Sybbie awoke bright and early the next morning, laying between her surrogate parents. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, this was the first time since it had happened that she'd had no nightmares or flashbacks. Maybe speaking to her mama and papa had helped her somewhat, she sat up against the headboard and twirled her necklace around in her fingers. She felt calm and safe. Mary's eyes flickered open, her eyes focused on her little girl.
"Good morning, darling. Did you sleep well?" Mary said quietly, looking at her husband who was still sound asleep. She sat up against the headboard, smiling when she felt Sybbie snuggle in her arms with her head resting on her chest. Sybbie nodded softly and snuggled in more, she felt so safe and loved within her embrace.
"Yes thank you, last night was the first night in a long time that I've not had a nightmare!" She said happily, looking up at Mary with love and happiness in her eyes. She was so happy, she never thought she would have a peaceful nights sleep again and last night proved her wrong. Mary was just as ecstatic, she grabbed the young girl up in a hug and squeezed her tight, Sybbie giggled happily and played with Mary's hair, twirling it around her fingers.
"Oh my darling! That's great news, I am so unbelievably proud of you! Just wait until we tell Daddy, he's going to be so happy!" Mary said, running a hand through Sybbie's long curls. She was a little apprehensive though, they still had to tell Sybbie that Commander Holmes was coming to visit them this afternoon and she wasn't sure how the young girl was going to take the news. Especially after the incident at the gravesite last night.
"What do you want to tell me?" Matthew said softly, rubbing his eyes and yawning loudly. Sybbie giggled, jumping into Matthew's arms who caught her with a small grunt as her knee collided with his stomach. Sybbie hugged him tight, she was so proud of herself that she could burst.
"Daddy! Daddy, guess what? Last night, I didn't have a single nightmare! Not one! It's the first time since it happened, isn't that great!" She said excitedly, gripping onto his neck and kissing his cheek. Matthew was so excited, he couldn't believe it! His little girl's first night without a nightmare in nearly 4 months! He got out of bed, picked her up in his arms and spun her around whilst she giggled.
"I am so proud of you! That's great news, I think that calls for a special breakfast don't you agree?" He said softly, grinning when she nodded her head and laid her head on his shoulder. Matthew stroked her hair and looked at Mary, whilst he meant the breakfast as a celebration he also knew that it was going to be a bribe to explain about the police officer who was coming to interview her today. Mary smiled indulgently, this morning was a good start and she was so proud of her little family, the only person missing was George. Oh how she wished that he was here.
An hour or so later, the three of them made their way down to breakfast. The smell of freshly baked pastries wafted around the dining room, some sweet and some savory. A perfect mix for the family, considering Mary had always prefered savory over sweet. They sat down at the table, Matthew thanking Carson profusely for getting Mrs Patmore to make the nice food for breakfast. Sybbie helped herself to two jam puffs whist Mary went straight for the cheese tarts, Matthew poured tea for everyone and settled for a chocolate filled danish.
Sybbie helped herself to another jam puff and put it into her mouth, Mary smiled indulgently at the young girl. She was just so happy to see her eating something, even if it was full of sugar. Mary cleared her throat she knew that they needed to tell her about the interview with Constable Holmes, it would be awfully cruel to spring it on her at the last moment.
"Sybbie darling, last night Constable Holmes rang he said..." She took one look at Sybbie and could see the silent panic written across the girls face. She took her hand and soothingly rubbed the back of it, her poor little girl. How she wished she didn't have to go through this.
"Shhh my darling, hush now. He said that he wants to help us put William away and that he will be coming this afternoon to speak to you, I know you're frightened my love, but this animal needs to be put in prison," Mary said softly and scooped the young girl into her lap and squeezed her tight. Sybbie sunk into her arms and sniffled a little, her heart thumping against her chest. Mary rocked her gently in her arms and shushed her, smoothing her hair from her face.
"I know he wants to help but everytime I explain what happened it hurts," her breath hitched slightly and Matthew growled, that monster was still scaring his little girl and he hated it. She didn't deserve this, no one did. Matthew got off of the chair and bent down next to Mary, gently raising Sybbie's chin so that she was looking at him. The look on her face tugged his heart strings.
"I know that you're frightened, but we will be with you every step of the way. You've already done something really difficult, you told us what happened. You exposed that monster to us, Mummy and Daddy are going to be there with you the entire time" Matthew said softly, hugging her tight when she flung herself at him. He scooped her up in a big hug, kissing her forehead and wiping her tears with his handkerchief.
