Disclaimer: I do not own Narnia.
It is Maisie who spots the sign outside the window that reads, "COOMBE HALT", and it is her cry of, "We're here!" that flings the compartment into a frenzy of action.
Susan gasps and throws her book back into her satchel. Peter leaps to his feet and begins pulling suitcases from overhead. Lucy squeals and jumps from her seat, creating confusion when Philip is sent tumbling to the floor. The two of them laugh hysterically, while Edmund complains - loudly. Maisie stands up and helps Peter.
At the corner of the compartment, Michael is waking up.
"What's goin' on?" He mumbles, stretching his arms.
"We're here." Annie tells him, standing up and brushing off her coat.
"Here?" Michael opens his eyes blearily. "Here where?"
"Our stop." Maisie leans down to his level. "Coombe Halt. The Professor's! Get up!"
Michael groans, but gets to his feet and begins hustling Annie, Lucy and Philip from the compartment. Edmund follows, and Susan goes soon after, leaving in a whirl of energy and skirts.
Maisie quickly checks the compartment for anything that has been left behind, grabbing Philip's forgotten teddy bear from his seat and, with a sigh of resignation, Michael's coat and suitcase. She reaches up to get her own, and is suddenly attacked again by a swarm of anxiety. Is Mother all right? Will she be all right, on her own? Will they be all right?
"Coming?"
She turns to see Peter, patiently waiting at the door.
"Yes." She says breathlessly, and they go, stepping down from the train just as the conductor blows his whistle. Seconds later, the train begins pulling out of the station, leaving them on the platform.
"Made it just in time." Michael grins, arms folded over his chest.
Maisie rolls her eyes at him, shoving his belongings into his hands.
"You left these. I'm not sure what you were planning on wearing for the rest of our stay..."
He looks sheepish. "Sorry. Forgot those. I'm a bit tired."
She raises one eyebrow, smirking. "Oh, really?" She turns to Philip, interrupting his conversation with Lucy. "And you, young man-" She holds out his teddy bear. "I think you left this!"
Philip gasps. "How could I leave this?" He takes it, beaming. "Thank you, Maisie!"
Maisie just laughs, and walks over to where Annie is standing, staring after the train.
"Are you OK?" She says, quietly so she others can't hear.
"I miss Mum." Annie whispers back.
"Me too." Maisie wraps an arm around her sister's shoulders. "But we're all together, and it's going to be all right."
"I know." Annie sighs and leans into her.
"Peter!" Lucy shouts.
They all turn towards her. There is the sound of an automobile coming down the road. They all look at each other and think the same thing - it's the Professor come to pick them up! The group rushes down the steps at the side of the platform and stop by the side of the road, but the car keeps going, not even changing it's speed.
"The Professor does know we're coming?" Philip asks Michael doubtfully.
The older boy nods and replies, "Of course he does.", but doesn't sound too certain.
"Perhaps we've been incorrectly labeled?" Edmund wonders, peering at his name tag.
"I'm sure someone will turn up soon." Peter tells them.
Maisie frowns. She reaches into her bag and pulls out the much-folded letter from the Professor and reads it again, but it still just says the same.
My housekeeper, Mrs Macready, will be at the station to meet the train, and will take the children to the house.
Then where is she?
Is the distance, Maisie can hear a clicking sound. She turns around to try to find it, and realises that it's coming from the end of the road. She steps down and looks as far as she can see.
"Look!" She calls.
Peter puts down his suitcase and joins her in the road. "Is that for us?" He murmurs disbelievingly.
"I think so." Maisie replies, glancing at him.
They rush back to the bottom of the steps and pick up their abandoned cases. Lucy and Philip demand to know what it is that they saw, and then stop and listen to the noise. They look at each other with wide, hopeful eyes.
A horse and cart trots out of the trees and comes to a stop in front of them. There is a collective sigh of relief.
The woman sitting on top turns to look at them. She grips the reins tightly in her gloved hands. Her grey hair is scraped back into a severe bun and she wears glasses that slightly magnify her eyes. She takes them all in - looking down the row, from Michael at one end to Maisie at the other.
