Barrow's Boy - A Downton Abbey Fanfiction

Percy

     Drafting letters was not Percy Wilson's forte. Especially not when they were for his mother in Chicago, whom he had not seen since he was seven. Who had her own family there, with a husband and two children who weren't white or half-white and who she spent every bloody day with. Especially when mentions of Winifred, Grace, or, God forbid, Harry Wilson sent Mary Harts into a fit. 

     Yes, Percy did his best to avoid mentioning his family when it came to his mother. However, she did not reciprocate. Tales of Walter, Percy's stepfather that he had never laid eyes on, or his half-siblings Adam and Amy filled the letters that were sent to him if you could even call them that. Not to mention his step-brother. Look, Percy understood that his mother's education was unlike his own, but she could at least try to seem like she had read what he wrote to her. 

     In a way, yes, he understood. Percy had left. He had gone to England with his dad instead of staying with his mother, and that was bound to leave some hurt feelings. But he had been seven; it had hardly been his choice.

     "You alright, Percy?" Percy looked up from his letter and at Winifred, who sat with him at the table, reading. He looked back down at his paper as he shook his head, rereading what he had written in his fuming.

     You, mother, are a hypocrite. If you want me to call them my father and my siblings, then you have to let me do the same for Winifred and Grace. Honestly, it makes more sense for me to call Winifred my mother than you. You've never even tried to visit me. You just expect me to get on a ship and come to see you. That costs money, you know. And I hate water. I hate it. I couldn't be on a ship for days. I would panic, or I would have a heart attack.

     He slid the paper over to Winifred. 

    "This feels too harsh, right?"

    Winifred read it over, then nodded. 

    "For your mother? Probably." Percy sighed, grabbing the paper and crumpling it into a ball. "Why don't you take some time to calm down before you try to write back?"

      "Perhaps I should." He looked toward the fireplace. Though it wasn't lit, he tossed his discarded draft into it, knowing that it would burn whenever they lit it next. 

     "Go out to Ruth and Bartholomew. They usually calm you down."

     "You know me too well," Percy replied, smiling at Winifred. He stood from the table, leaving her to read in peace. 

     Percy's father was out in the field, so he went to their small pigsty, which had become more of just an animal shelter, without talking to him. He would discuss everything with the man later.

    Percy had to pause, however, as only one animal could be found. Sure, he had expected Herman the frog to return to his wild habitat after being rescued from the farm equipment, but Ruth had also disappeared. 

    "Where's your friend, huh?" Percy asked the lone goat. Bartholomew bleated in response, leaving Percy to sigh as he pat him on the head. 

     He couldn't say how long he stayed there, though he knew it was long enough for Bartholomew to have gotten more treats than he probably deserved. However, attention was pulled away from the goat as Ruth came running up to Percy, squealing and running circles around his legs. 

    "Whoa, what is it?" He asked, despite knowing that her squealing was the only answer she could give. He crouched down, hoping to calm her down, but as he gave her this attention, Ruth started running back in the direction she had come.