PART THREE

I don't remember the first time Mum told me about Narnia. The stories started before I remember, probably even before I was born. I do remember the pictures in my head of all the things she told us. They were always just stories, because that's all fairy tales ever are.

My brother has a death grip on my hand as he pulls me away from the wardrobe we literally just walked through—not in, through. This reeks of Narnia. Could it be? The trees here are greener and taller than I imagined, but also more plain. Actually, the only unusual thing at all is the lamppost, a fancy black metal lamppost, in the middle of the forest.

I feel funny inside. It's like everything in me has always been running and tight and also tired of running and tightness, until right this minute, when it stops. I'm not sure if I like it, but I feel like I can breathe better.

"Caspian, what's going on? Where are we?"

My twin turns to look at me, finally letting go of my hand. I rub the soreness out. He pushes his black hair out of his eyes and grins. He never smiles like this. It's weird.

"We're in Narnia, Rose. It's real, and we're in it."

That's what I thought, but I realize how absurd it is the moment I hear it out loud. "Okay, you're crazy. We're both crazy. Narnia's just stories Mum likes, Cas. We can't really be in it."

He sticks his arms out and spins around, still holding that old book in one hand. The sunlight through the trees dances over his skin. "Look around us! Look at it! It's real, it's here, we're here. We belong here, Rose. I can't wait to show you everything!"

"Wait. You've been here before?"

He laughs and nods. "Only once. I didn't stay long and I didn't see much. Don't worry, you and I will see so much more together now. I wanted you to come see it."

"But... but how? Why? What's going on?" I put my hands on my head. There's so many questions he needs to answer. This is crazy!

"Here, let me show you something. Actually, let me back up. I don't even know where to start!" He pauses. "Let's sit down. I've got to get you caught up."

"Yeah, no kidding."

There's a fallen tree a few meters away, so we sit there. The bark feels uneven and a bit rough against the backs of my legs. "Now start talking."

"Okay, so, you know all the stories Mum told us about Narnia? Kings and queens and creatures and magic and stuff?"

"Obviously. Move on."

He shakes his head, a hint of his usual irritation showing up. "Right, well, what do you know about the professor?"

"Same as you. Mum and Uncle Peter's old teacher or whatever. They used to live with him and his housekeeper in some giant house, during the war. They left after the war. End of story."

"I don't think so. Do you ever go in the office at the cottage?"

I snort. "Not when I don't have to. It's so dusty and dull in there. The whole cottage is cramped."

He waves his hand at me, irritated again. "Yeah, yeah, I get it, you're an outdoors person. But that office has so much in it! And the professor lets me read whatever I want. I can borrow any of his books! So, one day, I found this stack in the corner, really buried. Took me forever to get them out of that mess. Anyway, they looked really old. And I started reading one, and it talked about Narnian stuff. Minotaurs and tree spirits and everything! It even had stuff about Aslan."

"Well, Mum's stories had to come from somewhere. Maybe she read those books."

My brother's eyes are lit up. I haven't seen him this excited since... well, since Professor Digory showed us the office on our first day. He really loves books. "No, you don't get it. Mum didn't read these books—well, maybe she did, I don't know—but she knew about Narnia already, before they were written."

"Um, you said the books were super old. That doesn't work. You're supposed to be the genius twin."

"Hang on! This is the good part! Mum is in the books. And so is Uncle Peter!"

I raise my eyebrows. "Maybe the books just look old. Maybe Mum and Uncle Peter wrote the stories themselves."

He shakes his head. "I don't think so. They're too nice for children's stories. And they're written like history books—really, really, really old ones. I think they came from Narnia."

My brother sounds in awe of these books and this place. I don't want to believe him... but it would explain a lot. Like, for example, how we just found a forest behind the back panel of a wardrobe.

"Okay. Say Narnia is real, and these books are from Narnia. Are you sure that's Mum and Uncle Peter in them? I mean, aren't Susan and Peter pretty common names?"

"Not in Narnia. Look, let me show you something." He flips the book open and finds that picture, the one he was yelling at Mum about. "Look at this again. It's Mum and Peter, I'm sure of it."

I study the picture. It really does look like them. "Then who are those other people?"

"Well..." He takes a deep breath. "See, that's the thing. The book says a lot more than Mum ever did about Narnia. I think she was hiding a lot. And I think the professor knew about it." He pauses. "That's not really the point, though. The point is, now we can know about it. We can know it all, and we don't have to keep waiting on Mum to tell us."

An uneasiness settles in my stomach. "Maybe we should go back. Mum is probably getting worried. She seemed really upset."

Caspian scowls, his changed mood matching his dark eyes. "Of course she's upset. She's been lying and hiding things for years. She had her chance to tell us, plenty of times. Now we'll just figure it out by ourselves."

