Out of Control

Susan and Lucy were in the kitchen cooking supper together. For the past several weeks their mother had been working late so the two girls were left to do most of the cooking and the cleaning. Neither girl minded it very much; they were glad to help mother. "Ed had better get here soon." Susan went to the window and looked down the street.

"Do you think Peter will be home tonight?" Lucy asked Susan softly. Susan looked away from the window and saw the sad expression on her little sister's face.

"I don't know." Susan said honestly. The two girls looked at each other for a moment before returning to the kitchen. There were still some things that needed to be done before dinner was ready. It was another twenty minutes before they heard the front door opening.

"Sorry I'm late." Edmund wasn't facing his sisters as he took off his coat and hung it in its place by the door. "I have a little trouble on the way home." He turned around and looked at Susan and Lucy. They both gasped at the state his face was in.

"A little trouble?" Susan said in disbelief. "Honestly Ed!" She took the shopping bag from him and sighed.

"Was Peter fighting again?" Lucy asked as she helped Edmund sit down in one of the kitchen chairs. Edmund winced when she said Peter's name. "What did he say this time?" Lucy was always the more observant of the siblings. She had a way of knowing when they were upset or worried about something.

"It doesn't matter." Edmund's voice was sad and broken. "I don't think Peter's coming." He let Lucy clean up his face while Susan finished making supper. They were silent for a long time. That was becoming more and more common. When their mother was home they made an effort to act like normal children, but when she was away they didn't see the point.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lucy asked again when the three were sitting in the kitchen finishing some work for school. She had put down her History textbook and was looking at Edmund carefully. Susan followed suit and put her English essay away.

"There isn't really a lot to talk about. Peter is so angry all the time. If he doesn't clean up his act he is going to be forced into the army. The soldier who broke up the fight today was going to have him locked up for the night." Edmund looked away and tried to keep his face composed. There was no need to upset his sisters anymore than they already were.

"I wish Aslan would let us back." Lucy was pretending that she didn't know something else was bothering Edmund. "Peter needs Narnia."

"We all do," Susan said softly, "but we have to accept that we're here now. Besides, we don't even know if we are going back."

"Aslan wouldn't abandon us. We have to trust him and be patient."

"You always know what to say, Lucy. Thank you." For the first time all day Edmund smiled at his sister. It was slightly ruined by the fact he winced in pain. Lucy smiled widely and picked up her book again. They weren't going to talk about Peter tonight. Not one of them wanted to talk about their brother; it was too painful.

Lucy looked over the top of her book at Edmund. He was concentrating on something, but it wasn't his mathematics homework. Something had upset him, and Lucy would bet her crown it was Peter. It was clear to her that Edmund didn't want to talk about it. She would wait until tomorrow to ask again. It would do no good to have two brothers who were angry.