Chapter 8: You Learn the Hard Way to Shut Your Mouth and Smile

"Peter, what are we going to do?" Susan asked.

"Will you stop asking me that? I don't know!" Peter snapped, continuing to pace around the room. He didn't mean to yell at her, the hurt look on his face made him instantly regret it, but it's not every day that your brother disappears from the room when you were just holding him in your arms.

"There's something else you should be worrying about," Lucy spoke up. For the past five minutes she's been hugging Edmund's pillow and crying her eyes out. Her voice came out slightly raspy, her nose was red, and her eyes were puffy and watery. Peter and Susan both turned to look at her. "What're you going to tell his teachers when he doesn't show up for class? They're going to notice that he's gone after a couple of hours, a few days tops if you use the excuse that he's sick, but that wouldn't work. Edmund's never gotten sick a day in his life."

Peter groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. There was no way he was going to be able to pull off the charade and get his studies done. He couldn't do both and he knew that one would beat out the other in the long run. He made a split decision and walked over to his closet. He flung open the door and started rummaging for his suitcase.

"What are you doing?" Susan asked slowly, as if afraid of what his answer would be.

"I'm packing," Peter responded without looking at her as he went to his dresser to pull out some clothes.

"Packing for what?"

"Are we going back to Narnia?" Lucy gasped, a smile starting to form on her face.

"Yes we are," Peter replied as he looked at her briefly to give her a smile. Her smile got bigger as she jumped off of the bed and rushed over to him. She threw her arms around his waist and hugged him tight. He chuckled and squeezed her back.

"Peter, we can't!" Susan said as she jumped to her feet.

"Do you want to get Edmund back?" He demanded.

"We don't even know if that's where he went," Susan pointed out.

"Where else can he be? No one disappears out of thin air like that, and don't try and deny it. You know that's where he went."

"There could be other explanations," Susan tried. "He–"

"Susan! There is no other explanation. Stop trying to be so ruddy smart!" Peter snapped at her. A hurt look crossed her features. She let out a huff and stomped out of his room, slamming the door behind herself. Lucy winced at the sound and gently placed her hand on Peter's shoulder.

"We'll get him back. It'll be ok," Lucy whispered.

Peter was half listening to her, though. He was too busy blaming himself for letting Edmund slip through his fingers like that. He knew that Edmund had been acting funny but he pushed it out of his mind, thinking that Edmund was just retrograding back to his old self for the time being.

'I should've paid more attention to him! I knew something was wrong, I knew it. Why didn't I see this coming?' Peter brushed Lucy away and continued moving on autopilot around the room. He almost lost Edmund two times before, he couldn't believe he could lose him again.

He was so afraid that Edmund was killed in their battle against Jadis. If Lucy hadn't come when she did…he couldn't even think about it. Edmund was more than his brother, Edmund was Peter's best friend, the only one he trusted with stuff that he couldn't even tell Lucy.

They just shared that unbreakable bond that brothers have. Many times Peter forgot that it was there and took Edmund for granted many times, especially while he was High King of Narnia. Peter slammed his fist down on his dresser, starling Lucy and causing her to jump.

He hated feeling helpless. He never wanted to feel that way again. He made that a promise to himself that he has managed to keep since he was six and Edmund was three. Peter remembered it like it was yesterday. He remembered their old home, before they moved to the home that would hold the future bomb shelter for them. He remembered the woods and the stream, and the incident…

The two had snuck off during nap time, leaving the house quietly to make sure not to wake up their newest baby sister, Lucy. She cried when she got startled and she got startled easily. One small sound and she would wake up crying loudly.

Peter held onto Edmund's hand as the two went tearing across the backyard, as fast as their small legs could take them. They looked over their shoulder before Peter lifted a branch that was in the way and the two scurried underneath it. They followed the path deeper and deeper into the woods.

"C'mon, Ed, try and catch me," Peter said with a laugh as he dropped his brother's hand and ran off. He continued laughing as he heard Edmund struggling to catch up with him. He ran even faster, trying to get as far away as possible so he could scare little Edmund. He looked around and spotted a river nearby. Peter ran over to it and stopped, looking down at the water.

It had swelled from the recent rainfall that they had gotten. The water was mere inches away from the log bridge that gave way to a path on either side. Peter went over the bridge many times before and nothing happened.

"Pee-tah!" He heard Edmund's voice in the background. It was faint but it was getting closer.

Peter scurried across the bridge, almost losing his balance once but he continued running down the path. He finally found the perfect hiding spot. A large bush by the path. He could hide there and jump out at Edmund once he got there.

Peter crouched down behind the bush and covered his mouth with his hand. He tried to stop himself from laughing, but seeing the image of Edmund's terrified face made him laugh harder. He sat down and got comfortable, drawing random pictures in the mud that was in front of him. He waited patiently for his brother to come by, listening closely to hear the little pitter-patter of Edmund's feet and his call of, "Pee-tah!"

It didn't come.

Peter waited for five minutes.

Then ten.

And then ten more.

Still no Edmund. Peter was bored sitting there, waiting for Edmund to catch up. He knew that he had run ahead of Edmund, but he didn't think it would take him that long to reach Peter. He let out a breath of annoyance before recoiling when a water droplet hit his nose. He wiped it away and looked up, only to get a water droplet on his forehead. He also wiped that away as the drops started to come down more frequently, before it started to pour. The musky smell of the woods rose as the rain pelted the ground. Peter pulled his jacket hood over his head and struggled to keep dry as he waited for Edmund.

