I'm still in awe by the feedback I'm receiving for this lil' project! Thank you so much! For anyone who still feels weird, because they find themselves *kinda* liking or sympathizing with Larry; I'm curious to know what you'll think of him after this chapter ;o)
False Hero
August 1900
Unlike his other trips to Downton, he actually likes the annual Garden Party, simply because there are more boys to play with. It's one of the few times when he doesn't have to worry about being left to play with the boring girls and their stupid dolls.
Upon arrival, he quickly gathers with the other boys, each grinning and wondering what game they'll begin first.
"Let's play War!" one of them declares.
"No..." another groans. "Because no one wants to play the Boers."
"War of the Roses, then!" Patrick declares. "That way everyone's English."
This seems to satisfy everyone. Patrick leads the House of York, while Larry convinces the boys to make him leader for Lancaster. Each "House" rallies to different corners of the garden, where they create battle plans and assign tasks as to who will defend their "castle" and who will serve as jailers, if they capture and take prisoners. Once their plans are completed, Larry decides to send his "army" out, spreading them far so that they can take Patrick and his York army by surprise. The game will continue until every last member of the opposite team is captured…or until the "leader" surrenders. Well, the leader can't surrender if the enemy doesn't know where he is! He intends to spend the entire game hiding.
That's when he sees her.
She's sitting in the shade of a tree, with several dolls seated around her. She's holding a book open, and acting as if she's a teacher reading to a group of students.
He can't help but watch. He also can't help but notice how she holds one particular doll very close.
And that's when the idea strikes him.
He retreats back to his "castle" and hisses for one of Lancaster's jailers to come with him. The boy follows Larry all the way back to the hiding place where he had first seen Sybil, and he points at her and commands, "Run over and grab her doll."
The boy looks at him with a horrified expression. But Larry is older, taller, and can be quite intimidating if he chooses, so he uses that power to make the boy do as he says. So with a reluctant sigh, the boy rises and runs to where Sybil is sitting…and before she even lifts her head at the oncoming footsteps, he's snatched up the doll and is running back while she screams in panic.
And that's Larry's cue. He leaps to his feet, shouts at the boy in anger, and then shoves him hard to the ground, before claiming Sybil's doll as his own. The boy looks confused; Larry never told him his entire plan.
He smiles down at Sybil as he holds the doll out for her. She's still sniffling as she takes it and hugs it to her chest.
He waits for her to thank him, but she never does.
This bothers him. Perhaps it's because "true thanks" is only reserved for "true heroes"?