When the bomb-alarm went off in London, many different things happened. Soldiers ran to their posts, some sat at the giant spotlights trying to trap one of the enemy planes in the light others sat at the guns to try and shoot the planes down once their colleagues had trapped them in the light. The few people that had been strolling in the streets now hurried home or to the closest shelter. Lights were turned off and curtains closed in an attempt to save their homes although they knew it didn't really matter what they did, these things couldn't be controlled.
Everything happened in the space of a few minutes and where previously people were strolling down the streets laughing together or sitting in their homes with a good book, now everything was deadly silent…the silence before the storm. A few stray animals could be seen scurrying away trying to find a safe spot, it seemed they knew that something bad was going to happen. And then the silence was shattered by the falling of the first bombs and the city was lit up by the orange glow of the fires.
Edmund was standing at the window watching the fires spread. He didn't know why, but this fascinated him, in the distance he could hear the tell-tale signs of his mother and siblings hurrying to grab what they needed and head to the shelter.
"Edmund! Get away from there!" he heard his mother shout as she entered the room. He didn't react immediately and was roughly shoved away from the window. His mother closed the curtains and turned to face him again.
"What do you think you're doing?" she practically shouted, shaking him back and forth as if to make him come back to his senses. Seeing she wasn't going to get any reaction out of her youngest son Mrs Pevensie sighed and pushed him in the direction of his brother Peter telling them to hurry to the shelter.
As Edmund let himself be led away by his brother he saw Louisa, Ginny and Brigitta rush past them. Louisa was carrying a torch and holding Brigitta's hand while Ginny followed the two other girls carrying spare blankets should they have to spend the night in the shelter. It was easy to see that Brigitta was close to tears, she clutched her sister's hand as if her life depended on it and held her teddy bear tightly to her chest. Sometimes a small sniff could be heard as she was trying to choke back her tears and appear as brave as her other siblings.
"Ben! Hurry up!" came a voice from the hallway. Sean was standing at the bottom of the stairs tapping his foot nervously waiting for his younger brother. Robin stumbled out of the kitchen his arms laden with spare food and water, he joined Sean under the stairs and glanced worriedly at the top of the stairs.
"Where are the twins?" he asked. Sean shrugged, he was more worried for Ben, the twins had each other. Ben had insisted on going back to his room and get his book to occupy himself if they needed to stay in the shelter for a long time. That was just typical for Ben, sometimes Sean found himself wondering about the sanity of his younger brother. And right now he was getting worried, his brother was taking too long.
Just when he was about to call out again he saw his brother arrive at the top of the stairs followed by the twins. The three of them hurried down the stairs until they came to a stop in front of Sean and Robin.
"Where were you?" Sean asked his brother.
"Sorry." the boy panted, he was about to say something else but didn't get the opportunity because he found himself dragged towards the shelter by Sean closely followed by Robin and the twins.
In the meantime, Susan, the eldest daughter, entered Lucy and Brigitta's room, in search of the spare torch that was lying in the top drawer of the desk. She thought she heard a soft sniffling and whirled around aiming her light in the direction from which the noise had come from. To her astonishment she found her youngest sister Lucy, still in her bed, arms covering her ears and tears cascading from her cheeks. Quickly recovering from the surprise of finding Lucy still in bed and the fear of the thought that they would've forgotten her if she hadn't come in the room, she quickly ushered her sister out of bed.
"Lucy, come on!" she said practically dragging the poor girl out of bed. The two girls nearly fell down the stairs in their hurry to get out of the house and they quickly caught up with the rest of the family, their mother ushering them out.
The sound of several pairs of feet in the little courtyard could be heard and Edmund imagined they would be attracting the planes' attention all by themselves with all the noise they were making. Several cries of 'Run!' and 'Hurry!' were heard while the youngest girls were crying in fear. Suddenly Edmund stopped and backed away a few steps.
