Do you like the way I set up the story so far? Do you prefer stories that have built-up exposition so you can get to know the OC, or would you rather get to straight to the action? I'd love to know your thoughts!
When Anna had heard that Professor Kirke lived in the middle of nowhere, she thought that that meant it was in a village. What it really meant was that his house was in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing around but the forest, a small dirt road and the train platform. How could there be a mansion out here?
She stood with her suitcase and backpack in hand, glancing down the dirt road. There wasn't a car to be seen in either direction. She started to get nervous, thinking that Mrs. Macready had forgotten the children were arriving today.
She looked the other way and saw four other children get off the train.
That must be them, Anna thought. The knot in her stomach tightened once again.
One of them was a teenage boy with blonde hair. He was helping a little girl with short reddish hair carry her suitcase away from the train. An older girl with dark hair was making sure all the suitcases were accounted, and a dark-haired boy about Anna's age was looking around with a bored expression on his face.
As the train pulled away, Anna wasn't sure what she should do. Should she introduce herself? Should she wait for them to say something? She choose the latter.
It had been several minutes, and there was still no sign of Mrs. Macready. Anna was starting to feel uncomfortably warm in her hat and coat. She heard worried whispers and arguing from the siblings next to her, but resisted every urge to look over at them.
"Excuse me." She turned and saw that the blonde-haired boy was speaking to her. "Can you help us? This is Coombe Halt station, right?"
Anna looked over at the sign, which said COOMBE HALT in giant white letters. "I believe so," she said.
The dark-haired boy rolled his eyes. "I told you so."
"I wonder where he is," the little girl said, looking concerned.
"The professor knew we were coming," the older girl said.
"Are you all staying with Professor Kirke?" Anna asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"Yes," the older girl said. "Does he live around here?"
"I certainly hope so," Anna replied. "That's where I'm going, too."
The two older siblings looked at each other, and then the girl gave Anna a smile. "We didn't know anyone else was staying here with us. What's your name?"
Before Anna could reply, she heard a car horn honking from the dirt road. The children all grabbed their suitcases and rushed off the platform stairs.
A small black car drove by, honking its horn but completely bypassing the children. Anna's shoulders slumped.
"Maybe he forgot," she said.
The dark-haired boy was studying his papers. "Perhaps we've been incorrectly labeled."
Suddenly, a neighing came from up the road. Anna looked to see a small carriage rounding the bend. A woman held the reins of a white horse and whipped it to speed up. She led the carriage in front of the children and stopped, eyeing them suspiciously. She had a stern-looking face, glasses and brown hair tucked into a hat.
"Mrs. Macready?" the older boy asked.
"I'm afraid so," the woman said in a heavy Irish accent. "Is this it then? Haven't you bought anything else?" She gave their suitcases the same suspicious look.
"No ma'am," the boy replied, "It's just us." The little girl nodded in agreement.
"Small favors," Mrs. Macready said. She nodded to the back of the carriage and gestured for them to climb in.
The boys loaded the suitcases in first, even Anna's, to which she reddened and muttered a "Thank you." The two older children sat on one side of the carriage with the little girl, and the younger boy sat on the other, by himself. Anna was forced to sit next to him, but she pressed against the opposite side so their knees wouldn't touch
As they traveled down the road, Anna soaked in the soft breeze and earthy smell of the forest. It was so different out here than in the city; where everything there was grey and flat, the country seemed colorful and alive. She also found it funny that the professor sent the carriage to pick the children up, almost like they were royalty on their way to a castle.
After a few minutes of silence, the older boy spoke up.
"I'm Peter," he said, holding out his hand to Anna. "This is Lucy," he gestured to the little girl holding his arm. She shook both their hands, smiling the tiniest bit.
"I'm Susan," the other girl said, shaking Anna's hand. "It's nice to meet you."
"You too," Anna replied. Without thinking, she looked at the boy next to her. She didn't mean to, but she couldn't help to glance. He was looking around, not seeming to be aware of the conversation. Peter looked at him in annoyance.
"Ed!" he snapped.
"What?" the boy asked, obviously annoyed. Peter glanced at Anna, and the boy got the hint.
"I'm Edmund," he said with little enthusiasm. He held out his hand and Anna shook it.
"I'm Anna," she replied. "Nice to meet you all."
They all smiled at her except for Edmund; he was still staring at the scenery. A few more minutes went by, when the mansion appeared before them. It sat at the top of the hill like some sort of lord's keep. Giant oak trees towered around it, given it a half-hidden mystique as if contained secrets. Anna wondered if it was haunted.
Mrs. Macready pulled up in front of the house, and the five children got out. Peter held Lucy's hand tight, and Susan stayed right beside them both. Anna noticed that Edmund didn't walk with his siblings; rather, he stayed a few feet behind them at all times. Anna herself stood awkwardly behind them all, and followed them into the house.
Anna's heart sped up when they entered the mansion. The interior reminded her of the inside of her father's office. All the doors, trimmings, and stairs were a dark wood, and the walls were covered in paintings. There were antique decorations, suits of armor and busts decorating the foyer. The inside was spacious, but not as large as it appeared from the outside. This excited Anna, because that meant there were more rooms and secret passageways to be explored. All her fears of the mansion being haunted faded away, and she felt right at home.
