Author's Note: Hey! So, this is my fanfic 'Evacuating London'. It's set during The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe when the Pevensies leave London on the train and set off for Professor Kirke's mansion, except, it's written from Lucy's point of view. Enjoy, and please review!
Disclaimer: I don't own The Chronicles of Narnia or any of the characters in it. The fanfic's title, 'Evacuating London', is not mine – it's the name of a piece of music composed by Harry Gregson-Williams for the movie.
"You need to keep this on, darling. Alright?" says Mummy. She attaches a label to one of the buttons on my coat. I can see that my name is written on it, and my address, but I'm not really sure what it's for. I expect it has something to do with us moving to the countryside.
"You warm enough?" Mummy asks. I nod.
"Good girl." Mummy smiles. She then attaches a label to Edmund's coat.
"If Dad were here, we wouldn't make us go!" Edmund says. He sounds angry and sad at the same time.
"If Dad were here, it would mean the war was over and we wouldn't have to go." says Peter.
Daddy. I miss Daddy. He left a long time ago. He said he had to go away for a little while, and he didn't want to leave home but he had to, because he was doing something very important at work. Something important for our country. I'm not really sure what it is, but I expect it has something to do with us moving to the countryside.
"You will listen to your brother, won't you, Edmund?" Mummy asks him.
Edmund sighs and looks at the ground but he does nod. Mummy tries to kiss his cheek but he turns his face away. She looks a little upset. She kisses the side of his head instead.
Mummy gives Peter a hug next.
"Promise me you'll look after the others?" she says quietly.
"I will, Mum." says Peter.
Mummy lets go of Peter and puts her hand on his arm and says, "Good man." But Peter isn't a man, he's a boy.
Mummy then turns to Susan and she smiles at her. "Susan…" she says, and she gives her a hug. I can see that Susan's trying hard not to cry.
"Be a big girl." Mummy says as she lets her go.
Susan smiles again and nods.
Mummy takes a deep breath and says, "Alright. Off you go."
We all pick up our suitcases, and Peter holds my hand. I'm protecting Scruffy under my arm, because I don't want to drop him. There's a small cardboard box attached to a piece of string that's around my neck. I really want to take it off, because it keeps hitting against the side of my hip when I walk, but Mummy keeps telling me that I can't take it off because my gas mask is inside the box, and I need to keep it with me at all times in case there's a gas attack. I'm not really sure what that is, but I expect it has something to do with us moving to the countryside.
The countryside. Mummy says that me, Edmund, Susan and Peter are going to live in the countryside for a little while, because it's too dangerous for us in Finchley. If it's too dangerous for us, then shouldn't it be too dangerous for Mummy, too? When she told us we were going to live in the countryside, I asked if she was coming with us. She said that only children got moved to the countryside, and adults had to stay behind. She called it a big long word, ev… eva-eva… evac… well, it starts with 'e', anyway, I'll ask Susan or Peter what it is later.
I look back at Mummy as the four of us start walking through the big crowd towards the train. My eyes are all stingy but I don't want to look like a big baby and cry in front of everyone.
"Hey, get off!" Edmund says. He sounds very annoyed. Susan is holding onto his arm tightly, leading him through the big crowd. "I know how to get on a train by myself! Get off me!"
Susan eventually gives in and lets go of his arm.
"May I have your tickets, please?" says a strange woman. She's looking at Edmund and Susan's labels and writing something down on her clipboard.
No one does or says anything.
"Tickets, please?" the woman says again.
"Peter!" Susan snaps, and tugs the tickets out of Peter's hand. He seemed like he was in a daze. He was staring off into space, it was like he couldn't hear anything.
"Yes… thank you…" he says quietly. I think he's embarrassed.
I loosen my grip on Peter's hand and turn round. I really want to see Mummy one last time. I stand on my tiptoes, because I can't find her, and my eyes feel even more stingy now.
"Come on, Lucy," says Peter quietly. I turn back round to face him. "We have to stick together now. Everything's going to be alright."
