Easter Morning
Disclaimer: Narnia and the Pevensies are the creation of C. S. Lewis. I own only the plot.
Chapter 2: In The Garden
Easter morning had started out bright and sunny, although it was still rather chilly so Lucy was glad she had decided to put her coat on before going out into the garden. She immediately noticed her brother Peter skulking- there was really no other word for it- by the shrubbery near the back fence. Lucy quickly made her way over to him.
"Happy Easter, Peter!"
"Happy Easter!" Peter leaned down and kissed his sister's cheek.
"What brings you out here so early?" Lucy enquired curiously.
"I thought I could have a quick smoke out here without Mum fussing about it." Producing his cigarette case Peter took one then offered it to Lucy. "Like to try one?"
"No thank you." Lucy watched with slight distaste as Peter lit his cigarette. "I'm sure those things aren't really that good for you."
Peter chuckled ruefully. "That's what Mum keeps saying. And why are you out here so early yourself?"
"The usual reason." Lucy grimaced as she spoke.
"Peter gave her a sympathetic look. "You've had another quarrel with Susan?"
Lucy nodded. "I've just had a telling off for daring to leave the house without any make up. Apparently now I'm seventeen my bare face is an affront to polite society!"
"That sounds like Susan," he observed with a sigh. "I don't know why she's complaining though. You usually do wear make up nowadays, just not as much as her."
"I haven't the time for it." Lucy confessed with a shrug. "I do want to look nice but I can't waste ages in front of the mirror the way she does. It's too much bother. But I suppose Su thinks I'm just being lazy."
"No, you're being sensible," Peter assured her. "But I think you always look lovely anyway."
"Thank you, Peter!" Lucy gave her brother an appreciative smile. "But it's all rather odd when you think about it. In Narnia I always used more cosmetics than Su did; I always felt I needed it more."
"I suppose that's true, now you mention it." Peter's expression was suddenly distant, and Lucy realised he was recalling those all too fleeting years when they had reigned together in Cair Paravel as adults. "Not that she remembers that now, of course."
"So she says." Lucy muttered.
"What do you mean?" Peter stared at his sister in surprise. He dropped his half finished cigarette onto the grass and ground it out under his shoe. "Do you think she's lying when she says Narnia was just a childhood game?"
"I think it's possible." Lucy admitted, somewhat reluctantly.
"It makes sense!" Peter suddenly looked excited. "I mean how could she possibly forget all that time in Narnia? But it was hard for all of us to accept we wouldn't be going back and maybe Su took it much harder than we thought. Perhaps pretending Narnia was just a game is her way of coping with the loss. That would be a good thing though, wouldn't it? At least it means Narnia is still important to her!"
Lucy did not reply. Inwardly she was groaning, and cursing herself for ever suggesting Susan might still remember. All she had done was give Peter new hope about their sister.
Susan's defection had hurt all of them, but Peter had taken it particularly badly. Due to the closeness of their ages, Peter and Susan had always shared a special bond, just as Lucy and Edmund had. Now she had given Peter a new reason to hope, and Lucy was horribly afraid that hope might be misplaced. To be sure everything he had just said was entirely plausible, but Lucy knew there were other reasons Susan might be pretending to have forgotten, reasons that gave far less scope for optimism.
Ever since Susan had first started denying their adventures in Narnia, Lucy had driven herself almost mad trying to come up with a reason for her sister's behaviour. The trouble was there were just too many possibilities and no easy way of deciding between them. How could they help Susan when they were unsure of what her motives were?
It was just at that moment Lucy recalled the second part of the minor argument with her sister, and it suddenly struck her this might just be a way of determining the truth.
"Lucy?" Peter was staring at her with a worried look on his face. "What's wrong? You've been standing there staring into space like a statue."
Lucy shook herself slightly. "I'm fine Peter. I've just had an idea, that's all. I'm going to talk with Su again and see if I can persuade her to come to church this morning."
Peter just shrugged. "It will be nice if she does, but I doubt one church service will make much difference."
"Not to her," Lucy agreed. "But it might make quite a difference for us."
Lucy gave Peter a quick smile and then turned and headed back into the house, leaving a rather puzzled brother behind her.
