In the World of Downton Abbey

Chapter 13 - Matthew in a Toy Shop?

To you all who absolutely love Matthew Crawley (like I do), this chapter is for you! 

~ ~ ~

According to Mr. McHarper's medical records, his address was located in the northernmost part of the village. After her work hours on the day Mr. McHarper's payment deadline was on, Mandy walked through the village trying to find his address. She passed shops and houses as the sun beat down on her, and she felt the back of her neck sweat. It was a warm day, maybe a little too warm to walk out looking for a patient's house, and in a navy-blue dress with long sleeves, no hat. She had spoken to Dr. Clarkson, and after he spoke with a few people on the board, including Mrs. Crawley, he said it would be fine to hand-deliver the notices, just as long as the delivery was made during work hours.

Mandy passed a few shops as she walked, and she stopped at one that showed wooden toys, such as wooden animals and toy tools, in the window. She looked up and the store name read McHarper's Toys. This was it, the shop Mr. McHarper owned! Mandy walked into the shop that was stuffy and warm, but not as warm as the air outside, and it smelled heavly of wood. Wooden horses, dogs, farm animals, and even doll houses adorned the small shop. Mandy smiled, thinking back to her childhood and how much she would have loved one of those rocking horses or doll houses.

"Can I help you, miss?"

She turned and faced a middle-aged man with graying brown hair and had scruff on his chin. She heard the front door open behind her, but she didn't think anything of it. "Oh, yes. Are you Mr. Forrest McHarper?"

"Yes, ma'am, I am. I'm the best toy maker in the village. What can I do for ya? You look too young to have any younin's yourself, so you must be lookin' for a gift for a niece or nephew."

"Oh, no, I'm not looking to purchase anything." She extended the yellow folder she held. "I'm actually an accountant at the hospital here in town. We have in our records that you still have yet to pay the bill for your two-day hospital stay four months ago. I just came to hand you a notice stating that your deadline is today, but we're offering you an extended pay period, with little interest."

The man sighed heavily and leaned over the counter that a very old-fashioned register was on. "Today is the deadline, huh?" He met her eyes, his expression grim. "You lot have been houndin' me with reminders to pay the bill for an illness I couldn't help but get, and I had paid them by the skin of my teeth. Psh... What has that hospital come to, hecklin' the patients for their money, and in person, no less?"

Mandy had dealt with difficult customers before at the law firm, people far more intimidating than Mr. McHarper. "I can assure you, Mr. McHarper, that we care about your health and your circumstances and have devised a plan that can make your last bill payments affordable."

"But with interest?" he spat. "As in, extra money that I have to pay?"

"Yes, that is correct, but..."

"No," he cut her off and rounded the counter and stood before her by about half-a-foot. "I was already plannin' on payin' the bill in full, and the exact amount. There will be no interest."

"I'm afraid that interest will increase with every passing day, but not a lot. I have a form here detailing the payment plan."

The man slapped the folder out of her hands, and it landed on the floor. "There will be no payment plan and no interest! I have worked my arse off workin' in this hole of a shop and barely makin' enough money to feed my three children." He stepped up in her face and pointed a finger at her, and she willed herself to remain calm as her heart hammered at his agitation. "Look here, missy, you tell that Dr. Clarkson that if he's startin' to send pretty girls to gather interest money from people when they don't have any money to pay to even pay for a normal doctor visit, then he's not goin' to get a sent from me! Forget the medical bill payment! Get out of my store! Now!"