“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Plummer,” I said, almost dropping a curtsy. That’s a habit I will have to break when meeting new people, I thought, scolding myself.
“Please, call me Polly,” Miss Plummer said as we began to walk away from the platform. “I hope you enjoy living in the country, Annabelle.”
I smiled at her. “I think I will.”
We came behind the station house to a horse and buggy. The horse, a mare, was a beautiful brown color with a dark brown mane and tail. Miss Polly had taken my suitcase to put it in the buggy, so I slowly walked up to the mare. She had no blinkers on, so she saw me approach her side.
When I reached her, I began stroking her flank. “Hello, girl. How are you doing?”
“Making friends with Helen now, are you? You’re very quick. I thought coming from the town, you haven’t been around horses before,” Polly observed.
I stepped back from the mare and turned towards Miss Plummer. “I haven’t… recently,” I said trying to explain my behavior without mentioning Narnia to a person I only met.
My answer didn’t seem to sit well with my caretaker, though. She stood a couple metres away and studied my face – more specifically, my eyes. She looked deep into them, as if she was searching my soul. As I held her gaze, I noticed something in her eyes. They seemed to hold secrets, but not secrets of this world. This confused me, for no one else I knew or had seen in the past few weeks had a similar look. I hid my confusion because I didn’t want any awkwardness if she asked.
Finally, Polly smiled because she found whatever she was looking for in my eyes. “Well, let’s get going, youngin’, or we’ll stand here all day and never get home!”
The two of us laughed and climbed into the buggy. Polly took up the reins and gently slapped them against Helen’s back. Polly had Helen walk until we got away from the small town, and then she had the mare canter. I enjoyed watching the scenery go by, and with the sun out, the landscape was all the prettier. I looked back to the mare pulling the buggy and tilted my head and squinted as I tried to think of its breed.
Stumped, I asked Miss Polly. “What breed of horse is Helen?”
My caretaker smiled and glanced sideways at me before returning her eyes to the road. “She’s a Connemara Pony. And so are her mate and son back at the house.”
“Connemara…” I wracked my brain as I tried to figure out why the name sounded familiar. “It’s an Irish horse!” I said. “They became endangered in the twenties, and some were sent back into the wild.”
My caretaker raised her eyebrows. “Not many know about this Irish horse. How did you come to know about them?” Polly asked me.
“My mother, Delma Reeder, is Irish. Her father told me and Eamon stories about the Connemara.”
“Do your grandparents still live in Ireland?”
“Yes. They liked England fine, but loved their native land.”
“What nationality is your father then?”
“He’s English. So Eamon and I are half Irish and half English,” I answered.
“How did your parents meet?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure. They never liked to talk about it.”
“Alright. Then your brother, Eamon. Where is he?”
I fell silent and quickly looked down before steering my gaze outward. “He’s off at war with Father,” I said quietly.
A comforting hand on my own made me turn my head towards Miss Plummer. She gave me a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry.”
I gave a small smile. “It’s alright. I get a letter from him every week or so.”
“That doesn’t make the pain go away completely.”
I’ve already spent sixty years without him, I thought.
“What did you say?” Miss Polly asked, for I apparently said that out loud.
“Nothing.” Polly cast me a scrutinizing glance, but didn’t press any further. “So what’s your place like?”
“It’s a small farm. There are cows, the horses, chickens, calves, and my border collie. I hope you don’t mind learning to work around the barn – I could use the help.”
I gave a smile. “I don’t mind. How are you going to make sure you have enough food for all your animals to last through the winter? Especially since food is starting to be rationed?”
“That’s the beauty of give and take. The government will pay and give necessary grain to keep the animals alive in exchange for meat and milk for the troops.”
We were silent for a while, and I began to watch the landscape again. My heart started to yearn for Narnia and my husband. It was at this time that Polly wormed my secret out.
“Why did you leave?” she asked.
I looked at her, confused. “I thought you knew. The Germans are bombing us.”
“No, not Finchley. Narnia.”
I sat there, frozen, and staring at Miss Plummer’s elderly face. Slowly I began to see a sort of “mark” of Narnia. It was in her eyes and face. It made sense that Polly knew of Narnia because of the secrets I thought she had.
“You’ve been to Narnia?” I asked, very curious about her role in my country’s history.
“Yes, at her very beginning. But I shall get into that later. We’re here.”
