Oh ominous place spellbound and unchild-proofed
My least favorite chill to bare alone
Compatriots in place they'd cringe if I told you
Our best back-pocket secret our bond full-blown

Previously...

“Are you Aslan? If you aren’t I….”She began to sob, and put her hand to her face. Eugenia went to comfort her, but Jill waved her off as the Lion approached the sad, frightened girl. Reaching under her chin, he lifted her face and breathed even as he uttered something between a cautious growl and a very contented purr. I’ve been told that of all the large cats in all the worlds, it is only the King of Narnia who can growl and purr, and even at the same time.

“I am Aslan. It is I who summon you in my time of great need.”

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Only a few moments had gone by, but all three girls seemed to age. Where once stood three teens now there were three young ladies. All dressed in royal finery with gowns of rich velour in three distinct shades of green. It was only then that each began to look uncomfortable.

“What troubles you, Daughters of Eve?” Aslan looked as if he was about to grin, but his purr began to change into a low growl. Harriet shrunk back and shook her head. Only then did Aslan seem to smile, but his look still worried her.

“I am sorry, little one,” he said as he pushed his head between her arms and nuzzled her.

“I am troubled that you all seem so sad. You have not disappointed me, but I fear you are disappointed none the less in yourselves.” He stood still, but turned his head from side to side, surveying where they stood. Things began to change again. It had snowed and they found themselves standing in the midst of a group of youths. One of them pointed at Eugenia and spoke.

“We don’t need no Queen to rule us. We do what we like,” he yelled. He raised his arm and Jill saw that he had a tomato in his hand. He pulled back in threat, but instead of throwing it at the three; he pivoted and hurled it at a cowering figure in the midst of his mates.

“Take your royal selves away. We’ve got things measured right and proper.” It was only then that Harriet noticed the figure was a girl of about twelve or so. She was covered from head to toe with the rotten vegetables the youths had thrown at her. She sat quietly as tears streamed down her cheeks, leaving streaks where her tears mixed with the juices of the tomato.

“You have measured nothing of the sort, you horrid boy!” Jill ran to the girl’s side. The boy went to throw an apple at the girl, but Jill covered her with her own body. Eugenia stepped in front of the boy.

“In the Name of Aslan, I beg you to leave her alone.” Eugenia shook her head. Her usual inclination… Eustace’s inclination would have been of defiance. Harriet stepped next to her and grabbed her hand.

“We ask you in the Name of Aslan…” Harriet’s expression was calm, but tears streamed off her chin.

“For the sake of this girl, I beg you to depart.” She turned to Eugenia and shrugged, as if to ask, ‘Was that okay?”

And just as uncharacteristically, Eugenia hugged the girl.

“You can’t tell us what to do!” the ‘head’ boy said. Jill stood up and walked to him.

“We are asking politely to leave this girl alone.” She grabbed Eugenia’s and Harriet’s hands and led them to where the girl still cowered; surrounding her like a shield. All of the boys began to laugh and point until their expressions changed from confidence and cruelty to fear. Aslan had been cloaked from their eyes, but now it was they who cowered in fear at the sight of him.

“You have not behaved as young men of Narnia ought, so you shall have a taste of what it means to be ones who cannot speak.” Aslan breathed on them and they fell on all fours. In a few seconds the boys had vanished, replaced by six rather disheveled looking hounds…. Mute but for their whines and barks as they stared at each other.

“You were given a choice, and you chose to be angry and unruly. Go and think about what it means to be without a voice… the same as what you did to this poor soul.” Aslan looked back at the girl before turning one last time and roared at them. They ran in all directions; so confused and frightened that they ran into each other until all six scurried away; tails between their legs.

Destined to serve, destined to roam
Destined to seek, destined to know

“Aslan?” Harriet asked as she tugged on his muzzle. He turned and nodded.

“I… I am glad that the girl here is safe, but…”

“Yes, child?” Aslan nodded once again, fully aware of what she would ask.

“I hope they will be okay,” she said pointing at one of the dogs that was almost out of sight.

“I tell no one any story but their own, but your concern for them is a good thing.” He nodded and nuzzled her face.

I can safely say that sometime in the coming days several dogs were seen in the village. After being sent scurrying by the odd rotten apple or swing of a switch, the dogs seemed to act tamer, and even sought to be treated like a pet or a trusty farm dog. And just when their families had given up hope, the missing boys suddenly turned up. The youths seemed to their families to have become contrite and helpful and even kinder than anyone could remember. But that is another story for another day.

