It was a rather humid night in August, not unusual in England but it was far from pleasant and Peter Pevensie found himself lying on the top of his duvet trying desperately to get an hour of sleep before he was required to wake up at 7 the next morning in order to make sure that his younger siblings, Edmund and Lucy, were ready and up for school as himself and Susan however, his 16 year old sister of whom was younger by a year, were not required to attend for another week and a half - one of the very few perks of being in the senior schooling years.
He was sure he'd been up here a while - Edmund snoring soundly in the bed beside him, he looked over slightly and couldn't help but chuckle.
The war had been extremely tough on his younger siblings, of course he also struggled but he'd grasped the concept of it - he didn't understand it but he knew the reason why, the others hadn't; and so it was nice to see them calm and innocent. Even if only for a few hours.
Ripped from his train of thought, the scream of loud alarm sirens rung throughout the streets of Finchley, London and Peter flung himself off of the bed, grasped Edmund by the pyjamas and shook his dead-to-the-world little brother awake.
Once recognition appeared on the small boys face, they both took the flashlights from the beside tables and proceeded to jog their way down the stairs - grabbing their mother and two sisters as they went, having to forcefully go into the bedrooms to remove little Lucy, who had attached herself to her duvet sheets with her hands upon her ears.
With their mother guiding them in front, Peter stood behind his three siblings and pushed them out of the front door - ducking slightly in any attempt to avoid the large plane lights that had begun to gather above.
Halfway along the front-garden pathway, Edmund suddenly went rigid in recognition,
"Wait" he paused, looking up at his older brother, "Dad!"
And before Peter had a chance to grasp him by the shoulder, Edmund had slipped past his family and had begun to sprint back into the house - ignoring the screams and cries of his mother and siblings. Nodding to his mother to get his sisters to safety, Peter sprinted behind him in attempt to find Edmund inside.
Upon entering, Edmund had immediately located the picture of his father on the mantelpiece and grasped it between his two clutched fists.
However before he even had time to glance at it he was forcefully thrown to the floor by Peter, the window suddenly blowing out above them - glass shattering in a circle.
Upon making a small squeal of terror, Edmund heaved himself off of the floor - as did Peter, and once again began to sprint to the small underground shelter, that was kept well hidden behind some old used bikes and a lawnmower that their father had only ever used once, at the back of the garden.
Unhinging the latch and throwing his younger brother inside, Peter heaved from lack of breath.
"What the hell were you thinking? You're so selfish!" he cried in between breaths, his hands on his knees "you could've gotten us all killed!"
Noticing his brother was lying on the floor clutched in his mothers arms, he halted and sat himself down in the corner quietly.
"You gave me a fright you know, Peter Pevensie"
Jumping, Peter looked to the voice on his right but smiled slightly in relief when his eyes begun to adjust to the darkness and he could see to whom he was speaking too.
"Well, you know me Nance, always the hero" he slyly grinned at the girl, his straightened back slumping slightly and leaning into the warmth of her beside him,
"What are you doing down here?" he muttered.
"Mine and mums shelter got hit in the raids last night, Pete. It was awful" she sighed, hugging her arms around her knees,
"If I'm truly honest, I thought we were done for"
Peter sighed but said nothing, because truthfully there was nothing he could say to make it any better for her - they were all terrified, every day. And there was nothing that he could do to stop that.
Nancy Barker was 17 years old.
She was quite a plain looking girl, with dirty blonde hair that fell to her mid shoulder and hazel eyes that she'd inherited from her father. She was short too, not quite reaching any further than 5ft 2 even when wearing shoes. She was feisty however, something that she knew she'd gotten from her mother. Especially when stupid Patricia Smith tried to tattle on her in her primary year of school - Nancy made sure that Patricia wouldn't forget doing such a thing and to this day they were sworn enemies. She didn't forgive too easily.
She was also the daughter of Helen Pevensie's closest friend Angela Barker and well-known confidant and close friend of the Pevensie siblings for all of 10 years. This much information was widely known around the small town of Finchley, as such it was never a surprise to see her around one sibling a day at the very least.
"Do you think this is it now, Pete?" she asked, looking up at him with wide eyes - as if she'd had a sudden realisation.
He shook his head in agreement.
"Yeah, that's five times in three days now Nance. If we're not gone by tomorrow afternoon, we'll be gone by the end of the week"
Nancy said nothing but just nodded in a way that signified she'd heard him and looked over at Susan and Lucy, both of which were tucked under one blanket and huddled close together and sleeping softly, she smiled a little.
Doing the same, she huddled closer to the warmth of her best friend beside her and rested her cheek on his kneecap - he laughed softly, pulled her up so that her face was resting upon his chest and he pulled a blanket from behind his head to place upon them both, and did nothing but hold her close.
