The Chronicles of Narnia: The Middle

"This is Elizabeth and I'm Luke," Luke spoke quietly, not feeling happy giving away his name. "Sorry, but... where's the Rush River? It can't be near the London Street train station?"

 

"London?" Trufflehunter repeated, confused. "Luke, you are in Narnia, not London."

"Narnia," Alexandria breathed. "This is so cool."

 

"Wait," William tried to be rational. "Where exactly is Narnia?"

 

"Narnia?" Luke repeated quietly under his breath. "This isn't real..."

 

"Look around you," Trufflehunter spread his paws. "All that you see is Narnia. And it's as real as you are. But what I want to know is how you all got here."

"We're not sure," Alexandria answered.

 

"We're under attack," Luke explained reluctantly. "The bombs were falling, and we... went under... an arc?" He stopped, turning to Alex to see if he had it right.

 

Alexandria and William nodded and said at the same time, "Our house."

"Hm," Trufflehunter mumbled. "That is strange."

 

"How are we here?" Luke started now. "Strange? What do you mean by that?"

 

"There are tales in our history," Trufflehunter began to explain. "Telling of two daughter of Eve and two sons of Adam who came from a land different from Narnia. They became the kings and queens of Narnian. But that was a very long time ago."

"What were their names?" Alexandria asked.

"Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy Pevensie," Trufflehunter answered.

"The Pevensies?" William looked around at his group of friends. "That can't be right."

 

"Does he mean...?" Luke began, but faded off, too confused. "He can't... do you?" he added, turning to the badger, a little frustrated.

 

"You know the kings and queens of old?" Trufflehunter asked.

"They're not old," Alex put in. "They're about the age as us."

"Now that is odd," the badger muttered. "They were last seen here around a thousand years ago."

 

"They... a thousand years?" Luke stuttered, looking to Elizabeth, who seemed just as shocked as him. "They're teenagers, at the most!"

 

"Wait, wait!" Alexandria cried happily, her mind reeling with all of her mythical knowledge. "I got it! We don't know this place, right? It doesn't exist on Earth, right? So what if- bear with me- what if time passed differently here too?"

Trufflehunter tilted his head. "So you think that is the answer?"

 

"What else could be?" Luke added, agreeing. "It just... doesn't make sense. If they were your kings and queens, why did they leave you?"

 

"We don't know," Trufflehunter answered. "The stories don't say. All we know is that they disappeared one day."

 

"This is ridiculous," Luke muttered. "'The stories,'" he started, quoting Trufflehunter. "'Tales in our history...' What is all this to us? It's nonsense; it's not real! I don't understand..."

 

"Come on, Luke," Alexandria smiled. "Just go with it."

"No," Trufflehunter interjected. "Your friend has a point. If you do not know what you're doing here, we need to find out."

 

"Thank you!" Luke sighed, giving the beaver a little smile. "Is there somewhere we can talk... that's not freezing snow?"

 

"Yes, of course," Trufflehunter nodded. "Follow me." He began to walk through the thick snow, leaving a path.

 

Luke sighed, and, even though he was a little cold, his hands were not shaking from the snow. Alex and Will followed Trufflehunter first, and Luke walked next to Elizabeth, glancing at her to see her facial expression.