Chapter Two
"'Gastrovascular.'" Joy and Lucy looked at each other and back out the window at the rain. It was falling so thickly that both girls couldn't see the stream in the garden below. Why did it have to rain on their first day here, when there were so many exciting things they could be doing instead?
"All my good plans," mumbled Joy. Underneath the side table, Edmund rolled his eyes.
"Come on Peter, 'Gastrovascular'," persisted Susan. Peter rolled his head to the side.
"Is it Latin?" Susan looked down at the huge, old dictionary.
"Yes."
"Is it Latin for," Edmund climbed out from under the table "'worst game ever invented?'" He and Peter laughed. Rebecca, sitting across the room, smiled while sipping some tea. Susan, annoyed, slammed the massive book shut and slid it off her lap onto the couch next to her. Lucy got off the window seat and walked over to Peter.
"Well, we could play hide-and-seek?"
"But we're already having so much fun," said Peter in a monotone voice. Susan sighed, annoyed with Peter. Rebecca looked up from her notebook.
"Come Peter please," Lucy grabbed Peter's arm. "Pretty please?" she whimpered. Joy got off the window seat and stood behind her, smiling hopefully.
"One," Peter started counting "two, three-"
"What?" exclaimed Edmund.
"Four, five, six, seven" Susan rolled her eyes and got up off the couch. Rebecca put down her pencil and stood up as well. Everyone headed out different doors and ran down the halls.
Coming up some stairs and turning to her right, Joy found a spot behind some thick curtains in a dark alcove in a long hallway. Folding her legs up and tucking her knees under her chin, she sat on the windowsill waiting. Running footsteps thudded down the hall, and she heard the rungs of a curtain slide on a curtain rod.
"I was here first!" said Edmund. Someone huffed and ran further down the hallway. Joy could still hear Peter counting from the other room.
"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred. Ready or not, here I come!"
"It's alright! I'm back!" Lucy, what was she thinking?! Joy unfolded herself from the ledge and peeked out of the curtain. Lucy ran down some steps and shouted, "I'm alright!" Edmund's head poked out of some curtains beside Lucy.
"Shut up, he's coming!" he said in a whiny voice. That was when Peter entered the hallway. Edmund sighed and gave Lucy a grumpy look as he stepped out from behind the curtains.
"You know, I'm not sure you two have quite got the idea of this game," said Peter.
"Make that three," Edmund pointed at Joy and Peter turned around before she could duck behind the curtain again. Glaring at Edmund, Joy slowly approached the others.
"Weren't you wondering where I was?" asked Lucy.
"That's the point," Edmund turned on Lucy "that was why he was seeking you." Susan and Rebecca ran up to the others.
"Does this mean we win?" asked Susan. Peter shrugged, looking around at the others.
"I don't think Lucy wants to play anymore."
"I've been gone for hours," said Lucy. Everyone stared at her. "I got in the wardrobe so I could hide, and inside the wardrobe there's a whole other world! There was a wood, it was snowing and there was a lamppost in the middle of the forest. It's called Narnia, and I met a faun named Mr. Tumnus." The children looked at each other, not believing a word of it. Joy however felt very curious and secretly believed the story.
"He invited me over to his cave, and he told me about the White Witch, who has made it always winter but never Christmas. And this has been going on for one hundred years!" Lucy grabbed Peter's hand. "Come on! I'll show you myself." Joy and Rebecca followed at the back of the group.
Lucy lead them up some more stairs and straight to the second door on their left. Inside, there stood a large wardrobe, nothing else in the room. A white cloth lay on the floor, as if it had covered the wardrobe and Lucy had pulled it off, and several mothballs were lolling about on the floor, and Joy accidentally stepped on one. A great tree with spreading branches and apples was carved into the door, and other carvings, like birds and tree branches, marked the front of the wardrobe. Lucy opened the door excitedly.
"Go in and see!" Susan entered first, pulling the coats aside. Peter, Edmund and Rebecca pulled the wardrobe out from the wall and Edmund knocked on the back wall. Susan knocked on the inside, and then stepped outside where the others waited.
"Lucy, the only wood in here is the back of the wardrobe."
"One game at a time Lu," Lucy looked from Susan to Peter. "We don't all have your imagination." Peter, Susan, and Edmund headed for the door. Rebecca and Joy hung back, staring at the wardrobe. Lucy looked at Joy, who opened her mouth to speak, then Lucy faced the others.
"But I wasn't imagining!" They all turned around, looking either annoyed or frustrated.
"That's enough Lucy," said Susan.
"I wouldn't lie about this!" cried Lucy.