Aslan and Harriet walked over to Eugenia and Jill and the girl.

“What is your name, child?” He asked. The girl wiped her face with her sleeve.

“James, O Lion…. James Phillip Houston.” The girl…the boy lowered his head and began to weep. Aslan remained quiet as the three stared at the boy. Eugenia put her hand to her face and shook her head.

“What is it, child?” He turned to Eugenia and uttered a deep purr.

“I…I know why I’m here.” She pulled her hand away from her face and revealed tears that reflected those of the Lion. It is known that the word confession means more than taking responsibility, but to say the same thing…to agree. Aslan knew Eugenia agreed, so to speak.

“All this time…every moment I’ve ever been here…every time? I was just doing it...helping... acting brave? Even being kind? Only because I was supposed to be kind.” Jill and Harriet stared at their friend and wondered what she...what Eustace meant.

“I… I want to be good for goodness sake, Aslan? To be kind because it alone is a good thing?” Eugenia had departed in a way, leaving only the boy clad in girl’s clothing.

“If you wished it? If it helped her?” He pointed to Harriet.

“And him?” Eustace pointed to James.

“I would stay like this forever. I am so sorry,” Eustace ran to Aslan and wept in the Lion’s Mane. After a few moments, he pulled back; revealing the boy now clad, not in the gown, or even the school girl clothes from before, but in trousers with a green and brown vest sweater over a white shirt with sleeves rolled up past his elbows. His hair was short and an almost faded ginger and his face was adorned with an array of freckles and a toothy grin.

“I know you would do anything I asked, Son of Adam. Not because I asked but because it alone would be a good thing.” Aslan turned his attention to Jill, as if he expected her to follow suit, but he spoke softly.

“I know you have been troubled, child, and that you have wanted to speak, but for the more pressing need of the two next to you.”

“I…” It might have been almost prompted by his words, but Jill had not stopped crying, at least inside, since their arrival in Narnia.

“I am...I am who I am, Aslan. I knew that almost as soon as I met Harriet.” She turned and faced the girl and grabbed her hands.

“You… I almost had begun to judge you. Wanting to be a girl? While I kept myself from wanting that for me?” She looked back at Aslan and he nodded as if to urge her to continue.

“I have been so afraid of not being exactly the girl everyone wanted that I was afraid to be the girl I am. And with you so hurt and scared?” She drew Harriet close and shook her head.

“I hope we two can be the girls we are…I am so sorry for judging you.” Her expression pleaded for forgiveness even as she began to sob in Harriet’s arms.

In a few moments, they separated. And again once where stood a regal young lady in royal raiment now stood a fourteen year old school girl, clad in a charcoal grey sweater over a pink blouse with a green and purplish plaid skirt. Her feet were shod with ankle high socks and white and brown saddle shoes. Her hair was longish and an almost mousy-looking brown and her face was somewhat pale but decorated by a growing smile.

“It is a good thing to be who we are, Daughter of Eve. And an even better thing to help others know that as well.” He walked slowly to her and nuzzled her for a few moments.

“Aslan?” Harriet once again tugged at the Lion’s Mane. He turned and almost appeared to be smiling.

“I think I’m here…. Not for me?” She looked down at herself. She was still clad in the gown and her hair was still long and red, and she still looked much older than she was.

“Am I here for James?”

“Why don’t you ask her, child?”Aslan used his muzzle to nudge Harriet closer to the boy.

“I…” James began to speak; haltingly at first but clearer as Harriet grasped his hands.

“My…my Mum…she knew. The boy looked down at himself. He was dressed somewhat like Jill, but for a twelve year old, in faded brown skirt and blouse.

“My Dad… Dunkirk…” he gasped.

“Both gone. I had nowhere…no one. And here I am. I can’t go back…I just can’t.” James looked at the Lion. He had heard his story from Aslan and was free to share it.

“Mum wanted to name me Jane…after Miss Austen? If I had been born…. Since I was little I have wanted this…” He pointed to his own clothes and then looked away, but not before sighing at Harriet’s gown.

“Can I please stay?” He asked as tears once again began to fall from his face. Aslan growled at first, but it turned once again to a purr. A look of realization grew on Harriet’s face. The expression almost seemed to change from second to second; horror to sadness to resolve and then to something quite unexpected.