"I am so proud of you... we both are," he soothed and wrapped one of his arms around Mary, pulling her in for a hug too. His girls were here, safe in his arms where they belonged.
At 3:00pm that afternoon, Carson walked into the drawing room with Constable Holmes following along behind him. Sybbie stiffened in her seat and Mary shushed her softly, telling her that it was ok and she was safe here. Carson bowed his head, said he would send for some tea to be bought in and left the room quickly, he didn't want to be in the room when all this was going on, he didn't feel like it was his place.
"Constable Holmes," Matthew said, shaking the man's hand tightly. He gestured to a seat opposite the family and he sat down awkwardly, Matthew sat on the other side of Sybbie protecting her from the other man's gaze. Constable Holmes cleared his throat.
"Mr and Mrs Crawley... Sybbie, firstly I need to apologise for my colleague's attitude. He was following the orders of our Commander, he was very clear that we were not to arrest William Marsden. It's to do with his background you see..." He said quietly, very thoroughly ashamed. He knew that this boy had done something, he could tell by the way Sybbie had reacted to questioning. No one could've faked the emotions and trauma that the young girl was displaying.
Matthew and Mary nodded slightly, whilst they didn't agree and they were very angry with the first police officer who they had spoken with for his attitude, they did get it. William and his family were extremely well off, they would have high connections with the police and possibly the court system. But money shouldn't mean that they get to evade punishment.
"It's ok, we understand. Well sort of,' Matthew immended trying to placate his wife who wasn't ok with it at all. This Constable was going out of his way to help them, risking his job in the process and Matthew was very grateful to him for doing so. Sybbie clung to Matthew's arm, fiddling with the cufflink on his sleeve. It was the only thing keeping her grounded and calm.
"Sybbie," The constable said, speaking in a soft tone of voice. He took out a pen and notepad, flicking through to a blank page. "I need you to tell me exactly what happened. I know this is frightening but I need to know everything..."
Sybbie felt sick and took a deep breath, she kept clutching Matthew's arm tightly. She tried to keep herself grounded, this was absolutely terrifying to her. She wanted to be anywhere else but here.
"It happened on August 24th... It was on a Friday. William had come over to visit, which was very normal and nothing out of the ordinary. We had luncheon, and then we decided to go on a walk round the fields of Downton. It's something that we did all the time, nothing like that had ever happened before. If I'd known then I never would've gone.." Sybbie began, tears streaming down her cheeks as Constable Holmes wrote down what she was saying. He began to feel a bit queasy at her distress, poor girl having to relive this he thought.
"We were walking along the path, just talking normally about the Summer holidays and how he'd been finding Eaton and then suddenly without any warning, he shoved me down so hard that I couldn't get my breath back. He grabbed my dress and tore it open hard, he told me to just enjoy it and that he wanted to do it for such a long time. He grabbed my breasts really hard," She flushed in embarrassment, this was absolutely mortifying. Mary shushed her quietly and kissed her cheek, giving her the strength to continue.
"I told him to stop... I begged him to. This boy was like my brother, I'd known him since I was born he was best friend's with my cousin and then he became one of my closest friends too. He just laughed at me, his eyes had turned almost black in colour. He was like a stranger, he then... he then bit my neck really hard and left bruises. I cried... alot but he seemed to enjoy it more when I cried so I tried to keep silent but it was so hard..." She choked back a sob and Matthew sat there silently fuming, how dare he. How dare William do this to her, laugh at her, violate her and humiliate her in this way. Everytime he heard it he felt physically ill, he wanted to kill him.
"He then pulled down my undergarments and did things to my body... things that really hurt in between my legs. I screamed and begged him to stop, he hurt me so much but he wouldn't! I said that I wouldn't tell anyone, but he still kept going until suddenly he stopped. He just got up and left me there, I stayed in that field for hours because I couldn't move properly. I can't say anymore! Please don't make me... Mummy! Daddy! Make it stop please..." Sybbie wept, reaching out for Mary who hugged her tight, pressing kisses to her forehead.
"Shhh Mummy's got you, you've been so brave!" She cooed, rocking her back and forth. Constable Holmes looked physically ill as he wrote what happened to the poor child, this guy was an animal and he needed locking away soon. Holmes thanked the little girl, not that she could hear him at that point and gestured for Matthew, he needed a word with him outside. Matthew followed him curiously, intrigued about that he had to say.
