Lost (Parrlyn)

Chapter 5

They took me back to their house after I had signed all of the discharge papers. I had felt flattered by what Anne had said to me and how she had kindly offered her hand, but I felt guilty  in having to take up her time and effort just to stay in her house, and I felt awkward because I was essentially staying with a whole bunch of strangers in a house that didn't even belong to me. I never enjoyed using stuff that didn't belong to me.

We were all squashed inside of Anna of Cleve's so-called land rover as we hit the road for the short drive back to their house. Along the way, we all chatted and vibed to music. It was the most fun I had had in potentially ages, after spending five months on the street with no entertainment.

'So, how do you know all of us then?' Anne quizzed after the first song had ended. I bit my lip, not wanting to bring up Henry, but I didn't really have a choice. They were going to find out soon anyways.

'Well my ex Henry showed me a photo album of you all.' I muttered, and Katherine Howard turned her head to look at me, dead in the eye.

'So he's gone through six girls now?' She asked, giving me a rather cold look. I recoiled slightly into my seat, wishing I could sink through the floor to avoid this uncomfortable situation. Katherine could almost sense my discomfort and laughed.

'Sorry for giving you such a cold stare, I was just thinking about that jerk Henry.'

'It's fine Katherine.' I grinned back, letting out a sigh of relief. I was worried about how all of the queens would take the news knowing that their ex husband had dated the girl they had just all worked so hard to save.

'I prefer being called Kitty,' Katherine said with a dreamy smile, 'It's a cute name. Everybody thinks it's childish, but...I like it.'

Catherine of Aragon let out a small giggle, 'You seriously want us to call you Kitty now?'

'Why not?' I found myself saying, 'I think it's cute.'

Catherine rolled her eyes and sank back into her car seat, waiting expectantly for the next song to play. She always loved to vibe to music.

Kitty gave me a grateful smile and a small little wink before she reached out and started stroking through my hair.

'I'm glad your here with us Catherine,' She whispered soothingly into my ear, 'You're the only one here who gets me.'

I smiled, and I turned my head to whisper back into Kitty's ear.

'I'm glad I'm here too.'

******

Anna of Cleves parked her car effortlessly into the drive and flew eagerly out of the car door. She opened out the side doors of the Range Rover and she pointed towards her home dramatically.

'Welcome home Catherine!'

I could not help but letting out an astonished gasp. But it wasn't in delight, it was more in shock.

Henry's house was a full out glorious mansion, with three floors and enough en-suite rooms to probably house an entire school.

However this house was not so. It was an absolutely tiny cottage, which looked more like it had three rooms at the maximum, and there were rust and mould creeping up the walls.

Anna must of noticed my gasp and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. 'Gross, I know. But the inside isn't that bad.'

I nodded, tongue-tied. Their outfits looks expensive, their range-rover looked expensive, they did not look like your average poor family, but yet...here they were...living in a tiny, cramped, moldy cottage.

I stood beside Anna, helping her unlock the front door. It croaked and groaned before it eventually swung open to reveal the interior of their home.

It was essentially one big room with two tiny doors at the back of the cottage, which Anna said were the bathrooms. But other than that, it amazed me that they all slept, ate and cooked in the same room, all together as the eight of them as well.

The rest of the family piled in after us, talking excitedly at the top of their voices. The three kids ran over to where the sleeping bags were laid out, and they all sat down, laughing at jokes they told one another. Then I caught sight of the third child. She looked at least sixteen, with her tall appearance and mature manner. She was probably Catherine of Aragon's child, Mary. They all seemed happy, despite living in such poor conditions.

That puzzled me slightly. Don't you need money to ensure your happiness?

'Did you think we were wealthy?' Anna whispered from behind, and I turned a fair shade of red. I couldn't help trusting the honest and straightforward Anna of Cleves so I nodded, trying to turn my cheeks back to their normal shade.

'Lets go for a walk around the neighborhood.' Anna offered pulling me out of the house until we were walking up and down the streets. I noticed all of the other houses were very similar to Anna's home, and looked just as poor and run down.

What I also noticed was how communal everybody was in the neighborhood. To those who were on the streets or in the garden, they waved over to Anna with beaming smiles on their faces, and they gave me their kind words of welcome. Down in Henry's neighborhood, everybody ignored one another and mainly focused on making their house look the best out of all of the others on the street. Although Anna's neighborhood didn't look as good, it most definitely had a good feel and a better vibe to it.

'So how do you feel about all of this?' Anna asked, as we walked past arrays of houses.

'On first impressions, I thought it was a tad bit ugly,' I replied, and Anna laughed at my frankness.

'Go on.'

'But now once I see how open and how happy everyone is, I love it so much!' I exclaim, even surprising myself slightly. It was much more different than Henry's luxuries, but after having spent five months on the streets, it was near to heaven.

'That's good,' Anna responded and we trudged through the streets chatting lightly, enjoying each other's company.

I liked Anna, and how able her character was, and just how open, bold and honest she was. I trusted her.

'So how come you have loads of fancy clothes?' I asked her, curious.

Anna bit her lip.

'The others will tell you, It's not in my place to do so and I might tell it incorrectly.'

That just infused my curiosity as I followed Anna back down the road to our home. Why was that such a personal question?

I soon found out why, and I could see why she had felt so uncomfortable. Boy, I did not see that coming at all.....

I SEE YOU EYEING THOSE KNEECAPS.

There are not for sale or for stealing, I'm begging you.

Also ranks are finally back and fixed! Yay!