Title: The Lost Child

Artist: William Holman Hunt

Date: 1861

Medium: Oil on Canvas

As he did most weekends, on the first weekend in April Johnny Bates made the journey Friday night from London to Downton for family dinner the following evening. When he'd left for London nearly five years earlier these dinners were a time to see his parents and younger sister. Over the years their family dinner had grown to include Annabeth's husband Charles and their two year old daughter Holly.

This weekend's dinner was just like any other, with the sole exception that Johnny seemed abnormally disengaged from the banter he'd become an expert in over the years. He'd done his best to pay attention to the discussion between the adults and had managed to comment a few times, but it was Holly's shout of anger after several minutes of insistently tugging at his sleeve that brought the entire table's attention to just how distracted he was.

It wasn't until after his sister's family was heading out the door with his mother at their side to see them out that John called his son out on his unusual behavior. "You're awfully quiet tonight, son."

"Sorry." Johnny shook his head briefly before plastering on an obviously fake smile. "I suppose I've just got a lot on my mind."

John's brow raised slightly as he poured whiskey for himself and his son in two glasses, placing the latter on the table between them. "Is something troubling you?"

Johnny shrugged a bit, gratefully accepting the drink in front of him and downing it in a single swig before suddenly asking, "What would you do if you knew a girl was in trouble and that she was trying to hide it?"

"What kind of trouble?" John narrowed his gaze, seeming to already know where this was headed.

Johnny shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not really interested in discussing the details of the situation but certain that there was no getting out of it now. "The kind of trouble only unmarried women find themselves in."

"Johnathan Bates if you got a girl pregnant so help me–" Anna swore harshly as she entered the sitting room from the front hall.

"I didn't!" Johnny protested, his hands raising instinctively in surrender to his mother's glare. "I really didn't, Mum. I'm truly just asking."

"You must have a reason for asking, son." John laughed in disbelief. "Are you sure there's not something you'd like to tell us?"

"It's just that…" Johnny trailed off once more, engaging in an internal debate between the concern he felt for his friend and his guilt at betraying her privacy. The latter eventually won out. "I saw Lizzie in London and…"

"Oh." Anna replied quietly before her eyes snapped to her son's in sudden realization. "Oh! Are you quite sure?"

Johnny nodded nervously, his own gaze darting back and forth between his parents in an attempt to gauge their reaction. "She hasn't said anything but… her orders at the shop have changed and she's seemed out of sort for months. I wouldn't have suspected anything, but I noticed she's been gaining weight in all the right places and losing it in the others."

Anna smacked his knee lightly in disapproval as she took a seat next to her son on the settee. "I ought to wallop you for ogling that poor girl like that."

"Mum, I've known her since we were just kids!" Johnny protested once again. "She's like a sister to me. Nothing more, I swear it. I've just been worried."

"I didn't know Elizabeth was seeing anyone." John remarked suddenly.

At this point in the conversation Johnny's hesitation was gone and he openly admitted, "That's the thing, I don't think she is."

Anna grabbed his knee again suddenly, her eyes frantically searching for her son's at his last remark. "What do you mean by that?"

"Lizzie and I run in the same circles - or at least we used to - and I've never heard mention of a boyfriend. Or even a date for that matter." Johnny explained as he reached to pour himself another drink only to be stopped by his mother swatting at his hand.. "She's always been far too focused on her work for all of that."

"Did something happen?" Anna pressed urgently, obviously even more concerned than her son about the youngest Molesley daughter. "Why did she stop spending time with you?"

"Anna, the boy doesn't deserve the third degree over something none of us should be talking about anyway." John chided but his wife's expectant stare towards their son left no question as to whether an answer was still expected.

Johnny shrugged, moving his own gaze towards his father in an attempt to reduce the sudden intensity of the conversation. "I haven't seen her socially in months. I only ever see her now when she comes into the shop and even that's been waning over the last couple of weeks."

He was more than surprised when Anna reached up to his chin and turned his face back towards her before quietly asking, "Johnny, is there any chance that Lizzie's been abused?"

"Oh… um… I don't know." Johnny paled immediately at the question. "I hadn't thought of it before to be honest, so I'm not really sure."

Anna shook her head in obvious frustration. "Has she seemed distant or avoidant?"

"Not… not that I can remember." Johnny stammered anxiously.

"You said she's been out of sorts for months." Anna pressed further, her own distress obvious in her voice. "Have there been any injuries or bruises?"

"Anna." John reached across the small coffee table to take his wife's hand in his to get her attention. "If you're concerned, take it up with Phyllis when you see her next. Asking our son to speculate about the goings on in the bedroom of his childhood friend is far from appropriate."

"It didn't have to happen in a bedroom." Anna snapped back, pulling her hand harshly out of his as she jumped up from the settee to storm out of the room

Johnny watched his mother's sudden departure with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. He waited several minutes before quietly asking his father, "Are we going to talk about that?"

"I'd rather not if it's the same to you." John replied, reaching for the bottle of whiskey once more. "I think we could both use another round tonight."

Despite her best efforts, it was a few days before Anna managed to cross paths with Phyllis Molesley. While she was still working at Crawley House for Lady Mary, Phyllis had been working as a seamstress from home after Cora's passing over a year prior so the pair saw much less of each other than they did before. As the days passed she found herself increasingly frustrated by how unfamiliar she was with the other woman's schedule until she saw her several meters in front of her on her walk home through the village.