Most beautiful place reborn and blown off roof
My view about-face whether great will be done

I am a magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment
I am a wunderkind oh oh oh oooooh
I am a ground-breaker naive enough to believe this
I am a princess on the way to my throne

“I know what I can do.” Harriet said out loud.

“It is your choice, child. No one will think any less of you…” Aslan turned to Jill and Eustace who by now realized exactly what Harriet had decided. Jill choked back a sob. It wasa good thing, but still very sad in a way. Eustace grabbed her hand and squeezed.

“I...I think it will turn out okay…” He said with a weak smile.

“James? May I say goodbye?” Harriet did not wait for a reply, but pulled the boy into a hug. Unlike Eustace and Jill, the following moments were visible for all to see.

“I’m scared,” James said with a sob.

“That’s okay, so am I,” Harriet answered even as she held James tighter. An aura of sorts enveloped them, followed by crying and laughter. And in a moment, things…they had changed.

“I feel… alive,” James said as he looked at Harriet.

“Good,” Harriet said. The kind of response you’d expect from the bravest girl you might ever meet. Harriet stepped back, revealing them both. Where only moments before stood a fearful, needlessly ashamed little boy from Harrow now stood a girl of about twelve, clad in a simple if pretty long gown of Forest green. She wore silver slippers and a thin silver cord at her waist. Her hair was long and almost silver grey. The tears that cascaded from her face were from pure joy.

“Welcome home, Queen Jane, Daughter of Eve,” Aslan said.

“Que...Queen Jane…” the girl said. Jill beamed with relief, failing to see the expression on Eustace’s face. He half smiled, relieved for the boy, but as sad as he expected as he looked at Harriet.

“It’s okay…really,” Harriet said with as brave a face as you might imagine for someone who had given every bit of what she ever wanted to help someone else. She looked down at herself, and we can forgive even the bravest of souls when they are sad.

“Oh, Aslan…No…Please, NO?” Jill cried out as she looked at Harriet. Gone was the beautiful gown and the long red hair; leaving in their places a lad named David merely clad in the short pants and dull looking shirt of a twelve year old school boy.

“It is as it should be.”Aslan said with that purr/growl mixture that even now was somewhat confusing.

“Jane… She needed this more than me. No one to love her?” David turned to Aslan.

“She can stay? Please?” The boy in the midst of his sadness was still advocating for a boy…a girl he had only just met.

“Yes, child. She will stay. No more sorrow. Only Joy,” Aslan said.

“You…you did this for me?” Jane spoke haltingly before falling into David’s arms as she wept. After a few minutes, David pushed away only slightly and kissed the girl on both cheeks.

“Thank you,” Jane said.

“No…thank you.” David said.

“It is time, dear ones.” Aslan said softly....

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Things around them began to change, with sights and sounds ebbing and flowing until Eustace, Jill, and David once again stood in Jill’s Aunt’s dress shop.

“Oh, Harriet….” was all Jill could say as she held the boy in her arms.

“It’s okay…really… I don’t think…Just maybe I’ll get to go back? You’ll see,” He smiled even as tears betrayed his sadness. He looked at the clock on the wall behind the counter.

“Three…I’ve got to go. I promised my mother I’d start dinner before she gets home from hospital. She’s a nurse and...” His words were interrupted by another hug from Jill.

“Friends?” she asked. He smiled and nodded.

“Forever,” he said, and he walked toward the door. Eustace went to shake his hand, but instead pulled him close and kissed him on both cheeks.

“Friends?” David asked.

“Forever,” Eustace replied. And with that he walked out. Eustace and Jill stared at each other for a few moments until Eustace went to open the door.

“See you on Monday?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Jill laughed and waved as Eustace walked out…

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London, 1949...

David sat in the second carriage on the train, looking out the window as the scenery seemed to fly by much quicker than he could recall the last few times he traveled. Perhaps it was because his mother wasn’t accompanying him back to London after her mother’s funeral, but even so he would not have been able to identify why he was anxious.

He nevertheless smiled. Circumstances and expectations had changed well intended plans, and after nearly two years he was looking forward to seeing Jill and Eustace if only for a hastily arranged lunch. He heard a screeching sound and had turned to the kind looking elderly couple to ask about the sound when he heard a very loud crash and everything went black….

