Emma's Six

Katheryn's Death Day

Tuesday 13th February 2007- Anniversary of Katheryn's execution

Both Catalina and Kitty look exhausted as they stumble into the playground. 'Kitty wouldn't stop screaming last night,' Catalina says when she joins us. Kitty is sitting a little way from us on a bench. 'But it's her death day today, so we should do all we can.' We all nod, and Anne and Jane walk over to Kitty and sit beside her. After a couple of moments, the rest of us join them.
'Getting killed sucks, doesn't it?' Anne asks. Kitty only nods.
'But you had a sword. A stranger killed you. That's not what happened with me.'
'I'm sorry, Kitty,' I say and look into her blue eyes.
'Don't apologise, Emma.' Rather than looking thankful for my apology, she looks angry. 'It wasn't your fault; you were following orders.'
'I didn't want to follow them.'
'You had your reasons for doing so.' Kitty stands up. Her curly blonde hair falls down her shoulders as it comes out of her loose bun. She quickly ties it back into a ponytail. 'But me getting eaten wasn't the worst that happened to me. It's what happened before that kept me awake.' Her blue eyes fill with tears. 'If you don't mind, I'd rather talk about something else.'
'Okay.'

'Did you see that trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?' Anna asks.
'It looks so awesome!' Jane says. 'But we've still not seen The Goblet of Fire.'
'It looks like it will take a darker turn from previous films,' Kitty says. 'But that could be a good thing. After Prisoner of Azkaban, the books started getting darker.'
'I still can't believe we have to wait until July!' Catalina moans. 'At least it'll be near the end of school.'
'Yeah, at least it will give us time to watch The Goblet of Fire.' I say. 'We should all go to the cinema together.' We've never done anything like that before, and it will make seeing the film more special.

However, we run into a couple of problems in history.

Henry was sitting in Kitty's seat. The teacher either hadn't noticed or didn't care. But when we look at the board, we realise that there is a new seating plan. 'As some of you hadn't paid attention when you were in the last seating plan, we are switching it up.' The teacher split our group up. Anne, Kitty and Jane are sitting together, but they are sitting at Henry's table.
'Miss, you need to move Henry,' Anne says. 'He bullied us for years.'
'Right,' the teacher says and moves Henry. He's not sitting near any of his friends, so let's hope he's less likely to cause trouble. Sitting next to the cousins is Rocky, a new girl who joined just after Christmas. She has resisted using her birth name, Jane Parker, in favour of Rocky. She has dark hair and warm brown eyes. Anne, Jane and Kitty start talking to her eagerly. Also on their table are three faces from my childhood that I never expected to see again- Bessie Blount, Joan Meutas, and Maggie Lee. Maria isn't there.

'What happened to Maria?' I ask Catalina as we sit down.
'I lost contact with her,' she says. 'But she did move back to England, but I've lost contact since then. I hope we meet her someday, but that could be unlikely.'
'How did you guys get here anyway? If we're the queens, and I travelled in time, then how are you all here?'
'You resurrected Catalina, Anne, Jane, and Kitty, but gave me immortal life,' Anna says. 'Schießen!'

'I can resurrect people? 'How do I do it?'
'I don't know; all you said is that you practised a lot.' It seems like the students who are meant to sit with us haven't arrived.

Jane turns to us. 'We must accept the ladies-in-waiting into our group.'
'I agree,' Catalina says. She gets her phone out.
'Catalina Aragon, put your phone away.' The teacher says.
'We'll do it at break.' Catalina puts her phone away.

In history, we started learning about Elizabethan England. We already learnt about Edward VI and Mary I. During those lessons, both Jane and Catalina struggled. Jane wouldn't stop crying when she learnt that her son died when he was fifteen. Catalina was furious when she learnt that her daughter was nicknamed "Bloody Mary" because of her reign and what she did to so many people—and that children would chant the name "Bloody Mary" to summon a spirit in the mirror. 'My daughter should not be remembered as a name that children chant to see a spirit,' she said when we left history that day. She was simmering with rage, and we had to accompany her to the bathroom so she wouldn't end up hitting someone because they decided to tease Catalina for siding with Mary.