"Dad! We forgot dad!" he cried and without a second thought he ran back towards the house, to the great astonishment of the rest of the family. William, the eldest twin took a hold of his arm, trying to pull him back but Edmund just shook him off and continued his mad run towards the house.
Many cries of "Edmund!" and "Come back!" came after him. Peter ran after him, intent on bringing his little brother back towards the shelter and away from danger. He heard his mother cry out his name fearfully and turned back slightly to reassure her. "Don't worry! I'll get him, go in the shelter!" Then he turned back and chased after his brother.
Mrs Pevensie saw that she couldn't do anything anymore. If she didn't take control of the situation now, more of her children would go back into the house to get their brothers.
" Come Ginny, into the shelter." She told her daughter gently, ushering her in the little shack that should protect them. Taking this as a signal, Susan sent her younger siblings in as well. The boys were reluctant to go in the shelter, worried for Edmund and Peter but eventually, after a bit of prodding from their mother and sister they gave in.
Peter ran into the living room after his brother. "Edmund! Come back!" he shouted though he didn't really knew why, he knew his brother was a stubborn mule and would never listen to him. Suddenly he heard a whistling sound and knew what this meant. Running towards his brother he grabbed Edmund's arm.
"Get down you idiot! Get down!" he cried pulling his brother to the floor. He threw himself over Edmund's body just as a bomb blew the window to pieces. Shards of glass landed all around them and Peter tried to protect himself as well as Edmund as best as he could. Once everything seemed over he tried to pull Edmund off the floor, his brother took the picture from their father out of its' frame that had been shattered by the blow and let himself be pulled out of the house.
As they were running towards the shelter, their mother saw them coming and began to urge them on, relieved that they were all right. The two of them stumbled into the shelter and Peter practically pushed Edmund down the stairs.
"You idiot! You're so selfish, why do you have to be so selfish?" Peter ranted. His mother was kneeling at Edmund's side and told Peter to calm down with a stern look in her eyes. It was then that Peter took a good look around the shelter. Lucy and Brigitta were huddled in Susan's arms still crying softly. Louisa and Ginny looked at him surprise and fear evident on their faces, they had never seen him so angry before. Even Ben and Robin looked at him slightly intimidated, Ben had even left his book next to him, not even touching it, and Peter knew how dear his books were to him.
Peter heard the door close behind him and felt William gently take a hold of his arm, leading him towards the corner where Sean, Amelia and he had been sitting. Peter sat down wearily and watched as his mother was gently taking care of Edmund's wounds. They were only scratches luckily, Amelia went to their mother and took some supplies, then she returned to Peter's side. She looked at him with a questioning look and he nodded allowing her to gently cleanse his wounds. Sean was directing a flashlight at his wounds so she could see things clearer. In the meantime, William had left to find Louisa and Ginny to calm the two girls who were obviously upset. It didn't last long before a sense of normality had come back in the shelter. Ben had picked up his book and started reading, Robin had joined William and the girls and Lucy and Brigitta were dozing off. Peter looked back at Amelia and she gave him a small reassuring smile. He gave a little smile back and felt himself relax.
It didn't last long anymore before the raid was over and they were allowed back into the house. They were all strangely silent whereas usually they would've been talking and joking in hushed voices. This night however no one felt in the mood for joking, they had come too close to losing, not one but two of them.
The next morning, Mrs Pevensie was preparing breakfast for her children when the doorbell rang. She dried her hands to a towel and went to answer it. Once she had opened the door she saw a middle-aged man standing in front of her, he was well-dressed and seemed to work for the government.
Mrs Pevensie felt her heart quicken, certain that this man would bring her the news of her husband's death. She felt all blood drain from her face and gripped the doorknob tightly until her knuckles saw white.
