The subway train pulled into King’s Lynn station about two hours later. Most everybody onboard got off and headed for their boarding schools – north to Hendon House for the boys, or south to Saint Finbarr for the girls. As all the girls strode down the sidewalk, I kept a watchful eye on Susan and Lucy Pevensie. Susan appeared to be walking automatically as she thought about something else, while Lucy anxiously followed her. I found it a bit odd that Susan wasn’t talking to her sister or at least making eye contact from time to time, though Lucy didn’t seem to mind. I made a mental note to talk to my fellow queen about what bothering her.
The walk to the school gates wasn’t as long as I remembered it to be, but I didn’t mind. Everyone turned towards the gymnasium because that was where the dorm assignments were. Nuns were inside directing the younger, new girls toward the appropriate areas. As I headed over to the bulletin board for year eight students, I saw Susan give Lucy a warm smile and squeeze her hand before letting her go off. I looked at the bulletin board for my room assignment: Room 308 in Saint Rose. Quickly, I made for the exit at the back of the gym. Once outside, I took a deep breath, slowed my pace a bit, and took in my surroundings. In front of me was my dorm building, Saint Rose, and to its left were the other two, Saint Helen and Saint Bridget. To my right was the cafeteria, and behind me were the academic buildings – places I would have to explore later when I received my schedule.
The front door to my dorm building was heavy oak, and I smiled to myself as it reminded me of Narnia. I walked up the stairs, keeping to the left as other girls came down them. I opened the door to my room with the key I had obtained from the ground floor reception desk. I was hardly surprised when the door opened to reveal a room smaller than the one I had in Finchley. There were two beds up against the wall to the right with an end table and lamp in the middle to separate them. On the wall to the left were the desks and dressers – the desks also holding lamps. The wall directly in front of me had a rather large window looking out upon a tree behind the building.
I set my belongings down on the bed closest to the window and began to unpack. It didn’t take me long because I did not pack much. The dresser held my change of uniform, gym clothes, and three other outfits in case I ever had the opportunity to wear them. In my desk I had notebooks, pens, pencils, folders, a ruler, and erasers. The Scarlet Pimpernel was also kept in the desk for protection.
I sat down on my bed and began fiddling with my lion ring. Eamon had ordered me to keep my wedding band at home, for it would be difficult to explain why I was wearing it and where I got it. He also promised to keep it safe, so I left it with him willingly. It still felt odd not to have the ring on my finger after numerous years of wearing it day in and day out.
The sound of the door opening brought me out of my thoughts. I turned to greet my roommate. It was Susan. I waited to say anything until my fellow queen took notice of me; it felt like forever. When our eyes finally met, the sorrow in hers gave me an idea why it had taken her so long. A warm smile appeared on my face in a vain attempt to make her sadness disappear.
“Hello,” I greeted, rising from my bed.
“Hello,” she answered with a nod.
“I am Annabelle Reeder,” I said, resisting the urge to curtsy. I had gotten pretty good at suppressing the habit, but every now and then one slipped through.
“I am… Susan Pevensie. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“And I you. I hope you don’t mind me taking the bed closest to the window.”
That earned me a small smile. “No, I don’t mind.”
There was an awkward silence as Susan began to put her clothes and book supplies away.
“When you are through, would you care to retrieve your class schedule and go room-searching with me?” I asked as she put her extra uniform in the dresser.
“No, thank you,” Susan answered without looking up.
I opened my mouth to insist when a sharp rapping came at the door. It is Emma! I thought.
“I will get it, you continue unpacking,” I offered.
Susan gave me a smile of thanks. When I opened the door, I was greeted with the smiling faces of my good friends Emma, Sara, Maggie, Heather, Heidi, and Phebe.
“Hey, Annabelle!” they all said.
I smiled brightly and replied, “Hello, my girls!” I called my friends “my girls” because it took too long to list off everybody’s name. Not to mention, when we were little, they nominated me group leader, so they let me call them whatever I wanted. “What are you planning that requires me?”
Emma gave me a bit of a glare to tell me to knock off the formal speech. I smiled and quickly quirked an eyebrow, challenging her to respond in kind.
Sara caught our silent exchange and rolled her eyes. “We’re gonna go get our schedules. Did you get yours yet?”
“No, I was just about to. Let me guess, group reunion as we walk?”
Six heads nodded.
My eyes danced with joy and a wider smile played on my lips. “Alright, I’m with you.”
I turned to shut the door behind me and saw Susan standing by the window. She seemed to be trembling a bit – that concerned me. “Susan?” I called. “Are you sure you do not want to come along?”
“I’m sure,” my fellow queen replied quietly and shakily.
“Come on, Annabelle,” Maggie yelled after me.
Reluctantly, I shut my dorm door behind me.
-x-x-x-x-x-
I arrived back at the dorm at five o’clock to get Susan to go to the cafeteria for dinner. When I entered the room, my roommate had taken her blazer and shoes off, let her hair down, and fallen asleep. Slowly, I took two pieces of paper from my blazer pocket – it was our schedules. I had a feeling Susan was not going to leave the room unless forced, so I had picked hers up along with my own. I placed the schedules on our desks and sat on my bed so I could see my roommate’s face. There were faint tear tracks down her cheeks, and her face was still pink. I grew very concerned for Susan. I needed to figure out a way for both of us to share our stories, and soon.
Finally, I rose and gently shook my fellow queen awake. “Susan… Suu-san, wake up.”
