Barrow's Boy - A Downton Abbey Fanfiction

And Then It Was Four

     Months passed like this, with Theodore talking with Everett and Abigail daily. They had become a good team through the fall and winter and now, with hints of spring finally coming, they were the best of friends that one could make; at least, in the opinions of a six-year-old. He was liking school much more than he expected, especially the daily words that the teacher would put on the board, which he happily copied and quickly learned. Right now, Abigail, or Abi, as Teddy had taken to calling her, was complaining about how busy her father had been lately, which Everett was completely agreeing with. So their fathers were home. Teddy couldn't relate, as his father was off serving their country. He hadn't gotten a letter in a while, which worried him. His father usually wrote as often as possible. He hoped nothing had happened.

     "It's all about the war, these days. The Germans need to just give up!" Everett was saying. Everett was the most knowledgable about the war out of the three of them, which made sense. His father was assisting in some way, and his eldest brother was off fighting. He had wasted no time in sharing this information with Abi and Teddy upon befriending them, as he seemed to find pride in how his family was assisting. 

     "Can we not talk about this?" Teddy asked, not looking at either of the people talking over his head. Everett seemed confused.

    "Why? It's what's happening in the world!"

    "It's sad and violent," Teddy responded, looking at Everett with a small frown on his face. "Have you seen the soldiers at Dr. Clarkson's? Some of them are missing limbs, or have scars across their faces-"

     "Yeah, it's terrible," Abigail said. Teddy swung his head around to look at her, eyes wide.

     "And it happened to them while fighting for our country! It is terrible. I don't see the point of this war. All it does is hurt people."

     "My brother says people who don't join are cowards," Everett commented, still wanting his voice to be heard

     "That's not true. Sometimes they just can't." Teddy replied. He knew that William wanted to join, but couldn't because of his father. It wasn't fair to place them all into one category. 

       "But it-"

      "Everett, stop," Abigail said, not looking at Everett, but at Teddy. Teddy turned to look at her and gave her a small smile, which she gladly returned.

     It was then that someone walked in the door. Someone that none of the students recognized, but caused quite a few to gasp anyway. Teddy wasn't one of them. He just stared, as though he was trying to read this new boy. He would be ordinary enough if it weren't for the tone of his skin. It was darker than everybody else in the room and, Teddy had to admit, that he had never seen someone with skin that shade before. The boy kept his head down as he walked to the only empty seat in the room, which just so happened to be next to Everett. It felt like everyone was staring at him, even as he sat down. And maybe they were, Teddy wouldn't have known, as he too was staring at this mysterious boy. 

     Slowly, one by one, children began to look away and continue the conversations or games that were taking place before the boy's entrance. After a few seconds, everyone had moved on except for Teddy. He was trying to understand why no one was talking to this boy. It wasn't like he had done anything wrong. So, as Abi and Everett began talking again, Teddy slid out of his seat and walked towards the boy, grabbing the attention of his two friends as he did so. 

     As Teddy reached the boy's desk, he smiled. "Hello," he said quietly, tilting his head to the side. The boy looked up, a look in his eyes that Teddy couldn't describe.

     "Hello." The boy responded in an accent, a smile tugging at his lips. Teddy was still smiling as he introduced himself.

     "I'm Theodore," He said, hands stuffed in his pockets. "But my friends call me Teddy." He glanced at his friends and, once it was clear that neither of them was going to say anything, continued. "This is Everett and Abigail." The boy's smile had taken over his face by the time Teddy was done, forming a dimple on his right cheek.

     "I'm Percy." He said excitedly, and Teddy knew that, no matter how the other students saw this boy, he had made a new friend. 

     "Where are you from, Percy?" Everett asked, finally addressing the boy in the seat next to his. 

     "America," Percy responded. "My dad and I went to London a few weeks ago, but he sent me to stay here with some relatives while he went to help in the war." The war. It had been brought up again. Teddy would swear that you couldn't have a single conversation without it coming up. That was just how things seemed to work these days. But, Percy bringing this up seemed to interest Everett enough for him to start a conversation with the boy, so Teddy decided it was safe to return to his own seat.

     Teddy was back at Downton that night, untying a knot that had formed on someone's shoelace, he wasn't sure who's, when Mr. Carson placed an envelope on the table in front of him.  "Mail came for you this morning, Theodore." Teddy let the shoelace fall from his hands as he looked at the letter, then smiled as he grabbed the envelope and ripped it open. His father had written at last.