Polly’s place was an older, brick made, two-story house with ivy growing up the sides. Windows covered the sides of the house to let in as much sunlight as possible. To the right and behind the house was a large wooden barn with a chicken house to its left. Behind the wooden buildings was an enormous fenced-in pasture with trees in the very back. One could hear noises of all the animals on the farm, and from the house was a dog’s bark.
“That’ll be Sam. Your things are in the back. I’ll go calm him down,” said Polly. She quickly tied Helen to a fence post and headed towards the house.
I got down from the buggy and grabbed my suitcase. The next thing I knew, a barking black and white fur ball came hurtling at me. Had Sam been barking in a friendly manner, I would’ve stooped down to meet him, but his barking was in protection.
“Sam!” Polly shouted in a deep, authoritative voice. Instantly, the border collie ceased to speak. “Come this way, Annabelle. Sam won’t hurt you as long as you don’t challenge him.”
When I first walked in, I saw straight back to the dining room – which was a good twelve metres away. Between the door and the back of the dining room was a beautiful mahogany staircase that led up to the second floor. Just inside the front door was a set of double doors that led to a massive library. I slowly followed Polly upstairs so I could take in everything. We went up a few steps before coming to a landing and turning to go up some more steps to the second floor. At the top of the stairs there was a large living space.
“The washroom is to your right,” said Miss Polly, giving me details about her home. She led me down the hall and opened the door to our left. “And this is your room. Mine is right here across the hall.”
I smiled to my hostess. “Thank you very much, Miss Polly.”
She smiled back. “You’re welcome. Though, I imagine that if you lived in Narnia, you must’ve stayed at a castle with many more rooms than this old house.”
My smile widened and I bit my lower lip in embarrassment. “Yes, a great deal more. It will be nice to live in a smaller place. Besides, I think I will be spending a great deal of time in the library or out riding.”
Miss Plummer bowed her head a bit in acknowledgment. “I shall go prepare dinner; it should be ready at about six, and it’s four now. In the meantime, rest from your long day. We shall exchange tales of Narnia when we eat.”
“Thank you, Miss Polly.”
Polly turned around and headed down the stairs. I entered the guest room, put my suitcase on the floor, and flopped down on the bed. The trip had been very tiring, and I was happy to be lying down.
-x-x-x-x-x-
The next day was a wet and dreary one. Which, after church, was a great day to share Narnia stories. Polly had told me of her adventure in Narnia the night before. About midway through her tale, I remembered learning about our country’s beginning in a history lesson, but I didn’t dare interrupt a Narnian who was there at the time. I began telling my story that night around ten in the evening, and we stayed up until we could barely keep our eyes open. Through breakfast, barnyard work, and lunch, I continued my story. I finished it around three hours past noon with the retelling of my dream I’d had of Trem, Jadis, and the Wolves turning in Narnians loyal to Aslan.
“When under that kind of a tyrant, people may have to do things they are not proud of to survive. I’m sure at the end of every day, Trem asked Aslan to forgive him,” Miss Plummer told me.
I sighed sadly and curled up in the big armchair in front of the fireplace in the library. “I am sure also, but I can’t help feeling that I’ve failed in teaching Trem and many other Narnians to have undying faith in Aslan.”
She gave me a sympathetic look. “You can’t teach every Narnian, especially after Jadis has invaded and spread her evil thoughts.”
“I know. However, after living there for so long and raising two children…” I started.
“Who sound wonderful,” Polly interjected.
“Thank you. I still cannot help but feel responsible for what’s happened.”
Miss Polly gave me a mock glare. “Aslan brought you into Narnia so that you could prepare the Narnians for this period, yes?”
“Well, yes.”
“And you and your husband spread songs throughout the country that every Narnian child and grandparent could sing by heart, yes?”
“Ye-es.”
“Then how have you failed? You did what Aslan wanted you to do. You put faith into Narnia’s whole population. It is every Narnian’s choice to believe in Aslan or to follow Jadis. It is not by your folly.”
Granted, this was true, but the guilt didn’t leave me. Miss Plummer could see this, and so she changed the subject.
“So how was school for two weeks? Was it a bit odd going back and relearning some subjects?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t know, Polly. The children in Finchley were never sent back to school; our parents got letters saying that they wanted to wait a while to make sure we’d be safe in going,” I replied.
“That’s odd.”
I nodded in agreement. “I think they might have known the Germans were up to something, but they weren’t sure what.”
Miss Polly shrugged her shoulders and raised her eyebrows in an I’m-not-sure gesture. “So what will be your hardest classes when you go back?”
