A/N: Hello to both new and returning readers!

I started working on this rewrite in February of 2020 (after a Narnia marathon with one of my closest friends), and now I am finally able to share it with you. The Chronicles of Narnia has always been very near and dear to my heart, and it was such a wonderful experience to revisit not only the characters in the original work, but also the three characters I created five years ago. With a lot of time and effort and imagination, I was able to create new character arcs for all of them and expand on their growth and their relationships both romantically and platonically.

Unlike before where I posted the three stories separately, for the rewrite, they are all posted as one. I did take some creative liberties with ages and how much time passes, but all of that will be explained in the story.

This was the second intensive rewrite I've done for one of my previous stories, and it amazes me just how much I've grown as a writer and a storyteller since I first wrote this back in 2016.

I hope you enjoy reading the journeys of my original characters as much as I enjoyed exploring and writing them.

~fanwriter1245


"Mum!"

Elaine grabbed the torch on her nightstand and bolted out of her bedroom as she turned it on. The sound of airplanes buzzing in the sky filled the night air followed by several loud booms!

"Mum!"

"I'm here, don't worry," her mother, Mia, said as calmly as she could so she didn't worry her daughter further. "Come on, quickly."

Elaine and her mother rushed down the hallway, out the back door, and into the bomb shelter in the backyard.

Mia quickly bolted the door and turned around, catching her breath from the sprint. "All right, we might be down here for a while, so let's try to get some rest for now. You have an early morning."

Elaine hugged her knees to her chest as she stared at the framed picture of her father in his military uniform hanging on the wall. "It isn't fair," she said bitterly.

Her mother sighed and slowly sat down on the floor beside her. "I miss him too, love."

"Why do I have to leave?"

"It will be safer for you away from all of this. There will be no more nights where you are woken from your sleep and trapped in here."

"But we need to be together. You can keep me safe."

Mia gently tucked a strand of hair behind her daughter's ear. "Elaine…you know that isn't true."

"What about you?"

"I'll be all right. And I'll be thinking of you every single moment." She put her arms around her daughter and held her close. "Things will work themselves out in the end. It just may not be in the way you expect it."

Elaine closed her eyes, remembering every little detail about how it felt to be in her mother's arms. After tonight, it was possible she might never know this feeling again.


As Elaine pulled her suitcase into the train station, her heart was heavy. She felt as if her suitcase weighed several tons, and it took all of her energy to carry it.

"Do you have everything, darling?" her mother asked her, checking her daughter over one last time.

"I think so," Elaine responded.

"Is your label correct?"

Elaine held up the small tag. "Written perfectly. As if I'm nothing more than a sack of luggage."

"It's just to make sure you're taken to the right place. There might be others where you're staying. A lot of people are taking in more than one child. I have one last thing for you." She handed her daughter a worn book. "This was your father's favorite. For the train ride."

Elaine took the book from her, feeling her father's love come through it which made her heart ache with longing. "Thank you."

"Elaine, please. Promise me you'll…try."

The young girl nodded. "I will. I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too."

Elaine felt tears come to her eyes, her attempts to push them back failing. "Isn't there anything else you can do?"

Mia pulled her into her arms and hugged her tightly. "I wish there was. I'm doing this because I need to keep you safe. Because I love you. You are my brave, beautiful 15-year-old girl, and I'm so proud of you. Remember that no matter what happens, we will all see each other again someday."

The conductor called for any last boarders, but Elaine couldn't release herself from her mother's arms. She wanted this one moment where she felt perfectly safe to last forever.

With what little strength she had left, Mia gently pushed her daughter in the direction of the platform. "Off you go. You don't want to miss the train."

Elaine very much wanted to miss the train because then maybe her mother would let her stay. But she forced herself to grab her suitcase and head towards it as it whistled loudly, signaling there wasn't much time left to board. Just as she was about to hand her ticket to the ticket-taker, she took one look back at her mother and ran back to the safety of her arms.

