Disclaimer: I own nothing of Narnia, none of the characters, none of the ideas, none of the places, none of the anything. The only thing I own is my OC. Everything else is the property of the estate of CS Lewis.

Imagination, Reality, and the Space Between

Chapter Four: Into the Wardrobe

A few hours after breakfast the next day, Marilyn watched the other four children from the window, the elder three were playing cricket, and the youngest was sitting under a tree reading. She had been invited to join them, but had begged off because she was abominable at cricket and didn't really feel like making a fool of herself. Of course, the other part of it was that she thought that after yesterday's row, they needed to spend some time as a family. So she had sat reading in her room until she heard them laughing outside. That sound had provoked her watch. Watching the four of them made her miss the years when her brothers were both at home. The three of them had had such games that it was hard to believe Edward was ten years older than Marilyn. She smiled to herself, wistfully remembering playing cricket with her brothers, (and being abominable at it, but that wasn't the point) until the sound of shattering glass made her jump. Taking one last look out the window, she saw the four Pevensie children running into the house full-tilt, the youngest girl's book lying on the lawn forgotten. She wondered how the smaller Edmund could have possibly hit the ball hard enough for it to get to the second story window on the far end of the house. Regardless of how it happened, she was admittedly curious of the damage.

In no time at all, she reached the area where the broken window must have been, considering the argument going on as she approached quietly. The two brothers were standing in front of a toppled suit of armour and a smattering of variously coloured glass with the cricket ball in the middle to the side.

"Well done, Ed." Peter said sarcastically.

"You bowled it!" Edmund shouted defensively.

Marilyn couldn't help but laugh. It was so very reminiscent of her two brothers, though of course, her brothers didn't have much of a chance to fight like that with a seven year age gap between them.

Susan turned when she heard the other girl's laughter. "You won't tell—"

Marilyn shook her head before Susan finished the question. "Why would I? Though, in all honesty, I think it's a bit obvious what happened and who did it."

As both Susan and Peter opened their mouths to reply, the five heard a quite unwelcome sound, Mrs. Macready calling up the stairs angrily.

"The Macready!" Susan said in a voice that indicated she was a more than a little frightened by the woman.

Marilyn's eyes widened, and she swallowed audibly. "That's just what I need to make this summer just like every other; to get in an inordinate amount of trouble that has her threatening to write to my mother." She muttered dejectedly, hearing the sound of the housekeeper's shoes on the stairs.

The Pevensie children looked at one another then took off at a run, with Peter bringing up the rear. Marilyn just stood still in a sort of resigned shock for a moment, before the boy grabbed her hand saying "Come on!"

His voice shook her out of her reverie, and she ran along with them, as they tried door after door until finally one opened. Inside the room was the apple wood wardrobe that had been there for as long as Marilyn could remember, with the illustrations of the story her grandfather told her the first summer she spent in the house.

Edmund ran up to the wardrobe and gestured inside. Marilyn blinked in surprise at the unspoken suggestion, and Susan voiced the thought that ran in the back of Marilyn's mind. "You've got to be joking." But as the footsteps got closer, she thought it was less of a bad idea than before, and apparently Susan's mind changed as well, as all five children made an attempt to squeeze into the wardrobe. Peter, the last one in, closed the door most of the way, before pushing back a bit, causing everyone to shift backwards which in turn led to a lot more shifting and an equal amount of cries of "Get off my toes!" and "Stop shoving!".

However, they never seemed to find a back to the wardrobe. Marilyn was more than a little surprised at the fact that somehow all five of them had fit in the piece of furniture alone. But after toppling into the snow aside Susan and Peter, she was amazed.

"My Lord…" She breathed, just as Susan was muttering "Impossible."

Marilyn stood still, staring at the snowy landscape before her as the Pevensie siblings talked amongst themselves. It was absolutely beautiful in that way that winter is. She paid the Pevensies no mind at all until Susan suggested they go back. Marilyn's eyes had shot back to the four siblings just as Peter said for Lucy to decide.

"I'd like you all to meet Mr. Tumnus!" Lucy said excitedly.

"Well, then Mr. Tumnus it is!" Peter said smiling at the obvious excitement on his youngest sister's face.

"We can't go hiking in the snow dressed like this." Susan remarked sensibly, just as Peter emerged from the wardrobe a second time, this time with his arm laden with coats, telling Susan that the professor wouldn't mind them using them, since they technically weren't being taken out of the wardrobe.

Marilyn took a look back into the wardrobe. The daylight from the cracked opening of the wardrobe door streamed in amongst the coats. 'That'll be useful in finding our way back.' Marilyn thought to herself as she reached out for one of the coats.

At that same moment, she heard a throat clearing, and turned to find Peter holding out a very long coat (not that they all weren't) with one hand.

"Oh!" Marilyn exclaimed, taking the proffered garment. "Sorry about that."

