Chapter One~
For the next few minutes, which to Jessica seemed like hours, the children had to guess what word Susan had picked from apparently a dictionary—the meaning and the sort. Jessica thought it extremely boring so that she was starting to doze out when she heard Lucy say,
"We could play hide and seek!" blinking several time to wake herself up, Jessica looked at the Lucy holding Peter's arm as he said in a bored tone as he glanced over at Susan,
"But were already having so much fun." so that then Lucy began begging in the most adorable way with large puppy dog eyes and a pouty lip as she said,
"Come on Peter please! Pretty please?" before the next thing Jessica knew he was counting making Edmund shout out in surprise and Susan roll her eyes though she was smiling as they all took off running. Jessica, not knowing the mansion, decided to follow Lucy who didn't seem to mind as she eagerly waved Jessica to follow—as if to say 'come on and hide!'. They were both about to hide behind a curtain when her older brother Edmund pushed the two aside and said,
"I was here first!" so that Jessica frowned and felt a tugging at her hand to see Lucy pulling her to hopefully safety from Peter. So they kept trying to find a decent hiding spot until they came to a room—with a massive covered object underneath a sheet. Pausing, Jessica stared in wonder and confusion as Lucy stared towards it and though Jessica tried to stop her all words died in her throat. She watched from a few paces behind as Lucy pulled back the sheet to reveal a wardrobe, intricately carved and seeming to shine from within so that when Lucy turned back at Jessica the two share the same thought, hide inside it. So Jessica ushered Lucy inside and as the two tried to fit they found oddly enough, enough room for both of them.
"Lucy?" Jessica called not able to feel the small child behind her and so kept going and going with a hand behind her until she felt something freezing cold and wet on her fingertips. Confused and more than worried, Jessica turned around to see a sight that made her jaw drop in wonder and her eyes grow wide with awe; for she found herself stepping out into a winter wonderland forest with every stick and stone covered in a thin sheen of snow and ice, the ground having at least up to her ankles in snow and as far as the eye could see forest!
"Lucy?" she called again in fear now so that she heard,
"Here!" and hurried towards the voice to find her standing by an odd sight, a lamppost frozen yet glowing from the light within the glass case atop. As the two girls stood looking at it they suddenly both heard footsteps and crunching snow so that instantly and for her protection Jessica put Lucy behind her and looked around to face the danger. Only when the danger appeared both were not ready for they and shrieked causing the figure to do so also and drop—packages? Hiding behind Jessica with her hiding behind the lamppost, the two girls watched as the figure kept darting his head around the tree that they had hidden behind. Then from behind Jessica, Lucy began to move towards them so that Jessica tried to stop Lucy only to watch her turn and give a small reassuring smile. Seeing the younger girl not afraid, Jessica went out from her hiding place and went to help her pickup said packages as the figure began to appear. Stuttering, Jessica glanced up to see it was that of a man with goat legs holding an umbrella and wearing a red scarf!
"Were you hiding from us?" Lucy asked softly handing a packages so that he took it timidly saying as he stuttered out,
"No, uh well—I—I just didn't want to scare either of you." Jessica blinked as Lucy asked him,
"If you don't mind me asking, what are you?" so that he gave her an incredulous look as Jessica spoke up saying to her,
"He's a faun Lucy, like in storybooks." nodding, said faun replied asking the both of them,
"And what about you both—you must be some kind of—beardless dwarves?" this made Lucy look shocked as she picked up another package and handing it to him she told him how she was the tallest girl in her class which made Jessica smile at her spunk. Though his reaction was different as he looked between the two of them asking in all seriousness,
"Do you mean to say, that you both are Daughters of Eve?"
"My mother's name is Helen…." Lucy said confused but the faun asked again shaking his head sounding more serious by the minute,
"Yes but you are both, in fact, human?"
"Yes of course, but why is that so important?" Jessica asked taking Lucy's shoulder as he asked how they got to be here in the first place. So they explained how they were playing hide and seek and stumbled out of the wardrobe in the spare room.
"Spare Oom? Is that in Narnia?" the faun asked so Jessica had to wonder,
"Narnia, whatever is Narnia?" here he chuckled saying as he looked around,
"My dear girls you're in it! Everything from the lamppost, all the way to castle Cair Paravel, every stick and stone—every icicle is Narnia." looking past the lamppost both girls were shocked to see an endless sea of snow topped trees and if Jessica squinted she could just hardly make out an ocean!
"I'm sorry, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Tumnus."
"Please to meet you Mr. Tumnus, I'm Lucy Pevensie!" Lucy said holding out her hand for him to shake and after explaining to him why the two did, but in a most amusing manner to Jessica.
"And my name is Jessica Ryan, I'm just visiting." she told him so that he shook her hand in much the same fashion before asking,
"Well then, Lucy Pevensie and Jessica Ryan from the shining city of War Drobe in the wondrous land of Spare Oom how would you like it, if you both came to have tea with me?" here he smiled brightly but Jessica said taking Lucy's shoulders,
"Thank you Mr. Tumnus, but we probably should be getting back now."
"Oh yes but it'll be just around the corner," he began cutting her off before adding softer,
"And there'll be a glorious fire with toast and tea and cakes and perhaps we'll even break into the sardines." Lucy here looked up to Jessica for advice not knowing what to do so that there was silence before he added again,
"Come on, it's not every day I get to make two new friends." that was the deal maker, so that Jessica and Lucy both smiled as they linked arms with the faun with Lucy saying,
"Well, if you have sardines?" so the three began the walk to his home, a beautiful walk as the two newcomers enjoyed the scenery and before long found themselves standing before a door set into a rocky outcropping of a mountain.
"Well, here we are. Come along you two." Mr. Tumnus said ushering them inside so that upon entering Jessica smiled at the warmth that flooded her body since she had grown cold outside and could only imagine how Lucy felt. As they helped set things down Lucy went to look at a portrait of a faun while Jessica explored Mr. Tumnus bookshelf. One book caught her attention 'Is Man a Myth?' then she noticed another called 'Deep Magic Prophecies'.
"My father's fighting in the war." Jessica suddenly heard Lucy say so that she turned to find her looking at the faun portrait and bit her tongue, not wanting to say her father was dead because of said war.
"My father went away to war too, but that was long, long ago. Before this dreadful winter." Mr. Tumnus said bringing over the tea tray as Lucy explained why winter was not all bad, and Christmas!
"Not here, no, no we haven't had a Christmas in over a hundred years." Mr. Tumnus said so that Lucy's instant reply was,
"What? No presents for a hundred years?" Jessica sat next to Lucy as they had their cups filled with tea and milk while Mr. Tumnus told them all about winter in Narnia. Then he went on to talk about the wonders of summer in Narnia and the music.
"Would, would you like to hear some now?" he asked them both so that they eagerly both nodded so that he asked,
"Now, are you both familiar with any Narnian lullabies?" when they both said 'no' his reply was,
"Well that's good, because this—probably won't sound anything like one." then taking out a strange looking flute he began to play and turning to the fire Jessica spotted a figure in it! Gasping, she made Lucy turn to see too and when another two figures appeared in the flames they turned with concern to Mr. Tumnus who just nodded. So they kept watching, all the while feeling sleepy and when Jessica felt her eyelids dropping she began to try and fight off the sensation. Only when she heard a crash did she turn with a hazy mind to see Lucy with her head in her chest asleep that she turned back to Mr. Tumnus still playing to ask,
"What have you done?" before she too succumbed to sleep just before hearing a defining lions roar, shattering glass and a cry of fear.