Chapter Text
It was a Saturday morning and Endeavour sat on the front steps of his fathers house, putting on his yellow boots. He was wearing the same black suit he had worn to his mother’s funeral.
“I’m off out then.” he called into the house despite knowing that no-one would answer; his father was working driving his cab and Gwen had gone shopping and taken little Joyce with her.
Endeavour sighed and started a slow walk. It was already raining but he didn’t mind, actually he thought the weather suited the day.
Visiting his mothers grave always made him feel sad but not visiting made him feel worse. When he got there he sat down beside the stone and looked at her name for a while. He pulled his sleeve over his hand and cleaned the already clean stone and plucked at some imaginary weeds in the grass surrounding it. He had tried speaking to her out-loud before but it made him feel foolish.
Endeavour wasn’t sure how long he stayed at the graveyard, when the rain really started falling he stood up and ran out of the churchyard, pulling his blazer over his head to try and shelter himself from the rain. He ran through the puddles forming on the rough road and laughed as he did; he hadn’t been able to play like this in a long time and he began to seek out the bigger puddles and jump into them as he ran home.
He walked through the gate of his fathers house, covered in mud, soaking wet and grinning from ear to ear. He opened the front door and carefully pulled off his boots and left them on the mat then tiptoed through to the kitchen where he heard Joyce and Gwen chatting. He was already shivering and hoped that Gwen would have boiled the kettle so that he could have a cup of tea.
“Hello” he said gently, walking into the kitchen, starting to move towards the oven to stand near the stove and get warm.
Gwen shrieked when she saw him and threw her hands up into the air.
“What on earth?!” She demanded, staring at him as if he were a wild animal loose in the kitchen.
Endeavour's smile faded and he looked at the floor.
“You’re covered in mud.” Gwen told him with a frown.
“I know.” Endeavour said simply. He could see that he was covered in mud. "Please...Is there any tea?" he asked hopefully. He wasn't sure what to call Gwen.
“What did you say?” His stepmother demanded.
“Sorry” The boy mumbled, unsure what he had done wrong. He tried to look up at his stepmother but couldn't bring his eyes to meet her. He winced when she tutted at him.
“Go and clean yourself up.” Gwen said “The last thing we need is you getting flu.”
Endeavour nodded and rushed up to the box room that was his bedroom, telling himself that she didn't want him to get the flu, so she must care for him. That's why she was so cross. It must be because she cared. She never got cross at Joyce but then she was only little. No, she was only cross with him because he was a twelve year old boy.
He got to his room and kicked off his socks and quickly undressed. He didn't have many clean clothes but he didn’t want to change into his pyjamas so he kept his vest on and quickly dressed into his school P.E Shorts and put on some long socks to keep warm and his dressing gown.
He carried the muddy suit to the bathroom and did his best to rinse the worst of the mud off before placing the shirt, trousers and blazer into the wash basket. Then he went downstairs for some lunch.
He smiled at Joyce who was eating a lunch Gwen had prepared for her. She hadn't made him up a plate but he reasoned that he hadn't asked for one. He cautiously walked towards the kitchen counter.
“You look ridiculous.” Gwen told him as he made himself a cheese sandwich. He ignored her and opted to take it up to eat his room.
He didn’t feel much like eating and after a few bites he put the plate down on the bedside table and decided to just try and sleep for a while, perhaps he had a cold. He stared quietly at the ceiling until he dozed off.
When he woke up his head was aching and it was dark outside. He crept out into the shadowy landing and peered at the grandfather clock at the end of the hall. It was past ten at night. He wiped his eyes. No one had come to wake him up for supper, no one had been to check on him. He sniffed and wiped his nose with his sleeve then pulled his dressing gown around himself to try and stop shivering. He didn’t feel well at all. He went back to his bedroom and curled up in bed and quietly cried for his mum.