Ch. 4 Arriving at Devon
Throughout the train ride, the five siblings ate snacks provided by the train vendors. Elizabeth takes her sisters to the restroom to ensure their safety, and Peter does the same thing with his brother.
Susan would read her books so that time could go by, Edmund would boredly look out the window, watching the scenery go by, Lucy would play hand games with Elizabeth, and Peter would be looking at the golden pocketwatch that his father gifted him before he went to War to track the time.
A whistle-like sound grabs the five siblings' attention. They heard footsteps approach the train cabin and watched it slide open, seeing the ticket inspector poking their head into the room to look at them.
" I am here to inform you that we will be arriving at Devon," The ticket inspector says.
" Thank you," Elizabeth responded.
The ticket inspector slides the door, closes it, and walks away to inform others.
Elizabeth turns to her younger siblings.
" Alright. Clean up this room and take the trash out with you. The trash can is outside the room. We will be arriving in Devon and getting our stuff from the conductor," She firmly speaks.
She helps her younger siblings clean up the room, takes the trash out, and throws it away in the trash can. She exits the room with the others following behind her.
Lucy grabs her eldest sister's hand, not wanting to get lost. Susan walked behind her two sisters. Edmund walks behind his older sister. And Peter walks behind his younger brother.
Elizabeth exits the train and onto the train station in Devon, England. She turned to the right and saw the conductor taking out their belongings. She motioned Peter and Edmund to help the older male, to which they nodded and walked towards him.
Lucy looked at her surroundings, and she shivered when she felt the ocean breeze and wondered how far the train station was to the beach. Her eyes blinked when she saw a sign that said Welcome to Devon, and underneath it was a brief description of the county.
She lets go of her eldest sister's hand, grabs Elizabeth's attention, and walks towards the sign.
Elizabeth's eyes blinked, watching Lucy admiring the sign and reading what it says about the county.
" Devon is a county in southwest England. It encompasses sandy beaches, fossil cliffs, medieval towns, and moorland national parks. The current population is 442,600," Lucy reads out loud.
Edmund looked at his surroundings and wondered when and at what time Professor Kirke would pick them up.
" How does Professor Kirke even look like?" He asked.
Peter waved goodbye to the conductor and watched the older male get on the train. He heard the whistle and watched the train leave.
" And now we are alone in an unknown county," Susan sighed, watching the train leave.
" Everyone sit by that shaded area," Elizabeth motioned to the benches underneath a tree near the train station.
" Come on, everyone," Peter walks with his younger siblings to the benches. He watched Lucy sit between Susan and Edmund. He kept his eldest sister company by standing beside her and their luggage.
" I hope Professor Kirke is a nice person," Lucy speaks while swinging her legs up and down.
" I hope they are not a monster that eats children," Edmund muttered.
Lucy looked at Edmund with a scared gaze.
" The person you refer to was a Witch from a fairy tale called Hansel and Gretel, Edmund. She's a fictional character, not real," Susan glanced at her younger siblings.
" Mum and Dad trust this individual," Elizabeth says, causing Lucy and Edmund to look at her. " This person must be good if Mum and Dad were willing to ship us off to them for our safety," She reassured.
Peter nodded in agreement.
Hooves stomping on the ground grab the five siblings' attention. They turned and saw a horse-drawn carriage approaching the train station.
Elizabeth's eyes blinked when she saw an older female on the carriage looking at them sternly.
" I knew Professor Kirke was a Witch," Edmund hissed to Lucy.
Lucy stands, runs towards Elizabeth, and wraps her arms around her eldest sister's waist, scared.
' She must be a passerby,' Elizabeth internally speaks.
" Pevensive children?" The older female asked.
" It's Pevensie, Ma'am," Elizabeth responded.
The older female's eyes narrowed, looking at Elizabeth from head to toe.
" I am Mrs. MaCready, Professor Kirke's House Keeper. I have come to fetch you all per Professor Kirke's request," She explained.
The five siblings looked relieved to hear that the older female wasn't their Guardian.
" Put your luggage in the carriage's trunk," Mrs. MaCready points to the back of the carriage.
" Come on, Edmund. Help me with the luggage," Peter grabs the three luggage and carries it to the back of the carriage.
" Coming!" Edmund responded.
He grabs the two luggage, carries them to the back of the carriage, and hands it off to Peter, who puts them inside.
Elizabeth helps Lucy and Susan get inside the carriage. She entered after them and watched her two brothers following behind her.
The girls sat on the left side of the carriage while the boys sat on the right.
Mrs. MaCready grabs the reins and guides the horses on the dirt road, taking the five siblings to Professor Kirke's Manor.
Lucy looked at her surroundings, admiring the scenery. Elizabeth and Susan converse with one another about what kind of job is suitable for a hardworking woman. Peter boredly watched the birds fly by, curious how long they would live with Professor Kirke.
" Why didn't Professor Kirke show up here himself?" Edmund asked.
" Professor Kirke is a busy man. I have some rules that I need you all to be aware of," Mrs. MaCready firmly speaks.
The five siblings looked at one another with mixed emotions. They figured their life at Professor Kirke's Manor would be strict with Mrs. MaCready living with them.
" Rule number 1, do not touch Professor Kirke's belongings-"
"-Rule number 2, if you break anything that belongs to Professor Kirke, you will be punished by doing chores around the Manor-"
"-Rule number 3, breakfast is at 6 a.m., lunch is at noon in the midafternoon, and dinner is at 5 p.m. Everyone should be in bed by 8 p.m.-"
"-and Rule number 4, if you wish to play, it should be in the backyard, not inside," Mrs. MaCready looks at the dirt road, guiding the horses to their destination.
" Mrs. MaCready. I do not want to be a burden. I would be willing to help you with any household chores while my siblings live here carefree, and of course, they will behave," Elizabeth speaks.
Mrs. MaCready hummed and nodded in response.
An hour later, the horse-drawn carriage arrived at Professor Kirke's Manor. The five siblings stared at their temporary home in awe, finding it massive compared to their childhood home in London.
" Is Professor Kirke secretly a King?" Lucy whispered to her eldest sister.
Elizabeth fondly stared at her youngest sister.
" No. Professor Kirke must be an intelligent, wealthy individual," She responded.
Lucy nodded in response.
Mrs. MaCready guided the horses to the marble stairs and stopped them. She turns and looks at the five siblings.
" Alright, children. Time to get off. We are here," She firmly says.
" Peter. Edmund. Get our luggage, please?" Elizabeth asked.
" Yeah. Let's go. Ed," Peter gets out of the horse-drawn carriage with Edmund following him.
The boys got the luggage out of the trunk. Meanwhile, Elizabeth helps her younger sisters get out of the horse-drawn carriage.
" Well, everyone. This house will be our home until it is time to go back to London," Elizabeth looks at her younger siblings.
" So, be on your best behavior," She firmly says.
" Yes, Elizabeth/Lizzie!" Her younger siblings responded.
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