No Longer A Friend Of Narnia

Hermit of Archenland

Hermit of Archenland

Active member
No Longer A Friend Of Narnia​

Part 1

Susan Pevensie finished applying her lipstick then examined herself critically in the mirror. She gave her most winning smile, but after a second the expression faded and Susan sighed with exasperation. She really did not want to go to that party tonight but she had promised and people were relying on her. Susan practiced her smile again, knowing that by the end of the evening her jaw muscles would be aching from smiling at people she mostly did not know or particularly like. But that was the price of the life she had chosen for herself.

Collecting her coat, Susan left her room and headed down the stairs, but paused suddenly when she heard voices from below. She groaned, realizing now that she had completely forgotten there was a meeting of the Friends of Narnia tonight. But it was too late to change her plans now. Susan continued walking down the stairs, careful to make no noise and hoping she could sneak out without being noticed.

In that hope she was to be disappointed. As she was creeping past the half-open door to the sitting room Peter’s voice called out “Is that you, Susan?”

Resigned to the inevitable, Susan pushed the door fully open and walked inside. All seven were there, occupying the armchairs and sofa, although Lucy had characteristically distained formality and was sitting on the floor. Susan’s younger sister smiled warmly at her but every other face reflected only disapproval.

Peter rose from his chair and looked her up and down, his face becoming grim as he took in her party frock and make up. “Going out are you?”

Susan nodded. “Yes, I am.”

“I suppose you’ve forgotten we’re having a meeting tonight?”

“I’m sorry Peter I’m afraid I did!” She did her best to sound apologetic but there was no softening to his stern expression.

“This is the third time you’ve cut out on us,” Peter reminded her. “Where are you going anyway?”

Before Susan had a chance to answer Jill Pole spoke from the armchair nearest the fire, her voice laden with sarcasm. “To the circus I expect. With all that lipstick she’d fit in perfectly with the other clowns!”

“Jill!” Lucy looked at the younger girl reprovingly then turned back to Susan, anxious to smooth over the awkward moment. “You’re looking very pretty, Su! Are you going to a party?”

“Sort of!” Susan had no inclination to tell them exactly what she was doing and hoped to escape without further conversation. Unfortunately that hope was promptly dashed.

“I have to say you’re behaving very foolishly, Susan.” It was Polly Plummer speaking from next the Professor on the sofa. “The way you’re dressed you might give young men quite the wrong impression of the sort of girl you are, although I worry that may be exactly the impression you intend!”

“How dare you!” Susan glared furiously at the older woman. “How dare you say that!”

“Susan!” Peter’s voice was sharp. “Apologize to Polly at once! You have no right to speak to her like that!”

“Apologize?” She looked at Peter as though he had suddenly grown another head. “What about her apologizing to me? She practically called me a trollop to my face!”

“Polly is quite right!” There was no hint of flexibility in Peter’s tone or expression. “The way you are dressed tonight is totally inappropriate for a …”

“For what?” Susan interjected. “For a Narnian Queen?” She raised her eyes heavenwards in exasperation. “We’re not in Narnia, Peter! We’re in England and we need to start acting like it!”

“Even in England we are still Narnians!” Peter declared. “And a Narnian should not conduct herself the way you have for the last year.”

“You have no right to criticize me,” Susan retorted angrily. “You have no understanding of my life or my friends or what I do, mainly because you’ve never bothered to find out. You’re not Father and you can’t tell me how to behave!”

“I’m the High…”

“Oh for heaven’s sake!” Susan interrupted. “You’re still playacting the part of High King? You really need to grow up, Peter!” Susan wanted to stop but her tongue seemed to have taken on a life of its own and the words just kept spilling out, words she had been suppressing for months. “I’m sick of this stupid group and its childish games. You all need to stop living in your fantasies and face the real world. As for me I’m through with all of you!”

Turning on her heel, Susan rushed out of the room ignoring Lucy’s frantic call for her to come back. Wrenching the front door open she left the house, slamming the door behind her and walked briskly away.
 
