In the World of Downton Abbey

Chapter 6 - The Hairpin

Mandy sat at her little desk in her room as she and Anna got ready for bed the following night, her fire-orange hair curling down to her elbows. She studied the hair pin that Anna gave her her first day.

"Something wrong?" Anna asked behind her.

"No, but... look at the pin you gave me when I first came here."

Anna stood behind her to her and examined the pin. "It's a little bent."

"Yeah... because of what happened with Mr. Northerland. When he slammed me into the cabinet's, I felt the pin dig into my scalp. It probably bent in the process." She dropped it on the top of the desk like it was a diseased rat. "I honestly don't want to even look at it because it reminds me of what happened that night. Are there any other pins in the livery?"

Anna put her hands on the back of the wooden chair Mandy sat in. "Well, you could look tomorrow and see, but I think that was the last one. Mrs. Hughes always means to get more, but it never happens because other things are on her mind."

Mandy sighed in frustration and shoved the little metal trinket off her desk and it landed somewhere on the wooden floor with a clank. "Maybe I'll just wear my hair down and get scolded by Mr. Carson. If I continue to have that thing in my hair, it will constantly remind me of what happened with that troll of a man."

"Wear your hair down and get the attention from all the hall boys?" Anna asked slyly. "Is that what you really want? That hair of yours is quite the spectacle."

"I have to do something."

Anna tapped her fingers against the wood of the chair, thinking. "Maybe on your time off tomorrow, we can make a trip into the village and we can pick you up a new one, as well as a few for the storage."

Mandy smiled at the thought of going back into that cute village again. "I would like that. And we can have lunch there, too, at the pub."

"Maybe you could ask Thomas to come along?" she asked with a glint in her eye.

"I could. It would be nice to go on an outing with him. I love being around him now. He's more charming and funny than people let on."

"I think the same way now that he has found something that makes him happy." She left Mandy's chair. "Well, we best be getting to bed."

"Alright." She stood up and eyed the pin on the floor near the door. She couldn't wait to get a new hair pin. She would have to throw the other one out.

The two women went to bed, and the next morning, Mandy walked into the servant's hall and her gaze immediately landed on Thomas as it usually did. She wanted to sit directly across from him, but Mrs. O'Brien prevented her from doing so since she sat in that seat. She sat down near the end with the other maids. Her body tingled with excitement at possibly going into town again. She eyed Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes at the head of the table. She would follow Mr. Carson to his office after breakfast and ask.

The oatmeal seemed rather bland, but only because Mandy was used to putting cinnamon and sugar in it. She missed the little luxuries of home, not including her phone that she desperately wanted to use to take pictures and document everything that she went through. If only. The journal could document things, but she doubted she would be able to take it home with her.

The first bell rang, and everyone stood up. Mandy was one of the first, aside from Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes, and headed out the door with a couple of the hall boys. She stood in front of Mr. Carson's door right after he shut it. She heard him and Mrs. Hughes converse in there.

"Hey, what are you doin'?"

She turned and found Thomas standing there. "Oh, Thomas. I just wanted to ask Mr. Carson if I could go into town for a short time today. I want to get some new hairpins for the livery."