Falling For Henry (17 page)

“Anne Boleyn was born last summer?” Kate blurted, thinking of what Willow had told her. Anne was to be Henry's wife after Katherine.

“Ah, yes. I was called out at night and she wasn't born until noon two days later. Quite a delicate complexion but a strong breath on her.”

Willow would be fascinated by such details. Kate remembered that her sister had a little notebook in which she recorded things that related to whatever play she was in at the time. A warm image of Willow, snuggled up on the couch with an afghan, jotting down information, rose up in Kate's memory but she pushed it aside, nodding as if Doña Elvira's anecdote was an event she recalled.

“I remember …” acknowledged Kate. “The little finger on her …”

“On her right hand! Thank goodness, you have some recollection!” exclaimed Doña Elvira.

“So Henry—our Henry—will be King Henry VIII?” Kate interrupted, her stomach tense.

“Yes, certainly,” said Doña Elvira. “And a stronger king he'll make than his brother, God rest Prince Arthur's soul. And a better husband to you.”

History says differently, thought Kate. But history can be changed, I know it can! She took a deep breath, shook off the panic that was rising in her throat, and tried to remember. After Katherine of Aragon, Henry had married Anne Boleyn, whom he had put to death, and someone after that until, all in all, he'd married six women.
King Henry the eighth to six wives he was wedded: one died, one survived, two divorced, two beheaded!
But really, that was ridiculous. Henry would never hurt anyone; she, Katherine, knew that well.

“Collect yourself,” Doña Elvira went on. “You must collect yourself. Soon you must meet Henry to play tennis; you arranged that yesterday and he dislikes waiting. I have slippers for you over by the bed. If you cannot remember something, hold your tongue. I shall try to come up with some herbs to assist your memory. And the leeches might help, too.”

“The … leeches?” Kate stammered.

“For bloodletting! Now go, or you will be late! And don't play too well. It is your duty to let the man win. At everything, the man always wins.”

“But what happened to my old shoes?” Kate asked.

“I gave them to the grooms, of course,” said the old woman. “That is who you got them from in the first place, I imagine. Although they are a sight worse than the clothing the grooms usually wear.” Doña Elvira wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“Well, I need them back,” Kate said.

“What? What for?” The old woman spoke sharply.

“I … well, I brought you a present,” Kate mumbled. “From Fulham Palace. I'll have to search for it, though, because I hid it in one of the old things.”

“A present? What kind of foolishness is this?”

“You've been so kind to me. And so good to give me advice. I … I just wanted to thank you,” Kate improvised quickly.

The old woman's gaze softened.

“Well, I do appreciate it. Maybe I have taught you some sense after all, to compensate for that schooling, which is no doubt partly to blame for the disturbances to your mind. Will you be all right here while I go and fetch the old items?”

Kate was just about to say she'd be fine, when the maid appeared with the requested pitcher of water, accompanied by Reedy Voice who stared inquisitively at Kate.

“You two shall keep Princess Katherine company until I return,” the nurse said to the maids. She bustled off, muttering to herself, “I can't imagine what she has for me; I just can't guess.”

“I shall await your return,” called Kate, formally. After all, what else could she do? If she bolted, the maids would be alarmed and someone would likely catch her. And then there was the threat of having her named as a witch. No, she had to be very careful.

After Doña Elvira went out, Kate put down her needle. What did she have in her pockets that could pass as a present? She thought hard because she knew she'd need Doña Elvira on her side. The maids sat and stared at her curiously. She picked up the needle again.

“'Ow are we feelin', Luv?” asked Reedy Voice, fingering a little bundle of herbs she wore on her belt.

“Fine,” said Kate curtly, staring at the dried plants.

“Thyme,” the maid croaked, looking at Kate through narrowed eyes. “As an antidote, just in case!”

“An antidote for what?” asked Kate.

“Witchcraft,” said Reedy Voice, picking up Doña Elvira's needle and then darting a look at the other maid who had quickly drawn her hand to her lips.

“Well, it's good to be careful,” said Kate, slowly. “Nothing's bothering us in here, but you never know what you'll find when you go beyond the castle gates.”

