Eight Children and Their Experiences in a Wardrobe

AN: Hello to all my fans on here. I'm back with another story, and I just love writing insert stories. This time, Alex, Olivia, Chris, and Sapphire are off to England in WWII. They will take on four children from London , while attempting to make sure that their guests don't9 find out they are from 2020. Now, this isn't my first time writing Narnian stories, but I am keeping this one. So sit back and relax, and enjoy the story. I don't own much in this story, by the way.

Chapter 1- How It All Began

It had taken time, and a lot of waiting and slightly grated nerves, but at long last the lockdown on New Zealand for Covid-19 had finally been lifted, and businesses could carry on as they used to. No longer were people in isolation, and no longer went around 'panic buying' toilet paper. Among the happy 'Kiwis' was one Sapphire Jacqueline Stone, who normally lived with flatmates, but a week before the lockdown, she had caught the flu, and they all went home. So, she had been quite lonely for a time, but no longer.

Happily, she hung the "Welcome Home" banner from the ceiling, before preparing an afternoon tea for them all, consisting of little pies, quiches, club sandwiches without meat, and biscuits, as well as English Breakfast Tea.

Chris and Alex arrived just as she was setting the food onto a tiered stand, and hugged her jovially. They had missed her so badly, it was like having a constant heartache. To them and Olivia, Sapphire was like a little sister, even though she was the youngest by one month.

"Anyone home?" A cheerful voice sang as Sapphire embraced the two boys.

"Come in," she called back, though her voice was muffled by Alex's chest.

"Happy belated Easter!" Olivia said happily, as she too embraced the younger girl.

When they all pulled away, the others saw that there was a giant Easter egg hamper on the table.

"Thank you, now, who's for some tea?" Sapphire asked.

Many laughs and nibbles later, the other three got to unpacking, while Sapphire went through the mail she had mostly ignored during lockdown. There was a letter from her young cousin Johnny, which told her that he found quarantine boring, a few "Thinking Of You" cards, a backlog of word fits from the Wellington paper, and, rather surprisingly, a letter from Sir Peter Jackson, saying that he had loved reading her screenplay for a movie idea, and wanted to direct Blitzed.

Her cry of delight caused the others to come running.

Seeing the look of utter joy on her face, they all smiled. "What are you so happy about, Sapphire?" Chris asked, interested

"Many things, and my screenplay for Blitzed was very well received, and Sir Peter Jackson wants to direct it as a movie," she said cheerfully, as Chris put on the kettle, saying that it called for a celebratory cup of tea, and Olivia turned on the dishwasher.

"Any particular cup, Saph?" Chris asked, just as the dishwasher started to make odd noises, and was acting up.

"What the?" Olivia said in disbelief, and the other three nearly gave themselves whiplash as they spun around, Sapphire's eyes widening at the sight of the dishwasher going nuts. Realising what was going to happen, she started to run towards the kitchen door.

"Get out, now!" She roared. "It's going to blow up!"

They all took to their heels, and evacuated the kitchen, slamming the door behind them. They all looked at each other, and then at Sapphire.

"Is it really going to blow up?" Chris asked in slight disbelief, just as an unnaturally loud bang came from the kitchen and shook the floor and rattled the door they were standing behind.

"Yes."

"Good heavens, but that sounded more like an explosion," said Olivia.

"That's because it was an explosion," Sapphire replied. "Last time I had a dishwasher blow up was just before my nearly six year old self heard about the Twin Towers on the news, along with my parents."

"Huh, imagine that," said Chris. "We shall have to buy a new one soon."

"Yeah, our old one smelled like burnt rubber, and it was a miracle that our dishes were fine and all in one piece. It was the thing I remember most about 9/11. Now, grab that fire extinguisher, Alex, but don't use it until after I've turned off the power."

When Alex opened the door, however, he realised straight away that he didn't need to be worried about a dishwasher, but rather something else. It was like someone had pushed play on a paused film, for he could suddenly hear the middle of the wail from a siren.

