A/N: OK, so I know that this is a storyline that has been done over and over. Sorry about that. I just wanted to write my own take on it. I'm not really sure what this story is going to be like - I'm not going to stick closely to either book or movieverse. I'll probably be somewhere in between. Also, this is the first story I've ever posted on here, so I'm not entirely sure how everything works. Just thought I'd let you know! Anyway, I hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Narnia.
"Look after them, won't you? They look up to you, Maisie, they listen to you. Keep them safe. All of you, stay safe."
Maisie Somerville's eyes are closed. Her mother's words echo around her head, intertwining with the beat of the rails beneath them. Her hands are clasped - her head is leant against the window.
She opens her anxious eyes and traces them over her siblings. Philip, the youngest, is curled next to her, looking out the window and singing so softly that he can barely be heard. His teddy bear is held tight to his chest, and he bears an anxious expression that she has never seen on him before. He is, however, the cheeriest of the lot - Michael, only a year younger than Maisie, is sitting opposite her, only just managing to stay awake. And Annie - the middle child - is staring at the floor, barely moving. She hasn't spoken since saying goodbye to their mother, and she looks paler and thinner than ever.
Michael yawns widely, trying to cover it with one hand.
"Did you sleep at all last night, Michael?" Maisie asks despairingly.
Her brother blinks at her, hardly able to focus on her face. "I think I fell asleep at- at-" He yawns again. "- at four."
Maisie groans. "You really should try to sleep, Mike. You can't arrive to the Professor's dead on your feet. Sleep now, if you're that tired. It's a long journey, you've time."
Michael straightens and shakes himself off. "No, I'm all right."
"I couldn't sleep either, Maisie." Philip says from beside her. She turns to him, and he looks so small and scared that she immediately softens and puts an arm around him.
The small boy burrows in and peers up at her from under her arm. "I was worried. What if they aren't nice?"
"Who?"
"The Pevensies." He replies. "And the Professor, and Mrs Macready."
"They will be." Michael says reassuringly.
"But what if they're not?"
All eyes turn to Annie. Previously unseen tears have pooled in her eyes, and her lips are trembling.
Michael sighs and pulls Annie towards him, wrapping her in his coat.
"Then I'll protect you. Promise. Same goes for you, Phil." He makes a face at his younger brother, who laughs. Annie too seems reassured, snuggling into his shoulder.
Then Michael looks straight at Maisie. The message in his eyes is clear - we've got to look after them.
She nods and smiles back, the churning in her stomach slightly abating.
Slam. The door to the compartment bangs open and the little family look up, surprised.
In the doorway stands a boy. He blinks at them for a second before smiling (a little nervously) and apologising. He is tall - about Maisie's age, maybe a little older. He has blonde hair and blue eyes, and wears a telltale name tag around his neck.
Maisie's adolescent mind chooses this moment to whisper that he's rather handsome, too.
"Do you mind if we sit in here?" The boy asks, his tone still somewhat apologetic. "Everywhere else is full."
"Of course." Maisie replies. "How many of you are there?"
"Four." The boy promptly says. "Myself, my brother and my two sisters."
Michael nods. "There should be space."
"Thank you-" The boy is interrupted by a girl appearing beside him.
"Oh, hello!" She exclaims.
The girl is impossibly pretty. Opposite her, Maisie can see Michael suddenly sitting up very straight.
"I see you found a compartment, Peter." The girl smiles at the blonde boy.
Peter. So that's his name.
"Yes, there's plenty of room in here!" Michael tells the girl. Maisie resists the urge to roll her eyes.
She charmingly thanks him and steps in, leaning up to put her suitcase above Annie's head. Another girl enters behind the first - she is younger, around Philip's age. She looks anxiously up at her brother, who is still standing at the door. He gestures for her to sit down, before disappearing into the corridor.
"Get off me!"
With enormous dramatic effect, a dark-haired boy clatters into the compartment. He pauses to survey the Somervilles, before huffing and flinging himself into the seat beside Annie. She flinches away slightly, and he glares at her, snarling, "What?"
Michael protectively pulls Annie closer.
"Ed!" The older girl exclaims, just as Peter reenters the compartment. With a weary sigh, he shoots the dark-haired boy a look, and then turns around to slide the compartment door shut. He puts the remaining suitcases into the overhead luggage rack and flops into the corner seat.
"Behave." The older girl hisses at the boy, before sitting down beside him, arms folded.
There is silence.
"So, what are your names?" Maisie asks quickly, eyes darting around the compartment.
The blonde boy seems glad of this. "I'm Peter, Peter Pevensie. And-"
"Did you say Pevensie?" Michael suddenly interrupts.
