Emma's Six

May 2002- Lavinia's funeral

Catalina of Aragon- 16th December 1485- 516 years old, looks eight years old.

Anne Boleyn- 2nd April 1502- 499 years old, looks eight years old.

Jane Seymour- 2nd April 1508- 493 years old, looks eight years old.

Anna of Cleves- 22nd September 1515- 486 years old, looks eight years old.

Katheryn Howard- 14th February 1524- 477 years old, looks eight years old.

Emma Smith-White- 24th December 1993- eight years old, looks eight years old, mental age eleven years old.

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Lavinia died a couple of weeks ago. I should feel sad; she was family. But I cannot bring myself to cry; that woman tortured me when I was a toddler. I still remember it clearly.

I went to school the day after she died and told my friends. 'I'm sorry to hear that,' Anne said.
'I didn't like her,' I said. 'She made my toddlerhood into a living hell.'

Now, I am in a black dress, going to a funeral for a woman I loathe and watching Mummy cry over her lost aunt. Lavinia raised Mummy, so I can see why she is upset. The best I can do is to remain strong for her. I will not complain that I am missing a day of school, nor that I can't see my friends. Maybe it's good that I'm not in today. Since Henry discovered that my biographies changed, he began bullying my friends and me. Not even Maggie, Bessie, Joan and Maria were safe. Maria moved back to Spain with her parents at the end of reception; Lina keeps in contact with her. We try to send letters regularly, but we're falling out of touch.

Maggie would kick Henry whenever he tried to bully her. Then again, she would do it whenever he bullied us. The headmaster would have none of that. He told Maggie to stop; he can't tolerate that behaviour. Maggie said she wouldn't stop until Henry stops bullying us. Henry never stopped teasing us, he always thought of new ways of torment, and Maggie fought back. 'Hey, it's not fair!' We heard her yell inside the headmaster's office. We were all there, wondering what our punishment was. Henry decided it was a good idea to gather his friends and start fighting us. 'If you're expelling me, you need to expel Henry too. He started it all!' The headmaster had to hear all our stories and found out what caused our quarrel. Henry left that day, but so did Maggie. At least Anne and Kitty are her cousins, so we keep in better contact than we do with Maria.

Joan and Bessie still go to the same school as us, which is a blessing. Now that I know I will probably end up in Tudor England, my friends agreed to help prepare me in any way possible. 'Not that it will help as you'll have to leave soon,' Lina muttered once.
'What do you mean?' I asked.
'¡Disparar!' Lina yelled. 'Sorry, Emma, you weren't meant to hear that.'
'I know, but what do you mean?'
'We can't tell you,' Anne said. 'We're sorry, Emma.'

I shake my head, placing myself firmly in the present. I can't go on a tangent today; my parents need me.

They plant a tree, and Juno Baker, one of Lavinia's friends, is holding a party back at Lavinia's house. 'You are old enough to make a choice,' Mum says. 'You can either go with the others back to the house, or you can stay here with us.'
'Can I go back to the house, please?'
'Of course,' Mummy nods. 'We'll probably take a while.' Juno is waiting. I look up at her curly brown hair and sparkling brown eyes. 'Juno, will you look out for Emma?'
'Of course, I will. You don't need to worry about that. Take all the time you need.'
'Thank you.'

Looking back, I wish I stayed.

Mum and Mummy weren't at the party; either that or I couldn't find them. There were so many people there that I didn't recognise, so I stayed with Juno and her husband, Howard. He has short, dark brown hair and sparkling brown eyes. At one point, they move away to talk in private.

When I wake up the next morning, I discover that Mum and Mummy left. 'Why would they abandon me?' I wail. Juno sits beside me and rubs my back. I would have preferred a hug, but I can't complain.
'It's to do with Sarah's job, or rather, lack of it now. Do you remember her TV show?' I nod, thinking back to Planet 3 and occasionally spotting Mummy's show on the telly. She would investigate companies and expose their crimes. 'The last episode aired last night; it turns out that she exposed a company that is innocent.'
'Did they fire her?'
'Yes, they did.'
'What will happen to me?'

'Howard and I will look after you. Sarah and Ruby must move around the country; they can't have anyone tying them down.'
'But...' I have no argument that will make them stay. My parents must remain on the move; having a child with them will only slow them down.
'We would send you to your school as you settled well and have friends, but it is too far.'
'No!' I wail. 'No voy a ir! Ne me fais pas.' Juno is looking at me, slightly worried. I'm not surprised; I'm slipping into Spanish and French.
'Emma, please make some sense.'
'Non, tengo sentido.' I know I'm not supposed to mix two languages into one sentence, but I do that sometimes. 'I will not leave my best friends.'
'You have to, Emma. You can always write.' That's true, but we've already almost lost contact with Maria. If I'm not with them, my friends will forget about me. 'I'm sorry, Emma, but we're a long way from London. There is no way you can go to your old school.'

So, that's it. I'm leaving my friends and going to a new school. 'As it is so late in the year, we will teach you at home now, and you can start school again in September.' Juno stands and leaves the room.

A/N: These are the translations Google gave me. Before, I was only using one or two words, but here I used several sayings. The next chapter should be out soon.

No voy a ir- I'm not going

Ne me fais pas- don't make me

Tengo sentido- I'm making sense.