Barrow's Boy - A Downton Abbey Fanfiction

Little Fingers and Little Knots

     Teddy found himself sitting in the servants' hall when Mr. Carson walked in. Now, at the age of five, Teddy's opinion of Carson had not been a very good one. Perhaps part of it was Thomas' views rubbing off on him but, in all honesty, he was a bit afraid of the large, orderly man who never hesitated to berate one of the inferior servants. The most Teddy could do was behave himself and stay as far away from the man as he possibly could. But today he just happened to be sitting there when Mr. Carson walked in, clearly irritated about something, as he often tended to be. 

     "Whatever's the matter, Mr. Carson?" Mrs. Hughes asked from where she was standing near the kitchen, talking to Mrs. Patmore. Theodore looked up from the book that was in his hands and looked at the two adults, a bit curious himself.

     "Someone has decided to put all of these little knots in some of his lordship's ties, and no one can get them out." Mr. Carson explained, showing Mrs. Hughes the ties in his hands. 

     "Here, let me see." Mrs. Hughes walked to Mr. Carson and outstretched her hand. He hesitated for a moment, then sighed and placed one of the ties in it, letting Mrs. Hughes see the damage. Teddy continued to watch, as did a few of the servants in the room. "Well that is rather tight, isn't it. I suppose we might have to but his lordship some new ties."

     "May I see?" Teddy found himself saying before he thought about it. Both Carson and Hughes looked at the young boy, whose head barely reached the table when he sat on his knees and whose book lay open on the wood near his chin. 

     "I don't think-"

     "Oh, let him see it, Mr. Carson." Mrs. Hughes interrupted, much to Teddy's delight. "They can't get much worse, can they?" Mrs. Hughes walked over to Teddy as he closed his book and handed him the tie in her hand. Teddy thanked her and looked at the knots. They were small and tight, but maybe if he could get his finger under there then he could loosen it a bit.

     The conversation had moved on by the time Teddy held a wrinkly but unknotted tie in front of his face. 

     "Got it!" He said happily, drawing the attention of everyone in the room to him and the tie. Carson seemed in disbelief for a moment, then he quickly grabbed the rest of the ties and handed them to the boy.

     "Well Theodore, it appears I've underestimated you. Now make yourself useful and unknot these ones well I iron this one for tonight." Carson exchanged the cluster of ties in his hand for the tie in Teddy's and left the room, leaving Teddy to continue putting his little fingers to use.

     "His lordship was very happy with the work you did on his ties." Mr. Bates told Theodore at dinner that night, which caused a large grin to appear on the boy's face. "He didn't think they could ever be fixed."

     "It appears we have Downton's own professional knot untier and untangler." Mrs. O'Brien said from where she was sitting next to Teddy. He looked up at her and smiled a bit, but not enough to make it look as though he liked her. Because he really wasn't a fan of O'Brien. He didn't like how his father had acted when he was with her and, even though his father had been gone for a while now, he knew that she had some sort of negative impact on him. Teddy hadn't told anyone that he thought this, but he had a feeling that Miss. Anna would agree with him. 

     As the adults continued talking about what was happening on the forbidden upper floor, Teddy allowed himself to continue imagining the story he was creating in his mind. It was a story of dragons and knight, magic and love. It was rather dramatic, but it occupied him and he enjoyed it very much. He went from thinking of this to somehow thinking of the friend he had made the other day when out with Mrs. Patmore and Miss. Daisy. Abigail, that had been her name. She had been nice to him, and he wondered if they would meet again.

     At the time, young Teddy didn't know that the world worked in mysterious ways. He would meet many other friends and learn many new things in the future. Yes, his life would forever be altered in the upcoming September when he was introduced to something called schooling.