A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Very inspiring for a beginning writer….off to the next chapter! Constructive criticism is ALWAYS appreciated.

I don't own anything of C.S.Lewis'. So, don't sue me.

Orlitza & Violinisthaname1: Thank you for bringing to my attention that my summary seems incorrect. I had tried to word it in a way so people could understand my meaning; however, since two people brought it to my attention that I had my facts wrong, I guess I should explain. I am aware that Digory and Polly were the first children EVER to be in Narnia since they jumped into the wrong lake with Jadis, but my summary simply says: what if the Pevensies weren't the first children to come to Narnia AS A FULFILLMENT OF THE OLD PROPHECY ( you know, the one about four children coming to Narnia and saving it from the White Witch). I hope that clears up things a bit for you, and for anyone else who thought I was a bit off my rocker. Oh, and I'm not trying to be sarcastic at all; thank you for letting me clear up my mistake. ; ) Mithxerra

Chapter 1

Well, my hopes of getting to those children before Aslan did were shot down practically the moment I had them. At first, I had thought it would be easy to find them if I walked south, down the bank of the river. However, they were nowhere to be found. I feared they might have drowned after being swept away by the current, but I was relieved to find that was not the case. After scouting out the area for what seemed like hours, I found three fur coats slung over felled trees some yards away from the river's edge.

Looking up at the sky, I sighed in frustration, "How will I ever catch up to them now? It is nearly evening time…" The beavers would take the children to the Stone Table, of that I was certain. It would be well past nightfall by the time I could get there; I was pretty sure I wouldn't get a warm welcome there, either. But, I would be safer there than with the Secret Police on my tail; so with that, I began again on my trudge.

Truth be told, I did not know exactly where I was. I had lived in Narnia for nigh on eight years, but I had always kept to the mountains, hardly ever coming down to the lower lands. You see, the hills reminded me of my home… in Ireland.

There had been four of us in all: my brother Nate, 16, my sister Letty, 14, myself, 11, and my baby brother Joey, 9. I would never forget that year when the agency had found us a permanent family, and we would none of us be separated. There was a man and a woman from the city who actually wanted the whole lot of us. Joey and I had been so excited to finally have a mother and father as we were too young to remember ours, and Nate and Letty were just relieved to be able to give up the burden of being the mother and father.

Yes, we had to leave our precious mountains, but it was a sacrifice all of us were willing to make. However, our joy did not last forever. Not two months after we came to live with our new family, my little brother "found" a strange artifact outside while he was playing. He showed it proudly to all of us, and while it was an intriguing object, it was also extremely frightening to look upon.

Letty and Nate thought it was a good find and told Joey that it might be worth some money in a few years. I, on the other hand, wanted him to get rid of it; it looked evil. I did not really believe Joey had found it outside for it was not worn or dirty at all. Ireland is a very dreary, wet climate and nothing that was out in the mud would be in such picture perfect condition. I did not say this to the older ones.

Some days later Da and Mum kicked us out of the house for a bit of fresh air. Letty was reading a book to Nate as he lay on the grass, and Joey sat playing with his toys. He was playing soldiers with the little figurines Da and Mum had bought him. They had given us all presents when we first came to them. I clutched my new dolly close to me as I sat down next to him.

"May I play, too?" I inquired.

"Of course," he smiled, "Here. You can be a captain." He placed a small soldier in my hand, and I smiled back at him. My smile turned to a frown when I noticed that it was not a soldier he held in his hand.

"And who are you?" I asked.

"I'm the general, of course," he grinned smugly and flashed me that ugly statuette he had found.

"You can't play with that; it is not a soldier!" I argued.

He glared back at me, "Yes, I can! It is mine, and I can do anything I want with it."

"It isn't yours, if you found it somewhere; its owner might be looking for it."

"No one is looking for it because the old man gave it to me!" Joey sneered. "He gave it to me, so I can keep it!"

My mouth dropped in shock; I could not remember the last time Joey had lied to me. "Da won't let you keep it. Not when he hears that you lied to him and Mum. You aren't supposed to talk to strangers, let alone take their gifts! Now, give it to me. I'm taking it to Mum."

"Oh, no you're not!" He hid it behind his back with one hand, while stretching out the other one to stop any attacks from me. However, I was stronger than he and after a momentary tussle had the object in my grasp; I pushed him down in the dirt and started to run back to the house.

"Nate!" Joey yelled, "Missy took my bird-man. Make her give it back!" Letty stopped reading and Nate propped himself up on one elbow, brow furrowed. He growled in irritation.

"Missy, come here right now."

I knew Nate would be on my side, so I practically pranced over to him and Letty; Joey was hot on my heels. "Joey has been bad. He's been taking gifts from people he doesn't know," I squealed.

Nate fixed a pointed look on my little brother, "Joey, is that true?"

Joey squinched up his nose and lunged at my hand, hoping to grab hold of his belonging. His hand wrapped around my wrist, and I heard Letty scream "Joseph!" before wrapping her arms around him to try and pull him away from me. Nate, too, tried release my wrist from Joey's viselike grip.

And then… well, we were no longer in Ireland or in any place I had ever seen. There was snow everywhere for as far as the eye could see. Letty fell backwards causing Joey to tumble down with her, and Nate and I just stood and looked around us like idiots.

"What happened?" Letty sounded scared.

"I don't know…."responded Nate. He kept turning around in circles, searching for anything that was familiar, but nothing was. "Mum? Da?" he called out, but no one answered in that desolate wasteland.

Joey jumped up from the ground; his bottom lip was quivering, and he grabbed onto Nate's hand, "Nate, where are we? Where's Mum?"

Nate squeezed the boy's hand reassuringly, "It's alright; we'll find them. Come on, girls. They're probably just over that hill." Nate started walking forward, holding Joey's hand. Letty and I came in toe. But there was no one to be seen, so we kept on walking. It was very cold and our sweaters did not do much against the freezing winds.

I had almost forgotten about Joey's figurine until I glanced down, and there it was still clutched in my hand. It was in the shape of a man, but it had a vulture's head and four bony arms with long fingers and bird claws. In disgust, I dropped it on the ground and, with the toe of my shoe, covered it completely with the snow.