Free Lost in London by Cindy Callaghan Page B

feasted on the old stone buildings. I imagined ladies in layered lacy dresses, maybe a poor fellow locked in a stockade, and a stray dog scampering for a scrap of bread.
    We took a long bridge that passed over a grassy path. I overheard a tour guide, who was dressed in a yeoman’s tunic, saying that the plush greenway was once a moat. I took lots of pictures.
    “The deep water was like a security system,” Sam added. “It was probably filled with man-eating fish.”
    “Now, that’s cool,” Ellie said. “Too bad they filled it in.”
    Caroline’s mobile rang. She answered it and spoke for just a second in hushed tones that I couldn’t decipher. “It was Stepmummy. She got the picture, and noticed J.J. wasn’t all smiles. I assured her you were having a grand old time.” Then she asked, “So, where are the jewels?”
    I looked at the map. “For the Jewel House we need to go this way.”
    “Then let’s head over there.” Caroline hooked her arminto mine and walked with me like we were Dorothy and the lion parading down the yellow brick road. (I would be the lion in that scene.) I was continuing to follow the directions, when I saw something that I thought Ellie would be interested in. It had that horror-movie feel to it. “See this tower?” I asked her. “They call it the Bloody Tower.”
    “Awesome,” Ellie said. “Let’s go in.”
    “Oh, yes! Let’s,” Caroline said excitedly, too excitedly? Or was she actually getting into this?
    We walked inside the Bloody Tower. A cool feeling of death and despair was everywhere as I followed the signs and led the group up a narrow spiral staircase surrounded by stone walls. Velvet ropes blocked us from a small room that held only a few pieces of furniture: an ornate wooden chair, a writing desk, a small wooden bed against the wall. There was light from just one square window.
    “I don’t see any ghosts,” Ellie said. “What a rip-off.”
    We followed the gloomy corridors, whose silence felt very haunted. The corridors were narrow and bendy. Occasionally there was a mirror in the corner, angled so that you could see if someone was coming from the other direction. I didn’t like the eerie feeling in this place. I walked fast until I made it outside to the warm sun.
    I continued walking in the direction of the jewels,but then I saw the Tower Green. I stopped and stared at the square patch of grass. It was smaller than I’d imagined, considering what went on there.
    “What is it?” Sam asked me. “What’s wrong?”
    “This is the Tower Green. It’s where they held public executions,” I said.
    Caroline said, “That’s what the medieval times were all about. Maybe it’s novel to you because Columbus hadn’t even discovered America yet. But we know all about it.”
    I didn’t know what to say; this was new to me. Maybe they’d seen it all before, but I hadn’t.
    Caroline looked like maybe she realized her comment was insensitive, and tried to gloss it over. “But that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?” She smiled. “To see our wonderful history.”
    I stared at the Green. “I especially like Anne Boleyn’s story. It’s so romantic and tragic,” I said.
    “I love romance,” Gordo said.
    “I love tragic,” Ellie said.
    “Go on,” Caroline. “Tell us what you know about her.”
    I was a little apprehensive because I couldn’t tell if she really wanted to hear the story. “Well, King Henry was married to Catherine when he fell madly in love with Anne, one of her lady’s maids. Henry and Annemarried, and their love was true and deep. They had a daughter who later became queen. But after they had been married for several years, King Henry began courting Lady Jane Seymour and he wanted to marry her. So that the new marriage could be legal, he told everyone that Anne had bewitched him to make him fall in love with her. Anne was locked away in the Tower and eventually executed—in this exact spot right here.” A chill went through my