Helena Pevensie (Caspian Love Story)

3. Water Consumed Them

Helena had gotten down to her last bag and had just put it up on the bed when Lucy and Edmund stopped talking about Narnia. Seeing this, Helena asked, "When do Mum and Dad come back?"

"Two months, give or take," Lucy replied miserably. Helena hummed in reply as she flipped the top of her suit case open. Inside there were hundreds of pointe shoes. "How do you have so many?" Lucy asked in awe, getting to her feet.

Smiling, Helena explained, "We get a hundred pointe shoes a year and as the new season just started, I still have my full order. I just managed to snag them before I left."

Her eyes lighting up, Lucy requested, "Can you show us something? Please?"

Smiling as well, Lena said, "Very well, but I need to warm up first." Taking out her ballet shoes, she positioned herself by the bed, which had a raised railing perfect for a bar. She gripped it and went through a few warmups before switching to one of the already broken in pointe shoes. After making note of the slightly uneven flooring, she began one of her dance routines, the rush of music pounding silently in her ears. When she at last finished, she thought for a moment that she could hear the distant applause of an audience but truly, it was just Lucy.

"That was so beautiful," Lucy said.

"Well seems it wasn't all for nothing," Edmund added, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. He had never been very good at offering praise. Lena smiled warmly, her cheeks flushed both from the attention and the exertion.

"Thank you," she said, taking a seat on the bed to remove the shoes. Her toes held several bruises and tape covered almost every one. Sitting crisscross on the bed, she looked between them and asked, "So, how long have they all been gone?"

"Four months now," Edmund said. "Dad got a job-"

"Lecturing in America, yes I know," Helena interrupted. "I can't imagine it will be easy for them to get back over. We might end up here longer than we think."

"You two are lucky, at least you get a room to yourselves while I'm stuck with mullet mouth," Edmund lamented.

"Susan and Lena are the lucky ones," Lucy said. "Often adventures."

'Paris wasn't as much of one as you might think,' Lena thought to herself, but she could hear the envy laced in their tone and knew her comments wouldn't help. It was the same tone she had caught other dancers using when she was spoken of.

"Even Peter," Lucy added. "Off with Professor Kirk."

Frowning, Helena asked, "Isn't he studying for his exams?"

"He's still with the professor," Lucy replied. Helena shrugged. In the short time she had spent with him, she had grown to like him just as well as the others, aside from the missing Narnia connection.

"They're the eldest and we're the youngest. We don't matter as much," Edmund said.

"Surely you don't believe that, Edmund," Lena said gently, getting up to go sit next to him and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Do either of you think I look anything like Susan?" Lucy asked. Edmund sighed, dismissing her remark and getting to his feet. He moved over to a painting on the wall. It depicted a ship. It was small with a deep purple sail and glistening dark wood. The water had been painted so realistically, it seemed almost as though it was moving when Helena looked at it.

"Lucy, have you seen this ship before?" Edmund asked as he came to a stop by it. Lucy and Helena joined him on either side.

"Yes. It's very Narnian looking, isn't it?" Lucy said with a smile.

"Yeah," Edmund replied. "Just another reminder that we're here and not there."

From the doorway a snobbish voice said, "There once were two orphans who wasted their time believing in Narnian nursery rhymes."

"Please let me hit him," Edmund snapped angrily.

"No!" Lucy protested, hitting his arm.

"Don't you ever knock?" Edmund snapped again.

"It's my house. I'll do as I please," the boy, who Helena only had to assume was Eustace, spat. "You're just guests." Lena had to resist rolling her eyes. "What's so fascinating about that picture anyway? It's hideous!"

"You won't see it from the other side of the door," Helena sassed, letting out a small smirk. Lucy and Edmund shared an amused look.

"It looks like that water's actually moving," Lucy said dreamily.

"What rubbish, see? This is what happens when you read all those fanciful novels and fairytales of yours," Eustace grumbled.

"There once was a boy called Eustace, who read books full of facts that were useless," Edmund composed. Lucy smiled, sharing a humorous look with Helena and Edmund.

"People who read fairytales are always the sort to become a hideous burden to people like me who read books with real information," Eustace said snidely.

"Hideous burden?" Edmund quoted, turning from the painting to face his cousin. "I haven't seen you lift a finger since we've been here." 

Turning away from the painting to the boys, Helena warned, "Boys." 

Ignoring her, Edmund began creeping closer and closer toward her, threatening, "I have a mind to tell your father you stole Aunt Alberta's sweets." 

"Liar," Eustace accused, his tone rising. 

"Boys," Helena warned again, moving so she was just a step away from the two of them. 

"Oh really?" Edmund drawled. 

"Edmund, the painting," Lucy said, but everyone was too occupied by what was going on to acknowledge her in any way. 

"I found them under your bed," Edmund said. "And you know what? I licked every one of them." 

"Ugh! I'm infected with you!" Eustace cried in disgust. Even Helena gave her brother a weird look. Before any kind of argument could continue, they were all suddenly hit with a viciously cold spray of water. Helena cried out in surprise, turning around to find the source. What she saw shocked her to her core. It was as though the painting had become a sort of doorway into somewhere else. Everything in it was moving. The water moved in rhythmic waves as the wind blew, catching the sail and holding it taut as the ship dipped and rose. 

"What's going on here?" Eustace cried in a panic. 

"Lucy, do you think?" Edmund began, glancing at his younger sister with his eye lit up in excitement. 

"It's some kind of trick!" Eustace shouted, backing away toward the door. "Stop it or I'll tell mother! Mother! Mother!" Finally gaining some of his courage back, he rushed forward as he muttered, "I'll just smash the rotten thing." The angle from their vantage point had been going lower and lower as time went on and now, it had almost reached the waves. Some of the bigger waves were splashing inside. 

When Eustace ran forward and took the painting from the wall, everything was thrown out of balance. The water began rushing in faster and faster until, in the struggle with Lucy and Edmund, it dropped to the floor. Helena backed up, her eyes wide as the water rushed over her bruised and battered feet. Edmund glanced back, making eye contact with her. "Can you swim?" he asked. She shook her head. Despite this impediment, she kept her expression drawn so fear didn't seep through. 

The water had reached their knees. Edmund crashed through, wrapping an arm around Helena's waist. Edmund's arm was just dipping in the water. "When the water overtakes us, I need you to kick, okay? Just trust me, Lena." She nodded, thinking through what he was asking of her. The water was at their chests now. She tried to breathe and calm her heart. The fabric at her shoulders was now suspended in the water. She took a deep breath and found herself completely submerged.