Cupboard Narnia

Cupboard Narnia, Chapter 21

Obviously, Mike and Lucy couldn't leave at the end of summer as had been planned. The fire damage at their home had been fixed by the builders, but unfortunately for them it was actually Liz's house. Lily didn't mind; now that she and Lucy were friends as well as sisters, it was actually a lot of fun.

School was fine, too. Glitzy, Anna and Maria turned out to be pretty good friends, even if they were a bit giggly.

Even the problem of Darcy went away: Darcy came up to them a few weeks into the new term and told them happily that her mum had come back home and she and Darcy's dad were getting remarried, and would be moving to the Lake District that weekend, where her mum had a new job.

Lily and Lucy tried not to laugh. It was just like Liz to rebound on an old husband; after all, she hated unmarried people over the age of thirty.

"Cool." Lily told Darcy, smiling at her in an almost friendly way. "We might miss you."

Darcy smiled grudgingly and walked away. 

"Yeah. I'll miss her. I'll miss our little fights. I'll miss having someone to hate." said Lucy. Over the holidays, she had beocme much more Lily-ish, her dyed hair growing out so that it was now strawberry-blonde again, with only the tips chocolate brown. "To be honest, it was kind of fun getting into fights with her."

The other girls laughed.

"Woah, Luce, remind me never to get on your bad side."

                                                                                   ***

That night the Cupboard seemed strange. It was still half-broken and burnt like before, but one side of it seemed to be repairing itself. The memory was still a bad one - but not a really bad one. It was just an argument. Nothing. She wandered out of the forest and back to the real world.

                                                                                   ***

The weekend was uneventful. There was Darcy's leaving party, which Lily and Lucy didn't go to, but not much else. Lily spent most of her time in the Cupboard. Mike and Liz's split had been a momentary distraction from her obsession, but now it was back - she was going into the Cupboard at least twice a day.

Lily was surprised to find that Lucy hadn't got suspicious about the Cupboard yet - Lily was disappearing twice a day for up to an hour. Lucy must have noticed something.

Unknown to Lily, Lucy knew everything about the Cupboard.

The day before Lucy had taunted Lily about having a 'magic cupboard', Lucy heard Lily in the bathroom, so she walked in. And no one was there. But Lily had left the Cupboard door open, and the forest inside was more than visible.

Lucy had crawled in and walked through the forest. She saw Lily up ahead of her, leaning against a tree in front of a clearing. Lucy was about to walk up ot her and confront her about not telling her that she had a magic cupboard, when Lily ran into the clearing. Lucy hid behind the tree and watched her. She had seen Lily pick up a random kid and run towards the exit like her life depended on it, when suddenly, the forest had begun to crumble. Lucy screamed as the dust and ash enfolded her, having no time to run - and then she'd found herself, moments later, sitting in the kitchen, her book in front of her, like nothing had ever happened.

The next day, Lucy tried to tell Lily she knew about it, through the taunt, but an old memory was spat back in her face: what she had said to her father on the day her parents split.

Lucy had never gone back - she'd thought it was dangerous - but she had wondered about it, a lot throughout the summer.

And she'd find out more than she wanted soon enough.