"Okay, fine. But we should still go back before we get in trouble. We can come back later."

He shakes his head. "No. That's not how it works. You can't find Narnia whenever you want to. You have to wait for it to find you."

"Then how'd we get here today?"

"I just found this place a month ago. I haven't been able to get back in until yesterday. I wasn't actually sure if I could get in again today with you, so we got lucky. But the books talk about people from another world coming and then disappearing later. I don't want to leave now and not be able to come back. I won't risk it."

"But what about dinner? And, I don't know, school and stuff? And Mum and Uncle Peter and the professor? I mean, if this is Narnia, how are we going to have time to find stuff and learn everything and all before going back?"

His face lights up again. "That's the other cool thing! Time moves differently here."

Now he's really sounding crazy. "What do you mean?"

"So, the first time Mum and Peter and the others came to Narnia, they stayed here for years. They grew up and became kings and queens and everything, all the stuff from their stories and even more. But then they disappeared, obviously back to their own world. And Mum's still younger now than she was when the kings and queens in the book disappeared. They reverted back to kids and came back at the same time they left. I think."

"Woah." I lean back on the log, using one arm to hold myself up. "So... wait, others? You never said, who are the people in the picture?"

"I think... I think they're our aunt and uncle."

I always wondered whether Caspian and I had relatives besides Uncle Peter. I mean, Mum and Uncle Peter had to come from a family, too. But Mum never talked about Dad, and she never wanted to tell us anything about when she was a kid. I never really wanted to ask. I didn't want to hurt her. Caspian did ask, many times, when we were younger. She never really answered him, and eventually, he quit asking too. "Why do you think that?"

"The book says the four are siblings." He turns to give me a better look at the picture while he points. "There's Uncle Peter in the front, then Mum, then a boy named Edmund, and a girl named Lucy. They ruled Narnia together as kings and queens. And a lot of Mum's stories happened in Narnian history while they were ruling."

I shake my head. "This is crazy. You think Mum and Uncle Peter are from a real life fairy tale in a different world, and they were a king and queen with other relatives we've never met? Why would Mum hide all that? And if she was hiding, why'd she tell us so much about Narnia already?"

"I don't know! I don't get it. Maybe because it does sound crazy. Maybe because she wanted us to think we were normal or something. Which is obviously ridiculous. I mean, we've never been allowed around other children, and Peter and her are talking about growth all the time. It's not like we don't know we're different. That's why we're always moving."

"So you think the growth thing is because Mum and Peter went to Narnia?"

"Well... sort of." He looks away for a minute and rubs his neck. "See, this one's not from the books, so I'm not sure. There's a lot of gaps in the Narnia books. The professor doesn't have all of them, and I haven't finished reading the ones he has. But... I think our dad was from Narnia. I think we were born here."

His other ideas had a shred of sense in them, but this is too far. "No, no, we were born in a hospital. We have birth certificates. I've seen them—you've seen them!"

"Birth certificates can be faked! And it's the only thing that makes sense. The first time I was here, I stayed for a few hours. I knew you were studying and Peter was at work and Mum was in town doing the shopping, but I didn't want anyone to know I was gone, so I came back when it seemed like late afternoon. But when I came out of the wardrobe, it hadn't even been five minutes in our world yet. I spent nearly a full day here and came back five minutes after I left. I don't think the time difference is precise, or at least nobody's been able to chart it out yet. But if we were born here, where years can pass, and raised in Mum's world, where those years are just hours, then it would easily explain how we've gotten so old so fast."

"Hey, we're not that old. We're, what, like twelve now? 'Dev-el-op-ment-a-lly,' as Mum says."

"Almost thirteen, I think, but in less than four actual years. Narnian magic is the only reasonable explanation I've ever found. You have anything better?"

I'm not about to admit he sounds right. And who ever said magic was a reasonable explanation for anything?

"Well this is really freaky. Can we please go home now?"

Caspian scowls and slams his book shut before standing up and crossing his arms. "Look, if you don't believe me and you wanna go home so bad, go right ahead. I'm going to stay here and find the truth about our dad. I want to know who I really am. Don't you?"

My brother and I couldn't be more different. I'm the one who goes on adventures, or tries to anyways. He's the weirdo who stays inside reading all the time. But this is a really good reason for all that reading. And now he's the one asking me to go on an adventure, in a magical forest. Maybe it's crazy, but he's right. I desperately want to know who my dad is and why we're so different, and this has gotten me more information in ten minutes than Mum has offered us in our entire lives.

I push off the log and hold my hand out. Caspian takes it and grins.

"Okay, brother. Let's find our dad."