Because Peter Pevensie wasn't sure of what tomorrow was going to bring, and Peter Pevensie hated being unsure more than absolutely anything in the world. So he slept, because that's all he could do and its all he would do until he possibly couldn't anymore.
The train station at the edge of Finchley was cold, the early February air that had wafted its way through the open doors at the front of the building was causing everybody standing directly in line to pull their coats and scarves a little tighter and closer to their bodies to try and preserve as much and any warmth as possible.
Bustling their way through the crowds, Mrs Pevensie guided her four young children to an empty space in the overly crowded room and settled their suitcases on the floor beside her.
Smiling at her youngest daughter Lucy, whom at this time had seized crying but was still sniffling at an alarming rate, she knelt down to her level and patted her short bob softly and begun to fasten her small paper label to the lapels of her coat.
"You need to keep this on darling, alright?"
Lucy didn't reply but nodded her head softly in understanding, clutching her favourite toy rabbit as tightly as she possibly could.
"Are you warm enough?" another nod, "good girl"
Stretching herself upright, Helen then turned to her second youngest son Edmund and did the same to him.
"If dad were here he wouldn't make us go" Edmund sneered, his attention focused on a recruitment poster that had been pinned to the wall opposite him.
"If dad were here it'd mean the war would be over and we wouldn't have to go" Peter retorted, scowling at the insensitive comment his brother had thrown at his mother.
Sighing, Helen only shook her head.
"You will listen to your brother, won't you Edmund?"
Receiving no reply, she clutched the reluctant young boy to her body tightly and placed a kiss upon his forehead, slightly upset at the uncomfortable reaction he'd given her.
Letting him go, she then turned to her eldest beside him and pulled him into a tight hug immediately.
"Promise me you'll look after the others?" she whispered, he nodded.
"I will, mum"
"Good lad" she squeezed, placing her trembling hands on his shoulders, "Nancy will be here very shortly, you will look after her as best you can wont you?" Peter nodded and pulled his lips into a tight smile.
Hearing a small sniffle from her left, Helen pulled her eldest daughter into a tight embrace.
"Oh Susan, darling" Susan squeezed her mother tighter and shut her eyes tightly, "Now, be a big girl alright?"
Nodding, Susan pulled away and, like her brother, tightly smiled at her mother - dabbing her eyes a little as to not stain her face red.
Hearing the whistle blow for the last calls of the train, Helen turned to her four children and hustled them away - laughing slightly as they fumbled with their things.
"Off you go, darlings. Go on"
And they did just that.
Grumbling his way through the crowds of people, Edmund stood behind Susan to board the train - Peter clutching Lucy's hand at the back.
However, before they could pass the gate with their tickets - Peter's shoulder was force-ably pulled backward - causing him to stumble a little.
Turning around in surprise, he was met with a small smile and Nancy's face, slightly splattered red in evidence that she also had cried earlier this morning.
"Morning, Nance" he muttered, his attention not quite fully there. She nodded her head in response and clutched her bags beside her - moving with the line.
After shuffling their way through the crowded compartments of the train, the Pevensie siblings and Nancy had fumbled themselves into - one of the only - small, empty carriage compartments in the train.
Shoving their bags on the shelves above them - they quickly took a seat and made themselves at home.
Little Lucy had taken it upon herself to lay her head on Nancy's lap, and as such had lead to Nancy playing idly with the lose strands of hair that had fallen out of her plaits, and had placed her feet on Edmund who'd sat beside them.
Peter and Susan had sat on the chairs opposite, Peter's head rested against the window whilst Susan had taken to distracting herself with a book - both absolutely quiet.
Nobody quite knew how long the cabin was silent for, but no one had dared to break the routine.
"Do you reckon it'll be nice there?" Nancy muttered, forcing the other four to look over at her. Susan shrugged, Edmund said nothing as usual and Peter stared at her looking slightly lost.
"I hope so" Lucy muttered from her lap, her voice still a little croaky from the morning.
Nancy just sighed and returned to leaning her head against the metal of the carriage to look out of the window at the - surprisingly - sunny day outside, freezing but very bright.
"We have each other, it could be worse" Susan reminded the others, speaking for the first time the entire trip.
"Yeah, I suppose" Nancy agreed.
As expected, time for Nancy and the Pevensie siblings drew quite slowly as every station that the train pulled up at looked exactly the same as the last, and even the one before that and the one before that; so when the train pulled up at Coombe Halt station it was no surprise that they upped and left as quickly as their legs would carry them.
However after standing on the top of the steps at the end of the platform for ten minutes with no sign of anybody coming to pick them up, they became antsy.
"The professor knew we were coming" Susan assured the four worried children, hoping to bring herself some comfort with her words also.
"Perhaps.." Edmund began, twisting his paper label upside down to try and read his mothers writing,
"Perhaps.. we've been incorrectly labelled?" though it came out as more of a question than an answer to their problems.