"Well I believe you," Edmund stepped forward.
"You do?" asked Lucy. Joy gave Edmund a suspicious glance.
"Yeah of course! Didn't I tell you about the football field in the bathroom cupboards?" He smiled at his joke, while Lucy looked even more disappointed than before. Joy glared at him.
"Oh, would you just stop." Peter faced him. "You just have to make everything worse, don't you?"
"It's just a joke," said Edmund.
"When are you going to learn to grow up?" asked Peter.
"Shut up!" Edmund exploded. "You think you're Dad but you're not!" He ran from the room. Susan watched him leave and then looked at Peter.
"Well that was nicely handled." She then left in a huff.
"But," said Lucy hesitantly. Peter turned back towards her, still standing by the wardrobe "it really was there."
"Susan's right Lucy, that's enough." He left the room. Rebecca headed for the door, a torn expression on her face. She then noticed Joy was not following.
"Joy? Are you coming?" she looked concernedly at Joy.
"In a moment," Joy looked at Lucy, waiting for Rebecca to leave. Rebecca opened her mouth to say something, then slightly shook her head and followed the others. Once her footsteps retreated down the hallway, Joy spoke. "Lucy," Lucy looked up from the floor "I believe you."
"You really do?" Lucy asked, not believing her.
"Yes, because it makes sense. I've made up stories to get out of trouble, but it takes some time for me to make up one with that many details," said Joy with determination. "I believe this Narnia exists." Joy smiled and looked at the wardrobe. "I only wish I knew how to get there."
"Maybe the wardrobe has had enough for one day." Lucy looked wistfully at the wardrobe then closed the door.
"Come on, let's go. It doesn't matter what the others think, at least we're in on this together." Joy headed for the open door.
"Yes, and thank you Joy." Lucy ran after her and smiled up at her, and the two left the room.
Several hours later, Joy found herself back in the wardrobe room. Lucy had described every detail of Narnia to her over the last four hours, and then they had played a Narnia game where the two of them met Mr. Tumnus in the wood. Then the White Witch, also known as Susan, came up behind them and told the girls to get ready for dinner. Which gave Joy to perfect opportunity to go to the wardrobe room.
"So, what did Lucy do first?" Joy opened the wardrobe door and stepped inside. "She left the door open a crack and walked backwards to the back of the wardrobe." She turned around and planted one foot behind the other, and slowly walked towards the back, keeping a hand stretched out behind her so she wouldn't run into the wall. If the wardrobe wouldn't let her into Narnia.
Her fingers brushed smooth wood, and Joy got her answer. She sighed and leaned against the wood. "I guess the wardrobe has had enough for one day," she said with defeat. Then, the wood gave out, vanishing behind her. Joy reached out to grab one of the fur coats as she fell backwards and landed hard in the snow. "Ouch!" Her legs hung over a large fallen branch, sitting right where the wooden floor turned into snow. The cold of the snow at the back of her neck made Joy quickly sit up and look around.
Through the two pine branches heavy laden with snow which were hanging over her head, Joy could see a snow-covered forest, and beyond it a light in the distance. It appeared to be nighttime, and the soft glow of the moon through the clouds cast strange shadows on the snow around her. Joy's excitement made her stand up and walk forward, brushing the snow away from her collar. She walked forward, full of excitement. The forest was beautiful, snow covering every little pine needle, empty branch, heather; it was all so beautiful.
Joy came around a corner and saw standing up before her, in the middle of a clearing, a lamppost. Just as Lucy had said. Joy could even see her fingerprints on the frosty metal, though they seemed to be covered in a new layer of frost. "What would a lamppost be doing in the middle of a wood?" She stepped closer, staring at the flickering light.
"That is a good question that goes back out of my time on this earth," said a voice behind her. Joy screamed and spun around, stooping to scoop a handful of snow to defend herself. Looking sharply around, she finally noticed the speaker.
It was a bright orange fox, who had very intelligent eyes. "Relax! I'm a good fox."
"That was you?" Joy lowered the hand holding the snowball. "You can talk?" Was the cold starting to get to her brain?
"Yes, I am fortunate enough to call myself one of the Talking Beasts of Narnia," said the fox with pride. "And you, you must be a Daughter of Eve." He pointed one paw at her.
"No, my mum's name is Christine, not Eve. My name is Joy." She pointed to herself. "And this is Narnia, right?" She gestured to the snowy wood around them.
"Yes, our beautiful Narnia locked in snow and ice for over a hundred years now." The fox sighed, then cocked his head as if confused. "How do you know about Narnia?"