"Mrs Macready?" Peter says hesitantly.
"I'm afraid so." She says, her lips pressed into a hard line. She has a Scottish accent, sharp and unfamiliar. "Well? Is this all?"
"It's just us." Maisie says quietly.
The woman nods curtly. "Up you get, then."
Philip scrambles up first, whispering excitedly to Lucy: "I've always wanted to travel by horse and cart!" Peter and Michael help the rest of them up, with the exception of Edmund, who refuses his brother's outstretched hand.
"Quickly now!" Mrs Macready is turned in her seat, watching them.
Peter gets up last, and as soon as he sits down, the woman turns and flicks the reins. With a shout of, "Walk on!", the cart lurches forwards.
The journey isn't long - it only takes about ten minutes, Mrs Macready tells them. In no time, they round a corner and go through a pair of gates, taking them onto a driveway. It slopes gently upwards, coming out through trees to miles of grass. A house comes into view - a manor house, huge and old and rambling. It looks fascinating. Maisie gasps unconsciously, and then blushes.
"Do you like it?" Mrs Macready unexpectedly asks.
"Oh! Yes." Maisie answers quickly.
Staying somewhere like this? How lucky are they?
The cart takes a track that goes around to the side of the house, and stops in front of an arched red door. A man runs out and takes the reins of the horse from Mrs Macready. She hops down and briskly tells the children to follow her, then strides up the steps into the house.
The hallway they find themselves in is wide and surprisingly light. Mrs Macready walks on ahead, her sensibly heeled shoes clicking on the oak floorboards. They follow her, making awed faces at each other over the high ceilings and marble steps and countless doors to countless rooms. They are lead up a staircase and then through a labyrinth of corridors that Maisie is sure that she will never remember. By the time that the housekeeper stops in front of a door, she feels as if she has walked miles.
The Professor had set aside five rooms for them, and it is in these rooms that they will be expected to stay, apart for meal times, when they will eat with the Professor. Mrs Macready tells them that they are welcome to go outside, but they will use the back staircase and they will not bring in mud. They will not shout; they will not run; they will not touch the artefacts. Most importantly, they will not disturb the Professor.
"Have I made myself clear?"
They nod and murmur assent. Even if they did disagree with the rules, none of them fancy their chances against Mrs Macready.
"Good." The woman draws herself up to her full height and nods, satisfied. "I'll leave you to unpack. I'll be back to fetch you for dinner in an hour." And then she's off again, disappearing around a bend, leaving nothing but distant echoes of her footsteps.
The children stare after her, and then look at each other.
Peter laughs. "Well, we're stuck here now. I don't know about the rest of you, but I couldn't get us back to the door that we came in through to save my life."
There is a sudden burst of laughter at this, and then they enter their rooms.
Lucy runs straight to one of the windows and starts shouting about the scenery to Susan, hopping up and down with excitement. Maisie, on the other hand, has no energy left. She lays her case down on a bed, and then throws herself down after it. The mattress bounces up as she falls on it, and she sighs, closing her eyes.
"Tired?" There is a squeak of bedsprings. Maisie opens her eyes a little, and sees Annie sitting cross-legged on her bed.
"Take your shoes off." Maisie automatically mutters.
Annie sighs resignedly and complies, before returning to her previous position. "I repeat my question. Are you tired?"
"No. Whatever gave you that idea?"
Annie scoffs. "Get up, Maisie-girl. You've got to unpack before Mrs Macready comes back."
Maisie groans and sits up. She wearily opens her suitcase and slides open the top drawer of her bedside table, beginning to relocate her clothes. At some point, she gets tired of bending down, and slides to the floor, leaning her head on her bed.
"Maisie! Annie!" Philip runs into the girls' room, grinning all over his face. He is closely followed by Michael, who flings himself onto Annie's bed, ignoring her protest.
