Chapter 6 – New Branches
Getting a little bit grim here I'm afraid. There being a need to reason the despatch of major characters on a one way journey to Narnia. In The Final Battle, Lewis I think did it quite offhandedly. What the Pevensie's are facing here, as a unit, would within the Chronicles timeline have been tackled by Susan alone, and at a much greater magnification. Grateful thanks to all who have clicked through
Westbourne Park, Kensington 1949
…Plop. Edmund checked his wristwatch as a commuter train thundered through on the opposite track, its shrill whistle blaring.
"They don't hang about do they?" Peter remarked conversationally. He pulled his jacket closer about him, to ward off the morning chill.
"He's running late," muttered Edmund, "They are supposed to come through here a bit slower than that, especially on the Up line."
Peter smiled at his brother, if only Ed had put the same effort into his schoolwork as railways, he too could have made Oxbridge and not just scraped though to study law at the LSE.
It had been an exhilarating early morning for them both. Firstly scrambling over the back fence, into the jungle of a garden, behind the house Professor Kirke had lived in as a boy. A house now divided into flats they noticed. Then carefully digging around until they had stumbled upon the cache containing Uncle Andrew's Magic Rings, all the time worrying somebody might challenge them. Finally, before heading to the station, Edmund had insisted they walk around to the front of the house and look upon the modern electric streetlight the Council had installed there.
"Any minute now," said Edmund, "the train stops here, and then goes fast to Reading. Castle class I shouldn't wonder, or possibly a King. If Lu and the others made it on time, they should be on the same train as Mother and The Gov'ner. Hellooo…"
He stopped talking as the chuff of an oncoming locomotive reached their ears. But the beating rhythm was running fast, too fast? Then several things seemed to happen all at once. Brakes squealed, steam hissed, the sound of the pistons changed and everything became enveloped in a terrible, complaining cry of metal on metal. Instinctively the two of them turned to face the cacophony. A grimy loco appeared, shuddering and rolling slightly, it was clearly slowing down at a rate faster than normal, and soon it came to a halt, the driver's cab just past the start of the platform.
"Phew," Edmund cried, "for a moment there I thought she was going to jump the points."
"What do you think happened?" Peter asked him.
"Not sure, maybe someone pulled the communication chord."
Lucy looked as white a sheet. "It was so awful," she told to the boys, "We were bouncing around in the carriage and I was thinking to myself I don't ever remember it being this bumpy before. When Aunt Polly suddenly said that her chest was hurting. And then we went into a tunnel, and when we came out the other end Professor Kirke was leaning over her, trying to find her pulse. He looked straight at me and said "She's gone." So quietly that I could hardly hear it above the rattle of the train, but then incredibly, he too suddenly slumped and came off his seat. And that's when I… when I reached for the thing to stop the train." Her rush of words ceased, Edmund placed an arm around her. Lucy wiped her eye, but there was nothing to flow yet.
"You're being amazingly brave," Peter reassured her. The three of them were standing on the platform, while railway workers bustled around them, discussing how to get the remaining passengers off the train, because as Edmund had overheard, the sudden stop had caused the leading bogie to derail.
"Well it's not as if we didn't deal with this sort of thing on the battlefields of Narnia," Lucy half whispered back, "only it was somehow different there. The friends we lost during our reign were all fighting for a true cause. This all feels, oh I don't know, pointless."
"But they were fighting too," replied Peter, "All of the Friends are on a mission for Narnia, never forget that Lu. The professor and Aunt Polly sacrificed themselves for Aslan and Narnia, just as surely as if they had been in battle against an invading army."
"No Peter, I won't. You know when the guard came down the train and wanted to check if I was alright, all I could think say to him was "They were in a better place now." He must have thought I was in complete shock to be so calm about it, but it's true isn't it. We know it!"
"I don't doubt it for one moment," said Edmund, "They will have journeyed to Aslan's Country alright. I wonder what Eustace and Jill will make of this turn of events. Hang on a minute! Where are they?
