"Attention, would all parents ensure that their children have the appropriate identification papers."
I glanced up, keeping my grip on Lucy's shoulder while her mother said goodbye to her. Lucy had always been like the little sister I had never had. It had been two days since the attack and we were being sent to a professor's house until the war ended.
"You keep this on darling, alright?" Mrs. Pevensie said, pinning papers onto Lucy's jacket.
"You warm enough? Good girl"
She moved onto Edmund who rolled his eyes.
"If dad were here he wouldn't make us go." he complained.
"If dad were here, it would mean the war was over and we wouldn't have to go," Peter said, reprimandingly.
"You will listen to your brother and Logan, won't you Edmund?" Mrs. Pevensie pleaded, looking up at Edmund who glared at her.
"Logan is just Peter's friend. She isn't related to us."
I looked away. I wouldn't let them see it, but it hurt more than I would ever admit. Peter put an arm around me. Mrs. Pevensie sighed and stood up, trying to kiss Edmund, but he turned his head away. Mrs. Pevensie wrapped Peter in a hug. She whispered something in his ear. He nodded. Then she moved on to me. She caressed my face, giving me a sad smile.
"I am terribly sorry we couldn't give you a better home, Logan." She said, choking up. I gave her a hug.
"I can't thank you enough for helping after you found out my parents... and that I needed a home. Anyway, thank you so very much Mrs. Pevensie," I whispered. She pulled away, walking towards Susan. I hugged Peter.
"I am really thankful for you guys," I whispered in his ear. He nodded.
"I am really glad you can stay with us."
"Me too."
I looked down to see Lucy standing in front of me. I held out my hand which she took.
"We'll be ok Lucy."
Mrs. Pevensie turned back to all of us.
"Now then. Off you go." She said, tears welling in her eyes. I picked up Lucy so I wouldn't lose her and we made our way towards the train, the only one of us talking was Edmund, who was shrugging off everyone trying to help us.
"Tickets?"
An elderly lady was impatiently holding her hand out. She looked oddly at us, but especially me. I sighed. I knew I looked different than them. Susan elbowed Peter.
"Peter! Tickets?"
Peter handed her the tickets and we were ushered onto the train. Lucy started to cry. I hugged her tighter while Peter wiped her tears.
"We'll be ok Luce, Everything's gonna be ok."
Once we were in the train, everyone except for Edmund leaned out the window, waving goodbye. Once we were out of sight, we put our luggage away and I sat down in between Peter and Lucy. I put my head on Peter's shoulder and hugged Lucy tight. This was going to be a long ride.
"Logan. Logan!"
I rubbed my eyes, looking up to see Susan.
"We're here."
I stretched, getting up and helping Lucy with her luggage. We ended up outside on the platform.
HOOOOOOONK
We jumped up, seeing a car approaching from the distance. We gathered all of our luggage, but the car drove past us.
"The professor knew we were coming," Susan said. Edmund looked down at his tag.
"Perhaps we've been incorrectly labeled."
Just then, we heard the sound of hoofbeats. I looked up to see a rather stiff looking lady driving a carriage.
"Mrs. Macready?" Peter asked hesitantly.
"I'm afraid so." she snapped. She glanced at me.
"Are you with the rest of them?"
I sighed. I was used to people questioning my relationship to the others because of my ethnicity. Peter stepped forward.
"Yes. She is our-."
"I'm their close friend," I answered.
The rest was a blur. We were brought to the mansion, given rules and we were ushered to our rooms.
At night Peter and I were listening to the news radio. Susan shut it off. She gestured towards Lucy, who was sniffling in her bed. Susan, Peter, and I walked up to her bed and sat down.
"The sheets feel scratchy," she sniffled.
"Wars don't last forever Lucy," I said. Susan nodded.
"We'll be home soon."
"Yeah, if home's still there." Edmund remarked.
Susan, Peter, and I rolled our eyes.
"Isn't it time you were in bed?" Susan asked.
"Yes, Mum!" Edmund exclaimed sarcastically.
"Ed!" Peter exclaimed. I turned back to Lucy, ignoring Edmund,
"You saw outside. This place is huge!" I said.
"We can do whatever we want," Peter added.
"Tomorrow's going to be great. Really."
It rained.
"So much for a great day," I whispered in Susan's ear. She ignored me, turning back to a dictionary.
"Gastrovascular." she said.
"Come on Peter, Logan, gastrovascular."
Peter looked up, slightly annoyed.
"Is it Latin?"
"Yes!"
Edmund rolled his eyes.
"Is it Latin for 'worst game ever invented'?"
Peter smiled while I laughed.
"Sorry Susan, but I have to agree with Ed on this one." I remarked. Susan slammed down the book.
"We could play hide and seek!" Lucy suggested.
"But we're already having so much fun," I remarked sarcastically. Susan glared at me.
"Come on Peter, Logan, please!" Lucy begged. I sunk to the floor next to Edmund.
"One, two, three four," Peter said, starting to count. I sat up.
"Wait really? Do we have to?"
Still, we all got up and started searching for places to hide. I ended up finding a curtain to hide behind.
"It's all right! I'm back! I'm all right!" I heard Lucy yell. I ran out of my hiding spot. What was she talking about?
"Shut up Lucy, he's coming!" I heard Edmund grumble. I heard Peter's confused voice as I walked into the room.
" I don't think you two quite get the gist of the game."
He cocked his head at me.
"Or you."
Lucy furrowed her brow.