"Now, as the professor is not accustomed to having children, there are some rules," Mrs. Macready was saying, leading the children up the stairs. "There will be no running, no yelling, no improper use of the dumbwaiter."
Susan reached out to touch a remarkably realistic-looking bust, when Mrs. Macready snapped, "NO touching of the historical artifacts." Macready sounded appalled that the children would even think of doing such a thing. Susan jumped back a step, and then glared at Macready. The way her siblings snickered, Anna guessed that she wasn't used to getting in trouble.
"But first and foremost," Mrs. Macready said, pausing in front of a door at the landing, "there will be no disturbing of the professor," she whispered gravely. Anna shivered.
Macready led the five children up and flight of stairs and down a hall, taking them deeper into the house.
"Here are your rooms," she gestured to two doors opposite each other. "Boys on the right, girls on the left. The bathroom is just down the hall. Remember the rules, and be sure to keep your rooms clean. Dinner is at six." With that, she turned and left them standing in the hall.
Susan, Lucy, and Anna walked into their room. It was furnished with two beds and a large oak dresser. There were a few chairs, a full length mirror in the corner, and a bookshelf filled with large volumes of what appeared to be dictionaries and encyclopedias. Not exactly Anna's preferred genre, but having books of any kind in the room was a comfort.
I guess this is home now, Anna thought.
Susan placed her suitcase on the bed by the door. "Lucy and I'll take this bed, and you can take that one, Anna," she said, pointing to the bed across the room by the window. Anna nodded and went to her bed, laying out her suitcase and unpacking the folded clothes inside. None of the girls talked for awhile as they unpacked. Anna felt awkward again, unsure if she should start a conversation with the sisters, or wait for them to talk.
It was Susan who broke the ice.
"So, do you know the professor at all?" she asked as she started laying her clothes in the top dresser drawer.
Anna shook her head. "Yes. Well, I guess no. I mean, he used to work with my father, but I've never met him. I don't remember meeting him, at least."
"How odd!" Susan said. "He used to work with our father, too. What's your father's name?"
"Professor Pearce," Anna said. "He teaches literature at the same university Professor Kirke worked at. What's your father's name?"
"Pevensie," Susan said, closing the drawer and crossing over to sit on the bed. "How funny that our fathers work at the same place. I bet they know each other."
"Maybe," Anna said, starting to feel more comfortable the more they talked. She opened her backpack and laid out a few personal items. A few of her favorite books, a small drawing book, and a letter from her father were all she brought. It wasn't much, but it was enough to bring her comfort while she was surrounded by strangers.
Lucy stood from where she had sitting on the floor, folding her clothes into the bottom dresser drawer. She saw the books laying on Anna's bed and picked one up. "These have beautiful covers. What kinds of books are they?"
"Fairy tales, mostly," Anna said. "I love stories about make believe things."
"Me too," Lucy said, smiling widely and flicked through the titles: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Treasure Island, Arabian Nights, and her father's book. Lucy rolled her eyes over to Susan and whispered, "She doesn't. She only likes encyclopedias and boring textbooks."
"I have ears, you know," Susan said, raising her eyebrows. Lucy and Anna both giggled.
The girls chatted for awhile longer about school, their favorite books, and what liked to do for fun. Anna felt her awkwardness and nervousness completely melt away. There was something about Lucy's sunny demeanor and Susan's kindness that made Anna feel warm and welcomed.
After a while, they met up with the boys and headed down to the dining room for supper. Peter, Susan, and Lucy sat on one side of the table, while Anna and Edmund sat on the other side with a chair separating them. When Anna sat down, Edmund glared over at her, giving her a once over. Anna's face reddened despite herself.
Dinner was a quiet affair. Anna was tired from the long day of traveling, and she suspected so were the Pevensies. The food was delicious, and Anna felt that she suddenly had an appetite after days spent feeling too nervous to eat.
The silence carried on for the rest of the night after dinner. The Pevensie sisters went to boys' room, and Anna decided to spend some time alone in her room reading. When it was getting late and Anna found herself nodding off between pages, she went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth. As she was coming back, she heard voices coming from her room. She only caught the end of the conversation from the hallway.
"Isn't it time you went off to bed?"
"Yes, mum."
"Ed!"
Anna froze. She stood there for a while, waiting to see if a fight would break out, but thankfully, none did. Peter and Edmund walked out of the girls' room. After a stern look from Peter, Edmund huffed into the boys' room. Peter muttered a brief "Goodnight" to Anna and walked into the drawing room just down the hall.
Anna slowly headed into her room to see Susan speaking gently to Lucy. Lucy looked upset, but smiled after Susan whispered something. She gave her little sister a kiss on the head, said goodnight to Anna, and left the room.
As she lay in bed that night, she couldn't help but worry a bit. She didn't know what to make of the Pevensies. The girls were nice, but the boys were a different story. She couldn't tell if Peter liked her, or if was just pretending to be nice. And she didn't think Edmund would smile to save his own life—he had actually glared at her when she sat by him.
Based on what she had seen today, it seemed like there was unspoken tension about the Pevensies. Anna could understand that. It looked like hers wasn't the only family walking through landmines.
She thought briefly of the princess-knight she used to pretend to be, the adventures she used to imagine she was on. Maybe this time in the country would be a real-life adventure. There was a whole mansion to explore; who knew what mysteries lurked in its rooms?