A Tale of a Voyage

Disclaimer: I think you should get it by now….

Chapter 6: Dresses, Parents, and Books

Over the next three weeks, as the Dawn Treader was repaired and her stores restocked, we girls found ourselves at Lucy's mercy. While usually she wasn't much of a girly-girl, for some reason she was tired of English clothes and crew's clothes (Can't imagine why…). So we visited I don't know how many dress shops. And of course, all the merchants were delighted to have honest-to-goodness Golden Age Queens in their shops and therefore detained us as long as they could. By the fifth shop, I was tired of dresses and whispered to Faith, "I'll come and try to spring ya'll out later." Then, I escaped.

I walked along the street until I saw a bookstore. Being me, I went in. I browsed among the books for nearly an hour without realizing it. Then I forced myself to leave. I saw Art, Ed, Will, and James strolling along. I joined them. Ed gave me a strange look. "Aren't you supposed to be shopping with the other girls?"

I groaned. "Oh, don't remind me! I barely escaped as it is!"

Art laughed. "Remember when you would rather play cowboys and –girls with me than dolls with them?"

"Kinda, yeah…" I sighed. "It's been so long since I've been home. And yet some things have stayed crystal clear over the years and others have blurred or faded."

He smiled. "I imagine so." He looked up. "Hey, this looks like an interesting store. You guys wanna go in?"

"Sure," James said.

"Why not?" Ed agreed.

"I don't really want to," Will admitted.

"Me neither. We'll wait on you three," I told them. Will and I wandered over to a nearby bench. I bit my lip and hesitated before saying, "Will? I have a strange favor to ask you."

"Shoot."

"Well, could- could you tell me what my parents are like? It's been twenty-seven years since I've seen them, and- and I- I- I can barely remember them." Tears pricked my eyes and I tried valiantly not to cry.

He gave a sad smile. "Of course I will, Hannah. Aunt Eve is beautiful. Her shoulder-length hair is golden blond like yours. Her eyes are kind of bluish-greenish. She's about 5 feet 3 inches, so a bit shorter than either of us. Her whole face lights up when she laughs. Not to mention, she's a great cook! Better than my mom."

I giggled. "And my dad?"

"Well, Uncle Michael is a great preacher. He's got- um, I would say dark brown hair and light blue eyes. He loves to joke around. He's a big football fan if I remember correctly, and he loves to sing. Your mom says he's where you get that from."

"I remember that," I said softly. "Thanks, Will."

"You're welcome, Han." Just then, the others came out of the store. "You ready to keep going?" Art asked.

"Yep," Will answered, as the two of us rose. Art, James, and Will walked a bit ahead of Edmund and I. He laid his hand on my arm. "Are you alright, Hannah? You seem sad. Did Will say something to upset you?"

"No, nothing like that. I just asked him to-to tell me about my parents."

"Oh. I forget how long it's been since you've seen them sometimes."

"It's all right. I know Aslan has a reason." I glanced ahead. "Come on, let's catch up!"

Later, Rose said, "Is something wrong, Hannah? You seem a bit gloomy."

"No, nothing's wrong."

"She asked Will about her parents," Faith said from the other side of our shared room.

I whirled to face her. "How did you know that? Did he tell you?"

"No. I guessed it."

"You're good."

"Nope. I just know you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You've missed your parents more and more every year. I had a feeling that you were forgetting. It was only a matter of time before you asked someone who would remember."

I smiled. "You two are the best, you know it?"

"Yeah. We know," Rose said, adding, "You're not so bad yourself."

I chuckled before pulling them into a three-way hug. Somehow, I hadn't noticed the pillow in Faith's hand. So, when she smacked me with it, I was unprepared… and thus the war began. We acted like kids for the first time in a very long while. First, Rose was on my team. Then, she switched to Faith's. Faith and I then teamed up against her, and we ended with an everybody-against-everybody brawl. There was plenty of shrieking and giggling going on to last us a decade. Finally, we collapsed onto my bed, still giggling. "That was the best pillow fight we've had in years!" Rose exclaimed.

"I know! We need to do that more often," Faith agreed. I nodded before standing. "Where are you going?" Faith asked.

"I'm going to see if Gumaps's library was as deficient as his character."

Jade, who had walked in just as I had said that, blinked. "What?"

Rose rolled her eyes and translated: "She's gonna go check out the library."

"Oh." I slipped out of the room and hurried downstairs, where I was sure I'd seen a library earlier. Sure enough, I found it. A few minutes later, I was several shelves in when I came upon a few interesting items. "Who knew Gumpas liked to read romance books?" A soft gasp escaped me as I noticed one book. I slowly reached for it, my fingers stroking the spine, before I grabbed it and headed off to find the Duke. "My Lord Duke!" I said when I finally had located him.

"Queen Hannah." He bowed and I curtsied. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"As a matter of fact, I have a rather strange request to ask of you."

"Anything, my lady."

"Might I take this book with me when we depart?"

He laughed. "My Queen, you may take any book you wish. I am certain that we have plenty."

My face lit up with a smile. "Thank you very much, my lord!" Then I hurried back to the girls' and my room. I hid the book in one of my trunks.

The next day, we left Narrowhaven.