Hello! So Polly meets Digrory's mum and there's definitely something weird about Uncle Albert...

Thank you SO much to leafysummers for reviewing - I was about to give up hope! I urge you if you're reading this to follow suit as I really do want to know your opinions and criticisms as they all go towards making it a better story.

Hope you enjoy :)

Chapter 3

Polly stared at the man standing before her and stood up slowly.

"It's nice to meet you too." She said politely as Digory got to his feet and came to stand next to her.

"Come on." He muttered, taking her hand and pulling her indoors. The two ran up the stairs and stopped in the corridor, Polly widened her eyes at him.

"You're right, your uncle is strange." She said and he laughed a bit self-consciously.

"Told you so." He said with a shrug.

Footsteps heralded the uncle in questions return and Digory quickly pulled Polly into his bedroom and shut the door. They pressed their ears to the door and heard the footsteps stop on the landing and then continue after a while, then Digory recognized the slam of his study door and rolled his eyes as he straightened up.

"We're safe, he's in his study – he won't emerge for days." He said.

Polly frowned slightly, "What does he do in there?" She asked.

"Don't know really...'science' he says but Mum says it's weirder than that." He replied with a grimace and Polly raised her arched eyebrows.

"It's like something out of a storybook." She said, looking at Digory with renewed respect.

He shrugged again and shifted his weight nervously, wondering if she was laughing at him.

Polly looked round the room for the first time and gasped – the whole wall was covered in maps! Old and new maps of everywhere you could imagine.

"Digory that's amazing!" She breathed, tracing one of the lines with the tip of her finger. He came to stand behind her with a fierce glow in his eyes

"Every single place shown on those maps, I'm going to go." He said determinedly, clasping his hands behind his back.

"Everywhere?" She said, transfixed by the thought of seeing all those places in real life, not pictures.

"Everywhere." He confirmed and she, as she turned to look at him, absolutely believed him.

They heard a weak voice call his name from the next room and Digory's face seemed to tighten.

"That's Mother. Do you want to -"

"I'd love to." Polly said as he trailed off in apparent embarrassment, he gave an endearing half-smile and opened the door for her to go through first.

"It's through here." He said, opening another door and poking his head through.

His Mother sat up in bed and smiled; he saw she'd combed her hair and was wearing a dress rather than her nightgown.

"Hello love." She greeted him and then tilted her head to the side and mouthed is she with you?

Digory rolled his eyes yet again and opened the door to reveal Polly standing a bit awkwardly in the corridor.

"Hello Mrs Kirke." She said with a smile as she stepped into the room with Digory close behind her.

"It's lovely to meet you Polly, I'm afraid I can't get up." She replied warmly.

Polly made a small gesture with her hands. "It doesn't matter at all." She said firmly and Digory (though she could not see him) thanked her sincerely with his eyes.

"I suppose you've met my brother Albert and his wife?" His Mother asked.

"Well she's definitely mt Uncle Albert." Digory supplied with an expressive look, his Mother winced.

"Oh dear – was it bad?"

Polly looked at her in surprise and then gave small laugh. "He seems a most...interesting man." She said and Digory joined in her laughter.

"Well he was worse as a child: he used to scare all my suitors away with his 'magic tricks' and the fact that he was too busy 'inventing' to comb his hair!" Mrs Kirke laughed and then coughed. The two children fell silent and Polly looked at the floor.

"My...my Mother asked me to make sure it would be okay for her to pay a visit at some point, to welcome you to the neighborhood?" Polly asked after the other woman had stopped coughing and was pleased to see her eyes light up.

"Of course! That would be lovely." Mrs Kirke said honestly and Polly smiled.

The three of them talked for about half an hour more about all sorts of things until Polly politely excused herself as she had to be back for lunch.

"It was so nice to meet you Polly." Mrs Kirke said with a gentle smile as the girl stood up.

"And you too, perhaps I could visit again – if you'd like?" She replied.

"Anytime, dear."

Digory stood as Polly did,

"I'll see you to the wall." He said with a grin and Polly gave him a playful push.

"I don't need an escort!" She laughed and he caught her wrist.

"I'm not too sure about that." He teased before letting her go and sitting down beside his Mother again.

"Well come and see if I'm still alive after luncheon and if I am then I can say I told you so." She retorted and then waved to Mrs Kirke before letting herself out. She ran down the stairs lightly and let herself out the front door, she took her shoes off as soon as she was in the garden and enjoyed the feeling of the cool grass on her bare feet as she walked up to the wall. Just as she was about to climb over a shiver ran down her spine and she instinctively turned to see a face at an upstairs window of Digory's house and, judging by the shock of manic white hair, it was Uncle Albert.

Polly had never scaled a wall so fast in her life, and never would again.