Mary frowned slightly, she understood where he was coming from. More than understood, in fact but this... murder? She wasn't sure. Everything that had happened, every single decision that they had made regarding Sybbie had blown up in their face. Mary pulled Matthew up out of the bed and led him to the bathroom, she didn't want to have this conversation in front of Sybbie just in case she woke up.
"Matthew my darling, really I understand where you're coming from! There is nothing that I want more than to see this monster pay for what he's done but think, what if you get caught? What if you go to prison or get hanged? You're not above the law!" Mary sat on his lap and stroked his face, kissing every inch of his face when she saw his tears. She stroked his hair and pulled him even closer, watching as he laid his head on her chest.
"That bastard hurt our little girl beyond repair, she will never get over this! I mean eventually she might be able to live a normal life, get married and have children but her views on intimacy are skewed now and he did this to her! He hurt our son too and look at what he's done to Alfie and that poor little boy in first year!" Matthew growled angrily, allowing Mary to kiss and hug him tight. She knew what he meant and had felt that too, after Pamuk she never thought she would be able to make love with anyone ever again, until he came along.
"She will find a good man, eventually. She's still so young, my love. She's only 14, she doesn't need to think about men or getting married just yet. We can't take the law into our own hands darling, we are better than that!" Mary said, rubbing his back and kissing away his pain and her own. Matthew didn't want to admit it but he knew she was right, what use to his family would he be in prison or worse. He looked into her eyes, falling more in love with her. She was his pillar of strength, his confidant, his best friend and the only person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
"Come on my darling, let's go back to bed. We've got a busy day tomorrow," Mary grimaced slightly. They were going to the school tomorrow to take Sybbie out of school and make a massive complaint about what happened to her, they had let her down so badly. Matthew pulled her into a tight hug, pressing kisses to her forehead and led them back into their bedroom. They got back into their side of the bed, smiling as Sybbie nuzzled into them in her sleep. She was safe in their arms, nothing bad could happen to her there.
It was 5:30 in the morning when Sybbie awoke with a scream, she looked around the room and burst into tears. She'd had another horrific nightmare about what had happened at school, she felt physically ill all over again. She just wanted it all to stop, she hated this and she hated William for starting all of this off in the first place. Mary awoke with a start, looking at her little girl and seeing her tears, she wrapped her up in a hug and allowed her to lay in her arms and sob.
"Another nightmare darling?" She whispered, running a hand up and down her back whilst Sybbie nodded pitifully and snuggled in her arms. Mary kissed her forehead and pulled her closer, soothingly stroking her hair and shushing her. She didn't deserve this, her little girl didn't deserve to feel this way at all. It made her so angry and sometimes she wished that she could tell Matthew to kill William.
"Shush my darling, mummy's got you. You're safe here, daddy's also right next to you. Do you really think that he'd let that monster anywhere near you?" She said softly, getting a giggle from the little girl despite her tears. She knew that as long as they were by her side that no harm could come to her. She sat up slightly and wiped her tears, she knew that she wouldn't fall back to sleep now. She was well and truly wide awake and so was Mary.
"Mummy... can I write to Donk and Grandmama?" She whispered softly, realising that they had no idea of anything that was going on. She felt ready to talk to them, to tell them the mess that her life had become over the last few months. Mary paled slightly as she soon realised that they hadn't a clue about it, she felt like it wasn't her place to tell them. It wasn't her secret to tell, she nodded and beckoned the little girl out of the room so that Matthew could sleep. She took Sybbie down to the library and sat down with her, getting her a pen and a lot of paper.
"There you go, you write to Donk and Grandmama. I know they miss you, they won't blame you for any of this. I promise you my darling, they could never hate you" Mary soothingly rubbed her back, getting a book and starting to read giving Sybbie some privacy to write her letter. She began to write, taking a huge deep breath as she did.
Dearest Donk and Grandmama,
I'm so sorry that you've not heard from me for so long! But the truth is, something really bad happened to me back in August. I don't know quite how to explain it properly, but here it goes. William Marsden, the boy who George and I were once best friends with well, he hurt me. We went out for a walk around the estate, like we would do all the time and suddenly he just turned on me, he hurt me really bad in between my legs and he's caused me a lot of damage there. I am so sorry that you have to read this Donk, but it's just all been one huge mess!
Aunt Mary and Uncle Matthew didn't find out until November, I didn't want to tell them at all but I couldn't hide it any longer. I lost so much weight, I didn't like being touched and I wouldn't let Anna dress me either because I was so ashamed of what he had done to me. But well, it came out just after breakfast one day. I broke down and Aunt Mary figured it out, they were both so kind to me and have looked after George and I super well. He's devastated by it too as you can imagine, he beat William so badly and he too got hurt but he protected me.
There's also something else that I need to tell you, I have started to call Aunt Mary and Uncle Matthew Mummy and Daddy... you don't mind do you? It just slipped out one day after I'd had a really bad flashback and it's sort of just stuck. They really feel like my mummy and daddy, they are always there for me and they are there through every bad dream and every bad thing that has happened since. I will let you both know about that in future letters. I just want you to know, that I'm not replacing mama and papa. I love them dearly, but mummy and daddy have been there so much and it only seemed right somehow.
I miss you both loads and I am sending my love, please write or visit soon.
Your loving Granddaughter, Sybbie.
Sybbie finished writing and sealed it into an envelope ready for postage, she turned to Mary and smiled bravely. She leaned into her for a cuddle, smiling as that same feeling of safety washed over her. Mary kissed her forehead, they laid cuddled in each others embrace for hours. Mary was so proud of Sybbie for making the choice to tell her grandparents everything that had happened. Her brave little girl.