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I get this feeling that this is the last Susan will see of them in mortal life. An illustration of why we ought not to leave cruel words hanging behind us. But I must add a qualifier. TRUE words may not be the cruel ones, they may be what someone NEEDS.
 
That remark about the clowns was priceless. The bit about Lucy sitting in the floor is superb in that it is a brief sentence that somehow captures a large chunk of her personality and approach to life.
 
EveningStar said:
That remark about the clowns was priceless. The bit about Lucy sitting in the floor is superb in that it is a brief sentence that somehow captures a large chunk of her personality and approach to life.
Click to expand...

I would like to say that I was going to write the same thing in my last post(the stuff about Lucy) and that I forgot. Thanks EveningStar, for writing it for me.
 
Part 2
When Susan had left the room, Lucy bounded to her feet in pursuit but had been too late. By the time she reached the hall Susan had already left the house. Returning to the sitting room, Lucy looked at Peter reproachfully.

“You handled that well!”

“Are you blaming me for that?” Peter was surprised by Lucy’s attitude. “She’s the one who lost her temper and started haranguing us!”

“Is it any wonder, the way everyone was ganging up on her?” Lucy demanded angrily. “I can’t remember the last time I felt a more poisonous atmosphere, what with Polly just about accusing her of being a tart and Jill making that awful joke about clowns and circuses!”

Eustace chuckled. “That was funny!”

Lucy glared at him. “It was cruel and unfair, Eustace!”

“Lucy!” Edmund spoke for the first time that evening. “We’re all a bit upset about this. Why don’t you and I go to the kitchen and make some tea? I’m sure we could all do with some.”

There were murmurs of agreement from the others but Lucy looked at Edmund in surprise. This was the first time she could remember him offering to help in the kitchen. But she noticed his eyes silently pleading with her and rapidly agreed.

As soon as they entered the kitchen Lucy closed the door behind them and confronted her brother.

“All right Edmund, what are we doing here?”

“Doing?” He regarded her innocently. “Making the tea of course!”

Lucy continued to stare at him, unimpressed.

“All right, all right.” Edmund shrugged, abandoning the pretence. “I wanted to get you out of there before you started a full scale war!”

Lucy filled the kettle and set it on the stove to boil. “Do you wonder I was upset? They were all being so cruel and judgmental.”

Her brother opened the kitchen cupboard and started setting out cups and saucers on a tray.

“Lucy, sometimes cruel words aren’t just cruel. Sometimes they’re the truth and need to be said.”

“Cruel to be kind, eh?” Lucy snorted. “That’s usually just an excuse by scoundrels to justify themselves.”

“Well you can’t deny she was never like this in Narnia.”

“Of course not.” Lucy began spooning tea into the teapot. “We’re not in Narnia Ed, we’re in England!”

“But that dress she was wearing and all that make up…”

Lucy sighed. “Edmund, there was nothing at all indecent about her dress.”

“What?” Edmund stared at her bewildered. “She was showing…”

“Yes I know,” Lucy interrupted. “She was showing a lot of her legs, but that’s the fashion now, especially with clothes rationing and materials being in short supply. In Narnia the gowns didn’t show your legs at all but they did show a lot of your chest.” She giggled, noticing Edmund’s blush. “Fashions vary in different places and times Ed, and so do ideas of modesty. As for the make up, in Narnia Su and I both used more than she was wearing tonight.”

Edmund took a tin of condensed milk from the pantry cupboard and started opening it.

“Peter doesn’t seem to agree with you.” He observed quietly.

Lucy did not reply for as moment as she took the now boiling kettle off the stove and poured into the teapot. When she did speak, her words were shocking.

“Peter is being an ass!”

“Lucy!”

“I’m sorry Ed, but it’s true. Su goes out to a party wearing a perfectly decent dress and a touch of lipstick and he starts acting as if she’s the Whore of Babylon!”

