The Meadow

"So my dear Ness what do you have in mind for us?"

She quickly jumped out of my arms and ran to where Bella sat. Then I noticed a book next to her, it was huge. This was going to be more difficult than I thought.

"Jake, before you go I would like to talk to you." Bella said

Great. Dandy.

"Yeah, sure."

I dragged my feet the whole way to her. This was not going to go well.

"Jake, it's nothing bad. Just glad to see you interested in school again?"

"Sure, sure."

With book in hand Ness jumped back into my arms. She showed me exactly how to get there from here and I followed. When we reached the clearing, the meadow was even more beautiful. Now, I really didn't want to read, I just wanted to sit here for hours watching Ness, playing with her too. I could really just…no. I needed to do this for her and for me. We sat down, Ness in my lap holding the book.

"So what are we reading about?"

"Royalty, queens and kings of England."

It was still shocking to hear her speak. She usually just showed us her thoughts.

"Interesting."

I guess, it could be all things considered. It could really be boring though, stupid royal families.

Then she showed me the story for today, King Henry VIII and his six wives.

"Six, why so many?"

"Now we read."

"Okay."

"King Henry VIII was born June 28, 1491. Did you know that Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492?" I asked

"Who is Columbus?"

"Columbus discovered the New World."

"New World?"

"America or people say."

"Interesting, maybe we will read him next. Now…"

"I know. King Henry VIII was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father King Henry VII. His coronation was on June 24, 1509 but he reigned from April 15, 1509 to January 28, 1547, the day he died."

"On June 24, 1509," continued Ness, "King Henry VIII married his brothers, Prince Arthur's widow."

"Whoa, wait he married his brothers widow. What the hell?"

"It was customary in those times."

"Weird."

"Anyway, Catherine of Argon, though before that happened they had to prove that the marriage had not been consummated. During his marriage to Catherine, Henry had at least two known of affairs. The first was to Bessie Blount, who birthed Henry's illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy. The other was Mary Boleyn, the sister of Anne Boleyn who later married Henry."

So the story continued, with them switching the story telling from time to time.

"I think you should always pick the stories Ness. That one was filled with many interesting twists and turns. I especially liked the be heading of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.

"It was okay. Nothing compares to Romeo and Juliet."

"The tragic love story, first they aren't supposed to be together but they find a way. Then, Romeo kills himself thinking that Juliet had died, and then she kills herself to be with Romeo."

"Such tragedy. I think it would be better to remember ones love than to die to be with them. You never know if you would actually ever be with them."

"True. It's all tragic."

They sat there not moving, not thinking just enjoying the moment. The peace and quiet, as the light faded away they walked back to the cottage, hearing nothing they headed to the main house.

"They are planning it sounds like."

"For what?" asked Ness

"Probably New Years."

They walked in and were suddenly in the middle of mayhem. They were planning a huge New Year's party. They seemed to be arguing over the guest list. They didn't want to invite anyone that did not know about Ness, actually they couldn't. They still wanted to protect her, too many questions would be asked.