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Further Up and Further In
We're back to the board
With every shade under the sun
Let's make it a good one
It couldn't be anymore beautiful
It couldn't be anymore beautiful
I can't take it in

The crashing sound and screeching noise dissipated quickly, leaving everything almost in almost a hush until the sounds of a gentle breeze sang in a gentle harmony with the songs of what seemed like hundreds of birds.

“I remember you…from the train,” a voice remarked. David turned to find himself standing in a broad, bright green field which seemed to rise slightly at each footfall.

“Yes, I’m certain of it, the old man said, earning a smile and nod from his wife. David nodded almost absentmindedly. The couple was much older than he recalled but still looked young somehow.

“It’s so much more beautiful than I remembered,” the woman said.

“Well, Helen, I think it might be more than just that.” She nodded and spoke.

“It’s like itself, only more so, Frank.”

“I almost feel like running,” he said, and quickened his pace into a trot despite the rise. David went to speak, but the two had already widened the gap between them.

“Can you tell me…” David heard a voice to his right and turned to find a young man dressed in what looked like a knight’s outfit, but much more exotic looking.

“I cannot…” the young man began to speak, but fell silent as he noticed something up what now had become a hilly field; steeper but still a lush grassy green. He began to run, and David once again was left to himself.

It was only then that he noticed scores of people spread across what now looked like miles in either direction. All climbing toward what appeared to be a rising horizon. The incline might have been a challenge for him even at nearly fifteen, but he seemed to gain strength with every step.

“Further up…further in…”he heard a call from up the hill. He felt himself urged to quicken his pace, but something in his spirit offered a gentle caution.

“No…no hurry,” he said to himself even as he watched other pass him. He noticed a boy of about sixteen or so, holding hands with a familiar looking girl of the same age. Their clothes were simple yet elegant, like royalty who had once known need and felt no urge to be anything grand.

“OH…OH…”the girl nudged her friend, who in turn beamed with a broad, toothy grin.”

“I… I can almost believe it’s not true. Bu I am so very happy to be wrong.” She gasped a joyful sob before running to David.

“It is you,” she said as she kissed him, her happy tears blessing him. The boy walked over calmly and oddly enough began to duplicate the girl’s gesture with his own.

“J…Jill?” His eyes widened in recognition which quickly turned to confusion.

“Eustace?” David exclaimed more than questioned his friend. More like himself, some might say? More peaceful? More handsome? Like everything else, they looked more of what he remembered them to be. As they stood still others across the wide plain continued their journey upward.

“Further up and further in,” the same voice proclaimed once again. David felt hands grasp his own. He turned to his left but found no one until he looked downward only a bit. A large dog-sized mouse wearing a plumed hat looked up and nodded.

“Reepicheep at your service."He pointed to the people walking past them.

"No hurry…still? Further up and further in.” He laughed before running up the hill, but not before playfully swatting Eustace on his behind with the flat edge of his sword.

‘’Welcome home,” David looked to his right and beheld someone he thought he might never see again.

“Jane? Queen Jane?”

“Yes.” The girl smiled through grateful tears before hugging him.

“All is as it should be,” the low but gentle voice in front of him was accompanied by a playful purr.

“All is at an end, dear child, even as every second is brighter and newer and with more hope than the one before.” Aslan walked up and nuzzled Jane.

“She has been waiting to thank you, dear one. I thought it only appropriate that she remind you not only of what your sacrifice means to her but to you as well.” With that he backed up only slightly; his position taken by Queen Jane.

“Yes…thank you,” she said as she grabbed both of David's hands in hers. It was only then that she broke into soft laughter…the kind meant to hearten one’s soul. David looked at her hands holding his and he started shaking’ with that nervous anticipation he had felt on the train.

“Welcome home,” Queen Jane repeated even as she put her hand on the sleeve of his garment. Not the gabardine of his jacket, but the deep blue velvet of his...of her gown. David reached up and touched his face. Gone was the soft if coarsening down, replaced by the smooth face brushed lightly by long dark red hair.

“But…”was all he could mutter before Jill and Eustace smiled and nodded. Aslan nodded as well and gently nudged Queen Jane. She kissed David on both cheeks as only a sister can before saying at last.

“Welcome home, Queen Harriet, Daughter of Eve."

From The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

"And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at least they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."

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Wunderkind
Words and music by the Performer Alainis Morrisette
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEYPiIoz5R4

Can't Take It in
Words and music by the Performer Imogen Heap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzj2PdFYeRY