Author's Note: Aaagghhh, my first fan fiction. Finally decided to start publishing this one first. I know it's not perfect, but if I don't start somewhere I'll never actually post anything. Just to make sure it's clear, this is back in Finchley, sometime after the events of Prince Caspian, but before The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Without further ado then, here it is...
Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own these characters. They come from C.S. Lewis's brilliant mind and I've just borrowed them momentarily. I'm making no profit from doing so.
Chapter One
It really was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining, there wasn't a single cloud in the clear blue sky and there was even a slight breeze to keep the temperature just right. It was the best kind of day for playing cricket outside in the garden, which is just what Peter wanted to do. The problem was, Edmund didn't.
"Come on. I can't play on my own," Peter whined, pulling Edmund's sleeve.
"You're not on your own. You've got Lucy to play with!"
As if on cue, a call of, "Come on you two!" carried in from the garden.
"Come on Ed. We need three otherwise there's no fielder. As Susan's out with her friends I can't ask anyone else. "
"Great, so now I'm just being asked because there's no-one else." Edmund rolled his eyes.
"You know I didn't mean that." Peter smiled at his brother, confident that Edmund did know he didn't mean it in that way. The brothers were long past misunderstandings of that nature, their bond forged long ago in times of great trouble and strengthened a million times over in all the years that had followed. "Pleeeaassse." Peter attempted the same puppy dog eyes and pout that Lucy was always so successful in using to get her own way, but all it did was cause Edmund to laugh.
"You should really leave that for Lucy you know."
"Well it was worth a try." Peter laughed too. "Oh come on Ed!"
"Fine." Edmund let himself be pulled out of the armchair where he had been sitting with his book. In truth, the headache he had woken up with meant that he had not been concentrating on it anyway, the words simply swimming before his eyes. He had hoped that the headache would have been gone after a good night's sleep, having throbbed dully since yesterday afternoon, but he had not had a good night's sleep, restlessly tossing and turning and the headache had not gone, only remained with a vengeance as though protesting at the thought that it might have gone so easily.
Edmund found himself dragged into the garden where Lucy had already set up wickets and was expectantly waving a cricket bat around. Peter scooped up the ball from where it lay on the grass, leaving Edmund to field.
Standing out behind Lucy, Edmund found he actually had relatively little to do, for which he was glad. Lucy had a good eye for the ball and Peter was not really bowling to get her out, so her bat connected with the ball more often than not, generally sending it back in the direction it had come from for Peter to collect back up. That left Edmund just scooping up the occasional missed ball which he lazily lobbed back to Peter, happy to let the other two take the more active parts of the game.
"Come on Ed!" Pay attention!" Peter chided. The ball hit Edmund's arm as Lucy swung and missed. Edmund merely grunted. It was true, he hadn't been paying attention. His headache had simply grown in intensity as the morning wore on. He dutifully bent down to pick up the ball, but the world swam as he did so, causing him to drop to his knees as he lost his balance.
Edmund was dimly aware of footsteps as he knelt on all fours waiting for the floor to stop moving. Strong hands placed on the front of his shoulders pushed him into a kneeling position and he found himself looking into Peter's concerned eyes. "Ed?"
"Just a headache Pete," Edmund murmured as he tried to right himself. He was barely off his knees before everything spun again, forcing him back to the ground.
"Just a headache? Here, let me help you." Peter's arms guided him back to his feet, steadying him so that he was able to stand.
"You look awfully pale Ed." A smaller arm wrapped round his waist from the side.
"Just need to sit." Edmund struggled against a sudden wave of nausea.
Peter and Lucy helped him over to the garden bench. Seeing the flush on Edmund's cheeks against his pale skin, Peter put a hand to Edmund's forehead. "You're burning up."
"It's a hot day," Edmund managed in reply, squinting in the bright light from the midday sun which was now directly overhead.
"Let's get you out of the sun then. Why didn't you say you were ill?"
Edmund's reply was lost as Peter helping him to stand caused another wave of dizziness. This time Peter had to virtually catch him and opted to pick him up to prevent him falling. It concerned Peter greatly that Edmund did not protest at this, allowing himself to be carried.
"Oh Peter, should I fetch a healer?" Lucy asked before clapping her hand over her mouth, realising her mistake. "A doctor I mean." She hurried along in front of Peter, opening the doors that stood in their way.
"No doctor," Edmund murmured.
Peter hesitated in answering. He wanted nothing more than to rush out and call a doctor, but maybe he was just over reacting.
Peter had by now carried Edmund all the way upstairs to their room, where he gently lowered Edmund onto the bed, shaking his arms out after the exertion of carrying his brother. Though Edmund was only of slight build, he had recently put on a growth spurt so that he almost matched his older brother in height and it took all of the strength from Peter's broad shoulders to carry him. "I don't know Ed. Maybe Lu should call the doctor."
"Please Peter. I just want to sleep, not be prodded about."
Peter couldn't help but feel that he was going against his better judgement as he made his decision. "Okay, but I'm coming back to check on you as soon as I've called Mum."
"Don't call Mum. She'll be back soon anyway. Just a headache."
Peter frowned, but left it. He didn't think that an argument was really going to help matters.
"Can I get you anything Ed?" Lucy sat down on the edge of the bed and bendin over, gently pushed a stray hair from Edmund's eyes, alarmed as she did so by the heat of her brother's forehead.
"Can you pull the curtain? The light." Edmund merely screwed his eyes more tightly shut as if to demonstrate the point.
Lucy scurried across to pull the curtains, though the light still shone through them, more so than was to Edmund's liking.
"Nothing else Ed?" Peter asked. He received no answer however as Edmund had already drifted off. "Come on Lu," he said more quietly, "let's leave him to sleep."
The two crept out of the room, though Peter doubted Edmund would have woken had a herd of elephants stampeded through the room. Both glanced anxiously at their now sleeping brother before Peter gently pulled the door shut.
"Are you sure we shouldn't call a doctor?" Lucy asked now they were back out on the landing.
"I don't know, but maybe Ed has a point. Mum will be home soon. She can decide." Peter hoped he sounded confident in his decision. Hopefully their mother wouldn't be too long. "Come on, let's get some lunch."