the beauty of the sound / edmund pevensie

forty seven

"Hi, Mrs. Pevensie!" Alice said as she smiled gently and walked up to my desk. Over the past year Alice had really warmed up to me. She smiled more often whenever she saw me. She also absolutely adored Edmund.

Sometimes Edmund would come by the library to surprise me and hangout with the kids. They all loved him and I, some of the girls even said that we were like Cinderella and Prince Charming. If only they knew.

"Hi Alice." I smiled at her but that smile quickly faded when I saw a small bruise on her left cheek. "What is that?" I asked as I gently ran my finger over it. She immediately flinched and her smiled faded.

"N-Nothing, I fell when I was playing outside yesterday." She told me while not keeping eye contact.

I came closer to Alice and gently rubbed her cheek and she met my gaze. "You can tell me anything, you know that right?" I told her.

Her lips twitched upwards slightly before going back down not even a second later. "I know. Oh I have something for you!" She quickly ran over to her desk before running back to me with a piece of paper in her hand.

She carefully handed me the piece of paper so I gently took it from her hands. I ran my eyes over the paper to see a drawing of two people, one woman and one man, both holding the hands of a smaller girl.

"It's you, Edmund, and I." She smiled softly at me. I gave her a small smile before my eyes went to another bruise on her shoulder, this one however seemed a lot more painful than the other.

After knowing this girl for quite sometime I knew that she wouldn't have gotten these bruises from playing. She isn't a very rough girl. She's quiet, calm, and gentle with everything she does.

"Do you like it?" She asked causing me to break out of my thoughts. I met her gaze again and gave her a bright smile.

"I love it." I told her and she smiled wider than before. "I'm sure Edmund will love it as well." I watched with a smile as her eyes lit up more.

Our little moment however was cut short by Mrs. Patterson, the older lady who has been helping me out since I started, walked into the room.

"Alice," She smiled at the little girl and I. "Your father is here." I looked at Alice to see her now wide-eyed again.

I gently placed a hand on her back. "Here, I'll walk you out." I smiled at her. She walked over to her desk and grabbed all her stuff before grabbing my hand. I gave her another small smile before we walked out of the library.

I felt a wave of disgust wash over me when I laid eyes on her father. He stood at about 6'2 with a cigarette hanging from his lips as he wore dirty tattered clothes along with an angry look upon his face.

Alice tightened her grip on my hand when we got closer.

"Hello, Mr. Williams." I said with a fake smile.

He gave me a look before throwing the cigarette out of his mouth a to the concrete below us. He roughly stomped on the small bud before finally speaking.

"How was she today?" He asked as he looked down at the small girl who held onto me tightly.

"She was amazing, as always." I smiled down at her before meeting his gaze again.

He gave me a smile that sent a wave of uneasiness down my back. "Good. If she wasn't then I might have to beat her into shape." He said with a laugh. I let out a fake, small laugh before reluctantly handing Alice over to her father.

Her father then gently tipped his head and gave me another smile. "Good day." He said before getting into his car.

I watched with a fake smile as their car went down the road. Alice stuck her head out and waved to me. I gave her a small wave before their car turned around a corner and they disappeared.

...

That night, Edmund and I were getting ready for bed. I was currently tying my hair up when I let out a frustrated sigh and turned to him.

"Hey, Eddie?" I asked him. He looked up from the sink and gave me a 'hmm' in response as he brushed his teeth. "I wanna show you something." I told him before walking over to my bag, which sat at our kitchen counter, and pulling out the picture Alice drew.

"What is this?" He asked as he wiped his mouth and walked over to me. I handed him the drawing. "Who drew this?"

"Alice." I told him and he looked up at me. "That's us, with her." Edmund gave me a smile.

"She's a great kid." He said as he then smiled down at the drawing.

I smiled. "I know, but Edmund-" I paused and took a deep breath. "I think she's being abused." I whispered.

Edmund immediately looked up from the drawing. "What?" He asked.

I walked around the room before running my hand through my hair. "When she came to school today, she was covered in bruises and she told me that she was playing too rough outside, but she isn't the kind of kid to be very rough. A-And then whenever she sees her father she trembles."

I could feel a wave of anger wash over me. "Who the hell would hurt a child!" He yelled.

I immediately walked over to him and placed my hands on his shoulder. "Hey, calm down." I told him. He took a deep breath.

"That little girl deserves so much more than that." He whispered as tears came to his eyes. "She's so sweet."

I gave him a sad smile and wiped away one of the tears that had escaped his eye.

"On Monday I'm going with you and I'm gonna have a talk with that man." Edmund told me as he let out a frustrated sigh.

I gave him a small nod. "Okay, but what should we do if we can prove that he is in fact abusing her?"

Edmund met my gaze. "We're gonna take her in." I could tell by the look on his face that he was completely and utterly serious.

I gave him a small nod. "Okay."

...

not edited <3