"My friend Lucy told me, she met a faun here named Mr. Tumnus."
"One of the Queens?!" asked the fox. Joy stared, not knowing how to respond, so the fox said, "Never mind." He then lowered his voice, like he was talking to himself. "I didn't know Tumnus was on our side, I must talk to him sooner than later." He looked back at her and quickly trotted forward. "You must be frozen in those wet clothes." Indeed, she was now that the excitement had worn off and Joy was feeling rather chilly. Joy dropped the snowball and briskly rubbed her arms with her cold hands.
"Yes, I am," she said before her chattering teeth caught a lip between them.
"Come with me and I will help you." He started heading into the forest.
"But-" Joy called after him and the fox turned around. "How do I know I can trust you? Do you work for the White Witch?" The fox raised his head with a proud look on his face.
"No, I am loyal to Aslan, the real King of Narnia."
Aslan. The name gave her a feeling of tremendous excitement and adventure, and she realized she didn't feel as cold as before. "Who is Aslan?" she asked. The fox ran back to her, eyes glowing.
"He is the King of the Wood and the Son of the Emperor beyond the Sea. He has just come back to Narnia because we've heard that one of the future Queens, another Daughter of Eve, came into Narnia." It had to be Lucy, but what did he mean by a Queen? Joy didn't have a chance to ask for the fox said, "Now come quickly, some of the trees are on the Witch's side and they might report back to her so come on." He bounded out of the clearing and Joy ran to keep up with him.
He led her through the thick wood where the ground sloped downwards and eventually levelled out. Joy did her best to keep the bright orange fox in sight but with the dark shadows from the trees it was hard to make things out while you're jogging. When she lost sight of him and stood in the middle of the dark wood, Joy started to wonder if she should have trusted him.
"Now what do I do?" She turned around and around, rubbing her arms and legs as a cold wind was going up her skirt and she was feeling cold all over again.
"Daughter of Eve? Joy?" Joy suddenly saw him, standing by a large tree to her right. Joy walked forward and saw beyond the tree, four little houses. There was a tiny table, and several little chairs outside of one hut, and two others had lighted windows. The last hut seemed to be more of a dugout, for there were no windows and a door which was sloped like the mound of dirt itself.
A badger came out of the house closest to the dugout and walked over to it, humming as he went. Joy smiled at the cute badger as she watched him. He was carrying a fishing pole and a pail and gave a quick look back at his own house before opening the door to the dugout. At that moment, the fox by Joy's feet leapt forward.
"Badger!" The badger started. He dropped his pole and pail and fell head first into the dugout! The fox burst out laughing. "You should have seen your face!" The badger's head appeared out of the dugout door, and he wasn't laughing.
"Very funny fox." He climbed out and pulled the door closed behind him. "The Mrs. doesn't know about this and I would prefer to keep it that way." He collected his things together. "Your kind is always making trouble," he grumbled under his breath.
"Of course, of course." The fox bowed his head, but Joy could still see a smile on his face. "I actually came here to ask if you could do me a favour."
"What is it now?! I have already promised to serve in Aslan's army, what more do you want?" The fox turned and looked at Joy, still standing by the tree. "Oh!" The badger instantly changed his attitude. "Is it one of the Queens?" asked the badger, looking very hopeful.
"No." The badger's face fell. "But any human coming into Narnia comes for a purpose, so I will have to talk to Aslan about her." The fox waved his paw at Joy. "Come here Joy." Joy slowly walked forward, not sure whether to feel nervous about the badger's claws or the fox's words. A purpose? What on earth could the fox mean? Her chattering teeth refused to let her ask.
"Would you be able to warm her up with a warm fire and some hot tea? As you can see, she's very cold." The badger nodded.
"Of course, come this way girl." The badger pointed one claw towards one of the huts with the lighted windows.
"My name is Joy, Mr. Badger," stammered Joy "but I thank you. I can only stay for a little while before I have to get back home," she started towards the little building with the thatched roof.
"Well I might as well stay too!" The fox grinned at his friend, who rolled his eyes and led the way into his little hut.
It was a small hut, but every bit of the space was used for a purpose. There were bunks built against the wall, dried vegetables hanging from the ceiling, a stove stood in the corner and next to it sat a cupboard full of dishes. Fishing hooks, a tack box, burlap sacks and wiring were all hanging up on one wall, and a small bookshelf sat opposite it across the room. A table in the middle of the room took up most of the space, which was covered in a checkered tablecloth, and next to the stove in a rocking chair, sat another badger wearing glasses. She was knitting what looked like socks, but they were so big Joy thought she must be mistaken.
