Suited to the Task
"All right, sir?"
"As all right as an old man traveling can be, thank you." Professor Kirke sat in the train car, leaning back against the dark seat. "But you needn't have come all this way just to escort me, you know. I may be old, but I'm quite capable of managing on my own." He smiled at the serious young man sitting across from him.
"Shall we say I came for the delight of your company? Peter gets to see you all the time; 'twould be fair to say that this is my turn."
"Then tell me all about what is happening with your family. All is well, and they are charging forth on their usual crusades?"
Edmund chuckled. "At the moment, I believe they are preparing for the next meeting of the friends of Narnia."
"While this is an occasion for great joy, indeed, I think you know something I do not. Why would that be enough to make you laugh?"
"Aunt Polly, Lu, Jill, and Eustace are all working together on it. I don't envy Eustace—I don't think he's likely to be much help, and he'll get scolded something frightful; nevertheless, he was determined to do his part and help, like a good chap. But just before I left, after the girls had been going on for about an hour, he pulled me aside and asked, somewhat desperately, if there was any way he could come too. Poor chap—he didn't have money for the train."
"Hmmm."
"I know that expression, sir. You're thinking something about Aslan's will right now."
"Indeed." The Professor smiled. "I remembered that quite often, He calls us to the situations where we are the most uncomfortable, where our skills are the least suitable. It is often through our weakness that He works."
"That's so," Edmund agreed quietly. "Like commanding a traitor to be a judge."
"Or telling an awkward scientist to be a cook. Or an old man to be a traveler. The most unlikely of choices." The Professor closed his eyes. "He's quite good at making us suited to our tasks, rather than the other way round."