"I love you, Mum," she said through her tears.

Mia gently kissed her daughter's forehead. "I love you too, Elaine. More than you can ever know."

Elaine wiped away her tears and went back over to the train. She handed her ticket to the ticket-taker and then slowly boarded. After walking through a few cars, she sat herself inside a carriage with another girl and a young boy. They looked about the same age which was most likely around nine or ten.

She wished she could've gotten a carriage to herself so she could wallow in peace, but she knew that wasn't going to happen and she probably shouldn't take her frustration out on two kids five years younger than her in the same situation.

"Hello," she said politely. "May I join you?"

They both nodded so she took her suitcase and put it on the overhang above them.

"Do you want to look out the window and wave good-bye?"

The girl shook her head. "No one's out there for us."

"No one's out there?"

"Our grandmother dropped us off at the station and left."

Elaine felt a pang of guilt for wallowing in self-pity when these two young children were being sent off by someone who, from the sound of it, was all too happy to send them far away.

"Well, come on, you can wave to my mother. She'll say good-bye to you."

Elaine slid the window open and then helped the two young ones peek outside. She tried to spot her mother in the large crowd of women all watching their children leave them for an indefinite amount of time.

"See that woman in the blue hat and scarf with the brown coat? That's my mum. Wave good-bye."

"Good-bye, Elaine!" Mia called from the platform as the train slid further and further away from the station. She smiled at the other two children looking out the window. "Bye, dears!"

"Bye!" the two children called out to Elaine's mother.

"Bye, Mum!" Elaine called. "I'll miss you!"

Elaine stared out the window until the platform had completely disappeared. Then she took a deep breath and sat down on the seat across from the other kids. "My name's Elaine. What's yours?"

"I'm Aggie, and this is my brother, Warren," the girl said.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Are you nervous? About being away from your family and living with strangers?"

Elaine didn't know what to say. Of course, she was nervous and angry and frustrated, but she probably shouldn't tell two little kids that. She would just have to tell them what they needed to hear, even if she knew she most likely wasn't going to follow her own advice.

"Yes, I'm a little nervous. But the best thing you can do is just be nice to everyone you're staying with and any people you may meet there. My mum told me that things will work themselves out. It just may not be in the way you expect."

The two siblings smiled at her, and Elaine was thankful that she had sounded sincere enough that they believed her.

The remainder of the train ride was mostly uneventful. Elaine made small conversation with Aggie and Warren and helped them relax a little bit more as best she could. She didn't know how much her words actually helped, but at the very least, the two kids seemed less anxious than when they had first come onto the train. They ended up reaching their stop before her, so she helped them get their suitcases down from the overhang.

"Good luck to the both of you," she said with a small smile. "I think you're going to be more than fine."

"Thank you," Aggie smiled. "Good luck, Elaine!"

Elaine watched from her window as an older couple who were probably somewhere in their 60's met Aggie and Warren on the platform. Aggie shyly smiled up at them and said something that made the gentleman laugh warmly. Warren offered the woman a flower. The couple smiled and laughed as they escorted Aggie and Warren off to their home.

Elaine smiled as she watched the children with their new guardians. She was grateful that the young children were with people who were nice to them, but that only made her more nervous about what the person she was to live with would be like. Would they be like the nice old couple? Or would they only be doing this because they were told to and would mistreat her?

Her heart thumped in her chest as the train crawled on and on for several more hours. She tried to read her father's book, but she quickly found that she couldn't focus on the words when she was so uncertain about what the future held.

Finally, the train came to a stop and it was time for her to get off. She grabbed her suitcase from the overhang and with another deep breath, she disembarked from the train. To her surprise, four other children got off the train as well.

When they heard the sound of a car coming, all of them hurried off the platform to catch it, but it just drove right past them. Looking in both directions, there were no other cars in sight which meant they had no way of getting to their new home.

"The Professor knew we were coming," the older girl said.

"Perhaps we've been incorrectly labeled," the younger boy added as he squinted at the label pinned to his jacket.

