Alice Baker hated the wars, she hated Germany for taking her father and brother away from her, she hated the bombs that made her have to leave, and she hated that she had to leave her mother all alone in London. She was sitting alone on the wooden station waiting for a Mrs. Macready to come and take her to where she would be staying until it was safe for her to go home.
She fiddled with her tag to make sure it said the correct name of the station and looked back at the sign, 'Coombe Halt'. Sighing when she saw they were the same she stood again and her boredom was cut off by the sound of another train.
"Is someone else staying with the Professor?" Alice asked herself, she hoped his home was big enough for all of them. Soon the train stopped and four children got off.
The oldest looked to be sixteen and had blonde hair. He was helping the youngest girl off the train and she looked maybe nine or ten and held onto a stuffed puppy. Alice smiled at her and the little girl hid her face into her brother's side but soon peeked out to look at her.
The next two were an older girl and a boy perhaps a year older than her. They were holding some of the luggage and looked around.
"Are you waiting for Mrs. Macready as well?" The oldest girl asked, sounding smart.
"Yes, though I've been waiting for more than an hour." Alice answered her back, her suspicions had been answered with the girls question. They were to be living together.
"Perhaps we've been improperly labeled." The younger boy said looking at his tag.
"Even her Ed?" The blonde boy asked him looking at his brother.
"It's all right, I thought the same thing. I probably checked my tag three times." Alice said quickly not wanting an argument, she hated when people argued, her mother had always told her foolish fights were wastes of good energy.
"I'm Peter Pevensie." The oldest told her holding out his hand, she took it and shook it.
"My name is Alice Baker, and who is this sweetheart?" She asked the little girl next to him who was still shyly hiding behind him.
"Lucy." She whispered quietly and hid her face just a bit more.
"Well Lucy I like your puppy, he seems very nice, what's his name?" Alice asked her, she had always watched her cousins when her family visited her Aunt Ida in Brighton, and complimenting their toys always got them to smile. It seemed to work on Lucy too.
"His name is Alfred, and he's very happy to meet you." Lucy said with a smile and though she still held onto Peter's coat she came out from behind her brother a bit more.
Alice stood up and smiled at the other two siblings, the oldest girl smiling at her while the other boy just rolled his eyes while looking at the road.
"My name is Susan, and the rude one over there is Edmund." Susan explained as she looked pointedly at her brother who looked back over with an annoyed look on his face and looked Alice over before turning back to look at the road.
"Someone's coming." He said to everyone and went to grab his suitcase, and everyone else did the same but the car that came only passed the station and went on.
"The Professor knew we were coming." Susan said to Peter and Edmund once again looked at his tag.
"I still think it's the Label." Edmund said again and Alice couldn't help but agree with him, but soon enough a horse drawn wagon was trailing its way up the road and stopped in front of them. The driver was a severe looking woman with a tight bun and a strict looking face.
"Mrs. Macready?" Peter asked, being the first one to speak.
"I'm afraid so." She answered back, and a small part of Alice laughed inside at her sarcasm, though she wouldn't dare show it on her face and kept her face very blank.
"Is this it, haven't you brought anything else?" She asked the five of them, and they all knew it seemed liked very little. She probably expected one of them to have a trunk at the very least.
"No Ma'm, it's just us." He answered back, and Alice nodded for herself.
"Small favors." And she nodded for them to get in, the five grabbed the suitcases and made their way to the back of the wagon and soon they were moving.
"So where are you all from?" Alice asked them, hoping to make polite conversation and get to know them better so living with one another wouldn't be so strange.
"Finchley." Susan answered politely, "and you?"
"Central London." Alice answered, fiddling with a loose strand on her coat.
"Wow so you were right in the middle of the bombings?" Edmund asked her leaning in a bit.
"Ed, I don't think that's something any of us want to talk about." Peter told his younger brother, and he was very right. The raids terrified Alice, ever since they began and since her school had been hit she never wanted to hear another siren in her life.
"Do you like any books?" Susan asked leading to another topic, hopefully brightening the somber mood.
"Well, I like the book Alice in wonderland." She answered with a small smile.
"Well that figures." Edmund said with a laugh but Peter slapped his arm telling him not to be rude.
"No he's right, it's why I picked the book up in the first place, but then when I read it I really liked it a lot. My favorite character was the March Hare." She said smiling.
"And how old are you?" Lucy asked her holding her puppy close.
"I'm twelve." She said, thinking about her birthday back in December.
"So is Edmund!" Lucy said with the delight only someone here age could have at such a simple topic.
"Really? When's your birthday?" Alice asked, liking the fact that someone here was her own age.
"February 11th." He answered her and she smiled big.
"I'm older than you are then, I was born December 21!" She said with a laugh and he looked at her with a glare.
"That doesn't count, we're still the same age." Edmund told her.
"Oh whatever, I just thought it was funny." She said trying to avoid the argument but didn't need help with that when they saw the Professor's house, no it was more like a mansion.
There were stain glass windows and what looked like towers.
"It's like a castle." Lucy said, and Alice nodded with a still shocked look on her face.
They soon stopped and were led to the front door and Mrs. Macready let them in.
"Now the Professor isn't accustomed to having children in his home, and as such there are a few rules you'll be needing to follow." She said in her thick northern accent. "There will be no shouting, no running, no improper use of the dumbwaiter, and no touching of the historical artifacts!" She told the last one specifically to Susan as she was about to touch a statue.
At that point Lucy and Alice placed there free hands at their sides to keep from temptation.
"And above all there shall be no disturbing of the professor."
Soon enough the Pevensies an Alice were led to their rooms. Alice would share a room with Lucy and Susan while Edmund and Peter would share another.
Since there were only two beds Alice said she might go ask if there was another room to use so everyone could have their own bed but Susan told her it was fine and got Lucy ready for bed around seven. Peter came in later when Lucy was lying down to say good night and the radio soon turned from music to relays of what was happening in with the raids.
Susan saw how uncomfortable the news seemed to make both Alice and Lucy so she turned it off.
"These sheets feel scratchy." Lucy said as she wiggled a bit in them and Alice had to agree, they seemed to be made of wool.
"Wars don't last forever Lu, we'll be home soon." Susan told her sister and Alice nodded in agreement.
"If there's still a home to go back to." Edmund said as he walked into the room, Alice gave him a hard look and he soon stuck his tongue out at her in retaliation, but not wanting to start a fight she took a breath and turned to listen to Peter.
"You saw outside, this place is huge! We can do whatever we want. Tomorrow is going to be great." After ruffling her hair and giving her a kiss goodnight Peter left the room and Edmund told his sisters goodnight as well but making a show not to say it to Alice.
"Susan your brother is a prat." Alice said as she went to put on her nightgown, all Susan did was sigh, and smile sadly.
"He wasn't always like that. It's just, since dad left Peter's been trying to be the 'man of the house' and Edmund hates it. He just misses the way everything was before the war." Susan told her as she changed as well. "At least you aren't pushing him into argue with you."
"My mother always told me 'foolish fights are the waste of good energy' so I try to avoid them as much as possible. I like to be happy, not broody." Alice told Susan with a laugh and eye roll as she got into her bed while Susan went and grabbed a book she had brought with her to read before she went to bed.
"Do you really think we can do whatever we want here?" She asked in a sleepy voice, turning to face her sister.
"Of course Lucy." Susan told her before both Lucy and Alice dozed off to sleep.