Wunderkind ❄ A Chronicles of Narnia Tale {Wattys 2018}

Who She Met There

"I should hope that you children will know well enough to keep out of the Professor's way," Mrs Macready said, leading them up the stairs of Professor Kirke's sprawling manor.

Ruth had almost snapped out of her sulk, startled by the beauty of the house. The floor was covered in richly decorated rugs, whilst the walls were lined with so many trinkets and artefacts and paintings that it seemed one would knock them all down if they should sweep past too quickly. With each door they passed, she couldn't help but wonder what treasures, what mysteries, what secrets, lay within the walls of this strange house.

"Now, you three girls will be sleeping in here, while the boys will be just across the hall," continued Mrs Macready. "There's a lavatory at the end of the hallway, and the Professor sleeps on the floor above. He isn't used to children, as I said before, so you'll learn to sharp make yourself scarce when he's about."

She threw one last, stern look at them and swept downstairs again. Ruth didn't hang about to make small talk, instead heading straight to her bedroom and setting her things on the bed nearest the door. She didn't look up when Lucy and Susan came in, and occupied herself with unpacking her belongings and storing them away in the drawers beside her bed. As she tucked a photograph of her mother and father in the top drawer, she accidentally jammed her finger.

"Ah! Oh – ouch – stupid bloody..."

"Ruth! Are you all right?" Susan asked, looking at her in alarm.

"I'm fine," Ruth snapped, shoving her throbbing finger in her mouth.

Before long, the boys came and asked if they wanted to play outside before supper. Ruth agreed reluctantly, and she followed the siblings down the stairs.

"Oh, the trees!" Lucy cried, running towards the largest one almost instantly. It was an alder, with thick branches that reached so high they seemed to touch the clouds. "We can climb them and it won't matter a bit because nobody will see us." She was referring to an incident back in Finchley, where Peter had been showing Edmund and Lucy how to climb the old apple tree in their back garden, but their neighbour had come outside and scolded him for teaching a young girl such nasty, boyish behaviour. Never again had they dared do it when she was lurking about.

"There's sure to be lots of animals," Susan smiled. "Like rabbits... and hedgehogs..."

"Badgers!" Lucy said.

"Foxes!"

"Frogs!" said Edmund, tilting his head towards the bubbling stream in the middle of the garden. He had a strange look about him, like he was plotting to find one and stick it in one of his sisters' beds.

And suddenly it became a competition to see who could name the most animals one might find in the country.

"Hawks!"

"Owls!"

"Moles!"

"Squirrels!"

"Polecats!"

"Deer!"

Ruth huffed, stamping her feet at the base of the very tree Lucy had wanted to climb just moments before. She pulled herself about two branches up, ignoring the chances of her stockings tearing or scraping her hands. "Don't be silly," she snapped, catching the siblings' attention. "You won't get deer out here."

All of a sudden it went quiet. Edmund clapped a hand over his mouth to pretend he was coughing instead of laughing (though it wasn't deliberate – he felt quite awkward). Susan quirked her eyebrows at the girl in the tree, and Lucy bit her lip.

Peter just placed his hands on his hips and smiled. "We were being silly, Ruth. Cheer up, it's not all bad. We might be able to have picnics out here if the weather stays well."