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AFTER LOOKING FOR a mere ten minutes, the five Pevensies had found a compartment, its only occupants being a little boy and evidently his older sister. Lucy entered the compartment first, followed by Peter who placed the suitcases on the luggage holder above them. Edmund stubbornly took his case and put it up himself, shooting Peter a nasty look, while Eliza quietly placed her case on top and slid into the seat beside Edmund.
The siblings sat in silence, the only noise being the train engine and the turning of pages from Eliza's book. The girl tried to immerse herself into the story to try forget the fact that they'd left their mother. Occasionally she'd catch Edmund reading the book over her shoulder, and in response to his actions she'd tilt the novel slightly so he'd have a better view.
An hour had passed and they stopped at their first stop. The two siblings that had sat across from them, had gotten up and off of the train. Letting her curiosity get the best of her, Eliza placed her book down and watched as two separate people took a sibling each. Out of complete shock and worry, her hand immediately flew straight into Edmunds, who merely gave it a reassuring squeeze making the girl loosen up slightly but the twinge of anxiety still gnawed away at her.
Peter was always amused when watching the twins, if someone else had even tried to touch Edmund, he'd snap and throw a fit, but yet he had a soft spot for his sister. He supposed it was some 'twin thing', that normal siblings didn't and would never understand. He watched as Eliza continued reading while Edmund read over her shoulder, the twos hands still clutched together as if fearing they'd be ripped apart.
After two hours had passed, Eliza closed her book, and set it back on the table, "You can't be finished already?!" Peter exclaimed, making the girl jump, unaware he was paying attention. Eliza glanced at Lucy who had fallen asleep, before looking back at her older brother.
"It was a good novel," Eliza started, "When I like something I tend to finish it quicker than usual." Peter nodded in understanding, and the two went back to the silence, until Edmund nudged the girl.
"Liza?" He whispered, "Do you reckon the house will be big?" Eliza turned in her seat to face him, her eyes scanning his, taking in his curious demeanour.
"I doubt it will be a house of dreams, Ed" she said softly, "but, If you don't mind Eddie, I'm exhausted". And before Edmund could object, Eliza had her head on his shoulder, making the boy roll his eyes but nevertheless he had a small smile plastered across his face.
"You should smile more often," Peter spoke up, watching as the girls eyes shut, "You'll look less like a grouch."
"Oh shove off" Edmund snapped, his face returning to its usual, irritable expression as he turnt his head so he was staring out the window at the never ending stream of green.
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"LIZA! LIZA!" EDMUND said, shaking the girl's shoulder, attempting to wake herEliza's eyes opened slowly, letting them adjust to the light, her siblings were gathering their stuff preparing to get off at the next stop. The girl yawned as she stood up and grabbed her bag from overhead as the train came to a slow stop.
Eliza jumped onto the platform of Coombs Halt, her black shoes creating an echo against the wooden structure. The Pevensie siblings followed, their cases tightly held at their sides, Eliza glanced around at the desolate area, wrinkling her nose at the odd smell which was surrounding the siblings.
The rumble of an engine, came into hearing range and the siblings ran off the platform in excitement, only to see a car coming down the lane. The car let off a few friendly beeps before driving straight passed them. Eliza huffed loudly and rolled her eyes, dropping her case onto the grass.
"Eliza, pick it up." Susan hissed, in frustration as she smoothed out her skirt.
"Eliza, pick it up" the girl mocked in a high-pitched tone, as she reached down to pick her case back up. Susan gritted her teeth as Edmund chuckled lowly, Peter scoffed and turned away from her, making the girl giggle at how much of a mess her siblings were.
"The professor knew we were coming," Susan spoke up after a while, as the five stared at the tracks.
"Perhaps we've been incorrectly labeled." Edmund thought aloud, examining his tag. The sound of hooves, sent the five into alert as they averted their gaze back towards the lane. A white horse trotted towards them, behind it, a woman steering and a wooden cart trailing after. The woman pulled on the reins and stopped the horse in front of the kids.
"Mrs. McCready?" Peter hesitatingly asked, as Eliza raised a brow at her twin, who returned an equally confused face.
"I'm afraid so" The older woman replied, "Is this it then? Haven't you brought anything else?". The siblings looked at each other in mutual confusion, before they all looked down, letting Peter reply.
"No ma'am." Peter answered, his hand tightening on his case, "It's just us."
"Small favors." Mrs. McCready grimaced, she gestured for the kids to hop into the cart. The Pevensies complied, getting into the compact cart. Edmund looked disgusted at the whole ordeal, making Eliza place a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
The girl leaned closer to her twin, "She seems like a real prig." Eliza whispered, making Edmund laugh lowly, earning many looks from the rest of their siblings but the girl merely shrugged at them.
The journey from the platform to the professors house was short enough, but to Eliza it felt like years. The girl was trapped in between Edmund and Peter, who sat in silence while Eliza on the other hand was humming quietly. As the horse pulling them began the ascent up a small hill, Mrs. McCready urged it onwards. Eliza's mouth dropped open at the sight of the massive house they were going to be residing in.
"Edmund, I take back my earlier statement" The girl said in shock, "This is a house of dreams."
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"PROFESSOR KIRK IS not accustomed to having children in this house." Mrs. McCready informed the siblings, as the five of them followed the woman into the house, "-And as such, there are a few rules, we need to follow."
Eliza did a slow 360° spin of the house, as Mrs, McCready stood at the top of the staircase, "There will be no shouting or runnin' or improper use of the dumbwaiter." The older woman continued, motioning for the kids to follow. Eliza who seemed to be in some daydream was quickly snapped back to reality by Peter tugging on her arm. The Pevensies climbed the stairs slowly, Eliza tilted her head in curiosity as she glanced around.
