What part of our history's reinvented and under rug swept?
"Peter Pevensie you are so dead!" Came Susan's cry from the house as Peter ran out the back door at break neck pace.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit…" mumbled Peter as he sprinted toward the back of the yard where Edmund was sitting staring at his chess set. "Ed you gotta help me hide!" Peter said nervously looking back at the house where sounds of anger were slowly coming down the stairs.
Edmund looked up absently and gazed around their garden. There really was only one hiding spot.
"Looks like High King Peter will be climbing that tree now," mused Edmund as he moved two pieces on the board. He was playing against himself, which meant he would be outside for quite some time.
Peter groaned, glared at Edmund for a second before scrambling up the tree as fast as he could. No sooner was he hidden by the foliage, than Susan came bursting out of the house. Her hair was flying wild and her normally calm face was anything but. Edmund had the mental image that this is what a Fury in Greek mythology must have looked like. Susan scanned the small garden, and when she didn't find Peter her gaze narrowed in on Edmund.
"Ed! Which way did he go?" Susan smoldered.
"Where did who go?" Edmund replied slyly as he moved another chess piece.
"Don't be smart Ed, I am angry enough to kill you both if you are covering for him," Susan lowered her gaze to the chess set in a silent warning that she was not above smacking the pieces off. Edmund sensing the doom of his game, hurriedly came up with something.
"Alright! No need to be violent. He jumped the wall to the alley." Edmund said, pointing over the garden wall in the opposite direction of the tree. Susan gave Edmund one last glare before sprinting for the wall and then swiftly hopping over it.
Edmund could hear Peter let out the breath that he had been holding, and slowly climb down.
"That was really close, thanks Ed," Peter said as he slouched down he back against the tree.
"No big deal," Edmund shrugged. "You would have done the same. She is freaking scary. This once a month stuff is not cool." Edmund said shivering slightly as her remembered last month when he had dropped his chess set on Susan's books, and she had nearly decapitated him and served him for dinner.
"Tell me about it," Peter breathed. "I didn't even do anything!"
Edmund looked up at his older brother with one eyebrow raised, clearly saying he did not believe the second part. Peter crumbled.
"Okay, so I spilled orange juice on this piece of leather she has in her room. I figured I would dry it off outside, but then she noticed it was gone before I could put it back," Peter waved his hands around to show the gravity of the situation. "I mean it's just some silly strap of leather." Edmund suddenly looked up more interested in what his brother was rambling on about.
"Did you say strap?" Edmund asked.
"Yeah, its just some leather strap," Peter replied slowly as if he didn't get why a strap would interest Ed. "Why does it matter?"
"When was the last time you saw a leather strap in England?" Edmund said. Peter's face suddenly lit up with recognition. "Where did you put it?" Edmund asked as Peter took long strides towards the clothes line near the side of the house.
There hanging on the clothes line was a singular looking strap of leather. Peter reached for it and pulled it off the line. It was still mildly damp but the markings were very obvious. In the center was branded the starburst symbol of the Telmarine King. On the other side the was a brand of the letters C and X. It also seemed like some one had branded S and P below the C and X in a hurry with the tip of some hot metal.
Peter and Edmund stared at each other in wonder and then back at the strap.
"I thought none of us were able to bring anything back," Edmund said looking shocked.
"Well obviously that was wrong." Peter said sarcastically. "When did he even give her this? There was hardly time between everything." Peter continued to stare at what he could only assume was a love token from the current King of Narnia to his little sister.
There was a long pause as Edmund rolled something over in his mind. "It must have been right after the battle." Peter looked at Edmund a little confused. "Lucy was healing everyone that had serious injuries. You and I went to help many of the warriors get through the river. Now that I think about it, I don't remember seeing Susan or Caspian for most of the day." Edmund muttered tapping his chin.
Peter also replayed the day in his mind. After Aslan had arrived, things had become chaotic. Lucy was needed everywhere to heal. Edmund had notice that many of the Narnians needed assistance. Peter had taken the un-injured to try and open the tomb once again. He had no memory of seeing Caspian the rest of the day. He did, however, have the faintest memory of Susan walking off into the woods.
"Well now we know why she was so close to killing you for this," Edmund said with a laugh in his voice.
"I don't get it," said Peter plainly. "I thought she said it was nothing. She said she fancied him but nothing had happened." Peter looked genuinely confused.
"Pete, she's a girl. They never make sense. Don't give yourself a stroke trying to figure out how Susan feels." Edmund said mocking his brothers confusion.
"But this means that she still thinks about him. She nearly killed me over a piece of leather he once owned. Don't you think that means she loves him?" Peter asked following Edmund back to the chess set.
"I guess." Edmund shrugged. "Maybe she said nothing happened so we wouldn't worry about her being in love with a man she will never see again." Peter looked at Ed like the thought had never crossed his mind. "My point is that she is doing fine. Its not like she is acting like some love sick heroine. Except for this 'womanly time of the month' stuff, she is the same old Susan." Edmund point out as he settled back into his chair to resume his game of chess.
Peter was suddenly upset that his little brother suddenly was the one with all the answers. That was his job! He was going to start paying more attention to what was going on. Tomorrow he would talk to Susan about all of this, rather than pour over his politics books.
"Edmund Pevensie! You lied to me!" Came an anguished yell over the wall. Peter and Edmund locked gazes and a second later both of them had taken off for the house.
Susan emerged over the wall seconds later. She approached the chess set the way a wild cat stalks prey. There in the grass laying next to the table was the leather strap she had been desperately seeking. Susan bent down and picked it up tenderly. Her face softened as she held the leather in her hand. She lifted it to her face to get a sniff of the pine sent that still clung to it, only to find that at least half of the strap now smelled like orange juice.
She was going to kill Peter and Edmund.
Hi readers!
First off thanks for the reviews and faves and alerts. i swear my email inbox is at its max. it is really flattering.
Okay so now its time to explain my self on some points so i dont have to reply to the 15 people that ask. Susan has her period and is having a mood swing. I am tired of authors never mentioning that time of the month in their stories. it is a normal occurance and often leads to very surly girls. I also thought it would be good for a lighter chapter after the last one.
Secondly if any of you are super nerds out there you watched all the interviews with the actors. Will spilled orange juice on Ben the first time they ever got Ben in all of his armor. its kind of a joke that Peter spills orange juice on the leather. if you read my other story you know i also refenced the size of their swords. which apparently was a joke on set.
Thirdly i am including a quote from a song at the start of each chapter. Chapter one was actually a line from the show New Amsterdam. Chapter two was from The Call which is from the movie. This is from Hands Clean my Alanis Morissette.
Check out my profile for a play list to listen to while reading for a full effect of the story.
Next chapter will be back with Caspian.
Also thanks to my new beta reader liz22463. she stayed up late to help edit.
-E