"Mum coming soon," he muttered to himself as he pushed himself to his feet. "I'll get Ed and go home." He slowly walked back towards the log bridge, stepping around the puddles that were forming on the dirt ground. Happily, he jumped in every puddle, trying to get the splash of water higher than the one before. He was getting ready to run to the last puddle, to make a big splash when he heard it.

"Pee-tah, help!"

"Ed?" Peter lifted his head and looked around. The woods were darker than before. It seemed like Edmund's small voice came from everywhere around him.

"Pee-tah!" Edmund called again. His voice was garbled because of the pounding rain.

"Ed!" Peter shouted, cupping his hands over his mouth.

"Pee-tah, help!" Edmund yelled again. Peter strained to find out where his voice was coming from. He frantically wiped the rain that was falling into his eyes. 'Where is he? Where?' "Pee-tah, help!" Edmund's voice was filled with fear.

"I'm coming, Ed!" Peter shouted, running back to the bridge. He ran faster than he has ever run before. He didn't stop when a branch snagged on his coat. He just kept going, ignoring the hole that it ripped in his jacket. He turned a corner and saw Edmund clinging to the bridge with his small hands, his legs dangling over the river.

"Pee-tah!" Edmund shouted when he saw Peter. "Help!"

"Ed!" Peter ran to the bridge and jumped on, only to slide right off it and onto the ground by how slippery the bridge now was. "Ed, hold on."

"I scared," Edmund whimpered as he held on tighter.

"I'll get you, Ed. I promise." Peter looked around frantically as Edmund started crying. Peter grabbed a nearby branch that was on the ground. He got back onto the bridge but on his stomach this time. He slid himself over to Edmund and held out the branch. "Ed, grab." He held the branch out.

Edmund slowly let go of the bridge with one hand and reached out for the branch. He tried to grasp it but he grasped air and quickly brought his hand back to the bridge. "I can't. I too scared. Pee-tah get me," he whined.

"Ok. I'm coming." Peter threw the branch away and made his way towards Edmund slowly.

"Hurry!" Edmund whined.

"I'm coming," Peter repeated, getting closer to his brother.

"I slipping!" Edmund cried out as he tried to grasp the bridge even tighter. Rain fell all around them but Peter knew that it was tears that were falling down his cheeks. "Hurry!"

Peter moved faster as he saw his brother's hands slipping off of the log. He grabbed his brother's hands as Edmund let go. Edmund looked up into Peter's eyes, fear bursting through his brown eyes. Peter smiled a little and tried to pull Edmund up, but his arms were too weak. He tried as hard as he could, but he couldn't lift his brother. 'Don't let go. Don't let go,' he told himself.

"Peter! Edmund!" They heard a masculine voice yell.

"Daddy!" The two shouted in unison. Mr. Pevensie rushed over to his kids and easily lifted them both into his arms. Edmund wrapped his arms around his father's neck as Peter followed his father to the other side of the river.

"It's ok, Edmund, it's ok," Mr. Pevensie said as he gently stroked Edmund's hair. He held out his other hand which Peter took and they began their long walk home.

Peter kept his head down the entire way.

"Peter, are you ok?" Lucy's voice brought him back to reality. He had been standing in front of the window, watching the rain.

"I'm fine, Lu," he replied, still staring out the window. "Go tell Susan to pack her bags and then meet me on the front lawn. We'll get a cab to take us to the train station, take us back to Professor Diggory's house, explain it to him, and then get back to Narnia."

"What if we can't get back?" Lucy whispered.

"We will get back, Lu," Peter said in a stern tone before he added, "I wonder how much time passed…we've been gone for only three months."

"We'll see when we get there, I guess," Lucy said with a shrug.

"All right, go to your room now. We must leave as soon as possible," Peter said as he turned around. Lucy nodded and went to the door. "Lu?" She stopped and turned to look at him. "Could you apologize for me?"

"You know you need to, Peter," Lucy replied, leaving the room. When she shut the door Peter flopped down on his bed, giving himself a little break. His muscles ached, but his heart was what hurt the most. He wanted to kill Jadis for hurting Edmund, for making him feel like a traitor, for giving him emotional scars that he couldn't talk to Peter about. He wanted to kill Jadis for taking his brother away from him.

He got up abruptly and grabbed his bag, turning the light off behind himself and closing the door. He walked down the hallway as fast as he could so he wouldn't get caught by the hall monitors. Technically he should either be on the lawn, in his room, or the library studying since it was Study Hour, but his brother was more important.

As he made his way down to the offices he created a lie in his mind. He has always been told not to lie, but this was one time that he had to make an exception. When the secretary asked why he had to leave, he left it down to a family emergency. The suitcase held both his and Edmund's clothes and that Edmund was all ready outside waiting for him. He held his breath as he waited for the secretary's response.

"All right. I hope your family emergency gets cleared up," she said with a smile.

Peter returned her smile and left the building. How easy it was to hide things behind his smile. No one second guessed him, all because of his charming smile. He could probably get away with murder with his smile.

He met Lucy and Susan on the lawn like he asked. Lucy had an excited smile on her face while Susan had a sour one on hers. "A cab should be here any second. Did you pack enough clothes?" Lucy nodded and Susan stayed silent, glaring up the street.

"What?" Peter demanded.

"I still don't think–" She started.

"That's your problem," he interrupted her. "You're thinking too much." He looked up when he heard the horn of a cab honking. The cabbie got out and picked up their suitcases, putting it into the back of the car. Peter relayed the directions over to the driver as he got into the backseat next to Lucy, who was in the middle. Peter closed the door and buckled up as the car pulled forward and away from their respective schools.

'Don't worry Ed. We're coming for you.'

A/N: See, I made a longer chapter for you. I hope this makes up for my past shorter ones. I'm on summer break now so I should be updating more frequently. Please read and review.