Sybil's funeral and the days afterward passed with agonizing slowness for Scarlett and the rest of the Crawley family. A silence had descended on the house even as a baby's wail pierced the muted air inside of the Abbey. Thomas was never able to see Lady Scarlett as she never left the upstairs of the house, but he went out to see her most precious possession, her beautiful horse, every single day to make sure he was cared for and at night he snuck out and rode him for her.
Not long after he had been kicked out of his father's house for showing signs of his 'unusual nature' he had first found a job as a young man working in a livery barn as a groom and exercise rider. He had loved that job more than anything in the world until he had come here and met Lady Scarlett. Downton had certainly become his home in the 10 years that he had been here, but he knew that he could leave tomorrow and go somewhere else as long as he could see her face everyday for the rest of his life. When he had first met her she was 8 years old and a handful even then. She was just so headstrong with a zeal for life that he had simply never seen in anyone before. She spent almost every light minute of the day in the stables helping the stable boys, grooms, and coachmen to take care of the horses much to the consternation of her Mother even then. Nothing could ever tempt her to come back inside and learn to be a lady with her sisters, she was much too content to spend her days in the muck and smell of the barns. Thomas had heard from Lady Grantham many times the same complaint that it was Lord Grantham's fault that her youngest daughter was a heathen. Lord Grantham had taken her out to the stables for the first time when she was just 6 months old and had bought her her first pony at 2 years old, and the rest was history as they say. The first time Thomas had really spoken to her was when she was 8 years old and needed an escort out to the stables. He had been walking through the foyer towards the downstairs and had seen the young girl heading down the front steps.
Is there something I can help you with milady," he asked as she made it to the bottom step and seemed to take a breather for a second.
Her big blue eyes looked up at him and she looked confused for a second before she began speaking very quickly, " Are you new? I haven't seen you before. I need someone to take me out to the stables and watch me and my pony jump. Will you? Poppa was supposed to take me but he left this morning and didn't tell me goodbye."
Thomas was shocked at the speed of the little girl's speech but answered every question patiently (which was unusual for him). "Yes, I am new here. I started this week as a new footman. I don't know if I can take you, we would have to ask Mr. Carson if it would be alright and I'm sorry your Father wasn't able to see you today, I'm sure he had something unexpected come up and had to leave." Thomas could not believe that someone would leave this precious little girl without saying goodbye to her when it was clear that she loved him with her whole entire heart. "Let us go find Mr. Carson then shall we and see what he says, I think he is in the dining room."
The little girl stuck her hand out and looked at him with those big blue eyes until he took her hand and slowed his steps to match her as they went on a quest to find Mr. Carson. It was clear the moment that he saw Carson talk to a young Scarlett that she was the daughter that he never had and he loved her the most out of the entire household. He had allowed Thomas to escort Scarlett and watch as long as he went along too to supervise. The little girl had beamed and held out her other hand for him to take which he did with a kind smile and allowed her to lead both men towards her true home.
"Is everything alight Mr. Barrow?"
Thomas started from his peaceful reverie as he heard a voice across from him at the servant's breakfast table. He looked up to see Mrs. Hughes gazing at him in concern before he forced a neutral expression and nodded to say he was fine.
"I'm sure it is just this dreadful feeling that has enveloped this house, we really must find some way to get some life back into here especially among the daughters of this house."
"We will have none of that Mrs. Pattmore, this house had seen too much tragedy and illness and everyone deserves the right to grieve," said Mr. Carson in a tone that booked no argument.
Mrs. Pattmore ignored that tone and replied anyway, "I realize that Mr. Carson but we can't go on like this forever, something must be done to help jerk them out of this melancholy especially for Mr. Branson and the child's sake."
After this statement Mrs. Pattmore retreated back to her domain to leave everyone else to ponder her wise words. Anna and Thomas alone knew how true these words were. Anna saw the deadness in Lady Scarlett's eyes and the unease in Lady Mary each and everyday as she tended to them. Lady Mary wanted so desperately to be happy with Matthew, which she was, but she was afraid to be honest with her feelings as the family still was distraught over Sybil and her parents were fighting. Never before had Lord and Lady Grantham so blatantly been hostile towards each other during their marriage and it was a new experience so see it even over meals together as a family.
Anna finished breakfast and headed up to Lady Scarlett as soon as the bell went. She carried with her a little breakfast that she knew Lady Scarlett wouldn't eat, but she would try every single day anyway. As soon as Anna opened the curtains and turned backe towards the four-poster bed she was pleased to see that Lady Scarlett was sitting up in the bed and had a book beside her. While she looked as though she had not slept all night, it was good to see that she was awake and much more alert than she had been in weeks.
"Anna, could you please lay out my stable dress and prepare me a bath, I want to sit up a little while today and would like clothes that are more comfortable."
"Very good milady," replied Anna with a small smile. It was good to see Lady Scarlett with a little life again.
This terrible tragedy had brought one glaring fact to light though about Lady Scarlett. The entire household prayed that the day never came when anything ever happened to Lady Mary as she was Lady Scarlett's favorite sister and that might kill her since this was what had befallen her with her second favorite sister.
After a long bath and Anna dressing her in her favorite 'stable' dress she sat in the window bench and looked across the grounds. After resting for a few minutes (she hadn't realized how weak she had become) she got up and quietly made her way downstairs and outside on the path to her baby. At the same time Thomas had 'borrowed' some carrots from Mrs. Pattmore's pantry and was headed out to the stables in the short while before Carson put him to work again. Scarlett entered the stables and let her eyes adjust to the light a little before she continued down the aisle. She heard soft murmuring coming from the stall where her stallion was kept and was shocked to see Thomas in the open stall door quietly talking to Storm. A small smile split her face for the first time in weeks and Thomas turned just in time to see it light up her eyes minutely.
"It's good to see someone hasn't been neglecting him in the last few weeks."
"I hope you don't mind, but I've just been coming out and keeping an eye on him and taking care of him for you. I knew you wouldn't trust those stable boys to know how to handle him and his big attitude."
"I'm glad you remember me telling you that, and I see you have been riding him as well," interrupted Scarlett with a raised eyebrow. "I wasn't aware you could sit a horse Thomas."
"There is much you don't know about me milady," he said with a smirk as he repeated her words of so long ago back to her.
"That I don't, but I hope we can get to know each other better in the coming while as we start to get back to normal."
Thomas was shocked and had an unusual tinge of pink on his ears at this statement and all he could do was nod in reply before checking his watch and realizing he needed to get back immediately. He excused himself and quickly headed back to the house. Scarlett breathed in the refreshing smells of her safe place and cursed herself for not coming out here sooner. It was high time that she started acted like a normal human being again and taking care of Storm and heading back inside to help her Mama later was as good a start as she could manage in one day.
As Lord Grantham was on his way back from his daily walk with Isis he stopped by the stables as he did everyday since Scarlett had begun keeping to her bed and looked into the stable expecting to see nobody but the stable boys. He was so pleased to see his youngest daughter moving around and talking quietly away to the horses as she had her entire life. Life was starting to straighten out a little at Downton as he nodded once in approval and continued back up the path to his home.
Author's Note: Sorry it has been so long since I updated and this is a little bit of a filler chapter, but it is important to get a little bit of history and get some of this sadness out of the way. Thanks for reading! Please please review! Any feedback is good feedback. Thanks!