I furrowed my eyebrows and narrowed my eyes as I thought. “English history and literature, for sure… I was good at astronomy, but of course I need to relearn the constellations of this world. I had to be proficient at math, biology, botany, speaking, and etiquette. Oh, I was horrible at anything crafty, except sewing. I’ve always been good with food, and I learned in Narnia how to determine if a foreign plant or animal is poisonous. Umm…”
“Boy, you know a lot. How are you going to feign not knowing the subjects you know well?”
I smiled to my caretaker. “Make it look like I’m paying attention. And though I am good in a few science subjects, I do not understand the others much. So, if anything, I will only have a couple of classes I can relax in.”
“Well, you could get a head start on those subjects right now, if you’d like. You see all the books here, yes?” I nodded. “Full of history and literature. I bet by the time you go home, you’ll have all of these read, and you’ll be ahead of everyone at school.”
I smiled brightly and gave a soft laugh. “I don’t want to be too far ahead! I would rather not have people be wary of my extra… talents, shall we call them? They would be curious as to how I obtained them.”
“True, true.”
We were both silent as we stared into the fire. A small smile began to play upon my lips again. I looked up to Polly, and said, “I’ll start reading tomorrow.”
We both laughed.
-x-x-x-x-x-
“Amesh? Bremton? Mezinda? Is that all of you?” I asked.
Before me in a large green valley were three adult figures dancing in the dazzling sunlight among the fragrant flowers by a beautiful lake. As soon as they heard me call out their names they stopped their dancing and turned in my direction. As our eyes met, we began running toward each other. As I ran, I noticed my long, flowing skirts; I was also taller, and my hair was a great deal longer.
Amesh was the first to reach me, and when he did, he picked me up and spun me around. We both laughed out loud happily. When Bremton and Mezinda caught up to us, I hugged each of them with as much happiness as I hugged Amesh. I stood back and looked at all of them. They appeared to be at the best point in their lives – young and spry.
“Where are we, my family?” I curiously asked.
“This is the valley between your world and Aslan’s Country, Mother,” Mezzie answered me.
I narrowed my eyes a bit and tilted my head in a confused fashion.
“This is a dream, Mother,” Brem said, easing my confusion.
My eyes softened and a sad expression crossed my face. “You all seem so real.”
“As always in a dream, my dear. Come now, we have something to show you,” Amesh told me.
My husband then began to run towards the lake, leading me by the hand, with Mezzie and Brem following behind. Even though I was a bit sad, I smiled and laughed as we ran together as a family.
We arrived at the lake in a flash, and I didn’t feel the least bit tired. “What is it you wanted to show me?”
“Narnia, Mother,” said my daughter. “The evil time is almost done.”
Mezinda gestured towards the lake, and I watched as the reflection changed to a moving picture. There was a small, young girl that backed into snowy pine trees. She turned around and began looking around the forest area she was in. I recognized her instantly – it was Lucy Pevensie. She made her way to the Lamppost, and within a few minutes she was scared by a Faun wearing a bright red, woolen scarf. Lucy slowly made friends with the Faun, and it looked like the Faun asked her to go home with him (this I had to guess, for there was no sound). However, when they started walking together, I had an awful feeling that Lucy shouldn’t have gone with him. They arrived at the Faun’s house, and little Lucy began exploring it while the Faun locked the door and hid the key – the awful feeling increased in the pit of my stomach. The two then sat down to hot chocolate, and the Faun grabbed an instrument and began playing. Pictures danced in the fire, and Lucy fell asleep. She wasn’t asleep long before Aslan’s face came roaring from the fire, blowing out all the candles, and scaring the Faun from his plans.
Next, Lucy woke and started to rise from her chair when the Faun said something. He was on the stairs and had been crying. Little Lucy handed him her handkerchief and said something in order to comfort him. But he said something that startled her, and she looked to say, “I thought you were my friend.”
The Faun and Lucy were then running through the woods – heading back to the Lamppost as fast as they could. They reached the Lamppost, exchanged a few words (Lucy let the Faun keep the hankie), and Lucy ran back to where she came from.
The pool’s surface then went back to reflecting everything that shone on it. I turned to my family. “What was that Faun’s name?”
“Tumnus, Mother,” Bremton answered.
“He was planning to kidnap Princess Lucy and take her to Jadis. Aslan’s appearance in the fire deterred him from doing so,” Mezinda continued.
“Why did he think to do so in the first place?” I asked.
