Chapter 1

"I don't know dear, it's a bit pricey," said Mrs. Scrubb with a sign, glancing over the expanse of the study.

"Its only for the summer mum, and the Pevensies told me that they really liked it here, they said it was quiet and peaceful," said Eustace.

"It would be nice to get away from the city noise," said Mr. Scrubb.

If you were, for some odd reason or another, passing through the front yard of the old mansion that once belonged to a man by the name of Digory Kirke, and happened to look into the window of the study, you would find a young teen-age boy standing in front of his parents, wringing his hands like a nervous old lady and sweating enough to fill an entire lake. You would probably wonder what that boy was up to, but unfortunately if you were to walk right in and ask, then they would know that you were spying on them and most likely call the police. So, why don't I just tell you.

Eustace Clarence Scrubb is not like other boys; he does not like playing base ball with his friends or engaging in anything physical for that matter. He has a secret. A few years ago, his cousins, Lucy and Edmund came to stay at his home for a while until they could be reunited with their family. And one day, when they were all fighting in Edmund's room (as they had done so many times before) something very odd happened. The painting of an ocean that hung on the wall started to leak real water. More and more started flow out of the painting, until is filled the room up to the ceiling, but when they got to the top, in stead of hitting the ceiling and drowning the ceiling completely disappeared and they were suddenly outside, in a real ocean. They had found a place called Narnia. This place was not new to Lucy and Edmund, but Eustace still had much to learn about the charms and trouble that this land held within.

That trip had changed Eustace's life forever. Not a day went by that he didn't think about Narnia, but eventually he had to leave, and he could not find his way back since. But, one afternoon, when Eustace came home from school with a bruised eye and dirt all over his cloths after being bullied by a group of kids in his class, and feeling so miserable that he looked like he was going to cry, Lucy broke down and told him about a wardrobe that sat in a spare room in an old house that was no longer occupied in the country where she use to live (she never could stand to see anyone in pain, and was forever trying to mend situations on her own). She told him that the wardrobe may be able to take him back to that place, back to where he felt strong and powerful (which was her nice way of saying that he was weak in this world).

Lucy and Edmund were no longer with them, but that had always stuck, he now knew that there was a chance that he could get back, so when his parents asked him where he would like them to stay for the summer, he suggested the country and was even kind enough to help his parents pick out the house.

"He's right dear, its only for the summer," said Mr. Srubb as he wrapped his arm around his wife waist. "We'll take it."

"Very good sir, let me just get the paper work, and you'll be all set and really to go," said the land lord with a huge smile on his face. "I haven't been able to rent this house out for quite some time now. Not to many people looking for a big house in the country these days, no sir, not when they could have a small one in the city."

Mr. Scrubb just smile, pretending that he heard one thing he just said.

"Mind if I go look around a bit?" said Eustace.

"Sure dear, just be back in time for lunch," said Mrs. Scrubb.

Eustace nodded and headed for the door. But, once in the hall, he wasn't exactly sure which direction to go to find the spear room that held the infamous wardrobe. There were so many of them in the house that now he didn't know if he could even find the room in time for lunch, let alone have time to find his way all the way back to the study. Finley he decided that just standing there doing nothing wasn't going to do him any good so he made a wild guess and turned towards the stairs, hoping to stumble across it.

He didn't need the land lord to tell him to know that the house had not been lived in for a while; there was at least an inch of dust covering every object in the house, and cobwebs hanging from the drapes and the corners of the walls.

Taking the stairs two at a time he came upon the second floor quickly and paused in front of a big door at the top of the landing. Slowly reaching out his hand he turned the knob and gave the door a gentle push causing it to make a high pitched creaking sound as it opened. Peaking his head in, he found what must have been a private study that belonged to the previous owner, kind of like the one downstairs only a little smaller and without any windows.

Hearing voices downstairs made him snap out of it and remember that he was on a time crunch, so, closing the door, he turned to his left and started down the corridor, opening every door he passed as he went and peaking his head in to see what occupied the room, but all he found were empty bedrooms and the occasional room that held nothing at all.

Sucking in a deep breath and letting it back out on a whoosh as he came to the end of the hall, he turned to the right and started down the next one. On and on he went, opening every door he could find and turning down every corridor he came upon, and looking inside every room, but always coming up empty handed, his determination weakening every time he did. He could see the sun rising higher and higher outside the windows at the end of every corridor, and knew that he would have to give up his search soon to go meet his parents and almost gave up right then to do so, but when he made one more turn he found himself standing in a hallway that didn't continue. It was a dead end.

This is it. He thought. It has to be here, there's no where else to look. That is, unless its gone, said a little voice at the back of his mind.

Reaching out and turning the knob to the first door, he held his breath and pushed it open. Empty. He walked over to the one beside it holding his breath again. Empty... again. Two more times he did this, his heart racing know, telling himself that it was gone, and this had all been for nothing. Then he reached the middle door, no longer bothering to hold his breath, he just flung the door open and took a quick look inside and then slammed it close, his mind slow to register what he had just saw. The wardrobe. He quickly reopened the door and ran inside. There it was, the wardrobe, he had dreamed of this moment ever since that day Lucy had told him that it might be able to take him back to Narnia.

It was much bigger then he had imagined it, and like everything else in the house it was covered in a layer of dust. There was a big white tarp lying beside it that he figured had covered it at one point to prevent the dust build-up, but seemed to have been removed a long time ago and never put back.

Taking a few steps forward he reached out to turn the knob to the wardrobe, his hands stiff from from opening so many doors, but he hardly noticed it as he turned this last knob and flung the door open. This door didn't make any noise when it opened like the other ones, it was a silent as the dead. Inside, there were dozens of fur coats hanging on hangers that made it impossible to see the back of the wardrobe. Pushing them aside he looked past them only to find more of them. Taking one step into the wardrobe he reached out his other hand to push those ones out of his way, only to find another set of coats blocking his path. So, taking another step forward he pushed through even farther, now standing fulling in the wardrobe, his heart racing even faster.

Instead of the air smelling musty or thick from being left alone for so long, like one would think that an old wardrobe would smell when standing inside it, the farther he went, the fresher the air smelled.

Almost jumping up and down with his giddiness, he started going a bit faster through the jungle of coats until he could see a small branch sticking through one layer and he stopped. He could have just sat there and cried if he wasn't so desperate to break all of the way through to his destination. Charging through the last few layers of coats, the branches getting denser and denser, he could now feel a warm, slight breeze on his face. Then, the coats disappeared and he broke through to find himself standing in the middle of a forest. Nothing but trees and shrubbery could be seen from where he stood except for a chipping black lamp post.