"Weren't you wondering where I was?" she asked. Edmund rolled his eyes.
"That's the point. That was why he was seeking you!"
Susan walked in.
"Does this mean I win?"
I glanced at Lucy.
"I don't think Luc wants to play anymore." I said. She looked at us like we were insane.
"I've been gone for hours."
Edmund, Susan, Peter, and I exchanged looks.
Susan crawled into the wardrobe that Lucy had thought was a portal to a forest while Edmund and I checked the back of the wardrobe. It was solid wood.
"Lucy, the only wood in here is the back of the wardrobe," Susan said slowly. I looked worriedly at Lucy. A forest in the back of the wardrobe? Was Lucy going crazy?
"One game at a time Luce," I said softly.
"We don't all have your imagination," Peter remarked. I gave Lucy a small smile and started to walk off with the others.
"But I wasn't imagining!" Lucy yelled. We turned back to look at her.
"That's enough Lucy," Susan said, getting annoyed.
"I wouldn't lie about this!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Well I believe you," Edmund remarked. I looked at him, confused. He believed in a portal in a wardrobe? And why was he being so...nice?
"You do? Lucy asked, hopeful, but just as confused.
"Yeah of course," Edmund said, turning to us.
"Didn't I tell you about the football field in the bathroom cupboards?"
"Will you just stop?" I snapped.
"You're not in charge of me, we're not even related!" He yelled. I looked down at my feet, tears welling in my eyes. I was usually able to stand my ground but Edmund always made everything worse. Susan put an arm around me while Peter reeled on Edmund.
"You just have to make everything worse, don't you?"
"It was just a joke!" Edmund said defensively.
"A joke to insult Logan? She's close enough to be family! When are you gonna learn to grow up?" Peter snapped. Edmund stepped closer to Peter.
"Shut up! You think you're Dad, but you're not!" He yelled, then ran away. Susan turned toward Peter, her arm still around me.
"Well, that was nicely handled!"
She turned, leading me out of the room.
That night, I woke up to Lucy yelling. I looked up at Susan and we dashed to the other room.
"It's all in the wardrobe, like I told you!" I heard Lucy say. Susan rolled her eyes.
"You've just been dreaming Lucy,"
"But I haven't!" she exclaimed.
"I saw Mr. Tumnus again! And this time Edmund went too!"
We all turned to Edmund.
"You...You saw the faun?" I asked tentatively. He shook his head no.
"Well, he didn't actually go there with me." Lucy said.
"He... What were you doing Edmund?"
We all stared at Edmund.
"I was just playing along," he stuttered.
"I'm sorry Peter, I shouldn't have encouraged her, but you know what little children are like these days. They just don't know when to stop pretending."
Lucy started sobbing and ran out of the room. Susan sighed and followed her, Peter and I following close behind. I shoved Edmund on the way out, just for good measure. I followed Susan and Peter to see Lucy hugging an old man who I could only assume was the professor.
"You children are one shenanigan shy of sleeping in the stable!" Mrs. Macready scolded, entering the room, her eyes widening at the sight of the professor.
"Professor. I'm sorry, I told them you were not to be disturbed," she said forcefully.
"It's all right, Mrs. Macready. I'm sure there's an explanation," The professor said kindly.
"But first, I think this little one is in need of a little hot chocolate."
Peter, Susan, and I turned to leave, but the professor cleared his throat and invited us into his study.
"You seem to have upset the delicate internal balance of my housekeeper," He remarked once he had sat down.
"We're very sorry sir, It won't happen again." I said quietly. Peter pulled my arm as well as Susan's to leave, but Susan stayed put.
"It's our sister sir, Lucy."
"The weeping girl," The professor said. My mouth twinged.
"Yes sir," Susan continued.
"She's upset."
"Hence the weeping."
I smiled silently. I knew it wasn't a situation to laugh, but it was funny.
"It's nothing, we can handle it." I said. Peter nodded.
"Oh I can see that," The professor remarked.
"She thinks she's found a magical land." Susan said, exasperated. The professor smiled.
"In the upstairs wardrobe."
The professor's eyes widened and he stood up, walking toward us and leading us to sit down on a couch.
"What did you say?" he asked.
"Uh, the wardrobe upstairs," I replied.
"Lucy thinks she found a forest inside." Peter said.
"She won't stop going on about it!" Susan explained.
"What was it like?" The professor asked, intrigued.
"Like talking to a lunatic!" Susan exclaimed. The professor shook his head.
"No, no, no, not her. The forest."
"You're not saying you believe her?" Peter asked in disbelief.
"You don't?" Asked the professor, a sparkle in his eye.
"I mean, Lucy has never lied about something before, or been worked up about something, so part of me believes her," I said, ignoring the glares from Peter and Susan.
"But then it's logically impossible, so I don't know what to think. But Lu always does tell the truth..." I finished.
"Hmm, what do they teach in schools these days?" the professor mumbled.
"Edmund said they were only pretending," Peter remarked, staring at me forcefully.
"And he's usually the more truthful one, is he?" The professor asked.
"No. This would technically be the first time." I answered, glaring back at Peter.
"Well, if she's not mad and she's not lying, then logically we must assume she is telling the truth." the professor said.
"You're saying that we should just believe her?" Peter asked.
"She's your sister, isn't she? You're her family. You might just try acting like one."
I leaned toward Peter.
"He does have a point," I whispered. The professor smiled.
"I like this one," he said, gesturing to me.