MUCH THANKS Xiao and Lady Culelen for inspiring me to actually finish this
chapter to put it up!
~*~*~*~*~
-Transported-
The train pulled up to the station. Audrey sat up in her seat and put her needlework and book in her little carry-on bag. She really had tried on the needlepoint, but halfway through the 'i' in 'is' she had already poked herself three times. The work was incredibly boring anyways.
Right now she was reading ROMEO + JULIET by William Shakespeare. Her father had gotten her a whole collection of his works for the previous Christmas, but she had just now started reading it. By the time the train ride was over she had gotten to the part where Romeo kills Tybalt. It was a little bit depressing because Mercutio was her favourite character, and he had to die.
"Hello. You must be Audrey Rockwell. My name is Mrs. Macready. I am the housekeeper of Professor Kirk's estate. If you will please come with me, the car awaits us."
"Thank you. Will the trip be a long one?"
"Not too long, dear. Come along now. Hurry up."
The car ride to the professor's house was very dull and quiet. It was raining, so everything had that damp worn out look to it. Audrey gazed out the dripping window. She now was faced with a little problem. What was Lucy's story? She didn't want to doubt her best friend, but her story was a little questionable. A faun? Why would Lucy make up a story like that? Wait. Lucy wouldn't make up a story like that. Oh, why now? As if it weren't enough with the war going on.
Lucy was a very earnest person just like Audrey. They seemed to have a secret knowledge and trust about little things that other people would over look. They were both sincere and serious at times, but had marvelous senses of humour as long as it was played in the right way. They didn't enjoy practical jokes and mean people using others as the butt of a joke. That was just wrong.
The girls also looked similar to each other. Not too much so that you would think they were sisters, as people knew with Lucy and Susan, but just enough to think they had some type of relation. They both had curly hair, Lucy's was a strawberry blonde, and Audrey's was dark brunette. They had fair skin, almost porcelain-like, but a shade darker, and petite noses. They were also both on the short side of the bargain being only in the 150 cm range (Lucy was a small bit taller). That's about where the similarities stopped. Their personalities were alike, but they were independent enough to have discussions on different views.
For instance, they both believed that war was necessary to have peace, but where as Lucy would wait out and try to negotiate first, Audrey would dive into the problem, wanting to get it fixed as quick as possible, by any means. There were many differences between the two friends like that. It was one of those, Lucy prefers spring, and Audrey favours autumn, Lucy liked Chinese, Audrey liked Italian, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. They were like any other pair of best friends.
The black car pulled up to the professor's country house. It was enormous. The strong brick foundation had ivy creeping up one side and plants all around. Audrey could clearly see that the estate was vast and there was a small wood on the property and topiaries in the backyard. She and Lucy would have to explore that when the rain wasn't so diligent. She obtained all of her baggage, which was just a medium sized suitcase and her carry-on, and headed into the house under the black umbrella held over her head by the prim Mrs. Macready.
"Hello Ms. Rockwell! Welcome to my humble estate!"
"Hullo! You must be Professor Kirk." Audrey acknowledged, catching excitement from the professor's enthusiastic voice. She set down her suitcase and shook hands vigorously with the old man. She was frightened and ecstatic at the same time. The gentleman gave off a vibe of extreme animation, what with his unruly white hair and broad smile.
"The other children are upstairs. Mrs. Macready, would you please lead the young lady up to them?"
"Yes sir." The prudish housekeeper complied. She then led Audrey up a maze of staircases until they heard a noise in one of the next rooms. They stopped in the room before and Mrs. Macready turned to Audrey. "Would you like for me to take your baggage to your room, young miss?"
"No, thank you. I will deposit it there myself later."
"Then they are through those doors. There are a few rules I expect you to follow while you stay here. The young ladies Susan and Lucy will inform you, I'm sure. Have a nice stay." She said, walking away.
"What an old prune." Audrey thought to herself as she walked through the door, and into the next room. She immediately noticed something peculiar about the room she was now in. It was unoccupied except for a dead-blue bottle on the windowsill and a large wardrobe. "Oh no. Why would they be in there?" She thought. She walked over to the wardrobe and opened it to see her reflection in the looking glass connected to its door. The contents of the wardrobe were fur coats of all sizes, just as Lucy had described it. Audrey, still grasping her bags and bow, pushed the coats aside and stepped into the wardrobe, careful not to close the door behind her (because she knew, of course, that it was very foolish to shut oneself in a wardrobe), and called out.
