Eternal || Edmund Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia) [2]

Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

POSTED 8/10/20

Edmund Pevensie returned to the Scrubb residence in Cambridge alone. He had just seen Mary off at the train station as she was set to return to London that day. The two days he spent with her almost felt unreal. It had been the most fun he had ever had in a long time — maybe even the first time ever since the day he and Lucy were forced to live with the Scrubbs a few months ago.

As he walked towards the house, he bumped into Lucy, who was holding a paper bag filled with vegetables and other ingredients. He frowned, wondering why his younger sister was out buying groceries again.

"Didn't we already handle that yesterday?" he asked her without even saying hi.

Lucy looked over her shoulder to see Edmund walking her way. She halted for moment to allow him to catch up before replying.

"I did, but Aunt Alberta called and said she wanted something else for lunch, so I had to make another quick trip to the store," she explained tiredly. "Anyway, how's Mary?"

"Fine, I hope," Edmund mumbled as he began unlocking the front door. He could feel his mood gradually turn sour because it felt as if Mary leaving had shoved him back into reality — that he wasn't by her side all the time like before, that he and his sister were stuck with this suffocating Scrubb family, and that they weren't off on adventures in Narnia anymore or even in America like their older siblings were. There was also the fact that there was something he wanted to tell her, but he couldn't muster up the courage to spit it out. He was conflicted about it, sort of glad that he didn't say anything because he might've just wanted to say it in spur of the moment, but also regretting it because he wasn't sure when the next time he'd see her would be.

"Don't worry, Ed," Lucy said knowingly. "We'll see Mary again. Maybe next time, we can be the ones to visit her. I can already tell it's going to be fun."

The Pevensies entered the house, Lucy walking straight to the kitchen to set the groceries down there while Edmund removed his coat by the door.

"We're home!" Lucy announced. "Hello?"

No one answered, but Uncle Harold was reading the newspaper on his favorite chair while a radio played in the background as usual.

"Hello, Uncle Harold," Lucy greeted him. "I tried to find some carrots, but all they had were turnips again." She shrugged her coat off and stepped back into the living room where her uncle was. "Shall I start making soup? Aunt Alberta's on her way home."

The man completely ignored her.

"Uncle Harold."

He still didn't acknowledge Lucy. Edmund held back a scoff at Uncle Harold's rude attitude, choosing to stick his tongue out at him childishly instead since he knew that the man wouldn't see it from behind the newspaper. Eustace, however, turned out to be by the stairs and saw what Edmund did.

"Father, Edmund's making faces at you!" Eustace said.

Edmund whipped around to glare at him. Eustace sent a spitball at his cousin, hitting him perfectly on the face. That was enough for Edmund to lose it.

"Why you little —" he started, already making his way up the stairs.

"Father, he's gonna hit me!"

Eustace was only spared because of two reasons: Uncle Harold didn't care that the two boys were fighting since he was already used to it happening, and because Lucy had interrupted them.

"Edmund, look!" she said, holding up a letter. Edmund stopped chasing Eustace, who had crouched down to the floor in an attempt to save himself from the older boy's wrath. "It's from Susan!"