"Hello, sisters of mine." He says, grinning at Maisie, who whacks him with one of her stockings.
"You deserved that, Mikey. Get off my bed." Annie says grumpily, shoving him over to make space for herself.
"Philip, help!" Michael calls. "They're turning on me!"
Philip, who is standing at the window with Lucy, turns around and rolls his eyes. "I'm not helping you, Michael."
Michael laughs and leans forwards. "So how are you liking this place?"
"It's scarily huge." Annie tells him. "Did you see how many rooms there are?"
"I did." Michael grins. "We've got to explore!"
"But Mrs Macready said-" Annie begins to say.
"We'll just tell her we got lost." Michael shrugs. "We might actually be telling the truth, in this place."
"But-"
Maisie smiles and leaves them to their bickering, continuing with her unpacking. When she finishes, she joins the conversation going on in the middle of the room.
The Pevensie boys have come through too, and are sitting on the end of Susan's bed, opposite Susan herself and Annie, who are sitting on Annie's bed. Philip and Lucy are on the end of Lucy's, and Michael is on the floor (having been pushed off his sister's bed). Maisie sits down next to him, enquiring what the others are talking about.
"We're talking about our exploration plans." Michael informs her.
"This place is huge!" Peter says. "It's too good not to explore."
"But what about the Professor?" Susan queries.
"We'll be careful." Michael shrugs.
"Why don't we just go outside?" Annie suggests.
Edmund looks at her. "What if it rains?"
"I think we should stick to the rules, to be honest." Maisie laughs slightly. "Who knows what Mrs Macready will do if she catches us around the house?"
"Mrs Macscary." Lucy says, and looks at Philip slyly. The two of them start giggling.
Peter looks amused. "That name actually suits her pretty well." He looks at Maisie, and sighs. "You're probably right. But I'm still dying to know what's in all of these rooms all the same."
"Children!"
They all jump and turn towards the door. Mrs Macready stands in the doorway, eyes roving over them all.
"It's time for dinner. Follow me."
She disappears again, and they scramble up, not wanting to be left behind. As they leave the room, Susan leans towards Maisie and whispers, "How long do you think she was standing there for?"
"Do you think she heard what we called her?" Maisie whispers back.
The two girls look at each other, and try their hardest not to laugh.
That night, Annie is the last awake in the girls' room. Maisie falls asleep first; then Lucy; then finally Susan. Their breathing steadies and slows, the room settling with a stillness and silence.
Annie stares up at the ceiling. She's exhausted - she'd hardly slept the night before. But now, with a comfortable bed beneath her and a blanket up to her chin, she can't even keep her eyes closed. She stares unseeingly at the black above her - the candle by the bedside having long gone out. And she lies, and she thinks - and soon enough, the darkness is pressing down on her head and seeming to crush her beneath it. This is it - her fingers start to tremble, her breathing quickens.
She has to get out.
She slips clumsily from her bed, pulling her dressing gown around her. After a few moment's scrambling, she fails to find her slippers and decides to go without. Her feet hit the rag rug beneath the bed, and then the cold floorboard. She pads over to the door and opens it, wincing at the creak it makes. She shuts it behind her, and slides down the wall of the corridor.
Someone has left the light of the girls' lavatory on, and so there is a gentle glow in the corridor. In the dim light, she steadies her breathing and soon enough, the shaking stops. Then, the inevitable tears come. She pushes the heels of her hands to her eyes.
Usually, her mother would now appear and bring her a hot water bottle and a candle. She would go to sleep, soothed by the heat and the light and the gentle kiss on her forehead. If it was an especially bad night, her mother would sit with her for a while, holding her hand until she slept. Before Dad had gone away, he would read her stories - quietly, so as not to wake the others. Sometimes they'd wake up anyway, and would come through, gathering in a quiet, comforting circle around them. Her father would read on, his voice never changing pitch, never getting louder or quieter. Steady, warm, calm. Just like him.
Annie presses her hands tight to her mouth, trying to stop the sobs that rack her body.
Missing, presumed dead.