Invenire
Latin: To find or to discover
"The trouble is, I don't have a microscope," Susan stood before the fire in her dressing gown, brushing her dripping hair.
Peter was lounging in the window seat, staring out at the stars. Lucy was sitting on top of him and Edmund was on the floor polishing his dagger. They looked dark, flickered over by the light of the fire.
"I don't know if I can make them understand without one," Susan said, sitting down, her back to the fire, "I want them to see the little protozoa and amebas, then they'll believe me."
"Who are you trying to convince?" Peter asked distantly.
"Doctors," Susan said, "I want to invite them all from Cair Dirque and talk to them about infections and things like that."
"No microscopes," Edmund said thoughtfully.
"They haven't been invented yet," Susan said sadly.
"I'll find you one," Edmund said calmly.
They lapsed into silence, staring into the dancing flames as they boiled over the logs. They heard echoing footfalls in the hallway and a nightingale trilled outside the window.
Far in the distance, they could hear panpipes drifting over the night winds. Peter turned his head and saw the distant lights of Cair Dirque.
"The recruits have been pouring in," he said absently.
There was silence.
"You know, I've been thinking," Lucy said, breaking the silence. "Edmund never had his birthday."
"What do you mean, Lucy?" Susan looked up at her.
"Well if you think about it, we came to Narnia on September sixteenth in our world, when we arrived it was December something here," Lucy said, "Edmund's birthday is September twenty-eighth, so he never had his birthday!"
"You never did, Edmund!" Susan exclaimed, "you're fourteen already!"
"I wonder why that never occurred to any of you before," Edmund said dryly.
Lucy grabbed the closest thing available, which happened to be an embroidered pillow, and threw it at his head, "Well aren't you glad I thought of it?" she exclaimed.
"We like throwing things today, don't we," Edmund said throwing it back.
"Mmff," Peter said as it hit him in the face.
Lucy giggled, then froze and looked at Susan wide eyed, "I'm going to be ten in April!"
"We're getting very big, aren't we," Peter said and bounced her; she squealed and pushed the pillow more firmly on his face.
"Ooof," Peter said.
"And Peter's going to be eighteen in July," Lucy continued, "And Susan's going to be sixteen in February."
"An old lady," Peter said philosophically.
"Oh quiet," Susan laughed. "You're one to talk!"
~o*o~
He was a glass blower and his specialty was lenses for spectacles. It was his pride, his joy and his hobby. His name was Frank, after the first king of Narnia and his last name was Hook.
His shop was small, dusty and smelled of glass and iron. Snow had piled up on the windows and he hadn't bothered to dust it off. He was too busy grinding lenses.
He put two new lenses on the counter and looked at them as they sparkled in the dull, gray light. A pair of frames had come in from the blacksmith's shop and he set them on the counter next to the lenses, very strong and black they looked.
A cold gust of wind and a flurry of snow blew through the shop as the door opened. The bell tinkled and there was a murmur of voices, then the door slammed and he looked up.
A boy stood before him, not more than twelve. He was a well-dressed, distinguished boy; he had piercing blue eyes that seemed to see right through one.
"Oh…hello," Frank said, looking at the boy over the rim of his spectacles.
"Hello," the boy said. "I'm looking for a microscope."
"A…microscope…" Frank said absently. "I don't believe I have any, try the butcher's, they have most everything…oh," he looked up, "I'm sorry. Now...what's a microscope?"
The boy smiled and it changed his whole demeanor.
"It's something that magnifies things," the boy said, "My sister needs it."
"Oh," Frank said, "I'm very sorry, but I don't have one."
"That's all right," the boy said, "you see, it hasn't been invented yet."
"Oh really?" Frank whipped his spectacles off, "perhaps I should invent it, then, do you know what it's going to look like?"
The boy took up the two lenses on the counter, "Look," he held them, one over another, "See how they magnify the wood?"
"By the lion's mane!" Frank peered through them, "They do! Perhaps thicker lenses would magnify even more!"
"Precisely." The boy said, "I want you to make something that magnifies very tiny things."
"Yes…" Frank turned around and walked into his workroom. He found the two thickest lenses and brought them out.
"These work even better," he said, looking through them.
"When you've invented a microscope bring it to Cair Anvard." The boy said. "Tell them that Lord Edmund is expecting you."
"Certainly, certainly." Frank said absently.
~o*o~
"So," Edmund said, rolling into bed. "I've all but found a microscope for Susan."
"Hm." Peter said, ingeniously.
"Chap named Hook, Frank Hook." Edmund said, "Very odd soul."
There was silence.
"Peter?"
"Hm?"
"You know Lord Bar, King Lune's lord chancellor?"
"Hm."
"There's something strange about him."
"Hm."
"He's not to be trusted, honestly."
Peter cleared his throat, "Maybe you should tell the king."
"I told him."
"What did he say?"
"Nothing much yet."
"Maybe you should tell him again."
"I think Lord Bar is not to be trusted."
"You just told me that, I said you should tell the king."
"I'm telling the king!"
"Edmund," Peter said very slowly, "I'm not the king."
"You are."
"I beg to differ."
"So do I."
"You're going to be a king too."
"You're going to be High King."
"Not."
"Are."
"How do you know?"
"Because I do."
"Why?"
"Why not?"
~o*o~
"Now," Susan said, standing up, from where she sat between Peter and Edmund, "I've called you all here today to talk about bacteria."
The various doctors in the room looked at each other.
"My brother Edmund has found a very interesting device." Susan said, "It was made by Frank Hook. It is called a microscope. Through this microscope, you will see tiny animals not able to be seen with the unaided eye. Now, who would like to look through it first?"
Duval, the doctor, was pressed from behind by his companions and found himself standing in front of Susan.
"You're first then," she said smiling. She gestured to the strange looking device on the table. It looked like a telescope, only backwards and set in a tripod base. A candle flickered in front of it and a mirror set in the stand was turned just so.
"Look through the eyepiece and keep in mind that what you are looking at is regular pond water."
Cautiously Duval put his eye to the eyepiece, "Aslan's mane!" he exclaimed and leapt back. Then he came forward and looked through the eyepiece again, "You mean to say that those little animals live in the water?"
"Yes," Susan said, "That's why you should always boil water before you drink it. It kills the little animals."
By that time, the other doctors were lined up, waiting to look through the microscope. One by one, they looked through it and exclaimed like little boys.
"It is little animals, similar to the ones you have just seen, that cause infection," Susan said. "In order to avoid them, you must make sure that all your instruments have been boiled in water before you use them, use only very clean bandages and always wash your hands before you examine a patient."
It was in this manner that Susan founded the doctor's club. They met every week and learned about medicine in a way none of them had ever known before. Susan learned too, Narnia and Archenland had many cures, plants and techniques that don't exist in our world.
Together they developed a wagon that could be used as a rolling hospital. Edmund called it the 'chuck wagon' because it looked like a chuck wagon from the American Wild West, right down to the cupboard in the back.