The other badger looked up and saw Joy. Startled, she stood up so quickly that her wool nearly rolled into the fire if Mr. Badger hadn't it for her. "Dearie," said Mr. Badger "it's not what you think," he said very gently. Disappointment covered Mrs. Badger's features and Joy didn't know whether to feel sorry for her or feel shame for herself. "But she is human, and humans are always a good sign." Mrs. Badger perked up again, not as much as the first time though. "And right now, what she needs is to get warm." Mrs. Beaver leapt into action.
She pushed the rocking chair closer to the stove and gestured for Joy to sit down. The rocking chair was just a little small for Joy, but she could manage. The fox curled up by her feet, closing his eyes like he was going to take a nap, then Mrs. Badger handed Joy a cup of hot tea. It tasted like none of the tea back in England, but it was the best tea Joy had ever had. Sipping the tea slowly, she stared at the dancing flames through the grate in the stove until she could keep her eyes open no longer and leaned back in the chair.
"She's not one of the Queens, but Fox here says that humans always come to Narnia for a reason." Joy's eyes flew open, and her ears latched onto the badger's voice. "We must have hope dearie, especially after all you went through." Joy turned her head slightly and saw Mr. Badger cupping his wife's face with his paws. It was such a cute scene that Joy smiled. Lolling her head to one side, she looked out the little window above the stove.
Blackness. Joy jumped up, startling the fox lying by her feet, and she nearly stepped on his tail. "I need to go! It's getting awfully late and I must get home." She put the tea cup down on the table.
"Thank you for the wakeup call." The fox rolled over on his back and stretched, his paws scratching the air over his head, and yawned so that she could see every one of his sharp teeth. "I guess I should take you back now."
"Please, my sister will be worried about what's happened to me." The fox perked up at the mention of Rebecca.
"You have a sister?" The Badgers were listening now as well.
"Yes, Rebecca." Feeling slightly cornered by all the eyes on her, Joy moved towards the door.
"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Badger, for your hospitality." Mrs. Badger nodded, smiling at Joy.
"Always a pleasure to help out a human," said Mr. Badger. The fox stood up on his hind legs and turned the doorknob with his paws, then bounded out into the snow. Joy followed him and when she looked back over her shoulder, the door to the Badger's home was shut, and the light in the window had gone out.
"Come on Joy! Keep up!" Joy ran after him. They took almost the same route back, as least from what Joy could make out. The fox led her through thick bushes and the darker parts of the forest, and he was constantly sniffing the air. When Joy asked him why he did that, he said it was in case the Witch's secret police was nearby, so he could be ready if they attacked the two of them. Once the lamppost came in sight, the fox slowed down.
"Mr. Fox, why did Mrs. Badger not say a word the whole time we were visiting?" The fox hung his head, like the question was weighing him down.
"She had her tongue cut out by the Witch." Joy gasped in horror.
"How awful!" The fox nodded.
"Yes, she was speaking to some trees about keeping faith in Aslan and the prophecy, unaware one of the trees was loyal to the Witch. The Witch came down from her castle in a fury, but instead of turning her into stone, the Witch decided to make sure she would never speak of uprising again." Joy felt like she was going to be sick and put a hand to her stomach. The fox looked around the clearing.
"Do you know your way back from here?" Joy nodded.
"Yes, it's that way." She pointed towards the wardrobe entrance, where she could still see the fading daylight from the wardrobe room. She knelt in front of the fox. "Will you be alright for helping a human?" The fox shrugged, smiling.
"So far I've been lucky, and I think I will be lucky for a long time." He grinned at Joy, then ran off into the woods. Joy watched him run away, then headed for the wardrobe. Stepping over the fallen branch, her foot suddenly hit a wooden floorboard of the wardrobe. The prickly tree branches gave way to soft fur coats, and suddenly the wardrobe door flew open and Joy fell out onto the floor of the room.
Looking back over her shoulder, Joy saw the back wall of the wardrobe, no snow-covered forest. She grinned, feeling strangely excited, then got to her feet. She ran out of the wardrobe room and headed for her own. After brushing the loose hair out of her face, Joy stepped inside where she found Rebecca standing in front of the dresser, pinning her long hair out of her face with bobby pins.
"Where have you been? Susan said she told you and Lucy to get ready for dinner and then you disappeared." Joy shrugged, mumbling "I don't know," knowing Rebecca wouldn't believe her. Rebecca looked at her suspiciously then told her to brush her hair. With their faces washed and hair combed, the two girls made their way down to the dining room.