It is Wednesday morning, and we all agree to meet up before school to give Kitty our cards. But when we get to our agreed meeting spot, we discover that Anne, George, and Mary Boleyn are waiting for us with their belongings. 'Please don't tell me your parents kicked you out!' Jane cries.
'Not our parents,' George corrects. 'It was our uncle.' He is around the same height as Anne and has dark hair and eyes. Like us, he's wearing his school uniform, but his tie is much shorter, and he's wearing a warm hoodie.
'He found out about Anne and George and threw them out,' Mary adds. She's standing beside George and Anne. 'When they did, I packed our stuff and left. I got as much as I could.' Mary is older than Anne and is at college doing her A-levels, so she's not wearing a uniform. She tied her blonde hair into two ponytails, and she's wearing a warm coat and a pair of jeans. All three are shivering in the cold.
'I'd never want you three to become homeless!' Kitty cries. 'Cata, surely Isabella can take them in?'
'Oh, we remembered your birthday gifts,' Anne says and holds a card out to Kitty. Kitty takes it, thinks for a moment, and then hands it back.
'I can't take it, not when you three don't know where you're going.'
'I've already called Sarah Jane while you lot were coming. She and Ruby agreed to look after us for a while, at least until Mary gets a job.'
'I have a part-time job, and it pays well.' Mary shoots back at her sister. 'Just not well enough for a house. I offered to start paying some of the bills, but they refused.'
'Mum and Mummy can be like that sometimes,' I agree.

We all sit at the park for a few minutes and give Kitty her cards. Catalina checks her watch. 'We're going to be late again.'
'Please, let's not go yet,' Anne says. 'I feel happy here.'
'If Mum and Mummy find out that you're late to school, they'll not be happy.'
'Understatement of the year, Emma.' But we're all smiling again.
'I better get off, see if I can salvage any more of our stuff,' Mary says. 'I'll see you guys after school.' We wave goodbye to Mary and set off to school. On the way, Anne and George drop off their belongings, and Anne adds George to the group chat with the username GeorgeBoleyn.

GeorgeBoleyn changed their username to BraveBoleyn

BeheadedBoleyn: Great username, bro

'Anne, we're walking together; you could have easily said that!' George laughs.
'Sorry, not sorry- hey, that should be one of the lyrics in my song!' Anne types it into her phone before we arrive at school. The bell rings, and we separate. George is in year seven, so he doesn't have the same classes as us. We all head off to history and begin studying.

Our substitute arrives but doesn't know what we're meant to study. Our last teacher didn't leave any notes or anything, so the substitute doesn't know what to do. We explain that we were meant to learn about Elizabeth I, but not sure what we're meant to learn after that.

The substitute doesn't have any PowerPoints or anything, so we end up sharing textbooks and learning that way. By the end of the lesson, everyone is bored and wants to do something else. Almost all of us breathe a sigh of relief when the bell rings.

At break time, we are sitting together when George walks over. 'Hi,' he says, and he sits with us.
'Don't you have friends?' Anne asks.
'They all abandoned me,' George shakes his head. 'I think we need a safe space at this school, or at least educate others on the LGBT community. Section 28 was repealed in 2003, so schools can teach about the LGBT community or offer a support group.'
'Maybe they don't think many people here are LGBT, so that's stopping them,' Kitty says. 'But there must be more people than the seven of us.'
'Maybe we need to make a support group or something of our own to let the school know that we are here,' Jane says. 'So many people can benefit from it, and Mr Blakeman might listen.' We start nodding, but before we can suggest any ideas, the bell rings.

When we head back home, we all go to Catalina's house to celebrate Kitty's birthday. Mary is waiting for us. She's gathered more of their belongings and left them at number 13 before coming over with decorations to help Isabella and Ferdinand set up ready for the party. But Kitty doesn't look like she wants to celebrate. She must be thinking about her family, and I can understand why. If I ever lose Mum and Mummy, I'll be in the same situation. 'I don't want to celebrate my birthday,' Kitty says.
'We understand, Kitty,' Anne says. 'Is there anything else you'd rather do?'
'Can we play monopoly with no rules?'
'Do what now?' Jane asks.

I never played monopoly, let alone one that has no rules. It could be interesting, or it could be a complete flop. The only rule for the game is that there are no rules. We all start at the starting point with £1,500, and Catalina rolls the dice. I notice on the board that the normal names on the squares are different- either Anne or Kitty scribbled them out and replaced them with something different. Many of the squares are different and have different historical places, companies, or things. Catalina rolls a six and lands on Hampton Court. She buys the property. 'You need to draw a Tudor card,' Anne says.