"Must be a fire somewhere," Chris said, stepping out the hallway and into a now unfamiliar kitchen. Every electrical thing in there had either disappeared completely or had a completely different look. The black jug was now replaced with a kettle on the range, the vacuum cleaner was now cylindrical in shape, and there was no dishwasher or microwave in sight.

"What on earth has happened to the kitchen!?" Olivia exclaimed, as Sapphire joined them, and her mouth dropped open.

While the other three were busy wondering what was going on, Chris chanced a glance at the wall where they had put their microwave. What he saw instead made his jaw drop. There were two things there, a calendar and a poster. While he couldn't see the calendar clearly, the words on the poster made him go pale. Last Christmas, he and the others had time travelled to a Christmas in July with Phryne Fisher. This time, he didn't know who they were going to meet, but the poster filled him with dread.

"Guys?" He called, but no one took any notice.

"Guys?" He called, a little more louder than the first time, and this time they did notice.

"Honestly, I only have to call to my students once and they hear me. Anyway, take a look at this poster," he pointed, and Sapphire, seeing it first, gasped.

The poster was a black and white picture of a pair of hands holding a gas mask. Underneath, were the words: HITLER WILL SEND NO WARNING- SO ALWAYS CARRY YOUR GAS MASK

They all froze for a moment, before a voice from outdoors yelled, "Put those lights out, and down to your shelters as quick as you can!"

Hurriedly, they all ran to comply, before quickly rushing outside to find an air raid shelter. They were relieved to see that they had a shelter in the garden, and they all bustled inside, shutting the door behind them.

"How does one go from avoiding an exploding dishwasher by hiding in a hallway to ending up in the 1940 London Blitz?" Olivia asked.

"The only explanation I can think of is that we are different from other people," said Alex, as they heard the roar of planes from overhead.

"Beastly Germans," Sapphire scowled. (My apologies to any German fans I may have)

"Yep," the others agreed, and then prayed that the shelter they were in wouldn't be hit by a bomb, as well as the safety of others. Then, with a sense of unease, they all fell into the most uneasy sleep ever.

They had been extremely lucky. Not too far away, houses now lay in mounds of rubble. Beautiful English houses were now just brick and an awful mess.

The sound of the air clear siren confused three of them, and they wondered what it meant.

"Is there another attack?" Chris asked sleepily.

Sapphire, listening intently, shook her head.

"Nope, that's the All Clear siren" Sapphire said, cringing from the high-pitched wail, as she carefully made her way to the door. She was pulled back by Olivia.

"How do you know that?" She asked.

"Simple. The alert siren is a rising and falling note, the all clear is one long continuous note," she said, climbing out.

"The house is still standing," she called, and they all carefully made their way inside, only to be greeted by a woman with black hair, green eyes, wearing a blue dress that would have been too short if not for the black material underneath, and a look of relief.

"Excellent. Good to see you're all safe," she said. "And I'm sending you away, so you'll be safer. The Germans aren't interested in bombing the countryside.

It soon transpired that wherever they had ended up, they were all siblings, and this woman was their mother. She informed them that she had made plans for them to stay with an old friend by the name of Professor Diggory Kirke for the time being, before leaving to get the weeks' rations.

"Professor Kirke? I wonder who he is, and it he is a nice man," wondered Olivia.

"Oh, nice enough. His housekeeper isn't very friendly, and he owns a magic wardrobe," said Sapphire.

"A magic wardrobe?" Asked Alex

"Does it look at the weather and then suggest clothes for the day? Is that how it's magical?" Asked Olivia.

"No. Welcome to The Chronicles of Narnia," said Sapphire, and the other three grinned.

AN: Hi all! So welcome to my newest story. I'm going to be writing a fair bit for the next month because the Covid-19 situation has gotten so bad in New Zealand that we are going to be in lockdown for at least that long. The world is in this pandemic together but we will get through it as well. Sorry if you find this chapter a bit long, by the way. Hope you enjoy it 😊