"Phyllis!" She called out immediately, causing the woman to turn around in obvious confusion until she spotted Anna waving wildly.

"Anna." Phyllis greeted warmly, stopping in her path to allow the younger woman to catch up with her. "It's been awhile since I've seen you. How are you doing?"

"I'm… I'm alright." Anna replied hurriedly. "But I've been meaning to talk to you about something. Do you have a moment?"

"Of course." Phyllis agreed immediately, guiding Anna to the nearest bench and taking a seat next to her before waiting patiently for her to catch her breath, and possibly steel her nerves, before she finally asked, "Anna, is everything alright?"

Anna shook her head and sighed as she launched into her explanation, "I hate to interfere, but when John and I were visiting with Johnny this weekend he mentioned that Elizabeth hasn't come home in awhile and… I just wanted to check in and see how she's doing."

Phyllis stared back at her in apparent confusion for a moment before frowning and observing, "You're not telling me something."

"I'm not." Anna agreed easily with a significant frown. "I don't want to needlessly worry you with speculation and gossip from my son, but he's worried about her."

It was Phyllis's turn to frown at her friend's obvious distress. "Is there a particular reason why?"

"I… I don't feel it's my place to say." Anna stammered awkwardly. "I maybe shouldn't have even brought it up but–"

"Anna?" Phyllis stopped her cautiously. "Surely whatever it is can't be that bad."

Anna's pale face told her everything she needed to know, but her quiet assurance that, "You should go see your daughter." pushed her concern even further.

"Anna?" Phyllis insisted desperately. "What do you know?"

"She needs you." Anna replied quietly. "Whatever is going on, and I truly don't know what that is, I do know that she needs you."

When Joseph returned from work that evening he was surprised to find a suitcase open on the kitchen table and small piles of his wife's clothing scattered around their front room. Before he could make sense of it he heard his wife's footsteps as she hurried down the stairs.

"What's all this?" He asked brightly as he approached her brightly, only to immediately frown in concern when his wife quickly moved past him to begin packing.

"I'm going to London." Phyllis replied distractedly.

"Whatever for?" Joseph laughed slightly at the absurdity of it all until his wife turned to him with tears in her eyes.

"I… I need to check on Elizabeth." She stammered quietly, as the tears began to fall.

Joseph set his bag down next to the sideboard and crossed the room to wipe the tears from his wife's cheeks as he whispered, "You're frightening me, darling. Is everything alright?"

"I'm not sure." Phyllis admitted as she leaned against his chest. "Anna said Johnny mentioned she'd been out of sorts lately and asked if we'd heard from her."

Joseph frowned as he did the mental calculations himself. His cheeks were flush with the same embarrassment hers had been at the realization of how long it had been since they'd heard from their youngest daughter. "It's been weeks hasn't it?"

Phyllis nodded. "No letters since January or calls in the last few weeks. Not to mention that it's been months since she visited."

"How did we not realize?" Joseph shook his head in confusion.

"She said she needed to work over the holidays for the extra pay." Phyllis reminded him as she pulled away to continue packing. "She wrote us a thanks for her birthday parcel, and called at Mother's Day, but there's been no discussion at all about Easter this Sunday. Not to mention any other plans to visit."

"It's no wonder we didn't notice." Joseph sighed in frustration. "She's done a good job of keeping in contact without actually being in contact. If we add in Ellie's hospitalizations in February and March that have left us with Michael more days than we haven't this year…" He trailed off as he began to absorb the magnitude of troubles his youngest daughter could be trying to hide by avoiding them. "I can't believe we've just let her slip through the cracks."

"We haven't." Phyllis insisted pointedly as she closed her suitcase tightly. "Not yet anyway."

"You're right." Joseph nodded with a small smile before pulling his wife into his arms once more and pressing his lips to her forehead. "Take all the time you need in London, you understand? Don't come home until you're certain Lizzie's alright."

NOTES:

Content Warnings:
Reference to Abuse & Rape/Non-Con; Pregnancy (Mentioned)

Chapter Recap (Contains Spoilers):
Johnny Bates lets it slip to his parents that he thinks Elizabeth Molesley is pregnant leading Anna to suspect foul play. Anna speaks to Phyllis who realizes it's been a long time since she and Joseph have heard from their youngest daughter. Phyllis gets ready to leave for London to check on Elizabeth.

Author's Note:
This story is a continuation of the world in my works "If I Can't Remember My Past, I'm Condemned to Repeat It" and "The Truth is Rarely Pure and Never Simple". I'm working to ensure that this story is enjoyable for readers who have read the other stories in this series as well as those who are only interested in this work, but I may miss the mark from time to time so please feel free to let me know if elements of character's backstories aren't making sense.

If you'd like to connect with me outside of AO3, you can find me over on tumblr ml-quinn.

A Note About Content Warnings:
The stories in this series deal with numerous heavy topics that may be distressing or triggering for some readers. To give readers who may have concerns about some of the tagged content warnings on these works the opportunity to enjoy them, comprehensive content warnings and chapter recaps are included in each chapter's end note. All readers should note that these warnings & recaps contain spoilers for each chapter. While I've done my best to include appropriate warnings, there is an inherent element of fallibility in the determination of content warnings by a single person. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you feel that something has not been properly included in these warnings.