Lucy's ash grief face melted into total confusion. Peter had to put out an arm to steady her. Words began to fall haphazardly from Lucy's mouth. "Eustace, Jill… yes… they were with us right? Must have been, it's just that for a moment I sort of forgot that. Odd, very odd. Now let me think. They were definitely in the station with Professor Kirke, Aunt Polly and me, because Eustace had to stop to tie his shoe lace and Jill teased him. But then, well I'm not sure really. We must have got separated in the crowds and they got on the back of the train. I expect they'll be let off shortly.
"More than likely," Peter reassured her.
"Unless…"
"Unless what Ed?" Lucy asked.
"I'm just thinking. The sort of energy release from a loco suddenly breaking like that might just be enough to propel someone into Narnia. You still remember Lu, what the magic felt like years ago on that station platform and then in the Scrubb' s guest room. That magic has to be powered from somewhere."
"That's an interesting idea," said Peter, "we may not need the rings after all, and it could explain why Lucy doesn't remember them being with the others. Except that…" Peter caught Edmund's eye, "We'll have to stop talking about Narnia for now," he continued hurriedly, "here come our parents." Lucy turned, ran and hugged her mother, as the shock of the morning finally broke into salty tears.
"Yes, I'm still here… No sign at all you say… Thank you for that… Of course if we hear anything we will contact you right away… Goodbye." Peter put the telephone receiver back in its cradle and tuned to his brother and youngest sister, he face was grave. "Jill hasn't arrived at her school either," he told them softly. It was the following morning and the Pevensies were huddled in the hallway of their Finchley home. With their Mother and Father now safely in Bristol, the three of them had the place to themselves. Lucy could feel the cold of the wooden flooring against her bare feet, and the usually comforting tic of a Grandfather clock struck an ominous tone.
"So that's it then," replied Edmund flatly. "Uncle Harold knows nothing, and the two of them were certainly not anywhere around Paddington when we got back there. The Professors place and Aunt Polly's flat must both be all locked up so they can't be there, they don't have keys I'm sure. I don't see how there is anyplace else obvious they would be."
"Is it still possible they are trying to get back from Narnia?" Lucy asked, but her tone betrayed any realistic expectation.
"That's not how it's been before, as we know," said Edmund, "by rights they should have landed back in the train carriage, as if they had never been away."
"But I don't remember them ever being in the carriage!"
"Probably a side effect of the magic. You were so close to it, but could not be pulled in, because of what Aslan told us all. It's like when we ruled in Narnia we forgot about most of our lives on Earth."
"Good point Ed," said Peter, "I very much fear something serious has happened to Eustace and Jill. That fellow we saw in around the Prof's dining table certainly looked anxious. I wonder who he was?"
"I wish we could find out ," Lucy said, "What about if we tried using the rings ourselves?"
But Peter shook his head, "Too risky, and somehow I don't think they would work for us. It was always a long shot that our two were going to find the right pool and that Aunt Polly had remembered everything correctly. At the time when we decided on the plan, I just hoped the power of Aslan would guide them. But even if we three could get into the wood, we might end up anywhere."
They all agreed they had better eat, though no one felt particularly hungry. Taking tea and toast in the little morning room did feel slightly more comforting. After a while Peter chinked his cup and saucer and broke the silence.
"Someone is going to have to tell Su about what's happened." He said awkwardly
"I'll go," said Edmund, "No point in you trying Pete. She won't listen to you, not after last time."
"Probably not."
"Anyway it should be me. Because in the past , well I didn't always do the right thing for Narnia. So it will come better from me, as someone who has known the other side of the deal."
"No, I'll do it." Lucy's voice was small but firm.
"But you're Aslan's greatest champion. She will throw it back in your face."
"I'm her only sister Peter. I can't expect you to fully understand that, but I simply have to try."