Annddd another chapter. Absolutely loving this.
"Granny? Can I read those books?" Poppy was pointing into the study at the pile of books Susan had left from the night she'd sat there and read them all trying to decipher if her own writing was holding some sort of secret.
"Of course, sweetie." Susan smiled as she walked in and picked up the books, taking them into the lounge the little girl sat in the armchair as her grandmother passed her the first book and she began to read.
It was a cold and rainy day, a typical British summer really. Oliver was at work and Ella had gone to meet a friend for the day, leaving Susan alone to look after Ella. They'd spent most of the day playing hide and seek but after lunch Poppy had announced she wanted to practise her reading and spent half an hour looking for a book before she spotted the ones in the study.
Whilst Poppy was engrossed in the books Susan had busied herself cooking roast beef for their dinner, as she washed potatoes and carrots she looked out the rain covered window.
"I could swear that tree has changed. I must be going blind." She muttered to herself as she continued working.
The front door opened and closed, "Hi Susan." Oliver called out politely as he hung his coat on the hanger by the door.
"Hi love." She called back to him.
"Smells delicious." He said as he walked into the kitchen, "Is Ella not back yet? Where's Poppy?"
"Ella said she probably won't be back until dinner. Poppy's reading in the lounge."
Oliver walked into the lounge to see his daughter. From the kitchen Susan heard Poppy cry "FOR NARNIA" at the top of her lungs.
For Narnia.
Peter's voice echoed in her head and she saw images from up high of two armies charging at each other, one looking regimental with huge machines throwing boulders, the other with an assortment of mythical creatures along with humans making up its ranks.
Susan hadn't noticed that in her trance she'd continued cooking until she was called back to reality by the voice of her daughter saying "Mum?"
She snapped back to reality just in time to see the worried glance being shared by Oliver and Ella.
"Sorry sweetheart, I was lost in thought. What did you want?" Susan smiled kindly at her daughter.
"It's ok Mum. I just wanted to ask if you needed any help?"
"Oh no, it's ok you go and sit down. I'm nearly done anyway."
Ella and Oliver left whispering in hushed tones as they went. The rest of the day and the next few weeks passed completely uneventful, with Susan only seeing the occasional image. When September rolled round Poppy went back to school and although Ella was still there all the time the house felt emptier. It reminded Susan of when Lucy used to have sleepovers at friends houses when they were young and the absence of her bubbly personality was always painfully noticeable.
One day Ella and Susan sat having afternoon tea, when Ella brought up the most unexpected topic.
"Mum. I need to speak to you about something." Ella started sounding slightly nervous.
"Go on then." Susan said taking a sip of tea.
"Oliver and I, we've been talking. Mum you're not as young as you used to be and we think maybe you should move into a home."
"Why on earth would I need to do that?" Susan said taken by surprise.
"Well you haven't been yourself, especially recently you've been almost absent. And we're worried that when we go home in a couple of weeks, that might happen again and there'll be no one here to make sure you're ok. We just want to make sure you don't get hurt."
"Ella, I'm fine. Ok? I don't need to move into a home, there's nothing wrong with me."
"Mum something's not right. Do you think we haven't heard you sneaking down to the study at night?"
"What relevance does that have with anything?"
"We're just worried, I'd hate it if something bad were to happen."
"I'm getting older Ella, it's natural and it doesn't mean anything bad is going to happen."
"Ok." Ella sighed reluctantly. She knew that Susan was stubborn and would never do anything that she didn't want to.
"I'm going to start getting dinner ready, could you do the laundry?"
Ella nodded and they both went to do their jobs. Susan was halfway through preparing the pork chops for their dinner when Ella walked in.
"These are beautiful." She said.
"What's that?" Susan asked without turning round.
"These paintings. I found the book open on your bed, I couldn't help going through them." She said as Susan turned to look at what she was talking about. "I didn't know you painted, Mum."
"I don't." Susan said simply as she turned away and back to the food she was preparing.
"Then whose are they? Dad's?" Ella asked curiously still flicking through the pages.
"Lucy's." Susan said simply.
"I didn't realise you still had some of her stuff." Ella said putting the book down and looking at her mother who still had her back to her.
"I have all their stuff, it's in the attic. But I found that in the cupboard in the study."
"You have all their stuff?" Ella asked slightly disbelievingly.
"It's all in boxes in the attic." Susan said as a silent tear ran down her cheek.
"But they're dead Mum. Why do you have it all?"
Before Susan could answer they were interrupted by Oliver and Poppy who'd been at her friend's house. For the rest of the evening Susan stayed silent, all she wanted now was for Narnia to be real. Before she wanted to run there with Ella just to escape the pain of her real life. Now with memories of the place slowly returning, she wanted nothing more than to know if her family was alive there. Could Aslan have saved them? She remembered him as having huge power, did he have enough to do that?
Well that's the end of another chapter, please leave a review. xem98x