That night, we stood around in Susan and Lucy's room, listening to the wireless in the corner. It was silent except for the announcer, commentating on the war. I had finally had enough of it, so I reached over and turned it off.
"Hey!" Peter cried.
"Hey is for horses." I replied calmly, returning to my book. My husband snarled at me.
"You would know." I looked up at him with malice in my eyes. But Susan stopped a huge fight breaking out.
"The sheets feel scratchy." Lucy sniffed. Susan sat down on the side of her bed.
"Wars don't last forever, Lucy. We'll be home soon." Susan told her younger sister confidently.
"Yeah, if home is still there." Edmund stated sardonically. Susan and Peter scowled at him.
"Isn't it time you were in bed?" Susan asked.
"Yes, mum!" The younger brother announced.
"Ed!" Peter warned. That put a stop to all the tension. "You saw outside." Peter began talking to Lucy, attempting to comfort her. "This place is huge! We can do whatever we want here. It's going to be great. Really." He insisted.
The next day was rainy. Apparently we can't do whatever we want. Lucy and I were staring out the window while Susan and Peter were playing some dictionary game. Edmund was lying under a chair, doing who knows what?
"Gastro vascular." Susan said. "Come on, Pete, gastro vascular."
"Is it Latin?" He asked, not really caring. Susan nodded.
"Is it Latin for 'worst game ever invented'?" Edmund thought he was funny. Even I chuckled a little at that. Susan didn't appreciate the humor. She slammed the large book closed with a cranky look etched upon her pretty features.
"We could play Hide 'n' Seek." Lucy suggested. I had always liked that game when I was younger. Of course, I had either been playing with Lois, or myself. And always when my father hadn't been around.
"But we're already having so much fun." Peter stated sarcastically.
"Come on, Peter, please!" She begged her brother. "Alice, you'll play, won't you?" She turned to me with bright eyes. I couldn't help but smile. I had a soft spot for her.
"Of course I will." She grinned and turned to Peter again.
"Now that Alice is playing, you have to too. Married people play it all the time." Peter's, Susan's, and my eyes widened. Edmund kept in a snicker.
"One, two, three-" Lucy smiled in victory before running off. Edmund got up and began walking without any enthusiasm and Susan and I gave each other knowing looks before taking off as well. We split up and I saw Lucy run into a room. There would be room enough for the both of us. I quickly followed her and shut the door behind me. I saw her standing nearly still, staring at a wardrobe covered by a white sheet. But she felt something. I sensed it too. It made the entire atmosphere feel different from the rest of the house. We slowly advanced towards the wardrobe, and I pulled the sheet off, revealing a majestic closet. Lucy opened the door, allowing me to go in first. When we were both in, she shut it closed, and we walked in a bit as to hide, but my hand brushed up against something. I quickly turned around to see what it was.
And it was a pine tree. Lucy turned around as well and saw what I saw. We looked at each other in astonishment before advancing again. A snowy wood lay before us, covering everything in a blanket of pure white. It was so beautiful. We walked further in, taking in our surroundings. It was too amazing to believe. And yet, here it was, right in front of my eyes. Then we noticed a lamppost, radiating light. We heard a slight shuffling, catching us off guard. We turned our heads around, looking for the source of the noise. We finally saw a strange looking creature, causing us to scream. All three of us, actually. I lost my footing upon spinning around and stumbled from surprise, being the klutz that I am, which caused me to fall on my bum in the cold snow. I stayed sitting there, shocked, and probably letting snow soak through my light blue dress. Lucy finally got the courage to come out from hiding behind the lamppost and see what she could find out about this creature. She helped me up, my eyes still bulging from what I had seen. It seemed that it was more afraid of us that we were it. Lucy picked up a package, and the creature came out from behind a tree to receive it.
"Were you hiding from us?" She asked him tenderly. He stumbled with his words, picking up the rest of his things.
"Um, no. No, I-I just, I just didn't want to scare you." He finally said. We chuckled lightly.