Even the cards are different; they have periods of time on, making the game interesting. Catalina draws a Tudor card and studies it.
'Well?' Jane asks. 'What does it say?'
'"You have to imprison someone in the Tower for crimes they didn't commit."' Catalina studies our pieces then she picks up Anna's crown piece and places it in the Tower.
'Hey!' Anna yells. 'That's not fair.'
'That's the rule of the game. Anne, you're next.' Anne picks up the dice and rolls. She gets a five and lands on Shibden Hall.
'I don't want to buy the property.' Her hand hovers over the Stuart cards. 'Let's just do it. What's the worst that can happen.'
'Why are you picking up a Stuart card?' Jane asks.
'When you don't buy a property, company or thing if it's on that square, you need to pick up a card from the previous era, unless you're at the Tudor era.'
'But if you buy a property, you pick a card from that era?'
'Exactly. Oh, and if there isn't anything to buy on that square, you pick up a card from that era.' Anne picks up her card. '"The King will die in the morning. Either give up your property and go back to the start or lose your money." I don't have a property, so I should just go back to the start.' Anne places her piece back at the start point and hands the dice to Jane.

Soon, Jane, Anna and Kitty finished their goes. None of them landed on the very early 1910s square, as no one rolled a one yet. I take the dice from Kitty and roll. I get a one and go to that space. There is no property or company. I pick up an Edwardian card.

You fall in love with an officer on the RMS Titanic. One of the other players picks him at random.

I read out what's on the card. Anne picks up the officers' card that's on top and hands it to me. I turn it over to reveal William Murdoch. There is a small fact file below his picture, and I read through it while Catalina has her go.

Wives: 2 (Ada Banks- September 1907- October 1910 Divorced. Emma Smith-White- 13th April 1912- 15th April 1912, his death)

'I thought there were no rules to this game,' Jane says, turning to Anne. 'You said that this version of monopoly has no rules. I can see some rules.'
'Okay, there are a couple of rules,' Anne quickly backpedals as she picks up the dice.
'And you only decide to mention that while we're playing?' Catalina smirks. 'That's like you, Anne.' She moves her piece two spaces and picks up a Tudor card.
'If you land on a square and buy something, you draw a card from that era. If the square doesn't have anything, you go with the time period on the square. If you opt not to buy something, you choose a card from an earlier period. The Tower acts like a prison. Those are the only rules, I think.'
'What about the non-playable characters, the ones on the cards? What do you do with them?' Anna asks.
'The non-playable characters are a bit like... actually, we haven't planned that. We need some better rules.'

Anne has a go, and Jane has her turn next. Then, Anna decides to pull a heist. 'I'm stealing £20,000 from the bank!'
'I'm going with my love interest to stop the heist!' I say.
'I'm pulling a gun on your love interest.'
'I'm giving my love interest immortality and eternal youth.'
'I put blanks in Anna's gun!' Kitty yells.
'Anna Cleves, I'm arresting you for pulling a heist on the bank,' Catalina says and places Anna in the Tower.
'Not again!' Anna yells.

Kitty has her go next, and we all hold her breath as she rolls. She lands on a square that says White Star Line. 'I'm buying the company. All officers, except for the one Emma is in love with, belong to me.'
'Excuse me, what?!' Jane asks. 'Are you saying that Charles Lightoller and William Murdoch now work for you?'
Kitty takes the White Star Line Officer cards and looks through them. 'EMMA, WHAT WERE THE CHANCES OF YOU GETTING WILL MURDOCH?!' I grab the dice and roll it.
'I'm getting Charles out of the White Star Line, and I'll set up my own shipping company!'
'Anne, tell Emma she can't do that!'
'She can,' Anne says.
'I'm giving Emma £500 to put towards her shipping company,' Jane says, handing £500 to me. I pass the dice to Catalina.

'I'm going to start a chocolate business, and all of you must work for me.'
'We're starting a revolution and overthrowing you.'

We play the game for some time, and we get very loud. Soon, we have people banging on the door, telling us to keep it down. During that time, Catalina got killed by Anna during the revolution, Jane chucked me into the Tower, but I escaped, and Anne and Kitty ended up in a gunfight that fatally hit both. Now, only three players remain.