Edmund filled the milk jug and put in on the tray. “So you think there’s nothing to worry about?”

“I didn’t say that.” The annoyance on Lucy’s face faded and was replaced by a look of concern. “Susan hasn’t been herself lately, that’s obvious. What she said tonight was disturbing and I’ve noticed she’s been reluctant to talk about Narnia for the last few months.”

“And she’s refused to go to church for nearly a year.” Edmund observed.

“Yes,” Lucy agreed. “In a way that’s more worrying than anything else. But if Susan is having some sort of spiritual crisis then petty disapproval from Peter and the others won’t help.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Edmund admitted. “So what do you think we should do?”

“I think everything is just about ready,” Lucy murmured, looking down at the tea tray. “I’m going to have a word with Su when she gets back.”

“What if she doesn’t come back?” Edmund asked worriedly.

“Of course she’ll be back,” Lucy said confidently. “She left with only her coat; she didn’t even have a handbag with her. Even if she decided to leave home she’d still need to come back for all her things.”

Lucy picked up the tray, heading for the door. As Edmund opened it for her Lucy said, “Don’t mention this conversation to the others. I want to talk to her before we tell them anything.”

“All right,” Edmund agreed.

Returning to the sitting room, the two siblings discovered the others were also discussing Susan.

“I tell you,” Eustace was saying, “she’s stopped believing in Narnia.”

“How?” Lucy asked as she set the tray down on a convenient table. “We spent nearly twenty years in Narnia that first time. How can you just forget all that?”

“I fear it’s all too possible my dear.” Professor Kirke told her. “You remember what I told you about my Uncle? He persuaded himself that Aslan and the Talking Beasts of Narnia were incapable of speech simply because he refused to believe it possible.”

Lucy did not reply but she was unconvinced. In her view, forcing yourself not to believe something you didn’t want to accept to start with was a long way from disbelieving the reality of events you had personally experienced and happily believed in for years.

Lucy sipped her tea, listening quietly as the conversation turned to their past experiences in Narnia. Usually it was a discussion she eagerly participated in, but tonight she didn’t have the heart to take part in it. She was too worried about Susan.

As soon as the discussion ended, Lucy made her way upstairs to her sister’s room, wondering if Susan had returned yet without being noticed. But there was no sign of her.

Lucy looked round the room, taking in the neatly made bed and tidily arranged furniture. Her eyes fell on Susan’s dressing table and a sarcastic smile appeared on her face. From the way Peter and Jill carried on you might have expected a virtual cornucopia of cosmetic products but what was there was actually very modest. There was a lipstick and powder compact, together with a comb and a bottle of perfume.

There was also what appeared to be a small notebook, bound in red vellum. Lucy had never seen it before and wondered what it might be. The only thought that came to her was that it might be a diary.

Lucy hesitated, her curiosity warring with her sense of propriety. She had no wish to snoop on her sister’s personal secrets but at the same time she was deeply worried about Susan and was desperate for anything that might shed light on what was troubling her.

Concern for her sister won. Picking up the notebook, Lucy let it fall open to the first page and an expression of utter surprise appeared on her face.

“Well!” Lucy whispered. “That’s the last thing I would ever have expected!”
 
Most intriguing! I want to know what Lucy has discovered! You contrast the different attitudes to Susan by the others very well. I also had to smile concerning the fact that it was most unusual for Edmund to help in the kitchen. I think that is not because he is selfish (after his talk with Aslan following his rescue from the White Witch, he was totally different, very much more pleasant and helpful) but rather a reflection of the social norms of the time, when certain activities were considered to be the sole prerogative or responsibility of women. Be that as it may, well written!
 
Again, very good, I think you capture the tenor of British Society well. Though I am not positive that anything at or below knee-length would have been scandalous.
 
Not to young people from that era perhaps, but, as has already been pointed out, somone like Polly, who was born during the reign of Queen Victoria, would have been scandalised by such fashions! (Don't forget how Aunt Letty viewed Jadis's style of clothing).
 
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