I start crying into Peter's coat. I can't help it. I don't want to go to the countryside. I want to stay at home, with Mummy. And I want Daddy back, too. I don't want to get on the train. I want us to run back through the big crowd to Mummy, and then the five of us will go home and when we open the front door, Daddy will be there with a big smile on his face and say he's home for good now.
"Everything's going to be fine." Peter says as we walk towards the train. "It's going to be fine, it's going to be fine!" he keeps saying.
We follow Susan and Edmund onto the train. It's very busy, full of lots of other children. I expect they're being eva… evac… I expect they're moving to the countryside, too.
We start walking along the narrow corridor. It's very hard to get through since there are so many children. I hold Peter's hand tighter. I don't want to get lost.
"Excuse me, sorry." Susan says politely as she tries to get passed. If everyone didn't have their suitcases and their gas masks, this would be much easier.
Susan, Edmund and Peter try to find a carriage that isn't full, but there's no room in any of them. We might have to stand, and it's a long way to the countryside.
"Look, a window!" says Susan, pointing to a closed train door which has a small window in it. She opens it and sticks her head out. She's probably trying to find Mummy.
"Bye bye, dear!" I can hear Mummy say loudly. Susan starts waving.
Edmund goes up to the window and starts waving as well.
"Come on, Lucy!" Peter says happily.
The window is very small, but I can just manage to stick my head out. I wave, and I can see Mummy waving back. Peter grabs hold of my arm and lifts it up higher so Mummy definitely knows I'm here.
Suddenly, the train starts moving. I don't want the train to move yet, I haven't said a last goodbye to Mummy.
"Bye, Mummy!" I shout. It's hard to hear over all this other chatter.
"Bye!" Edmund shouts louder.
"Bye Mum, we love you!" Susan shouts even louder.
"Bye Mum, we'll miss you!" Peter shouts so loudly I think I've gone deaf in both ears.
By this time, the train is nearly out of the station and its moving faster now. Susan shuts the window and I hold Peter's hand again as we try to look for a carriage that isn't full.
We have to go right to the very last one. Peter slides the door open. There are two other children sitting in the carriage, a girl and a boy. They have cardboard boxes around their necks and labels attached to their coats, too. Peter takes my suitcase and puts it on a shelf that's above the seat. He tries to take Edmund's, but Edmund gives him a dirty look and puts his suitcase up on the shelf on his own. Susan puts her suitcase up, too, and then we sit down. Edmund sits near the window, across from the boy and girl. Susan sits near the carriage door and I sit beside her. Peter sits across from us, beside the boy and girl.
The train is moving really fast now. I hold Susan's hand. Not because I'm a baby or anything, it's just that I'm not really that fond of trains, especially ones that go fast.
It's very quiet, and everyone is sitting still. The boy and the girl look sad. I think they're missing their Mummy. I miss my Mummy, and we've only been on the train for a few minutes. I don't know when I'll see her again. That's the scary part of moving to the countryside. When I asked Mummy when we'd be coming back to Finchley, she said that it would be soon. How soon is soon?
The girl looks up and I smile at her. She smiles back but then she looks down again.
X
After about half an hour, Edmund gets restless and leans his head against the wall. I think he's dozed off, because he hasn't moved in a while.
Susan opens her suitcase and takes out a book. That's just typical Susan. She's always got her head in a book. It's probably one of her favourites - Little Women, What Katy Did or A Little Princess. I look at the cover. Yep - just as I thought. A Little Princess.
X
The journey to the countryside is taking forever. It's been over an hour now. I think we're out of London, because I can't see any big buildings out of the window. It's all trees and fields and grass. Even though I don't want to go, at least the countryside looks nice.
X
The train's stopped at another station now. I stand up, but Peter says this isn't our stop. The girl and boy get off the train, though. I can see them on the platform through the window. There's a man and a woman standing beside them. The man walks off with the boy and the woman walks off with the girl. They're getting split up? Oh no. I hope we don't get split up, that would be awful. That means I would miss Mummy, Daddy, Peter, Susan AND Edmund! Oh no, I really hope we don't get split up.
Susan puts her arm around me and I cuddle in. The train starts moving again. I don't want Susan to ever take her arm away. I don't want us to get split up. I don't want to go to the countryside…