The sound of hoofbeats turned their attention to the right, and they saw a woman coming up to the small platform in a horse-drawn wagon. When she stopped the wagon, she stared down at the children as if it was the biggest inconvenience possible for her to have to come retrieve them.

"Mrs. Macready?" the older boy asked cautiously.

"I'm afraid so," the woman answered sternly. "Is this it then? Haven't you brought anything else?"

"No, ma'am. It's just us."

"Small favors."

She nodded towards the wagon, and the five of them quickly climbed into it with their luggage. No one exchanged any words, and the only one who actually talked during the ride back to the Professor's house was Mrs. Macready to urge the horse on.

Elaine glanced at the others children's labels. All of them read 'Pevensie'. They must all be siblings. She started feeling out of place and wished she had been assigned to a different house. She wouldn't have minded being with other people if they weren't all related. But how could she fit in with people who had grown up together and already shared a tight bond with one another? Could she be so bold as to just intrude into their lives like that?

She supposed she didn't have a choice, so she would just have to do her best with the situation she had been given. Maybe the siblings would be welcoming towards her.

As they pulled up to the house, Elaine's eyes widened. It wasn't a house, it was a mansion! They could spend weeks or maybe even months discovering all the secrets it held inside.

She wished her mother and father could see this. They'd always dreamed of having a bigger house for the three of them to run around in. They would've loved living here.

Mrs. Macready stowed away the horse and the wagon and then escorted all of them inside.

"Professor Kirke is not accustomed to havin' children in his house," she said sharply, the clacking of her heels echoing in the large space as much as her voice. "And as such, there are a few rules we need to follow. There will be no shoutin'. Or runnin'. No improper use of the dumbwaiter."

The older girl reached out to touch one of the statues.

Mrs. Macready's sharp voice snapped, "NO touchin' of the historical artifacts! And above all, there shall be no disturbin' of the Professor."

The five children sighed. They quickly realized just what kind of place they were going to have to stay in for who knew how long. A giant house they couldn't play around in, a housekeeper who hated them, and a Professor who didn't want them.

Mrs. Macready showed each of them where they would be sleeping. The two boys slept in one room, the two girls slept in another, and Elaine had a room to herself.

Elaine began to unpack her things and make the place feel a little bit more like home as much as she could. She put her clothes in the dresser and the closet, her books on the small shelf, and a picture of her mother and father on the nightstand.

Elaine felt isolated inside the room. She'd rather have a room to herself than share with someone she didn't know, but at the same time, it made her feel more out of place than she already did.

Someone knocked on her door. She turned and saw the two other girls standing at the entrance to her new room.

"Oh, hello," Elaine said politely.

"We wanted to introduce ourselves," the older girl said. "I'm Susan, and this is my sister, Lucy."

Lucy waved shyly.

"I'm Elaine. Nice to meet you."

"Our brothers, Peter and Edmund, are still trying to get unpacked. Peter's the eldest."

"Oh, really? How old is he?"

"Fifteen."

"Oh, so he's the same age as me."

Lucy pointed to the picture on the nightstand. "Are those your parents?"

"Lucy," Susan quietly admonished.

Elaine smiled. "Yes. My father went away to war so it was just me and my mum for a while."

"She's very pretty."

"Thank you."

"Do you miss her?"

"Very much. As much as you miss yours, I'm sure."

Susan looked at her sister sadly. Elaine saw how resilient she was trying to be throughout this whole situation for the sake of her younger siblings, but she couldn't be too much older than them. It didn't seem fair that she had been placed into that kind of maternal role so soon.

Why couldn't any of them just…be kids? Why were they being forced to grow up so fast?

Susan looked at her with a small smile. "Um…Mrs. Macready said that supper would be ready soon. I think it would be best not to be late."

"Oh, of course. I guess we should head down then."

They made their way through the halls until they found the large dining room with a table that was far too big for the few occupants.

Shortly after they arrived, the two boys joined them.

