he was there first)-but Lucy finds the strangest hiding place of all-an unused room containing one 'sheeted' piece of furniture that turns out to be a magnificent wooden armoire, or wardrobe, with an intricate carving of a tree on one of its doors. Lucy proposes a game of hide-and-seek, and Peter, hoping to humor her, agrees to be 'It' and starts counting up to 100. (The bulletins describing yet more bombing runs by the Luftwaffe don't help their mood any.) The following day is no better, because it's raining and forces the children to stay indoors. Edmund Pevensie is, quite simply, a 'rotten kid', Lucy is homesick, Peter feels the weight of trying to be the Man of the Family while their father is fighting the war, and Susan is constantly 'trying to be smart' and thus often bumps heads with Peter. The children's first day on the estate reveals the tensions among the siblings. The chief rule (other than 'no touching of the historical artifacts') is: Do not disturb the Professor.
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