"NO!" Mrs . McCready yelled, making Eliza flinch, she looked up and saw Susan's hand nearing a statue. "-No touching of the historical artifacts, and above all, there shall no disturbance of the professor."
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ELIZA HAD BEEN assigned her bedroom, and unfortunately for her, it was in a completely different room than Edmund, who shared with Peter and Susan who was sharing with Lucy. Night had fallen and the girl was still fully dressed. She hadn't managed to unpack her things yet, she had attempted to look around and try to explore the house without Mrs. McCready catching her all evening but the older woman prevailed.
Eliza walked through the halls, trying to locate the room in which her siblings were all gathered, only to bump into her brother on the way.
"How's your room?" Edmund joked, nudging her arm as she groaned in despair.
"It's horrible" Eliza whined, crinkling her nose. "The bed is all funny, the floors are all creaky and it smells as if someone died in there." Edmund frowned slightly as the pair walked down another hall.
"Are they in there?" Eliza asked Edmund, pointing towards a half shut room, at the end of the corridor. The boy shrugged and the two walked closer only to hear Peter and Susan trying to comfort Lucy.
"Wars don't last forever Lucy," Susan reassured the little girl, "We'll be home soon."
"Yeah, if home's still there." Edmund spoke up, walking into the room, closely followed by Eliza.
Susan scoffed, "Isn't it time you were in bed?" She questioned, turning to Ed in annoyance.
"Yes, mum" Edmund sneered one reply, scrunching his nose up.
"Ed!" Peter snapped, making the younger boy quieten down a bit.
"Lucy, you saw outside, this place is huge." Eliza said with a small smile, "We can do whatever we want here."
"Summer here is going to be great" Peter interjected, "Really."
"Eliza, why aren't you dressed for bed?" Susan remarked, making Eliza stifle a small laugh.
"I'm not tired." Eliza answered truthfully, her fingers twiddling together. She felt so uneasy at the whole feeling of this foreign household.
Peter sighed loudly, "Just go get dressed Liza." He said, the girl nodded obediently and walked off, Edmund close behind.
"G'night Liza" he muttered, as the girl threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. Eliza held him tight for a few seconds before letting go.
"In all honesty, if I die in my room tonight, you can have my stuff." Eliza laughed nervously, biting her lip to stop it from trembling.
"Liz, you'll be fine. I'll see you in the morning" Edmund told the girl, before turning on his heel and making his way back to his room.
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ELIZA SAT AGAINST the window, letting her forehead touch the cool glass. She finally had dressed herself for bed but after ten minutes of trying to sleep, she gave up and decided to wander the hallways until she came across a large window, that looked over the fields and had a wonderful view of the night sky.
"Can't sleep, huh?" A voice sounded from behind her, making Eliza jump and whip her head around to face her older brother. "Mind if I sit?".
"No-of course not," Eliza stammered, moving her legs so Peter could join her on the window sill. The boy let out a breath as he looked out, the entire grasslands surrounding the area was so calm and tranquil at night- it truly was amazing.
"How'd you know I was up?" Eliza asked, leaning her head on top of her arms, her knees pressed tight against her chest.
"Susan and I went to check on you, considering your room situation." Peter explained, "-and when you weren't there, I had an inkling that'd you'd be looking at the stars somewhere."
"Pete? Do you remember Liza's Little stars?" Eliza finished with a soft smile, Peter nodded slowly, a small smile gracing his face as he looked back out at their surroundings.
"You were four or five at the time, and you would refuse to go to sleep unless you tried to count every star in sight." Peter reminisced, "You would always enlist help from Dad or me, to try finish the job, because Edmund would call you stupid and go straight to sleep."
"But I never did- count all the stars I mean.." Eliza frowned slightly, "I always did admire them. They were so pretty and seemed so small but helped illuminate the world."
"I remember one night you stayed up 'til the early hours of the morning to try come up with names for them." Peter chuckled lowly, to not wake up the rest of the household.
"Peter," Eliza interrupted, her voice shaky and unstable. "Is mom going to be okay?".
"Of course she'll be ok-"
"Peter stop," Eliza once again interrupted, "I'm not a baby, I'm not Lucy. Tell me the truth."
Peter sighed and looked down, "I don't know El, I really don't. My main priority now is to make sure that my siblings are ok... I can't worry about anything else." He murmured.
Eliza's hardened look softened slightly, as a single tear rolled down her face, "I miss home." She mumbled, "I can't sleep in the that room. It's not mine and definitely doesn't feel that way."
Peters head raised, and upon seeing the tear stain on her cheek, he shifted to sit closer to the girl, "Everything will be ok Liza. I promise." The boy spoke, resting his hand on her arm.
"But what if it isn't?!" Eliza replied, "What if we never see Dad again. He could be dying right now and we wouldn't know- Mum could be on her sickbed and we wouldn't know anything." Peter nodded, letting the girls words sink in. She was right. Their parents could be dying right at this second and they wouldn't have a notion.
"We can't help that. The main priority is that we're safe. I know it's awful that we can't see mother everyday but we'll be back in London before you know it." Peter said steadily as he stood up, offering his sister a hand, "Come on, I think its time we go to sleep."
Eliza nodded and the two walked to the opposite end of the house where the girl was sleeping. The girl was sullen faced as she opened the door to her room, "Goodnight..." she said weakly, as Peter smiled warmly.
"Goodnight Liza- actually try to sleep this time." Peter joked, walking back in the direction they came from to his own room. Eliza shut the door quietly and walked towards her bed, she shivered at the feeling of the freezing sheets before wriggling herself under the covers and shutting her eyes, trying to fade away into the dark.
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So yeah, here's the second chapter and it's wayyyyy longer, and not at all better but yet again....
OOP-
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