Servants Script Competition: Nicola;
Since the success of his race earlier in the year and the house games Fred had found little time for any running practice and it was only in recent weeks that he had started training again. He normally found time to run mid-afternoon now that there was no afternoon tea but today he was up at the crack of dawn running down the steep hill on his way back to the house. It was a bitterly cold morning, well below the average for late October. Grinning to himself he concludes that the lack of sleep now will be more than compensated for the tricks that the footmen are going to play on Charlotte this evening. She always feared Halloween because of the ghosts and spirits and this year he is convinced that the they had thought up their best trick yet in which to scare her.
He increases his pace as the house comes into full view until he is running as though his life depends on it. As he sprints into the courtyard and starts to slow down a terrifying squawk makes him stop. Turning he sees Mrs Stanwick trotting at speed coming straight towards him with her feathers spread wide.
"Don't mind me", he said while mocking a bow towards the bird as he moves out of her way. The bird heads off to the left and disappears round the wall only to reappear ten seconds later and head the other way. Laughing at the strange behavour of the bird he called out, "Any thing I can help you with Mrs. Stanwick?"
Realising that he is talking to a bird and thinking that this may seem just a little odd he quickly turned round to confirm that there were no other people about before starting his warm down. As he stretches out and touches his toes he notices out of the corner of his eye that there is someone walking at a very quick pace towards the servants entrance. Standing up straight he is just in time to see the familiarly sight of Mrs Diggins. More than a little puzzled as to what she was doing up at this hour Fred quickly jogs over to the entrance and starts to follow her along the darkened corridor
He doesn't have to go far as Mrs Diggins turns into the kitchen and closes the door firmly behind her. After a moment of wondering what to do next he decides that the best thing to do would be to go round to the outside of the kitchen window and peer in, that way the most he could be accused of was seeing her by accident on the way back from his jog. However by the time he gets outside, positions himself under the correct window and creeps up the wall to peer in all he is in time to see is her placing something in a draw, followed by her exit from the room. Fred stands up straight and sighed. What was she doing? He turns back into the main part of the courtyard to continue warming down but Mrs. Stanwick has come back and is making such a noise that he decides to skip the stretching and settle for another half hour in bed before the duties of the day begin.
The day continues without anything out of the ordinary happening. The footmen start to prepare their props for the evenings trick however Mr. Jarvis calls Fred away to deal with Mrs. Stanwick when it is discovered that the bird has gotten into the orangey as the result of the door been left open and she is making a good job of nibbling every plant in sight to see which she prefers the most and as a result Fred ends up missing the fun of preparation.
By the time early evening comes everyone is busy with the final preparations for the Lord's party. As was so often the case on these occasions dinner is taken later by the footmen as they have be on "show" as the guests arrived. With that task out of the way Fred and George make their way back from the hall laughing and joking about the forthcoming trick. "look out it's a ghost coming to get you" cried George he wraps his arm around Fred's head. "save me, save me" calls Fred in a high pitched voice. Suddenly Mrs Diggins walks out of the upper servants dining room. Mrs Diggins always makes an effort to dress smartly when the family has a party. This is just in case Lady Mary needs her at some point and despite been only a servant she wants to make sure that the guests knew she has her pride, not that they ever notice. Straightening up the two footmen pass Mrs Diggins and bid her good evening. As they do Fred stops and stares at her head. "Is there a problem Mr. Matkin?" asks Mrs Diggins "No not at all" Fred replies with a forced smile. "good" and with that she walks off.
"What was that all about" George asks soon as they are out of ear shot.
"didn't you notice? Her hair, what she had in her hair. She had two peacock feathers in her hair! How dare she- how could she do that to the bird? That's why she was up so early and why Mrs Stanwick has been so mad all day."
"You are not making a lot of sense mate" "This morning I was out jogging and on the way back I saw Mrs Diggins walking into the house. She must have been getting the feathers from Mrs Stanwick"
"And how would she do that? You spend hours with the bird and you never get close. She probably ordered then from London or something"
"But think about how much trouble that bird has been today, all the noise it is making and Mrs Diggins behavior this morning"
"Who cares? Look mate if I didn't know you better I would say that you are getting a soft spot for Mrs Stanwick,", he adds with a grin.
"No I'm not" he replied quickly with a look on his face that wasn't entirely convincing, "but I do have a plan to prove its true." And with that they walk off to dinner.
later in the evening
Charlotte screams, the footmen roar with laugher- the joke has more than worked and they have managed not only to frighten Charlotte but Grace and most of the kitchen maids into the bargain.
As they exited the dinning room Fred hears loud voices coming from the kitchen. He peers round the corner to discover that it is Mrs. Diggins and the new cook. Indicating to George they stand outside the door and begin talking.
'I think its shocking you know"
"I know who would have thought it"
"I can't believe that something as simple as feathers could make someone that ill!"
"Well according to the lads in the pub she can't go out accept at night otherwise people may notice" By this stage Mrs Diggins voice can no longer be heard. Fred continues "Well I would not want to go any where near her. Who would have thought that untreated animal feathers could have such an impact? Next time she will be definitely be getting them from London. Its not worth three months of skin rashes all over the face for the sake of saving a bit of money."
"Three months? That's a long time! So there was nothing that the doctors could do to stop them coming up?" By this stage they have the giggles.
"Well no, he was called in too late but its doubtful he could have done anything. There was this one thing which may work as a preventive measure which my mother used to talk of but there is no guarantees" At this the door opens widely and Mrs. Diggins walks out, heading up the stairs. The footmen continue "And what's that?"
"Well its an old wife's tale but if you rub a mixture of sugar, water and nettles over the skin where the feathers have come into contact with then there is a slim chance"
George looks at Fred as if he is mad. Nettles? She was never going to believe that. "Nettles?" "Yes nettles. It's a similar mixture to what the shop keepers use. But is has to be done quickly"
Noticing that Mrs. Diggins is still standing at the top of the stairs Fred concluded "well off to hall" and with that they turn and leave
Two hours later after everyone has gone to bed they creep down not only to discover the light coming from the kitchen but Mrs. Diggins standing with her back to them. On her arms they can just make out a liquid rubbed all up to her elbow, which turns out to be green as she moves towards the light. Not only was she so vain to see that what they were saying was a rubbish but she had been so worried that she had tried the "treatment" in public. It had been a highly satisfactory day Fred concludes and with that they head back up to their room crying with laughter at the thought of what her face must look like. end scene