“Who says I've been … been goin' beyond the castle gates?” asked Reedy Voice worriedly, her eyes wide. “It weren't more than thrice that I … I went to visit—but then you must have 'eard if you're askin' me now—”

“Never mind,” said Kate gently. “I didn't mean to accuse you of anything. I just meant that this castle is secure, that nothing can hurt us here.”

“No, it feels quite safe in here,” said the younger maid quickly. She smiled at Kate and nodded. Kate suddenly recognized her as the girl who'd been carrying the bread the other night. Maybe she was grateful that Kate had kept her secret. Now she was returning the kindness. Kate smiled in return.

“Remember that girl last July what was 'ung by the neck until she was dead?” asked Reedy Voice, conspiratorially. “She was run over by the cart in Cheapside, London, died, and then revived.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I went to see the place but naught was there. The story is that she saw Our Lady of Barkin' liftin' the cart. And then she killed all those pigs and chickens at the local farms just by usin' the evil eye!”

“How do you know she killed the pigs and chickens?” asked Kate, and Reedy Voice looked surprised.

“Because she was a witch!” she rasped.

This circular argument didn't make sense, but Kate heeded the warning in the younger maid's expression and kept silent.

When Reedy Voice went to the window to thread the needle, Kate pushed the basket of bread on the table toward the younger maid and nodded her head. Might as well be used by someone who needs it for more than cleaning tapestries, she thought. The maid nodded gratefully and, picking up the basket, quickly left the room before Reedy Voice sat down again.

In a short while, Doña Elvira returned, carrying a bundle that, when Kate eagerly opened it, contained her running shoes and jeans.

“Thank goodness!” she exclaimed.

Doña Elvira fastened her bird-like eyes on the clothes.

“Oh, yes, the present,” said Kate.

“For me, all that I want is to see you well again,” said Doña Elvira, her expectant gaze flickering back and forth between Kate and the bundle.

“Of course, but I do have this present for you,” Kate repeated, digging frantically in the pockets of her jeans. The eyes of the maid bugged out at the sight of the unfamiliar clothing but she kept silent.

“Thank you for being so kind as to think of me,” said Doña Elvira, folding her hands in anticipation.

Nothing was in the pockets, of course, except an old Kleenex that Kate didn't think she could pass off as a gift. She thought of the shoelaces but that didn't seem quite right, either. And then her fingers encountered something in a back pocket. It was the elastic band she'd used in her hair. She pulled it out.

“This,” said Kate, “is for you.”

“Oh,” said Doña Elvira, staring at the object. “Well. What is it, Katherine?”

“It's … it's a strange and magi—um, entertaining object,” Kate said. She had been going to say “magical” but thought better of it. “See, you can pull it wide into a circle, and then when you let it go, it shrinks back to its original state. It represents … um, it represents life. See, first it's the baby when it's small. You took care of me when I was a baby, remember? And then growing, growing …” She made the elastic widen around her hands. “And then, at the end of a full life, it's small again, old bones beneath the ground. Do you like it?”

Doña Elvira's eyes were wide and the eyes of the maid were wider.

“I have never seen anything like it! Where did you get it?”

“Uh … one of the servants at Fulham Palace gave it to me,” stuttered Kate. “She makes them … out of leather and … and fat. Deer fat. You have to heat it,” she finished lamely.

“Oh!” Doña Elvira gasped as she stretched the elastic around her wrinkled wrist. She looked at Reedy Voice, whose eyes were by now popping out of her head.

“I note we're almost out of the red yarn,” said the nurse. “Please fetch some from Lady Margaret's cupboards.” The maid took one last suspicious look at the elastic band and then scurried off.

“Wear it and think of me,” said Kate to Doña Elvira as grandly as she could.

“Thank you, child,” Doña Elvira said, looking at her kindly. Then she said, “And in your present troubles, I, too, have a gift to give. But it is a gift of advice. Believe in yourself. Just believe and your troubles will fade away.”

This sounded so much like Gran that Kate felt her eyes filling with tears.
The walls between the worlds are thinner than we think.
Willow's words returned more resonantly than ever.