My roommate took a deep breath and fluttered her eyelids. Her eyes still held so much sorrow that it almost brought me to tears. “It’s dinner time, Susan. I thought it was time to get you outside,” I explained.
Susan nodded at my words and sat up on the bed. She put her shoes back on, along with her blazer, though she didn’t do anything to her hair except pass a brush over it.
“I got your schedule for you, also.” I finally got the tiniest smile from my fellow queen.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
This time, the two of us headed out our dorm door. We walked together at a moderate pace for a queen – really it was a fast walk. When we entered the cafeteria, there was quite the line for supper, for the meal had just started to be served. We waited in line for ten to fifteen minutes before we got our meal, and when we did, we were able to find an empty table we could have all to ourselves. I had explained earlier to my girls that I wanted to spend supper time with Susan since she was my roommate and that I was concerned for her.
“Who did you stay with when we were evacuated, Susan?” I asked after a few minutes of silence between us.
“My brothers, sister, and I stayed with a Professor Digory Kirke.”
“Really? I stayed with his friend Polly Plummer,” I said with some excitement as I attempted to draw Susan out.
“That’s interesting. What was she like?” my roommate asked in a bit more formal language.
“She was a kind and generous hostess. Miss Polly let me do anything I desired, as long as I helped her take care of her animals and clean the house.”
“What kind of animals does Miss Polly have?”
“Horses, chickens, cows, and a dog. She owns a farm,” I answered.
“Horses,” Susan repeated with a fleeting look in her eyes. “What I wouldn’t give to go for a relaxing ride right now.”
I let my fellow queen float in memories for a moment. “What is Sir Digory like? Miss Polly told me that he lives in a house at least twice the size of hers.”
“Sir Digory’s house is indeed quite large; he has a few housekeepers to take care of it. One of them is Mrs. Macready – one does not want to get in trouble with her. Sir Digory, on the other hand, is a jolly old fellow and a bit strange until one gets used to him. He, like your Miss Polly, let me, my brothers, and sister do anything we pleased,” she said, adding under her breath, “as long as we didn’t bother the Macready.”
I tried to contain a snort, but I failed. Susan looked over at me as I covered my mouth in an attempt to stop laughing. A bright smile appeared on Susan’s face and delight appeared in her eyes. After a couple of short laughs from her, the two of us laughed outright, and we continued to laugh until a girl three years older than us came up from behind and laid a hand on Susan.
“You!” the girl yelled, causing silence to fall on the cafeteria.
Susan turned and stood to face the bully, and the bully took a step backwards.
“Yes, Bethany?” my fellow queen asked calmly.
“Your brothers beat up mine,” Bethany grumbled.
“Were you even at the fight?”
“No.”
“Well then, your brother failed to inform you that he and two other boys were beating on my older brother before my younger brother joined in to help,” Susan told Bethany. They were both staring hard at each other.
“I don’t suppose Jason told you why he, his boys, and Peter were fighting now, did he?” I asked the sixteen-year-old as I rose to stand by Susan.
Bethany glared at me. “He said what’s-his-name –”
“Peter,” Susan corrected.
“Peter,” the girl said with a growl, “punched him first for no reason.”
Susan was about to reply with the lie Peter had told her and her siblings, but I spoke up first. “Funny, because from my position, which was right behind Jason, it looked to me that your brother threw the first punch. And the only reason Peter hit back was to defend himself.”
My fellow queen tried not to look surprised while Bethany fumed at me. “What were the two of you doing near him?!”
“Well, Jason approached me first, and Peter only came over when your brother refused to leave me alone. Now, I suggest you leave us alone, Bethany.” I stared hard at my enemy until her will to tolerate us withered away.
Bethany got right up in their faces before she left. “This isn’t over.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” I replied.
She growled at me before she pulled away. Susan and I watched her go, and as soon as she was out of sight, we turned to sit back down. Only then did we notice the cafeteria-wide silence.
“Please, continue,” Susan called out in a loud voice.
Everyone was very edgy and didn’t start talking again until we sat down. It wasn’t long after we were seated that Lucy came over. No words were exchanged between the sisters, but I could tell the younger was concerned.
“Lucy, this is my roommate, Annabelle,” Susan said, introducing us. “Annabelle, this is my sister, Lucy.”
Lucy’s face brightened in a smile. “Pleasure to meet you, Miss Annabelle.”
I returned the smile. “And it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Lucy.”
“I best go sit with my friends, or they’ll start to worry. Cheers!”
“Cheers, Lu,” Susan replied.
“Cheers,” I added.
“So,” Susan started as she began to finish her supper. “What exactly started the fight?”
“As I said, it was Jason, but I assume you want the whole story…” And I told her. By the time we exited the cafeteria, my fellow queen was laughing to herself.
“That’s somewhat typical of Peter. He doesn’t enjoy anyone being threatened or teased in the way Jason treated you. Peter stood up for many people back in Na… back home.”
I paid no heed to my roommate’s slip and correction, knowing it would be uncomfortable to ask her to explain what she was first going to say. “You live in Finchley, don’t you?” I asked instead.
“Yes, how did you know?”
“The day that all the children were moved to the country, I was the girl sitting in the compartment across from yours.”
“That’s right! I thought you looked familiar,” Susan commented. From the way she looked at my face again, she seemed to be looking for something more.
“Shall we go compare schedules? I already have with my girls, and we have all our classes together.”
“Alright, let’s.”
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