"If you don't mind my asking, what are you?" Lucy pondered.
"Well, I'm a-I'm a faun." He stated, as if she were asking a question to which the answer was obvious. "And what about you? You must be some kind of beardless dwarf?" Lucy was shocked.
"I'm not a dwarf! I'm a girl, we both are. And actually, I'm tallest in my class." She informed the confused creature.
"You mean to say, that you're both daughters of Eve?" He asked.
"Well, my mum's name is Helen-" The faun cut her off.
"He means we're human." I stated. He nodded.
"Yes, we're human." Lucy told him, confused at his strange questions. He faun looked around in anticipation.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, quite bewildered.
"Well," I began. "We saw this wardrobe in the spare room, and-" He cut us off again.
"Spare Oom? Is that in Narnia?" He questioned.
"Narnia? What's that?" Lucy replied with a question. The creature chuckled humorously.
"Well, my dear girls, you're in it." He explained. Wait, I beg your pardon? We're in a place that I've never even heard of? In a mystical land of fauns? "Everything from the lamppost, to castle Cair Paraval against the eastern ocean. Every stick and stone you see, every icicle is Narnia."
"This is an awfully big wardrobe." I muttered. Lucy nodded, taking my hand. The faun chuckled at our confusion.
"Excuse me, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tumnus." Lucy smiled at the thought of having a new friend.
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Tumnus." She exclaimed. "I'm Lucy Pevensie." She stuck out her hand for him to shake it. He stared at it with bewilderment. "Oh, you shake it."
"Uh, why?" He asked. Lucy paused for a moment, and then stared up at me, awaiting my answer. Mr. Tumnus was too.
"I-I don't know." I answered, astonished by that. "People do it when they meet each other." I said as plainly as I could. "I think it's a sign of respect." Tumnus laughed softly again and took the little girl's hand and shook it gently. "And I'm Elizabeth Nichol…" I paused, almost forgetting I was married until I saw the small diamond ring on my ring finger. "Pevensie. Elizabeth Pevensie. But you can call me Ellie." He smiled and then 'shook' my hand.
"Well, then. Lucy and Ellie Pevensie from the shining city of Wardrobe of the wondrous land of Spare Oom, how would it be, if you came to have tea with me?" He asked with a smile. I grinned, as did Lucy.
"Well, thank you very much." Lucy said, being polite. "But we-we probably should be getting back." She muttered. I paused, forgetting that we were supposed to be playing hide 'n' seek.
"Yes, but it's only just around the corner." Tumnus stuttered, obviously wanting company. "And a glorious fire with-with toast and tea, and cakes. And we'll even break into the sardines." He 'tempted'. I laughed before agreeing. Lucy did too. We went on either side of him, taking his arm, not knowing what we were getting ourselves into.
We began walking toward Mr. Tumnus' house, chatting and giggling the entire way. This land entranced me. It seemed so surreal, yet here I was, along with Lucy, and a new friend. I felt horrible for thinking this, but I was glad Peter wasn't here to boss me around or say mean things to me. Then, again, I should probably go easier on his too. He most likely felt the same way about me. We passed large rocks, covered in snow. Until we saw a little door that was attached to one of the rocks.
He lives in a rock? I though. I shrugged, and took Lucy's hand, catching up with Mr. Tumnus. We walking through the door and entered a cozy little home. I smiled with glee. It was so quaint and homely. The room was warm, and smelled of sweet incense. It was lovely. Lucy looked around, and saw a portrait of another fawn sitting upon a small table. She picked up curiously.
"Ah, now that-that is my father." He stated. Lucy looked over at him.
"He has a nice face." She commented. I peered over her shoulder and agreed. "He looks a lot like you." Mr. Tumnus faltered.
"No." He muttered. "No, I'm not like him at all much, really."
"My father's fighting in the war." My sister said sadly. I placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it comfortingly.
"My father went away to war, too." Mr. Tumnus and I said in unison.