"It's alright."

A moment later, the five were trekking through the snow in the direction Lucy recalled having gone to get to Mr. Tumnus' house. Within five minutes or so, the group had come upon a lamppost in the middle of a small clearing.

"Oh!" Lucy exclaimed, excitedly. "This is where I first met Mr. Tumnus." She walked around to the far side of the post as she spoke. "I was over here, and he was over there." She finished with a grin.

Marilyn looked at the lamppost oddly for a moment, a look that wasn't missed by any of the Pevensies.

"What's wrong?" Susan asked quietly looking between the girl and the lamppost.

"I never believed it was REAL. This is… is…" Marilyn stopped, shaking her head. "Grandfather used to tell me this story when I was younger, about the creation of a world called – oh I forget what it's called. But in the story, there's this evil immortal woman that somehow got into England and then was brought to this new world AS it was being created by accident. She had broken a street lamp to bits back in England, and when she threw the bit of the lamppost she'd been carrying with her down, it grew like a tree or some other live thing."

"So, what makes you think this is the same place?" Edmund asked from behind her in a sceptical tone of voice.

"This lamp has roots. Like it grew here instead of being placed here." Marilyn pointed to the base of the lamp. "Which means this Narnia must be that world."

"What else happens in the story? You can tell us as we go!" Lucy said happily.

"I don't really remember a lot of the story… It's been nine years since I heard it."

"Try please?" Lucy asked in a tone of voice that Marilyn couldn't refuse.

"Oh alright, I'll try, but if it doesn't make sense… don't say I didn't warn you."

Lucy smiled and led them all along, as Marilyn began recounting the story of the creation of the world. There were multiple interruptions, many to ask unimportant questions like: "But what were the rings made of?" and "Why did the first Queen have a different name in the end?" (Both of which were asked by Susan), which took up enough time that Marilyn was just getting to the end as they were about to round the corner which Lucy said Mr. Tumnus' house was just around.

As they made it around the corner, Lucy stopped dead. The others looked at her oddly; before Peter questioned "Lu?" just as Lucy ran off towards what appeared to be a door that had been broken in. The other four followed, sprinting to catch up to Lucy as she ran into the house.

Once inside, it was obvious there had been a struggle. If there was a piece of unbroken furniture or china in the house it would have been a surprise. Upon on post a piece of parchment was tacked, presumably a note with a reason for the state of the house, not that it was legible from where the five children now stood.

"Who would do something like this?" Lucy asked quietly, taking in the wreckage that had once been the home of Mr. Tumnus.

Peter reached out and ripped the parchment off the wall and began reading.

"The Faun Tumnus is hereby charged with high treason against Her Imperial Majesty, Jadis, Queen of Narnia, for comforting her enemies and fraternizing with humans. Signed, Maugrim, Captain of the Secret Police. Long live the Queen."

Marilyn blinked. "Well, I have a feeling that doesn't put us in a very good position…"

"I think you're right, Marilyn. We really should go back now." Susan said, mostly to Peter and Lucy.

"But what about Mr. Tumnus?" Lucy asked, sounding distraught over the idea of leaving without helping her friend.

"We could call the police." Peter suggested optimistically.

Susan shook the parchment at him. "Peter, these are the police. I don't think they're going to help."

"We will think of something though, Lucy." Peter said.

"Perhaps they didn't catch him… maybe he got away." Marilyn said thoughtfully.

"What makes you think that?" Susan asked with a furrowed brow.

"Well, if they had caught him, why wouldn't the notice say 'arrested and charged with' instead of just 'charged with'?" Marilyn said gesturing at the parchment that Susan still held.

"Why would it matter if he got away?" Edmund said, speaking for the first time since their arrival at the house. "I mean, after all, he is a criminal."

"You don't understand, do you Ed? I'm the human he helped." Lucy said softly.

In that moment, the reality of the situation they were in began to sink in. Marilyn supposed they could go back, but it almost seemed wrong to not do anything at all, especially since it all came back to Lucy's entry into the wardrobe. But at this point Marilyn knew that what happened wasn't really her choice, since she knew she couldn't get back to the wardrobe on her own since she hadn't really been paying attention to how they had gotten there. So in the end it all came down to whether or not Lucy was absolute in her desire to help her newfound Narnian friend.

Author's Note: Yes, Marilyn is telling them the story of The Magician's Nephew, but a very bad version missing most of the important details. Such as the fact Aslan was the lion that created the world and that Aslan is a lion at all (Since them not knowing that is a specific point in the book…) I did rearrange some of the conversation at Tumnus' house., just because at first I couldn't remember the order (and believe it or not, I'm trying to do this with out consulting the book or film every time I use a scene from either of those sources) and ended up liking my version even though it's in a wonky order. Anyhow, if you've read this far, please leave a review about what you did/didn't like about the chapter.

Thanks and happy reading,

ESG