Amesh spoke up. “Because Jadis gave strict orders that if any Narnian saw a human walking in the woods, the Narnian was to turn him over to her so she could turn him into stone – to stop the prophecy ‘When Adam’s flesh and Adam’s bone sits at Cair Paravel in throne, the evil time shall be over and done’ from coming true. Lucy’s kindness also helped Faun Tumnus change his mind… he risked his life taking her back to the Lamppost, my dear.”
I let all the new information sink in for a few minutes before asking, “Has anything else happened? Has any of the other Pevensies entered Narnia?”
“Yes, Mother,” my daughter replied. “Edmund.”
“What happened?”
“He met Jadis,” my son said with disgust. “He followed Lucy into Narnia when she returned a second time. Though he was a few seconds behind her, he lost her, for she went straight to Tumnuns’s house. He had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting Jadis and becoming enchanted by her food. Jadis left Prince Edmund with the instructions to bring his family to her house, and right after she left, Lucy found Edmund as she was heading back to the Lamppost.”
“Oh, Edmund!” I said with a grumble. Through friends, I had heard that he used to be a wonderfully nice child, but that all changed when he went to a rotten boarding school, and when his father went off to war.
“Sadly, my wife,” Amesh started, and I turned to him. “This is where we say farewell. It is time for you to wake.”
Reluctantly, I gave my family goodbye hugs. We exchanged “I love yous,” “Farewells,” and “Until next times.” Before Amesh let me go, he drew me close and gave me a long, soft kiss on the mouth. A moment after we parted, everything started to blur and swirl into a mess of colors before fading to black.
-x-x-x-x-x-
COCKA-DIDDLE-DOO!!!
The scream from the rooster woke me from my restful sleep. As I came to, I touched my lips, as I still felt the pressure from my husband and king’s kiss. Slowly, I sat up and remembered what occurred in my lengthy dream. As quickly as possible, I scrambled out of bed to go inform Miss Polly of Narnia’s good fortune.
-x-x-x-x-x-
September 18, 1940; Wednesday
It was midmorning when I stepped outside in the warm autumn sun to read Black Beauty. The sun danced off the gold, red, and orange leaves, and there were only a few big, white puffy clouds in the sky. I finished chapter eleven and set the book aside to enjoy the sun. I looked up at the deep blue sky and watched the small number of clouds slowly move by. As I watched the white puffs, I noticed that they began to take the shape of Narnians I knew: Kaymen, my Wolf guards, and Deanna among them. I also saw the outline of Aslan’s head. The shapes made me feel right at home.
A sudden sleepiness came over me. “Strange,” I thought. “I just woke up a couple of hours ago. I guess that’s what happens when you lie in the sun.” I smiled to myself, put my hands behind my head, and shut my eyes.
Unexpectedly, what seemed like pictures began to flash past my closed eyes. I saw all four Pevensies in Narnia, and then they were heading for Tumnus’s cave, which happened to be trashed. Next, they all followed a Beaver to his dam, and after staying a while, the dark-haired one – Edmund, if I remembered correctly – quietly snuck out and headed for Jadis’s house. The next flash showed the remaining three children and two Beavers running east towards the Stone Table, then getting caught by the Wolves while crossing the Great River at the Falls, and the group arriving at the Narnian Army camp. Then the five met Aslan, the eldest – Peter – saved his sisters from two of Jadis’s Wolves and was made a Knight of Narnia, and Oreius (how much older he looked since I saw him last!) and a troop of Narnians rescued Edmund. The next thing I saw was Jadis poised over Aslan’s bound, lifeless body, then a battle which ended in a victory for Narnia when a resurrected Aslan brought in more troops and slew Jadis. The four were then crowned kings and queens of Narnia.
The next flash brought to me was years later – the four were adults: Edmund and Susan were in Calormen, Lucy was at Cair, and Peter was fighting Giants. What was going on, I couldn’t figure out, for the flashes skipped to a battle at Anvard between the Calormenes, Archenlanders, and the Narnians that ended in the defeat of Calormen with one of the country’s soldiers hanging off the castle’s wall because his chainmail got caught on a hook. This happened to save Edmund’s – excuse me, King Edmund’s – life.
The final flashing pictures involved the Pevensies, a few years older now, riding west after the White Stag. They come across the Lamppost, and Queen Lucy led them back to where they had entered Narnia.
The pictures ended, and I opened my eyes. “They must be back now,” I said to myself.
I looked up at the sky to check the time. The sun hadn’t changed its position since I closed my eyes. That happened in a span of a few seconds? I thought. They must’ve just gone and come back!
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