It was now midday and they were getting ready to go to the school, really Matthew and Mary didn't want Sybbie to come with them. In case she was traumatised all over again, in case she saw the monsters who did this to her. But Sybbie would not be left alone, she didn't want to be without them for a second. She had thrown a tantrum when they had tried to broach the subject, although they knew she wasn't being disobedient or unruly as others might have thought. She was just a traumatised little girl who was trying her best, feeling emotions that were much too big for her to understand.
Reluctantly, Mary took her hand and Matthew followed behind them keeping a protective watch on his two girls. Sybbie holding onto the letter that she had written for her Grandmama and Donk, she kept it close to her chest until they came across a post box. She fed it through the opening and then ran back to her surrogate parents, latching onto their hands as they continued walking.
"I'm sorry..." She said softly, Matthew and Mary both looked puzzled. Why was she apologising to them? Mary raised her eyebrow and bent slightly to her level.
"Why are you apologising darling?" Mary said soothingly, taking the little girls face in her hands and rubbing her cheeks. Sybbie sighed softly and leaned into her touch, the guilt she felt was overflowing her body and tears slid down her cheeks. Mary and Matthew both grew more concerned, they hated seeing her cry.
"Because I threw a tantrum earlier and wouldn't let you leave me behind, I was badly behaved and I shouted at you like a toddler!" Sybbie hiccuped slightly and Mary had to hide a giggle, only stopping herself because of how upset the poor child was. The tantrum Sybbie was referring to was barely anything to worry about, the poor girl hadn't been rude. She'd just been terribly upset and no wonder! She was going through something that people double her age would struggle with. Matthew picked her up in his arms and hid her from any prying eyes from the village. He shushed her and rocked her, wiping her tears and kissed her cheek.
"Baby you have done nothing wrong, you are traumatised and upset. Of course you're upset and struggling, it's normal. We aren't angry with you, shhh my darling, hush now. We're here, mummy and daddy are here!" He said softly, comforting her in his arms for the rest of the way. He smiled at her encouragingly and Sybbie smiled back, love shining in her eyes for her parents. Seeing the school in the distance, Matthew put Sybbie down and they both held her hand instead.
"Mary, darling I want you to wait outside with Sybbie. I will talk to the headteacher myself, I don't want her in there." Matthew said softly and Mary understood, it would only traumatise the girl more if she was in there. Mary stopped outside the door and Matthew smiled softly and kissed Sybbie and Mary on the cheek. Here goes nothing...
Mary flinched hearing her husband's normally calm voice rise several octaves, hearing his hand slam against the desk from the open window. She was trying to keep Sybbie occupied, gently whispering sweet nothings into her ear. They deserved every bit of this, they had failed their little girl.
Matthew was absolutely livid! He paced the room of that office, fuming that something like this happened to her in a place where she was meant to be safe! He got closer to the headmaster who wilted under his gaze, that just made Matthew angrier. What a coward he was!
"My little girl was brutally assaulted by a number of your students! They ganged up on her like a pack of wolves, she's so little! She didn't stand a chance against them! What are you going to do about it!" He growled, refraining himself from grabbing the other man by the shirt which is what he wanted to do.
"Well until you tell me who it was, not a lot. I sympathise with you Mr Crawley but this is the second time something of this nature has happened to her, maybe she just shouldn't be allowed out on her own," the man said and Matthew nearly launched himself across the table at him, how dare he blame his daughter for something that wasn't her fault!
"Try the whole fucking class! Even if they didn't physically attack her, most of the students are covering for the ones who did! How dare you blame my little girl! I am the future earl of Grantham and I can make your life incredibly difficult if I want to!" Matthew snarled, he wasn't one for threatening or blackmail but when it came to his children all rules went out of the window. The man paled under Matthew's gaze.
"Ok, I'll try and get to the bottom of this.." He said paling even more when Matthew glared at him, his gaze piercing through him.
"You'll do more than try!" He snarled and stalked off out of the office, making his way out and being hugged by Sybbie. He picked her up and hugged her tight, feeling her wet cheeks against his shoulder. He glanced at Mary with concern, wondering what was wrong with the young girl. He visibly relaxed when Mary mouthed, 'she missed you'. He hugged her tight, kissing her cheek and soothing her.
"Daddy..." She clung to his shirt, all she wanted was him and her mummy. They walked out of the school gates, all of them breathing a sigh of relief. Matthew kept comforting Sybbie and wrapped an arm around Mary, they had made sure that Sybbie was never going back to that school and hopefully put the fear of god into that head teacher. He would think twice before being so blase again.
Later on in the evening, Matthew was up in his study filling out some forms when the phone rang. Matthew frowned, it was very late at night who could it be?! He answered it, not expecting who it was on the end of the line.
"George? It's 11:00 at night! Are you ok? What's happened?" He could hear the boys tears and ragged breathing, he could hear the terror in his voice.
"Papa... I've done something bad, really bad. I've done something stupid!" George burst into a huge sob, looking at his surroundings and knowing that this time he might have gone too far. Way too far.
"George... shush my boy, what's happened! Where are you? Tell me at once!" Matthew said, trying to keep his voice low so that he wouldn't disturb Mary or Sybbie. He felt a chill go through his body, he could tell that something was very badly wrong. His fears were confirmed.
"William's dead... I killed him! I think he's dead!" George sobbed loudly as he took in the body of his once close friend, his eyes fixed open and staring at him. Matthew dropped his glass of whiskey in shock, getting up off of the chair and grabbing his coat. His boy needed him, he needed to fix this, he wouldn't let his boy get in trouble for doing the right thing
"Tell me everything George!" Matthew whispered, his heart racing.