"Lu? Lucy, are you in here?"
She walked farther into the back of the wardrobe. "Strange," she thought, how big is this closet?" As she went on, she felt the fur coats around her transform into evergreen trees. "Hello?!" She called out worried. She realized that her friend hadn't been lying to her, and she felt horrible for doubting her.
There was something wrong with the scene though. Where was the snow? Lucy had described an everlasting winter in her letter, so what was this?
As she walked further into the wardrobe/forest, she noticed a rabbit scamper across the path in front of her. As she stepped closer, it stopped suddenly, perked its ears out, and looked intently at her. She couldn't help but note that the rabbit in front of her was bigger than any she had ever seen in London and its brown fur was the sleekest and shiniest of any animal she had ever seen in her whole life.
"Well, who are you?"
Audrey looked around, bewildered.
"Down here, if you please."
"Excuse me Mr. Rabbit. are you speaking to me?" The girl said, utterly confused and perplexed at this new puzzle in front of her.
"You are clearly not of the Narnian race, my dear. You must be lost. that's it! You're lost. You must be from Archenland."
"Excuse me, sir. I don't know what you are talking about. I'm not from Archenland! I am from London! Please."
"Dear child. Are you ill? There is no such place as this London you speak of. You must have the memory disease. We will get you back to your home country soon enough, don't worry." The rabbit consoled her going on and on about how unfortunate it was that she had to be put in such a predicament. Then he caught his breath, and seemed to realize something.
"My goodness! How rude can I be? I haven't yet introduced myself! My name is Mr. Lapin. Good day! And what is your name? How rude indeed! You probably don't even remember your name. Please forgive me. My breakfast quite small this morning, my energy must be dwindling."
"I do too know my name! It's Audrey Elizabeth Rockwell! And I do not have this disease you speak of!" The young girl exclaimed indignantly before realizing that she was arguing with a rabbit of all things. "I'm sorry for losing my temper, but I'm lost and incredibly baffled at my situation right now."
"Quite all right. I will lead you to Archenland, and you can figure out all of your circumstances there."
Audrey looked around hopelessly, before deciding just to give in to Mr. Lapin. What was the point anyways? She was in a totally different country. Maybe these Archenlanders would help her out. At least she hoped they would.
~*~*~*~*~
-Transported-
The train pulled up to the station. Audrey sat up in her seat and put her needlework and book in her little carry-on bag. She really had tried on the needlepoint, but halfway through the 'i' in 'is' she had already poked herself three times. The work was incredibly boring anyways.
Right now she was reading ROMEO + JULIET by William Shakespeare. Her father had gotten her a whole collection of his works for the previous Christmas, but she had just now started reading it. By the time the train ride was over she had gotten to the part where Romeo kills Tybalt. It was a little bit depressing because Mercutio was her favourite character, and he had to die.
"Hello. You must be Audrey Rockwell. My name is Mrs. Macready. I am the housekeeper of Professor Kirk's estate. If you will please come with me, the car awaits us."
"Thank you. Will the trip be a long one?"
"Not too long, dear. Come along now. Hurry up."
The car ride to the professor's house was very dull and quiet. It was raining, so everything had that damp worn out look to it. Audrey gazed out the dripping window. She now was faced with a little problem. What was Lucy's story? She didn't want to doubt her best friend, but her story was a little questionable. A faun? Why would Lucy make up a story like that? Wait. Lucy wouldn't make up a story like that. Oh, why now? As if it weren't enough with the war going on.
Lucy was a very earnest person just like Audrey. They seemed to have a secret knowledge and trust about little things that other people would over look. They were both sincere and serious at times, but had marvelous senses of humour as long as it was played in the right way. They didn't enjoy practical jokes and mean people using others as the butt of a joke. That was just wrong.
The girls also looked similar to each other. Not too much so that you would think they were sisters, as people knew with Lucy and Susan, but just enough to think they had some type of relation. They both had curly hair, Lucy's was a strawberry blonde, and Audrey's was dark brunette. They had fair skin, almost porcelain-like, but a shade darker, and petite noses. They were also both on the short side of the bargain being only in the 150 cm range (Lucy was a small bit taller). That's about where the similarities stopped. Their personalities were alike, but they were independent enough to have discussions on different views.
