He was in a tunnel, racing toward a bright light, but he felt no fear, only the most incredible peace he'd ever known. The light grew larger and larger until at last it surrounded him, and he was standing on solid ground again. For as far out as he could see in all directions was the verdant grass of what he soon realized was an enormous field, stretching into infinity in all directions.
He began to walk, drawn toward a distant figure which, as he approached it, turned out to be a large male lion with a beautiful mane and the deepest eyes he'd ever seen.
He'd barely had time to take all this in when, to his astonishment, the lion spoke.
"Fredrick Anton Reiker." Is that who I am? I can't remember...
"You must return," the lion continued, his voice rich and solemn. "It is not your time."
"But I want to stay!" Anton felt tears wet upon his cheeks. "This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen!"
"There is one on earth who still needs you. Come."
Anton's feet had a mind of their own as they followed the lion, who turned onto a path that led toward what appeared to be a movie theater. The interior was dark, but the screen on one wall was huge, and the characters were as large as life.
The first person Anton saw was a slender, dark-haired young girl inside a courtroom, being questioned by several menacing men in uniform. The scene pierced Anton's heart, for he recognized the girl. Her name was Patty Bergen, and she'd fed and sheltered him while he was on the run from the POW camp.
"It's all because of me, isn't it?" he asked the lion.
"No," the lion replied. "It's because of her. She has an unselfish, giving nature, and it's for that she faces these consequences."
"But there has to be some way to help her!"
"The only person who can help her is you," the lion replied. "You taught her to value herself, and because of that, you and she share an unbreakable bond. That is why you must go back."
"But what can I do?" asked Anton. "How can I help her?"
"In time you will see," the lion replied. He began to fade away, becoming more and more transparent, until at last he was gone, and Anton found himself lying in bed in a hospital room attended to by two nurses, one of whom jumped as if she'd just seen a ghost.
"He's alive!" she told the other nurse.
"That's not possible." The other nurse didn't even look up from the chart she was reading. "No pulse, flat EKG, fixed and dilated pupils. I was just about to fetch the doctor to sign the death certificate."
"Look!" The nurse who'd spoken previously shook her arm, which made her look up. "His eyes are open!"
The nurse holding the chart swooned and dropped it.
Eight Years Later
"Ready to go?" a smiling Lucy Pevensie asked her flat mate, Patty Bergen. Patty, on full scholarship to a university in London, had been flat mates, and good friends, with Lucy for awhile now.
"You bet!" Patty grinned. Since coming to London, she'd found life busier but much more pleasant than life back in her hometown. The relief of being away from her domineering, abusive father and cold mother was more than she could express. She missed Ruth, Freddy, and Sharon, but kept in touch with them by mail.
Now she jumped up from the bed, quickly ate breakfast, and dressed. It was Saturday, and the girls were going horseback riding in the country.
They were both in high spirits as they arrived at the meadow and chose their horses. Patty climbed onto the back of her horse and moved out into the open field, and soon she was flying along with the sun shining on her face and the wind blowing in her hair.
Nothing like this back home, she told herself, remembering the dull stillness and monotony of the little Southern town where she'd grown up.
She'd been riding for perhaps twenty minutes when the horse's front foot went into a hole in the ground and Patty went flying over its head, landing hard in the grass a few feet away. Lucy was there within seconds, dismounting from her own horse.
"Are you all right?" she asked her friend.
Patty's face was a mask of pain. "I don't think so. My arm hurts really bad, and I can't move it."
How I wish I had my healing cordial with me! Lucy thought.
"We must get you to hospital right away!" she told Patty.
In the emergency room, Patty explained to the receptionist what had happened and was taken back to X-ray, then told to wait in the lobby.
"Dr. Reiker will be with you shortly," the smiling nurse told her.
"What is it?" Lucy asked when she saw the expression on Patty's face.
"I know someone named Reiker, once," Patty replied.
Patty drew a sharp intake of breath when the physician appeared. No. It couldn't be. He died a long time ago. At least, that's what they'd told her.
He looked much the same as before, except that he wore his hair in a different style now, and there were tiny wrinkles at the corners of his eyes that hadn't been there before. When he spoke, his voice was soft with wonder.
"P.B.?"
