Being a Barrow - A Sequel to Barrow's Boy

Ink Drips Like Blood

I'm sure that this goes without saying, as Teddy is in medical school, but from this chapter forward, you may see descriptions of various medical conditions and procedures.

      Abi took the envelope as one of her house's landladies, Ms. Platts, held it out to her, muttering a thank you as she tucked it away with her school books. 

     She would forget about it until her English class when it slipped out of their latest novel as she opened to the section they had left off on. 

    "Miss Bennett has mail?" Violet asked, glancing at Abi as she pulled out her pen. Abi nodded, biting her lip as she considered the return address.

    "It's from my father."

    She did not expect Violet to know the magnitude behind those words; how could she? But the letter felt much heavier in her hand.

    Violet must have been watching Abi stare at it for long enough that it was unusual, for she spoke again.

     "Are you going to open it, or-"

     "Of course I am," Abi quickly replied, ripping open the envelope.

Abigail,

     It occurs to me that your first semester of university will be over in less than a month. I commend you, my daughter, for all of the hard work that you have put in over these past few months. Edward told me some of the information in your last letter about your classes, and it now occurs to me that you are far more intelligent and dedicated than I had originally given you credit for. After all, if I were tested on ancient Roman emperors, I wouldn't know much more than Caesar. The name Nero also rings a bell.

     I have purchased you a train ticket for after your final exam so that you can come home for the holidays. Your mother has already been shopping for Christmas, and I suppose I should start soon as well. I understand that travelling with gifts can be difficult, so if you need my help with getting your presents or if you need to send anything home, please feel free to ask. I assure you that any packages that arrive with your name will not be opened by any of us.

     Enjoy these last few weeks of your semester. We look forward to having you home soon.

     Papa.

    Abi had to read over the letter multiple times to ensure that she hadn't imagined the whole thing. Once she was certain that her father's words were, in fact, real, she folded the letter and tucked it safely into her coat pocket.

     It was about ten seconds after Teddy handed over the corset to Mae that they spoke.

     "Well, that's it."

     "What is?"

    Mae looked at Theodore and tugged on the corset lace. Theodore watched as the lace, like it were elastic, started to tighten again after a moment.

     "I'm assuming they're not supposed to do that."

     "Well, not unless you want to suffocate someone," Mae replied, pulling the corset closer to their face to look at the corset laces in more detail. "How did they even do this?"

    Theodore, quite frankly, didn't care about the how. He just cared that it had been done.

     "Thank you, Mae," he said instead. Still focused on the corset, they just nodded. "Sorry for dropping so much information on you yesterday."