“Believe,” Doña Elvira repeated. “It is the power of resolution which carries us forward.”

17
The romance

“SHOULD I GO or should I stay!” Kate muttered to herself once she was alone in her room. She wondered what might happen to the nurse if Katherine were to disappear. The death penalty? She couldn't imagine it but, in these times, anything was possible. Yet the poor woman wasn't really a jailer; she was more like a personal trainer, coaching Katherine in all things proper, responsible for fulfilling her every need.

Thoughts about Willow shifted Kate's focus. It must have been quite a burden for Willow to all of a sudden be in charge of a younger kid, like being a parent—except without the same authority.
She had the duty of carrying on while I just sat and moped
. A hot blush rose in Kate's cheeks as she thought about how hard it must have been for her sister. And where had the money come from for the private Camden school? Willow pinching pennies by serving them canned soup all the time? Gran selling her furniture? But all of that paled in comparison with her father's death. And whose fault it was. Kate closed her eyes and willed herself apart from that time. She kicked aside the slippers Doña Elvira had laid out for her and pulled on the runners. Under the gown they'd be hidden. Her feet were already covered in blisters from trying to walk in Katherine's unforgiving footwear, and today she wanted to be comfortable.

“Katherine,” called Doña Elvira from the doorway. “Henry has arrived. You'll not arrange to keep him waiting.”

“Uh … no, you're right,” said Kate. She went out to the sitting room where Henry stood in the doorway, looking more handsome than ever. In his hands was a strange-looking metal instrument.

“What is it?” asked Kate.

He flashed her a discerning look out of sharp blue eyes.

“You've never seen one before?”

“Perhaps,” she answered pleasantly. The object was round, about a foot in diameter, and shaped rather like a large compass. It had a dial that could point to one of any number of degrees etched in the metal rim, and Kate guessed the device had something to do with direction.

“It's the astrolabe,” he said. “I brought it to show you as I promised I would.”

“Oh, yes, the astrolabe,” said Kate, looking at it curiously. She saw that the numbers etched on it increased by tens each way from zero.

Henry turned on his heel, strangely quiet, and walked down the passageway. Kate followed.

“Enjoy the tennis,” called Doña Elvira. “And remember, the man always wins,” she rasped.

“Here, page!” commanded Henry, beckoning to one of the young boys gathered in the great hall over a game of dice. “Take this astrolabe back to my chambers, and mind you handle it carefully. It's very precious.”

As the page took it in his hands, Kate could see the child was nervous and, when he turned, he stumbled and almost fell.

“What, brat, did I not say to be careful!” Henry cried, lifting a hand as if to strike the boy. Kate stood staring, her stomach filled with anxiety at this show of power. Suddenly the jester Kate had seen at dinner appeared and stepped in between Henry and the child.

“What now, brown cow?” quipped the jester. “Is this fool not fool enough to catch your fancy? Catch as catch can, for you'll not catch me!” He jumped to one side as Henry took a swipe at him, and then scampered around the hall on three limbs, his left arm waving in the air. He was surprisingly fast, and Henry, chuckling now, was unable to catch up with him. How could Henry change from anger to good humor so quickly? Maybe Kate had imagined his intent with the page. Surely he'd never strike a little boy? Henry looked back at Kate and motioned her to follow him. The page, Kate noted, had taken advantage of the diversion and smartly made an exit.

It wasn't far to the tennis courts and the game proceeded swiftly. Henry was a good opponent. As Kate returned his serve, she couldn't help but admire his strong frame and the commanding way he moved. He was a natural athlete who had obviously taken care to hone his skills. As the play continued, she found herself energized by the recent lack of exercise and burning with the spirit of competition. In the end, in spite of Doña Elvira's advice, she won.

“Let's have another!” said Henry, his face flushed. And Kate won again.

“You are not like any other girl I know,” he said, his eyes sparkling after her second victory. “I like your fire. But I will practice harder. I will be a fitting partner, you will see.” He straightened his velvet jacket and came so close Kate could feel his sweet breath on her face. He reached out to touch her hand where it had been scratched and she did not draw away.