A./N The children are going to be going to the county school now .

Chapter 10

I t had been six months since the war started,six months of food rationing, six months of dreading everytime a telagram came ,six months of nightmares that woke you up gasping for breath,and pushing the fear down .

Peter sat on the bench facing the play yard,he had gotten his wish,he was now attending the county school with his younger siblings and Natalie.

He took a book from his bookbag and shut the world out.No more war,no more yelling and laughing classmates.

He was far away in the world of Oliver Twist His peace was interrupted by a nasty voice,"Well,if it isn't St.Peter" the term was used in derision. He was too quiet,barely speaking up in class only to give answers,his classmates mocked him with names like "St.Peter" or "Teacher's pet"

Peter didn't need to look up to see who the voice belonged to,he knew already ;John Patterson

"You're pathetic,Pevensie,sitting here reading a book" he snorted

Peter looked up once then turned back to his book effectively ignoring him.

John looked as if he were going to punch Peter,but the sudden appearance of Natalie stopped him,John( unknown to Peter or Natalie) liked her

"Why do you let them tease you like that" she was referring not just to John,but all their classmates.

"It's not as if I haven't been teased before " Peter said this was the closest he had come to revealing what boarding school had been like for him.

Natale looked at him a wondering expression in her eyes,but she didn't press the issue .

By midafternoon,Peter had a headache,the kind he only got when he was stressed and hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before.Pounding,pulsing pain behind his eyes and on the side of his temples.Light and noise irritated him.His siblings stayed out of his way,this was the only time when he was irritable and snapped at them except Lucy,he could never snap at Lucy.

The only thing that sort of relieved his headache was going to his room and drawing the curtains . He lay on his bed the curtains drawn . Mum came in "What's wrong you never came down for tea" she asked .She turned on his lamp and he winced, the bright light triggered more pain.

She hurriedly turned off the lamp and sighed"Peter,I don't like speaking to you in the dark" she said .

"I have a headache" he said,not complaining just as if he were stating the weather ,he felt her place a hand on his forehead,"You don't have a fever" she said.

Peter pushed her hand away,"I'm not sick ,it's just a headache " he pushed the pain aside "I'm fine it's fading" that was a complete lie,the pain was still there tormenting him he felt as if his head was in a vise.He hoped it would really go away soon.

The headache hung on all night making it impossible to sleep,the next day at school he was in a haze and barely heard the lessons,it wasn't until Natalie tapped him on the shoulder did he realise Ms.Knight was waiting for an answer.He squinted at the board trying to concentrate on the equation ,but the pain was making everything fuzzy.He could feel everyone's eyes on him

"What's wrong ,St.Peter , too stupid to solve the equation" John hissed across the aisle ,the ironic thing was Peter was smart so much that he could go onto the fourth year class if he wanted to.

Miss. Knight sensed something was wrong and moved onto the next student. When class was dismissed she waited until the room was cleared out and Peter was gathering up his books,he was moving slower than usual,Natalie was patiently waiting.

She called him up to his desk "Are you all right" she asked

"I'm just tired" Peter replied trying to hide his discomfort

"Perhaps you should see the nurse" she suggested kindly "Tonight try to get some sleep ,you're one of my best students and I can't have you failing,you two run along or you'll miss dinner " she said nodding at the two of them.

They left the classroom "Are you going to the nurse" Natalie asked as they walked down the corridor

"No" Peter said shortly

"Then where are we going,we passed the dining hall "Natalie pointed out

Peter shook himself out of his stupor and looked up realising they had passed the school dining hall,suddenly he realized that he didn't want to eat inside where it was noisy .

They went outside and sat on the bench,"I hate this war" he said to half to himself ,Natalie heard him though,"I do too we all do,I miss Daddy" her eyes became teary,she blinked them back ."Peter ,what exactly is wrong with you you've been acting odd for two days" she said

"I have a headache,I've been having them since the war started and Dad went away.Edmund's turning into a little beast,Lucy cries herself to sleep at night or wakes up from nightmares screaming or crying,Susan's overbossy.Mum's worried about how she's going to feed us with the food being rationed and I can't sleep because I promised Dad I'd take care of them and I can't"

Natalie placed a hand on his arm "Peter,you're thirteen ;that's alot of responsibility even for you,I'm sure your father didn't want you to get so stressed you make yourself sick,take it one day at a time " she advised.

Peter knew she was right,if only it were that easy ,he had no idea that the war was going to get much worse or that their quiet suburb would soon be quiet no longer