That had all happened a year ago， and now all four of them were sitting on a seat at a railway station with trunks and playboxes piled up round them. They were， in fact， on their way back to school. They had travelled together as far as this station， which was a junction； and here， in a few minutes， one train would arrive and take the girls away to one school， and in about half an hour another train would arrive and the boys would go off to another school. The first part of the journey， when they were all together， always seemed to be part of the holidays； but now when they would be saying goodbye and going different ways so soon， everyone felt that the holidays were really over and everyone felt their term.time feeling beginning again， and they were all rather gloomy and no one could think of anything to say. Lucy was going to boarding school for the first time.
It was an empty， sleepy， country station and there was hardly anyone on the platform except themselves. SuddenlyLucy gave a sharp little cry， like someone who has been stung by a wasp.
“What’s up， Lu？” said Edmund.and then suddenly brokeoff and made a noise like “Ow！”
