Goodness gracious me, I am so happy to say that Christmas vacation is officially here! Yay! But all the snow melted. :(

Just want to thank you all for being so supportive, and I must say that I only intended for this to be three chapters long. Guess I can't stick to what I decided. Heh. And Elizabeth, DON'T KILL MR TUMNUS! I HAVE UPDATED! AAAHHHHH! Oh. You won't kill him. Okay. Good.

Um, I hope you all like this chapter, and thank you all for being so kind to me. It's the best Christmas present I could ever receive. Thank you.

Arrele: Aw… since the snow is gone, the rights to Narnia are gone as well. We did own a Tumnus whistle from Mickey D's, but then it got lost. Wah.

Previously…

"Well, go on, give it a try." Edmund said, motioning for Tumnus to go up to the magical piece of furniture.

Tumnus nodded and walked uncertainly up to it, putting his hand on the doorknob. He could feel the anxiety in the room, as if he was their only hope of reopening the portal. Would he do it? Or would he be stuck here with the others? This was the time to find out.

Hesitantly he turned the doorknob, pulling the intricately carved door wide open. All he could see where a few wet footprints and the wooden back of the wardrobe. Everyone sighed in disappointment as Tumnus turned to face the four.

"Well, it was worth a try, wasn't it?" Peter said, trying to cheer everyone up.

"What about him? He can't stay here, he's a…. a…." Edmund started, pointing at Tumnus.

"A what, Edmund?" Lucy asked.

"Well… he's not normal. What will the others say?" Edmund seemed to be accusing Tumnus for closing the portal in the wardrobe.

"Whatever do you mean? The only people who are here are the Professor and Mrs. Macready, and they don't seem to mind." Susan reprimanded.

"But… never mind." The boy went silent, casting the whole room into stillness.

Lucy walked up to Tumnus and kindly shut the wardrobe door, preventing him from staring desolately into the gloom inside it. "That's okay. I mean, the Professor did say that the portal wasn't open all the time. Maybe it will be open tomorrow, and then we can all go back to Cair Paravel."

Tumnus smiled at her optimism. Leave it to a little girl to brighten up even the most disappointing situations. He put a hand on her shoulder, looking at the rest of the kids hopefully. "She's right. Maybe it's not time to leave Spare Oom just yet."

Merrily Lucy took his hand and led him out of the room again without waiting for the others to follow. "Come, Mr. Tumnus, I want to show you the mansion. There's a lot of cool stuff here, as long as you don't touch the valuable artifacts. Mrs. Macready will have your head if you so much as look at them." At the words 'don't touch the valuable artifacts' the girl imitated the housekeeper's uncompromising voice, making the Faun laugh.

Then he remembered breaking the statue and his expression became somber. "But… I broke a statue earlier… will she have my head?" He looked so serious that Lucy had to giggle.

"No, Mr. Tumnus, it was a figure of speech. She wouldn't take your head, but I bet she wasn't happy. What happened to your head?" She had suddenly noticed the large bruise peeking out from under his brown curls.

"This?" He tenderly touched the spot, wincing a little. "I broke a statue and she became upset."

"What did she hit you with? It looks like a…" Lucy tried to determine what exactly the shape of the bruise looked like. Peter, Susan, and Edmund caught up to them and studied the bruise as well.

"It looks like an umbrella." Peter said, grimacing at the thought of being walloped with an umbrella wielded by Mrs. Macready.

"An umbrella? But-" Susan was cut off by advancing footsteps. "It's her! Quick, this way!" She whispered, running in the other direction.

The others followed, Tumnus wondering what exactly they were running from and why. Then he looked behind him and saw Mrs. Macready, face red and eyes full of malice. It was enough to make anyone, even Aslan, run. Well, maybe not Aslan, but it was pretty frightening. Susan led the small group outside through a door and into a garden, where they found sanctuary among the bright flowers and vegetables.

"That was close." Peter said from behind some squash.

Tumnus smiled and crouched behind some purple flowers, inhaling the pleasant scent. He could sit here for a while, he was certain, if the need should arise. Circling the garden were trees, none that were as big as in Narnia, but they were big nonetheless. After he was sure Mrs. Macready wouldn't appear, he stood and walked over to one of the oaks, placing a hand on it. To his surprise they seemed different somehow, but he did not have reason why. Maybe they were different in War Drobe. He could hear Lucy walk up behind him and stand silently as he felt the bark.

"Lucy, the trees, they seem… different." Tumnus said, unsure of how he felt.

"How?" She put a hand up on the tree as well as if that would help her understand.

"I don't know. They are missing something." His fingers felt the grooves in the tree bark, and he realized that the tree wasn't speaking to him likes the ones back home did. It wasn't just this one, it was all of them. The silence was pressing on his ears, and he turned to Lucy, blue eyes filled with concern and perplexity.

"Mr. Tumnus…. The trees here don't speak, if that's what you mean." Peter said gently.

"They don't? Never? But- but how…" Tumnus couldn't believe it. "What do all the forest creatures say?"

"Nothing, Mr. Tumnus. They cannot speak either." Susan put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Not at all?"

"No, only the humans can. I'm sorry."

It seemed like the Faun was going to cry, but instead he looked up at the tree again and said in a woebegone voice, "What a strange place Spare Oom is."

Lucy placed her hand over his, like he had done when they had been standing on the balcony at Cair Paravel, watching Aslan leave on the sandy beach. "Don't worry, we'll find a way back."

Her hand was sticky. Tumnus had a brief flashback of her taking her hand away with it dripping blood, and quickly he lifted his hand, taking hers in his own. He sighed in relief when he only found some tree sap.

"What are you doing?" Lucy asked, seeing the concern in his eyes.

"N- nothing. Nothing at all." He said quietly, dropping the appendage like it was on fire. Suddenly the purpose of why he had come to Spare Oom in the first place came to him, and the urgency of it pressed on him. Tumnus wanted to speak to Lucy dearly, but he suddenly found his throat dry and he became aware of the others still around him. This was not the right time for them to talk alone.

The little queen stared at him apprehensively, but didn't say anything, for Mrs. Macready had finally found them. She held a letter in her hand and was waving it around.

"Children, I have a letter from your mother, come here now so I won't have to shout!" The housekeeper yelled.

Yes, I know, not a very good chapter, but I had to put something. Think of it as a transition between this chapter and the next. I'm sorry. Um, review, and I'll try to put up the next chapter in a day or two. I NEED TO SEE THE MOVIE AGAIN TO GET INSPIRED! THE BOOK ISN'T ENOUGH!