For instance, they both believed that war was necessary to have peace, but where as Lucy would wait out and try to negotiate first, Audrey would dive into the problem, wanting to get it fixed as quick as possible, by any means. There were many differences between the two friends like that. It was one of those, Lucy prefers spring, and Audrey favours autumn, Lucy liked Chinese, Audrey liked Italian, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. They were like any other pair of best friends.
The black car pulled up to the professor's country house. It was enormous. The strong brick foundation had ivy creeping up one side and plants all around. Audrey could clearly see that the estate was vast and there was a small wood on the property and topiaries in the backyard. She and Lucy would have to explore that when the rain wasn't so diligent. She obtained all of her baggage, which was just a medium sized suitcase and her carry-on, and headed into the house under the black umbrella held over her head by the prim Mrs. Macready.
"Hello Ms. Rockwell! Welcome to my humble estate!"
"Hullo! You must be Professor Kirk." Audrey acknowledged, catching excitement from the professor's enthusiastic voice. She set down her suitcase and shook hands vigorously with the old man. She was frightened and ecstatic at the same time. The gentleman gave off a vibe of extreme animation, what with his unruly white hair and broad smile.
"The other children are upstairs. Mrs. Macready, would you please lead the young lady up to them?"
"Yes sir." The prudish housekeeper complied. She then led Audrey up a maze of staircases until they heard a noise in one of the next rooms. They stopped in the room before and Mrs. Macready turned to Audrey. "Would you like for me to take your baggage to your room, young miss?"
"No, thank you. I will deposit it there myself later."
"Then they are through those doors. There are a few rules I expect you to follow while you stay here. The young ladies Susan and Lucy will inform you, I'm sure. Have a nice stay." She said, walking away.
"What an old prune." Audrey thought to herself as she walked through the door, and into the next room. She immediately noticed something peculiar about the room she was now in. It was unoccupied except for a dead-blue bottle on the windowsill and a large wardrobe. "Oh no. Why would they be in there?" She thought. She walked over to the wardrobe and opened it to see her reflection in the looking glass connected to its door. The contents of the wardrobe were fur coats of all sizes, just as Lucy had described it. Audrey, still grasping her bags and bow, pushed the coats aside and stepped into the wardrobe, careful not to close the door behind her (because she knew, of course, that it was very foolish to shut oneself in a wardrobe), and called out.
"Lu? Lucy, are you in here?"
She walked farther into the back of the wardrobe. "Strange," she thought, how big is this closet?" As she went on, she felt the fur coats around her transform into evergreen trees. "Hello?!" She called out worried. She realized that her friend hadn't been lying to her, and she felt horrible for doubting her.
There was something wrong with the scene though. Where was the snow? Lucy had described an everlasting winter in her letter, so what was this?
As she walked further into the wardrobe/forest, she noticed a rabbit scamper across the path in front of her. As she stepped closer, it stopped suddenly, perked its ears out, and looked intently at her. She couldn't help but note that the rabbit in front of her was bigger than any she had ever seen in London and its brown fur was the sleekest and shiniest of any animal she had ever seen in her whole life.
"Well, who are you?"
Audrey looked around, bewildered.
"Down here, if you please."
"Excuse me Mr. Rabbit. are you speaking to me?" The girl said, utterly confused and perplexed at this new puzzle in front of her.
"You are clearly not of the Narnian race, my dear. You must be lost. that's it! You're lost. You must be from Archenland."
"Excuse me, sir. I don't know what you are talking about. I'm not from Archenland! I am from London! Please."
"Dear child. Are you ill? There is no such place as this London you speak of. You must have the memory disease. We will get you back to your home country soon enough, don't worry." The rabbit consoled her going on and on about how unfortunate it was that she had to be put in such a predicament. Then he caught his breath, and seemed to realize something.
"My goodness! How rude can I be? I haven't yet introduced myself! My name is Mr. Lapin. Good day! And what is your name? How rude indeed! You probably don't even remember your name. Please forgive me. My breakfast quite small this morning, my energy must be dwindling."
"I do too know my name! It's Audrey Elizabeth Rockwell! And I do not have this disease you speak of!" The young girl exclaimed indignantly before realizing that she was arguing with a rabbit of all things. "I'm sorry for losing my temper, but I'm lost and incredibly baffled at my situation right now."
"Quite all right. I will lead you to Archenland, and you can figure out all of your circumstances there."
Audrey looked around hopelessly, before deciding just to give in to Mr. Lapin. What was the point anyways? She was in a totally different country. Maybe these Archenlanders would help her out. At least she hoped they would.