"But that was a very long time ago." Tumnus added. "Before this dreadful winter." He began pouring us tea.
"Winter's not all that bad." I said. "Ice skating, snowball fights-."
"And Christmas!" Lucy exclaimed excitedly. I grinned, as did Tumnus.
"Not here, no. We haven't had a Christmas in over 100 years." Mr. Tumnus told us.
"What?" Lucy asked in astonishment. "No presents for 100 years?"
"Always winter, never Christmas." Tumnus laughed without humor. "It's been a long winter. But you would have loved Narnia in summer." We settled down and began drinking our tea. "We fauns danced with the drags all night, and you know we-we never got tired." He explained fondly. "Oh, and the music, ah! There was always so much music." Lucy and I smiled at this. I absolutely loved music with all my heart. It was so beautiful, and calming. "Would-would you like to hear some now?" He asked hesitantly.
"Oh! Yes, please!" I said. He grinned softly and took a small box from upon the mantle.
"Now, are you familiar with any Narnia lullabies?"
"Sorry, no." Lucy replied meekly.
"Well that's good!" He said. "Because this probably won't sound anything like it." We giggled softly before continuing with our tea. He began blowing through what looked like panpipes. It was very soothing, and the sound that came from it was hollow, and relaxing. The music flowed through my ears and made my body relax. Soon, the fire began dancing. Literally. Figures appeared in the flames, and a story was being told. The soothing sensation filled my body, and my eyelids began to droop. But I resisted, I didn't want to miss any of this. It was all so…magical. But my heavy eyelids got the better of me, and I soon saw a dark abyss.
When I awoke, the fire was out, as well as the candles, giving no essence of light. Lucy was asleep as well. The same sensation must have overtaken her too. I gently shook her awake, and blew into my hands, trying to produce heat in the now cold house.
"We should go." I whispered, seeing the dark sky.
"It's too late for that now." I heard Tumnus say from a nearby corner. "I'm such a terrible faun." His voice sounded thick with emotion. Lucy got up out of the chair and began walking over towards him.
"Oh, no. You're the nicest faun I've ever met." She exclaimed.
"Then I'm afraid you've had a very poor supply." He replied grimly. Something was wrong, I could sense it. Lucy chuckled and pulled a hanky from her pocket.
"You can't have done anything that bad." I said to him, now approaching my two friends.
"It's not something I have done, Alice Pevensie. It's something I am doing."
"What are you doing?" Lucy asked. There was a pause.
"Kidnapping you." My heart stopped. "It was the White Witch!" He exclaimed, seeing our terrorized faces. "She's the one who makes it always winter, always cold. She gave orders. If anyone was to find a human wondering around in Narnia, we were supposed to turn it over to her." He explained tearfully.
"But Mr. Tumnus, you wouldn't." Lucy stated, hoping for an optimistic answer. When there was no answer, my breathing quickened.
"Mr. Tumnus, I thought you were our friend." I said sadly. He looked up at me, then at Lucy. He quickly got to his feet…er, hooves, and took our hands. We raced outside into the cold snowfall.
"Now, she'll already know you're here." He explained. "The woods are full of her spies, even some of the trees are on her side!" I looked around in panic, afraid of what was happening now. I thought this was an innocent place, but oh, how I was being proved wrong. I think I was safer in bed, asleep with Peter, and that was saying something. We finally approached the lamppost. "Can you find your way back from here?" I nodded frantically, taking a hold of Lucy's cold hand.
"Will you be all right?" Lucy wanted to know. I could see just how afraid our new friend was. It scared me as well, and I wasn't under orders from this horrible witch-queen.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He whispered. "Here." He handed Lucy her hanky back.
"Keep it. You need it more than I do." She said with a smile that faltered when she saw his grim face.
"No matter what happens, Alice and Ellie Pevensie, I am glad to have met you both. You've made me felt more than I've felt in 100 years." We smiled weakly at him. "Now go. Go!" He commanded, new tears falling down his face. We heeded his warning and raced back to the end of the wood.