"Take a seat," Mrs. Macready said sharply. "Don't just stand around all day."

All of them sat in the five seats gathered at one end of the long table.

"Um, I'm Elaine," Elaine said to the two people she hadn't met yet.

"Good to meet you," the older boy smiled. "I'm—"

"Suppertime is not for chatterin'!" Mrs. Macready snapped. "You can talk in your personal rooms."

The five children quieted.

The remainder of supper was a very awkward affair as they ate in silence with the occasional accidental eye contact. What kind of place didn't allow talking at the dining table?

Elaine was all too thankful when it was over and they were excused.

Edmund and Lucy, being the younger ones, began to prepare for bed.

Elaine made her way down the halls to the Pevensies' rooms so she could properly introduce herself, but she stopped when she heard voices inside the girls' room.

"The sheets feel scratchy," Lucy said with a sniffle.

"Wars don't last forever, Lucy," Susan told her warmly. "We'll be home soon."

"Yeah, if home is still there," another voice joined in.

It was too high to be the older brother, so it must've been the younger one. Elaine didn't appreciate the comment, but she also knew that they were all thinking it. He was just foolish enough to say it out loud.

"Isn't it time you were in bed?" Susan sighed.

"Yes, Mum!"

"Ed!" Peter snapped. In a much gentler voice, he told his youngest sister, "You saw the outside. This place is huge. We can do whatever we want here. Tomorrow's going to be great. Really."

He said it in such a sweet voice that Elaine almost believed him. But they couldn't do whatever they wanted. It wouldn't be great. Every day here was one more day that her mother was on her own. One more day where she was stuck in a place she didn't belong.

The voices stopped, so she hoped that now would be a good time to enter the common area in between all three of their rooms.

With Lucy and Edmund now in bed, only Peter and Susan were still awake.

"Um, hello," she said politely as she stepped inside.

Peter turned and gave her a polite smile. "Hello."

"We were interrupted earlier so I wanted to properly introduce myself. Like I said before, I'm Elaine."

"I'm Peter. Pleased to meet you."

"Um…where do you all come from?"

"We live in Finchley with our mum. Our father's fighting in the war."

"Oh, I live with my mum too. My father went away to war about a year ago."

"I wonder if our fathers know each other," Susan said.

"I'm not sure. It's been a while since we received a letter from him. And usually, they're not very long."

"Right. They don't get a lot of time for writing home. I hope he's received all the letters we've sent him."

"Maybe if we ever get a chance to talk to the Professor, he could tell us how to send out more letters to them."

"If Mrs. Macready has her way, we won't be able to talk to each other much less the Professor," Peter said dryly.

Elaine smiled a little. "She does seem to be rather upset about us being here. As if we had any say in the matter."

"Well, at least the four of us got to stay together."

Elaine nervously wrung her hands together. "Right, well, um, I'm going to head to bed now. I suppose I'll see you all in the morning."

"Oh, right. Uh, good night then, Elaine."

"Good night, Peter, Susan."

When she had left the common area, Peter turned to Susan in surprise at the girl's hasty departure. "Did I say something wrong?"

Elaine changed into her nightgown and undid her wavy brown hair from its tight braid.

Once she was settled in bed under the foreign blankets, she picked up her favorite picture of her mother and father that now sat on the nightstand. In it, her father was kissing her mother's cheek as her eyes sparkled and she smiled broadly at the camera. For as long as she could remember, her father made a point to show her mother just how much he loved her. Elaine hoped that one day, she could experience a marriage just like theirs.

"Don't worry, Mum," she whispered. "I think I'm going to be okay. There are four other kids here, and they're all siblings. I feel a bit out of place with them, but I don't think they mind me being here. I will try. I promise. Dad, you know, their father is fighting off in the war too. We wondered if the two of you knew each other. I miss you both so much. But I promise that I will do my best to make you proud."

She kissed the photograph and then drifted off to sleep, hoping that a bright new day would await her.