Matthew and Constable Holmes stood outside in the courtyard puffing on a cigar, the Constable's hand was shaking harshly. He was absolutely traumatised listening to what she had to go through and at how violent this boy was at such a young age. It was terrifying to him.
"Mr Crawley... there's something that I want to discuss with you. I don't think this is William's first offense, the level of brutality and the way he hurt her. I think he's done this before... and probably after he hurt Sybbie, I'm going to keep my ear out and try to find anyone else who's been brutalised by him" He muttered, his hand still shaking. Matthew felt sorry for him, gently patting him on the shoulder.
"Thank you for coming... I know you're risking a lot by being here," Matthew said appreciatively. The Constable nodded his head in thanks and said his goodbyes to Matthew, he needed to quickly find out anyone who had been victimised before. He knew there had to be some. Matthew headed back inside and straight to the drawing room, his heart melted as he watched his wife soothing their little girl. His smile grew as Mary spoke.
"Look who's here, it's Daddy!" She said softly, watching as Sybbie hiccuped and held her arms out for him. Burrowing within his chest and sniffling.
"Daddy..." She hiccuped, clinging onto him as tight as she could. He always made her feel safe, like nothing could get her while she was in his arms.
"Daddy's here... I am so proud of you, I know how much courage it took for you to have to go through that again. My brave girl," He whispered as she closed her eyes, falling asleep within his embrace. He subconsciously rocked her, waiting until he was certain she was asleep before continuing his conversation with Mary.
"Constable Holmes reckons that he's done this before... probably after her too," He said softly watching the anger in his wife's face. Mary knew that this was a possibility, expected it even. But to hear it said a loud was very hard to take, thinking of those poor girls that he'd probably hurt was more than she could take. Little did they know the shock they were in for later on tonight.
At around 11:00pm at night just after they had settled Sybbie down for the night, they heard a loud knock on the door. Matthew frowned slightly at the late hour, who could it be at this time of night? He wrapped his dressing gown around himself and went downstairs, Mary following on behind. He opened the door and got the shock of his life, seeing Constable Holmes stood there with Alfie Lennox in tow, one of George's best friends from infancy. He looked a state, his eyes red rimmed from crying and his normally well kept hair sticking up at odd angles as though he'd pulled it.
"May we come in? He wouldn't let me take him anywhere else," the Constable said, worryingly pacing up and down. Mary and Matthew both nodded wordlessly, opening the door wide and gestured into the library. Alfie paced up and down nervously, Matthew glanced between everyone in the room.
"Alfie... my dear chap. What's happened?" Matthew coaxed gently, watching in horror as the normally strong boy collapsed into tears. He sat there on the floor like a little boy, screaming and crying.
"He did it to me too! He hurt me!" He curled into a ball, Mary got down on her knees and sat next to him. Alfie lifted his head and rested it in her lap, he sobbed and sobbed refusing to get up off of the floor. Mary stroked his hair, her eyes filling with tears. The poor lad, he reminded her of George so much.
"Oh my darling boy..." She stroked his head, letting him cling on tight. Matthew was horrified, turning to the Constable at a loss for words. He'd never been rendered speechless before, but he was. Right now he was speechless.
"Do you want us to keep him here for the night? Where are his parents?" He whispered, running a hand through his hair in distress.
"Yes please, we don't know. He says they're in France but he's incoherent right now, we need to know what we are dealing with here. I have never in my life seen anything like this," He whispered, almost making a beeline for the door. Matthew rolled his eyes at the fact he was just running away without providing much help.
"Come on my dear boy, let's get you up and sorted. Mary, ring through to Anna and get her to set up a spare bed in our room. We will keep them both in with us tonight," He whispered, watching his wife go and do just that. Matthew gently got the young boy on his feet, his paternal instincts going through the roof as Alfie hugged on tight to him. Sobbing and pleading with him to make the images to stop, admitting to Matthew how scared he was.
"Shush, hush now. You're safe here and that's all that matters, don't worry my boy." He found himself hugging the boy tight as if it was George, soothingly running a hand through his short hair.
"Don't tell George please!" Alfie said pitifully, clutching Matthew even tighter. Matthew assured him he wouldn't, gently patting his back and whispering words of comfort.
He couldn't believe this... William had raped a boy, one of his so called friends! What in the world was going on? How many more were there?