"If nobody comes to pick us up within the next five minutes I'm going to go and look for something - or someone - myself" Nancy grumbled, her forehead creasing slightly, a sign that she was more than agitated. Susan and Peter rolled their eyes at their stubborn friend but chose not to say anything anyway, they'd only get shot down.
After a few moments, the faint sound of horses hooves could be heard making their way up the gravelled path behind the station.
Hearing this, the five of them grabbed the small cases that they had taken with them and jogged to the edge of the path - their heads yearning over the side of the wall to get a better view.
What they were greeted with was unexpected.
A woman, no older than the age of 50 nor younger than the age of 30 had pulled up behind a large golden coloured horse - a carriage pulled behind it.
Nancy's eyes widened in surprise, no doubt did the other four children alongside her.
"Mrs... Macready?" Peter tried, not wanting to upset the woman if this was not the case. She didn't look like the friendliest of neighbours.
"I'm afraid so" she began, looking down on them all - her hat glinting in the sun.
"Is this it?" she asked, scouring them all, "Haven't you brought anything else?"
"Well, no mam. It's just us" Peter shrugged.
The woman let out a small laugh as such and motioned her head to the back, a clear indication to get inside the wooden box.
"Small favours"
After getting settled in to the Manor, in which Nancy and the others quite nearly had a heart attack when viewing for the first time, Peter and Edmund had currently taken up residency in the girls' room opposite theirs.
There were three beds inside, two placed in each corner of the room and one bang in the middle by the window - in which there was a radio and a small chair.
It was a nice room, if a little dark however, but quite quaint none the less.
Lucy was tucked tightly into the duvet in the middle bed, the blankets pulled up to her chin. She was sniffling, a clear indication that she was distressed.
Peter walked over to Nancy that was sat in the window seat - the radio pressed up against her leg playing out the news of the raids last night in London.
"The air-raids in London last night lasted for several hours, some of which-"
The radio presenter was immediately cut off, Susan glowering at Nancy and Peter as she slammed her hand on the radio - glancing over at Lucy.
"Are you okay, Lu?" Nancy called, noticing the small girls upset.
"The sheets feel scratchy"
Susan walked over to her younger sister and placed her hand on her head, smoothing down her hair,
"Wars don't last forever, Lu. We'll be home soon" she smiled, as if trying to also reassure herself that this was the case. Edmund snorted.
"Yeah - if home's still there"
"Isn't it time you were in bed?" Susan sighed, shaking her head at her younger brother's sly comments.
"Yes mum"
"Ed" Peter and Nancy growled at the young boy at the same time.
Peter drew his attention to Lucy and sat on the edge of her bed, resting his hand on her arm.
"Anyway, you saw outside didn't you Lu? This place is huge! We can do whatever we want here" he grinned, earning a small smile from Lucy in return.
"Tomorrow'll be great Lu, honest. We can even go and see if the Professor has some of them posh apple trees you only find in the country - I'm sure he'd let us pick a few" Nancy smiled, knowing the little girls love of nature.
After a small while Lucy had fallen sound asleep, as had Edmund and Susan.
Peter was sat with Nancy in the small alcove in the hallway between his bedroom and hers and were facing each other with their backs against each wall.
"Do you really think our parents are okay, Pete?" Nancy mumbled, chewing on her already shortened fingernails.
He shrugged, not knowing how to answer.
"I really don't know, Nance. Of course I want them to be - but we aren't in Finchley any more. There's nothing we can do but pray"
Nancy just nodded, leaning her head against the wall and closing her eyes.
"Try not to think about it too much please, Nance. It'll only make you more anxious and we both know how that always ends. If there's anything wrong then you and I will be the first to know. Someone's got to take care of the reprobates" he laughed, signalling to his sleeping siblings.
She laughed a little also, kicking his shin softly with her foot.
"They aren't that bad. Well, I suppose Edmund could do with a little arse-kicking" she chuckled, causing Peter to grin also.
"Come on, you" Peter sighed, heaving himself off of the cold floor and held out a hand to Nancy.
Hauling herself up she gave him a tight squeeze and sighed.
"We'll get through this, Pete. We always do"
He nodded,
"We always do"
Well, here's to starting something new!
I hope you enjoyed that, it's been playing on my mind for a while and I feel like I currently quite like this Nancy character I've had going on in my head - at the moment, anyway. Who knows what'll happen.
Just to clarify: I do not own The Chronicles of Narnia and any references to the films or books are made in genuine pure enjoyment - all credits go to the main man himself C.S Lewes
Thankyou for reading, loves. Give it a review if you feel like being nice and I'll be sure to get back to you lot and update with another chapter! (If any of you even want one that is - so go ahead and let me know)
Have a brilliant week, dolls.
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