Chapter Four: Daughter of Eve
Six-year-old Jenny was enchanted with the statues from the moment she first saw them in her grandmother's garden. "Oh, Granma!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Where did they come from? What are their names?"
Lady Lobelia smiled at the eager little girl. "I found them in the woods, and you may name them if you like."
"This is Thompkins," Jenny said instantly, indicating Sonnagan. She cocked her head. "An' the bunny is Cuddy."
By the end of that visit, she had found names for all of them, and insisted on saying goodbye to each one while her ten-year-old brother David waited impatiently.
"They aren't real, Jen," he told her scornfully.
"Yes, they are!" Jenny insisted, pouting.
David sighed, knowing the futility of arguing with her. "Well, come on anyway; we'll be late for supper."
With a final wave to her new friends, Jenny skipped after him. "Goodbye, Thompkins! Goodbye, Cuddy! Goodbye, Hopkins and Willikins!"
She visited her grandmother every chance she could after that, but spent most of her time in the garden.
She always greeted all of them and stopped to pet Cuddy, but Thompkins was clearly her favourite. His hand had been extended at the moment he was petrified, and slipping under his arm Jenny would sit talking to him for hours. *
As for Thompkins, he found the time did not weigh nearly as heavily now, and looked forward to the visits from the little Daughter of Eve — for so she must be, and again his heart thrilled with hope that the White Witch's cruel reign was finally over.
"I like coming through the woods to Granma's house by myself," she confided one day; David had complained so often of the increased trips that their parents agreed Jenny was big enough to walk the scant half mile on her own. "I pretend I'm Little Red Riding Hood, an' I have to watch out for the big, bad wolf."
Her lack of real fear about the wolf convinced Thompkins that it was merely a part of her pretend game, but his heart clenched. Yes, be careful of the wolves, little Daughter of Eve! After all, the Witch might be defeated, but that didn't mean all her henchmen had been found and destroyed. A little girl like Jenny would be barely a mouthful for one of the huge wolves he remembered all too clearly.
Never once did it even occur to him that they might not be in Narnia at all; Jenny spoke of talking to birds and animals and of their responses, so even a lack of Talking Animals did not raise his suspicions. But even if the thought had crossed his mind he would have quickly dismissed it; there was simply no way for four immobile statues to have left Narnia.
Next chapter coming next week!
* Illustration for this scene can be found at femalechauvinist . deviantart . com [slash] art [slash] Stony-Confidante-730198325
I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know! (Note that this story is formatted using British spellings.)
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