We all know how it ends, but how did it begin? Disclaimer: I own nothing except maybe the governess.
"Well, I daresay it was. How did you think the trip was, Patrick?" was what seven year old Edith Crawley heard her Father say as she entered the library. Not surprisingly, her cousins James and Patrick were in the library as well. She hadn't seen either of them for about a year; they had been in India for some odd reason.
"It was fun!" seven-year-old Patrick Crawley exclaimed. "We got to ride an elephant!"
"Did you now?" Lord Grantham said, smiling at the boy.
He nodded before catching sight of Edith. "Hi, Cousin Edith!" He ran up to her and hugged her. Patrick was the kind to hug everyone.
Edith smiled. "You've been away too long. No one will play with me. Mary is so disagreeable and Sybil is still only a baby."
"We should play something now," Edith nodded before Patrick continued. "Why don't we pretend we're great elephant tamers in the jungles of India?"
"How do you do that?"
"It's easy. All we need is to catch elephants and make them do things." His eyes lit up. "And I know the perfect elephants to use! Come on!" Patrick darted out the door, followed by Edith. She was so glad to have her one and only playmate back. Being the middle child meant she was often ignored by her parents and siblings alike. And the governess, Miss Law, didn't count as a friend.
Patrick was going towards the stables. "I'll be Captain Pat and you can be Captain Eddie."
"Why can't I be Captain Edith?"
"Girls can't be elephant tamers, silly. You have to pretend you're a boy." Edith nodded. She was used to playing male roles, and liked it. Miss Law had been telling her how to "be a lady" for this past year. It was nice to have a break.
The pair reached the stables. "We're not going to tame horses, are we Patrick?"
"Captain Pat," the boy corrected.
"Right. Are we, Captain Pat?"
"Why not?"
Edith nearly jumped. "They're so…big."
"Real elephants are bigger," Patrick protested.
Edith shook her head. "Horses can trample you alive and I don't want to get trampled."
Patrick sighed. "Well, what about the dogs?" When Edith made no objection, he headed in the direction of where Lord Grantham's hunting hounds were kept.
On their way there, the Captains encountered Miss Law and a two-year-old Sybil Crawley.
"Edee!" Sybil squealed, trying to speak to her sister. "Edee! I see da dogs!"
"We've been to see the hounds," Miss Law said, smiling at her youngest charge.
"They are not hounds, ma'am," Patrick explained, donning a "man voice." "They are wild beasts! Elephants, to be exact. Are they not, Captain Eddie?"
Edith saluted and tried to speak like a man as well. "Oh, yes, they are, Captain Pat. And we are here to tame them."
"Well, mind you don't get your dress too dirty, Lady Edith. And don't go running about too much. Half-an-hour, and I'll call you inside," Miss Law said firmly before leading Sybil away.
"Yes, Miss Law," Edith called after her.
"Have you your taming gear Captain Eddie?" Captain Pat asked his companion.
"Yes, sir!" She bit her lip and whispered, "What is that exactly?"
"It's your imaginary elephant whip," Patrick whispered back.
"Right." Captain Eddie pulled herself up to full height. "Shall we tame the wild beasts, Captain Pat?"
Captain Pat pulled out an imaginary whip. "We shall!" With that, the pair entered the room of the hounds, which was basically just a large horse stall. Jipper was the friendliest dog, and ran right up to the familiar smell of Edith and Patrick.
"Down, you beast!" Captain Pat called, leaping into action. He swatted Jipper's wagging tail. "You grab him, Captain Eddie, and I'll distract him!"
"Yes, sir!" Edith was a little unsure as to how to grab a dog, but Captain Eddie had done this a million times. Jipper was turning in circles, desperately trying to find out what kept hitting his tail. Captain Eddie grabbed his hind legs.
"I got him! I got him!"
"Good, now drag him out!" Captain Pat ordered. Captain Eddie did as s/he was told, and Captain Pat shut the stall door. Jipper was not best pleased at any of this, but when Edith let go he relaxed and faced Patrick for a petting.
"Now how do we tame it?" Captain Eddie asked
Captain Pat smirked. "Watch and learn." He faced his imaginary whip toward the elephant. "SIT!" Jipper obeyed, happily expecting a petting and a 'good boy.'
"That looks very easy," Captain Eddie remarked. S/he tried another command. "LIE DOWN!" Jipper lied down. Now he wanted a biscuit, at least.
"Lady Edith! Patrick!" a deep voice bellowed. The Captains turned to see Mr. Carson, staring them down. "Her Ladyship instructs you both to come inside and wash yourselves for luncheon."
"Miss Law said half-an-hour!" Edith complained.
"Her Ladyship said now," Mr. Carson stated again.
"Well, come along Captain Eddie," Captain Pat said. "We deserve some luncheon after taming this wild elephant!"
"Indeed," Captain Eddie agreed.
"Wild elephant?" Carson echoed.
"See how well we have tamed it, Carson," Captain Pat said, confidently walking toward Carson and instructing, "COME!" Jipper quickly obeyed, wondering when he was to get his reward. Carson rolled his eyes and led the seven-year-olds and their "elephant" inside.
The first person the group met was nine year old Mary. "Edith, your dress is covered in hay and mud. You need to change."
"Captain Eddie has been out taming a wild elephant!" Captain Pat informed the ignorant lady.
Mary scoffed. "That's a dog. Papa won't like that you let it in the house."
"He keeps Pharaoh inside!" Edith protested.
"Look at the state of you two!" Lady Grantham said, walking into the hall from some other room.
Captain Pat bowed. "M'lady." Captain Eddie mirrored him. "We've just returned from the scorching jungles of India and are quite in need of some luncheon."
Lady Grantham smiled at her cousin/heir/whatever. "Of course, Patrick. After you wash up. And Edith, do have Miss Law change your dress."
"What about the elephant?" Captain Eddie asked, motioning to the animal at her side.
"I'll have Carson bring it back to the stables." With that, the cousins scurried off to obey Lady Grantham's orders.
"You ought to control her, Mama," Mary said with disdain in her voice. "I never went playing with stable dogs at age seven."
"No, you were rolling on the hills." Lady Grantham smiled at her eldest daughter, who was put out by this remark and stormed off. There was some truth to Mary's words, though. She didn't try to control Edith much. To be quite honest, she had forgotten about Edith today, until Mr. Crawley said she was out playing with Patrick.
Yes, it certainly was a good thing the Crawley cousins were back.