Peter frowns. "Yes…"
Michael begins to smile. "So you're other family coming to stay at Professor Kirke's!"
Peter looks at Maisie. "You're the Somervilles?"
She grins at him and nods. "Sorry, carry on. My brother interrupted you."
Peter grins back. "Oh - yes - this is Lucy-" He points to the girl beside him. "- and Edmund-" He gestures to the sulky boy across the compartment. " - and-"
"Honestly, Peter, I can introduce myself." The older girl leans forward and smiles. "I'm Susan."
"Well, I'm Michael." Michael quickly announces. "This is Annie, and Philip, and my other sister, Maisie."
"I can introduce myself too, you know." Maisie reminds him. She turns to the others. "It's nice to meet you all."
"You too." Susan reaches out and shakes Maisie's hand.
"Delighted." Edmund mumbles, his tone definitely sarcastic.
"Ed!" Peter admonishes.
Edmund sighs and rolls his eyes, sliding down in his seat.
"He's not always like this." Peter says, quietly. Apologetic, yet again.
No-one quite seems to know what to say. Maisie clears her throat and breaks the silence again, asking another question.
"Where are you from?"
"Finchley." Susan replies, eyes still trained on her younger brother. "What about you?"
"Harrow." Maisie says.
The older Pevensies nod politely. Edmund is silent, and Lucy - Maisie searches Lucy out. She's sitting wedged between Philip and Peter, a solemn look on her face, sneaking peeks at the former.
"How old are you all?" Susan asks, bravely trying to keep the conversation going.
"I'm fifteen." Maisie says. "Michael is fourteen, Annie is twelve and Philip is ten."
"I'm fifteen too." Peter quietly says, looking straight at her.
"I'm thirteen." Susan adds. "Edmund is twelve too, and Lu is nine."
Hearing this, Philip suddenly sits up and wriggles Maisie's arm from his shoulder, turning to the young girl beside him.
"Do you know all of your times tables yet?" He asks her, his tone indicating that this is a matter of importance.
Lucy blinks, before replying in a surprisingly confident voice, "All of them."
"Really?" Philip seems impressed by this fact. "What about your twelves? Do you know them?"
Lucy instantly launches into her twelve times table. "12, 24, 36, 48-"
Edmund scowls. "Are they going to do that the whole way?"
Lucy turns around and scowls. "Shut up, Edmund. Just because you always get stuck on the nines.
Maisie is surprised and delighted to hear Annie laugh, but when Edmund turns a ferocious glare on her, she stops.
60, 72, 84, 96, 108, 120, 132, 144." Lucy finishes, much quieter, leaning in a conspiratory fashion towards Philip. They both giggle.
Maisie fixes a stony look on Edmund that makes him flush bright red and sink even further down in his seat.
Good girl, Maisie can hear her mother say. Good girl.
By lunchtime, Philip and Lucy have managed to form a friendship based off of their knowledge of school subjects. Once they have finished with mathematics, they move on to challenging each other's literacy skills. They sit together, happily sampling each other's sandwiches and debating whether 'determination' is spelt with one 't' or two.
Maisie is quietly relieved that the four Pevensies have turned out to be nowhere near as nightmarish as she'd feared they might be. The older two seem to be easy to get along with - and Edmund isn't too bad when he isn't talking. When he opens his mouth, the situation changes somewhat - but, nevertheless, she likes them all.
Eventually, Michael gives in and falls asleep - resting his folded arms on the window ledge and burying his exhausted head in them. Susan takes out a book - a detective novel - and sits frowning over it for the remainder of the journey. It's remarkable that, with her forehead creased and her eyebrows pushed together, she still manages to look nice. Edmund and Annie sit glaring at each other, in stark contrast to Philip and Lucy, who continue to chatter about anything that comes into their heads. Peter is silent and still - so quiet that Maisie almost thinks that he is asleep. But no - he's looking out the window at the land moving by.
Maisie turns around and does the same. The Somervilles rarely travel - Maisie has only left London twice in her life - so the countryside is a rare sight. Endless green fields flash by - forests, rivers - at one point, the train crosses a huge viaduct. Philip and Lucy rush to the corridor to lean out of the window, and after a moment's hesitation, Maisie follows them.
She reaches one hand out in front of her as far as she can, and looks down the length of the train to see dozens of other children doing the same. With the wind in her hair, the fresh air cold in her lungs and the valley stretching beneath her, Maisie feels suddenly hopeful. All her fears about leaving home and going to an unfamiliar place disappear, like shadows do when you turn on the light.
Maybe this will be an adventure.