CHAPTERTHREEEDMUNDANDTHEWARDROBE
LUoutoftheemptyroomintothepassageandfouhree。
“It'sallright,”sherepeated,“I'veeback。”
“Whatohareyoutalkingabout,Lucy?”askedSusan。
“Why?”saidLuamazemeyouallbeenw>
“Soyou'vebeenhiding,haveyou?”saidPeter。“PooroldLu,hidingandnobodynoticed!You'llhavetohidelohatifyouletforyou。”
“ButI'vebeenawayforhoursandhours,”saidLucy。
&hersallstaredatoher。
“Batty!”saidEdmund,tappiebatty。”
“Whatdoyoumean,Lu?”askedPeter。
“WhatIsaid,”answeredLucy。“Itwasjustafterbreakfastwhehewardrobe,andI'vebeenawayforhoursandhours,andhadtea,andallsortsofthingshavehappened。”
“Don'tbesilly,Lucy,”saidSusan。“We'veonlyjusteoutofthatroomamomentago,aherethen。”
“She'snotbeingsillyatall,”saidPeter,“she'sjustmakingupastoryforfuyou,Lu?Andwhyshouldn'tshe?”
“er,I'mnot,”shesaid。“It's—it'samagicwardrobe。There'sawoodi,andit'ssnowing,andthere'saFaunandaWitdit'sarnia;eandsee。”
&hersdidnotknowwhattothink,butLucywassoexcitedthattheyallwentbackwithherintotheroom。Sherushedaheadofthem,fluhedoorofthewardrobeandow!goinandseeforyourselves。”
“Why,yougoose,”saidSusan,puttingherheadinsideandpullisapart,“it'sjustanordinarywardrobe;look!there'sthebackofit。”
Theneveryonelookedinahecoatsapart;andtheyallsaw—Lucyherselfsaerfearywardrobe。Therewasnowoodandnosnow,onlythebackofthewardrobe,withhooksoinandrappedhiskomakesurethatitwassolid。
“Ajollygoodhoax,Lu,”hesaidashecameoutagain;“youhavereallytakenusin,Imustadmit。Wehalf-believedyou。”
“Butitwasn'tahoaxatall,”saidLucy,“reallyandtruly。Itwasalldiffereago。Horomise。”
“e,Lu,”saidPeter,“that'sgoingabitfar。You'vehadyourjoke。Hadn'tyoubetterdropitnow?”
Lucygrewveryrediriedtosaysomething,thoughshehardlykshewastryingtosay,andburstintotears。