The man apparently hadn't noticed what kind of effect he had had on the woman who stood in front of him. He scraped his throat and with a businesslike voice he began:
" I believe you have children, Mrs Pevensie?" the lady in front of him nodded, so he continued,
"Because of the increasing danger in the city because of the several bombings, the government has decided that all children should be sent to the countryside in order to protect them. There will be a train leaving in two days, I would like you to tell me how many children you have so that we can find a family for them. I can assure you the children will not be separated and will be well-cared for. Tomorrow someone will come to give you the address where the children will be taken and all other information you might have need of. Any questions?" the man stopped taking a deep breath, it was clear he had learned the text by heart. During his explanation Mrs Pevensie had both been relieved and felt her heart sink. Relieved, because this probably meant her husband was still alive but she didn't want to be separated from her children. They were a very close family and though she was sure the children would be able to take care of each other she wondered if she would be able to take care of herself if her entire family was gone.
She noticed the man was looking at her expectantly and suddenly remembered she had to tell him how many children she had.
"Oh, umm excuse me, this was a bit overwhelming, are you sure it is the best solution for the children?" The man nodded even before she had finished her question, clearly this man had received that question several times before.
" How many children do you have exactly, Mrs Pevensie?" he asked her a bit impatiently.
" Twelve." She answered, she saw his eyes widen in astonishment, she got that reaction quite often and was used to it, it was quite funny actually, to see people's reactions on it.
" Hmm, er, well, thank you very much Mrs Pevensie, we will do our best to make sure everything runs smoothly. Have a nice day, Mrs Pevensie."
She nodded in return and closed the door after he had walked away.
When she entered the kitchen several of her children were already at the kitchen table having breakfast.
"Who was that, mum?" Sean asked her, she was reluctant to tell them already but she knew she had no choice. She would wait until all the children were here she decided.
She quickly counted out the days she had left with her children, today was Saturday, the man had said they would leave in two days, which meant on Monday. Luckily the children didn't have to go to school on a Saturday so they could spend some time together.
"I'll tell you later Sean." She said, clearly he wasn't satisfied with her answer but she avoided his next question by busying herself with Ginny.
A few minutes later all of her children were up, she decided to tell them now, before she chickened out. Amelia and Brigitta were talking in hushed whispers, giggling softly, while it appeared Louisa was arguing with Robin, again.
Mrs Pevensie cleared her throat to catch the attention of her children. She sat down at the kitchen table.
"There is something I need to tell you children." She began, she saw the different expressions on her children's faces, the younger ones looked at her expectantly while the older ones looked at her with apprehension in their eyes, she knew they were thinking along the same lines as she had when she had first seen the man at her doorstep. She saw Amelia take a hold of her twin's hand holding it tightly while William tried to comfort her as best as he could without it being too obvious for the little ones.
"A man from the government came to see me this morning." Amelia tightened her hold on William's hand, while he tried to hide a grimace of pain. Susan and Peter visibly blanched.
"The government has decided to send all the children in London to families in the countryside, you will have to leave Monday." when she finished she realised she had started to stare at her lap and she quickly looked up again.
"What right do they have to separate us like this!" Louisa exclaimed.
"Louisa, shut up! There's nothing we can change about it." countered Sean
"Oh, so you are just going to do as they say, you're just going to follow the rest of the herd and leave mother here alone!"
"Louisa, if the government has decided this, we can't change it anymore, even if we tried to stay they will soon find out and send us away, or how would you explain to them that we are the only children left in the city?" this was Susan entering the argument. Louisa was about to retort but Mrs Pevensie beat her to it.
"You will go. All of you. The man assured me you will stay together, so that is already a good thing isn't it. Besides the countryside is nice, it will give a change from the city. And I'm sure it won't be for long. Now, what would you say about spending this weekend in family, hmm?" There were several nods around the table and on some faces a small smile even appeared.
" You can't really say we're in family, right? Dad's not here." Peter sighed, just when things seemed to be going fine, Edmund just had to bring that up.
"Ed!" he said warningly.
"Enough boys." their mother said, and this time, they did listen to her.