Disclaimer: I do not own the Chronicles of Narnia. I don't even own Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, or Eustace. However, I do own the two loony creatures in this chapter, the ticket vendor and the farmer.
Author's Note: My apologies for any OOC. I absolutely HATE it, and can pick it up from a mile away on other people's stories, but unfortunately mine slip by me.
Come on, Pete. You seriously cannot miss Lucy's fourteenth birthday again! The young man dashed down the sidewalk towards the train station, his suitcase flying wildly behind him. His blond hair caught the wind and flew into his eyes continually.
"When's the next train?" He asked breathlessly, coming to an abrupt stop in front of the station window. The older man looked up and adjusted his glasses.
"Just a minute. Let me see." He opened the desk drawer just in front of him and slowly searched through the papers. "You must be in quite a hurry."
"Yes. I'm going to be late for my sister's birthday." Can't you go any slower? Peter's thoughts grew sarcastic. I haven't got all day. I've still got errands to run once I get home.
"Well, well. You will just have to buy her a nice present." The ticket vendor grinned cheerfully. "Sisters are usually very forgiving, you know." Peter rolled his eyes.
"Yes, yes, I know. Can we get on with it?"
"You've got no call to be rude." He searched through the files again. "I'm sorry, young man. You just missed the last train for today."
"What!" Peter shouted. "You took that long to tell me that?" He reached for his suitcase and ran out of the train station. Now what was he going to do?
Hardly stopping to think, the young man began running down the street. The sun grew higher and hotter as he left the city. By the time he reached a creek on the side of the road, Peter's face and shirt were coated with sweat and his head ached. He knelt down and splashed his face in the water.
"You alright, young man?" In a driveway that Peter hadn't noticed, an old farmer sat in his pickup truck.
"Yes, sir." Peter stood and grabbed his suitcase. "You wouldn't happen to know of some transportation around here, would you?"
"Depends." The farmer hooked his thumbs into his suspenders. "Where ya goin'?"
"Finchley."
"Then hop in. I'm goin' to the market there, myself."
"Thank you so much." Peter walked around the truck and settled in the passenger seat. "You just saved me a lot of trouble."
"What in the world were ya goin' to do, run the whole way?" The old man drawled. "You woulda killed yourself." Peter shrugged.
"I was going to try. I missed the last train, and I am already going to be very late."
"Hold on, then." The farmer hollered. "Let's get a'movin'."
The young man held on for dear life as the rickety old truck bounced down the dirt roads.
"Peter!" Lucy dashed out of the house and wrapped her arms around his waist. She was regally dressed in a long green gown, with a garland of flowers on her head. "You made it!"
"Finally." Edmund came up behind Lucy, more slowly. "What took you so long?"
"I missed the last train." Peter hugged his siblings breathlessly.
"Better late than never." His little brother grinned. "At least you're not bleeding this time."
"I know." He answered. Even he had thought that would be one of the worst birthdays ever- your older brother arriving on a stretcher, bleeding. He shook his head. Best to forget about that birthday. "Where are Su and Mum?"
"Everyone's inside." Lucy finally let go of her older brother. "Hurry and change. We've been waiting for you."
Ten minutes later, Peter walked down the stairs to the parlor, dressed in the elaborate clothing Lucy had planned. She had insisted on having the theme be royalty. Dukes and duchesses, kings and princesses—all filled the room.
Susan glided over to meet her brother at the foot of the stairs.
"I'm glad you made it," she whispered, catching him in an embrace. She turned to their guests. "May I present, High King Peter the Magnificent!" Susan introduced him with a low mock bow. Peter just laughed.
It was so good to be a king again, if only in play.
Eustace came over to greet his cousin. He bowed, in the good old Narnian fashion.
"How are you, cousin?" Peter put his hands on his cousin's shoulders. This was the first time he had seen Eustace since before his adventure on the Dawn Treader.
"You have changed, Eustace." The younger boy grinned bashfully.
"For the better, I hope?"
"Most definitely." Eustace looked up and down his older cousin.
"So this is how you look in Narnia."
"Not exactly." Peter smiled. "But this is a good imitation." Lucy came up behind her older brother, and playfully tickled him. "Ouch! You, young lady, haven't grown a bit!"
"And I never want to." She teased him. "Not like you."
"Like me? What is wrong with me?" He pretended to be offended. "I'm a man now."
"A man?" She giggled. "You mean you're a great, big boy pretending to be a man."
"I declare, if we were in Narnia, I would…"
"Would what?" She laughed.
"Would get you!" He lunged for her. She squealed and leaped out of his grasp. Within moments, he was chasing her down the entire length of the parlor. When he finally cornered her beneath the piano, he tickled her unmercifully.
This was almost as good as Narnia, he thought.
"Now, will you forgive me for being late?" He pulled her out from under the piano, rescuing the crushed garland of flowers.
"Depends." Her eyes twinkled. "Did you forget my present, too?"
"Oh, no!" Peter slapped himself on the forehead. "I knew I forgot something!"
ConCrit is more than welcome! Hint, Hint.