Just as we're about to complete the game, Mum and Mummy turn up. They decide to watch us finish playing. Jane rolls the dice and ends up blowing up Anna with an explosive. I notice Mum and Mummy staring at each other in shock. 'Your move, Emma,' Jane says, folding her arms.
'Will and I are stealing all your money and property before sailing off into the sunset together.'
'NO!'
'And there's also a devastating earthquake that kills you.'
'Why you—'
'Anna, why did you blow me up during the revolution?' Catalina demands.
'It was for the good of all the workers!'
'I'm sorry for the gunfight, Kitty!' Anne yells.
'Did my £500 towards your shipping company mean nothing to you?!'
'Maybe Kitty shouldn't have brought the White Star Line!'
'Cata, why did you chuck me in the Tower?'
'Because it was on the card!'

'Do we want to know what's going on?' Mum asks.
'Well, how was it?' Anne asks. 'Will you lot play again?' The older Emma comes in, her shoulders slumped. 'Emma, what's wrong?' Emma hands an official-looking letter to Anne.
'What is it?' Jane asks.
'The head of the White Waves Line had employed someone new to be the second officer.'
'And they completely overlooked you? I don't believe it!' Anne hands the letter back. 'You've worked so hard for it.'
'I know,' Emma sighs, and she sits down with us. 'A hundred and six—soon to be a hundred and seven—years of sailing, and they look past me and employ another guy. I'm the only female officer on the Orissa, and I want to prove to every little girl that they can be whatever they want to be.'
'It's a disgrace,' Mummy adds. 'Did they say why they overlooked you?'
'They say I work too hard. But I know if I stop, I'll remember him, and—'
'You mean to say you never properly mourned Will?!' Jane demands.
'Even on the Carpathia, Emma was busy helping others,' Anne reminds her. 'She never stopped working, and it drove her to exhaustion.'
'They think I'm driving myself to the point of collapse again,' Emma adds. 'They want me to take a break and return to the Orissa in May.'
'But that's several months away!' Catalina yells. 'What are you going to do in the meantime?'
'I'll figure something out.' Emma stands up. 'But I can't let this get me down.'
'It's okay to feel sad,' Jane says. 'I think you need it now.'
Emma shakes her head. 'I'm not sad, just disappointed.'
'You never mourned Will. He'd want you to—'

'Don't tell me what Will would or wouldn't want me to do!' Emma screams, turning to face Jane. 'You didn't know him as I did!'
'I know, I know,' Jane whispers, and she stands up. 'None of us knew him as you did. But he wouldn't want you to exhaust yourself again.'
'If I start mourning, I'll start crying, and I'll never stop. I've bottled up my feelings for ninety-four years.' Emma turns back to the door. 'Maybe one day, I'll let my feelings out. But that's not today.' Emma walks out, and we stare after her.

'Has Emma been sailing for ninety-four years?' Mum asks.
'She started in September 1912, despite being pregnant—and knowing it,' Anne adds.
'I was pregnant?' I breathe. The older Emma must have a lot of resilience, and she's stubborn.
'Your teachers tried to deter you, but you were having none of it. Of course, you took some time off, but even then, you were still reading about sailing or doing stuff in preparation for the birth.'
'What happened?' Mummy asks.
'Emma at first wanted to give the baby up for adoption,' Catalina says. 'But Jane told her husband, Charles Lightoller, and he convinced Emma not to do it. The baby was Will's, you see. If Emma gave Sky up, she would've let go of the last thing Will gave her. When Charles explained it like that, Emma did a complete one-eighty. Once she gave birth to Sky, she was determined to always keep her daughter with her. It meant that at least one of us would be on the same ship as her so Sky could be there.'
'She even did that during the First and Second World War,' Anne says. 'The First World War, I get that. Sky was one when it broke out, but the Second World War? Sky was twenty-six!'
'But Sky wanted to stay with Emma,' Jane cries. 'She said that all the time.' Jane turns her attention back to Mum and Mummy. 'Maybe Sky was worried that Emma wasn't as strong as she made out to be.'
'What happened to Sky? Where is she?' Mum asks.
'Sky disappeared in January 1998. She was eighty-five.'
'But that's an age most people die at.'
'Emma made her immortal, and Sky was stuck as a teenager! So, Sky wouldn't die. She must've been kidnapped. But then-toddler Emma would start nursery again, and we had to be there for her. Sadly, we left Emma to search for her daughter alone. She still hasn't found Sky.'

I don't want to end today on a sad note, not on Katheryn's birthday. 'Hey, we've organised a trip to the zoo for Saturday,' Anne says.
'You did?' Kitty asks. She starts smiling, her eyes glittering. 'You're all the best friends ever! Thank you so much!'