Chapter 20

Ella nearly ran home after dropping off Millie. Usually she would stay and be social, but Ella wanted to start her search for Susan right away.

Arriving at the house, Ella paused only to pull off her wet boots and gloves, tossing them on the floor before running up the stairs. Instead of going to the journals, she went to the other items in the box. It was the perfect starting place.

Pulling out a half filled notebook from a drawer, Ella sat next to the box. It felt a little silly, feeling so eager to find an elderly woman, but Ella couldn't imagine Susan as an older woman. She could only think of the girl in the photos.

Thinking about the photos made Ella pause and she reached inside the box, pulling out the picture frame that contained the photos of the four Pevensies. It felt strange to her, seeing pictures of Peter, Edmund and Lucy after just spending time with them.

She shook her head and carefully put the photo back in the box. She needed to focus on finding Susan instead of looking at everything from the past. The future of Narnia depending on this.

First, Ella looked at the letters that Susan had sent to her grandmother. They were bundled together and Ella looked at the return addresses. There was more than one so Ella wrote down the addresses. She also looked at the postmarks to determine the dates or at least the years they were sent. She knew she could have opened the letters, but those felt too personal, probably because they were addressed to her grandmother. The journals had felt like a story, but now that she knew the people in those journals, she didn't know if she would ever be able to read them again. She doubted it. It would feel too strange, as if she was imposing on them even if they didn't know.

Ella also looked at the wedding announcement, writing down where and when the wedding occurred as well as the names of the groom's family. She doubted his parents were still alive, but it was a starting place.

Glancing at the clock, Ella realized that the library had closed by this time. She was frustrated, wishing she could have used the internet to search for Susan. Instead, she resigned herself to using the phone to call information.

"Are you looking for residential or business?"

"Residential. For a Susan Roberts."

"City and state?"

"I think Chicago, Illinois. That area"

There was a pause. "There are twenty two with that name in the city and thirty five in nearby areas."

Ella frowned. "Could I have their numbers please?"

The operator gave her the numbers and then Ella thanked her and hung up. She couldn't help thinking that maybe one of these would be Susan. The Susan she was looking for. Though it was getting late, she wouldn't stop herself. She dialed the first number. Her heart was pounding and she tried to imagine what Susan would sound like. Would she have an accent like Lucy or would her accent have disappeared after so much time in America?

She waited and listened to the phone ringing elsewhere. Was it in a house? An apartment? A condominium?

"Hello?" a woman answered.

"Hello, ma'am. Is this Susan Roberts?"

"This is." The woman on the phone sounded wary now.

The voice didn't have any trace of an English accent, but Ella knew she might sound different. However, this woman also sounded younger than she imagined Susan would be. Ella frowned to herself. She should have found a way to check their ages first. This would have to work for now though.

"Mrs Roberts, I am trying to track down a dear friend of my grandmother's. Her maiden name was Susan Pevensie but she married a man with the last name of Roberts."

"How old do you think I am? I am younger than your grandmother. I have three kids all younger than you."

"I'm sorry, I just am checking with all of the women named Susan Roberts in the city."

"Your fingers will get tired from dialing, but good luck. You can cross my number off the list."

"Thank you." Ella hung up the phone and sighed. What if she never found Susan? She couldn't help becoming a bit concerned.

Though she knew she could wait and go to the library tomorrow, she decided to keep calling.

Ten more phone calls ended in the same way as the first. They weren't the right Susan. Ella wondered if Susan even had a listed number. She had to be alive or else Aslan wouldn't have made her go through everything.

Her fingers played with the locket and she sighed. "Susan, where are you?"

Her eyes traveled down to the list. Something told her to call the fourth to the last number. She had planned on going down the list, but something told her to call that number. She sighed and picked up the phone, dialing the number. She reasoned that she would have to call that number anyway, it didn't hurt to do it now.

The phone rang somewhere in another state, then it was answered. "Hello?"

Ella felt her heart skip a beat. It was one word, but she could hear a faint accent in that voice.

"Hello?" the woman asked again. Yes the accent sounded British. Ella realized she had been so shocked that she hadn't said anything.

"Hello," she greeted the woman. "Is this Susan Roberts?"

"This is." A slight accent, but it was still there.

"Susan Roberts, this might seem an odd question, but my name is Ella I am looking for the dear friend of my grandmother Elizabeth. She shared a room with a Susan at school. At that time, her name was Susan Pevensie. Is it possible that could be you?" Ella thought she sounded fairly calm, but her fingers were clasped tightly around the locket.

There was a short pause. "I have to say I am surprised," said the woman. "What did you say your name was?"

"Ella."

"Ella. I remember when you came to live with your grandmother. I am surprised to hear from you. How is your grandmother?"

Ella winced. "She passed away just a few months ago to cancer."

This time the pause was longer.

"Susan?" Ella asked.

She heard a sniffle then. "Did she suffer?" Was Susan crying?

"No," she answered though she wasn't sure. The treatments hadn't been easy but her grandmother had never complained.

"I meant to stay in touch, but…time it slips away so fast. You will realize that as you get older."

"I have heard that," Ella answered. Her grandmother had said similar things to her. "I am sorry to call you with the bad news, but that actually wasn't why I was calling."

"Oh?"

"Mrs. Roberts…your maiden name was Pevensie wasn't it?"

"Yes, but that was long ago. I have been Roberts for many years."

"But you were Susan Pevensie from England?"

"Yes."

Ella was excited now. Somehow she had found Susan. She had imagined it would take days and days of searching. Maybe finding a private detective or something like that. Instead she called information. "You are the sister to Lucy, Peter and Edmund?"

There was another pause before Susan said. "Please, after hearing about Elizabeth I don't want hear their names. That and the day my husband died were the hardest days of my life. Please, if there is nothing else to say I would like to go."

"There is though," Ella insisted. "I went through some of your things. Your name was on a box in my grandmother's closet." She couldn't bring herself to mention that she had read the journals. "I found some information in there to find you. I wanted to return these things to you."

"It's not necessary," Susan answered but Ella could tell there was some longing there.

"It is not trouble at all. Really? I also wanted to talk to you because…I was there. I went to Narnia. I met Aslan and your sister and your brother. I know you don't believe in it anymore but I can meet you and bring you the box and we can talk about it. About Narnia. There is so much to tell you."

There was a pause where Ella couldn't hear anything on the other end.

"Susan?" Ella asked. "Mrs. Roberts?"

"Do not mention that place again and never contact me again." There was a click and Ella just sat there stunned. Susan had just hung up on her. She thought the hard part would be finding Susan. Instead, that was the easy part.

Circling the number on the piece of paper, Ella sighed, trying to think of what else she could do.