Being a Barrow - A Sequel to Barrow's Boy

And, Scene

     Theodore knew that Everett leaving was not what had prompted the events that took place while he was gone. In fact, these events likely would have occurred whether he had encouraged his friend or not.

     And yet, he found himself cursing himself for entertaining the idea. For everything seemed to stem from that moment.

     After Everett headed off, Abi followed not long after, saying she'd promised to be home for tea with her family that night. So Teddy had decided to head upstairs to his room to add Ashton's latest postcard to the stack of ones he had received over the past month or so.

     He had run into Guy Dexter on the stairs, the man looking down them with hesitancy.

     "Can I help you, sir?" Theodore had asked instinctively. It was not usual, after all, that a visiting guest was found behind the green baize door.

     "If I were looking for Mr. Barrow," Dexter had asked, "am I going in the right direction?"

     The man pointed down the stairs, and Theodore nodded.

     "All the way down and then all the way around to the right," Theodore confirmed. "His pantry is on the left-hand side. He was in there last I knew, but that was some time ago now."

     "Thank you," Dexter had replied. He'd patted Theodore on the shoulder, a motion Teddy decidedly did not like any more now than he had then, before heading off down the stairs.

     It was not normal for anyone from upstairs to go wandering to find the butler, not when any of them could ring a bell and call for him whenever and wherever they wanted. Teddy had been confused by it at the time, but he had long decided that it was not his place to try and understand how these film people went about their lives. God, how he wished he had questioned it now. 

     But that was no matter. At the time it had happened, Teddy had gone up to his room without much care for the interaction, and looked to the stack of postcards on top of his dresser. He'd accumulated quite the number over the summer, most recently one from Dansworth and Monty recounting the day they had spent in the Vatican. They had made a nice collection to look through, images of Europe and Africa mixed together between the two journeys he was receiving updates from. Abi had certainly enjoyed looking at the images, which Theodore had to appreciate. 

     It was only when Theodore went back downstairs later, having been invited by Albert to join in some card games before everyone went home or up to bed, that his mind returned to the issue of Guy Dexter. And an issue it would certainly turn out to be. 

     He'd been asked to see if Mr. Barrow wanted to join their game, as even though the younger members of the male staff liked Thomas enough to invite him to join, it was nerve-wracking to be the one to approach the butler to ask when one was not his son. Theodore did not mind the task; he would have gone to check in with his Dad at some point that evening either way. However, when he knocked and stepped into the butler's pantry, Thomas looked up at him and said:

     "Good, it's you. Close the door for a minute."

     Curiosity piqued, Teddy did so, listening for the click of the latch sliding into place before going to sit across from his father. Thomas bit down on his lip, an unusual expression for him, then spoke. 

     "Guy Dexter was down here," Thomas started. 

     "That's right," Teddy recalled, "I ran into him on the stairs. What on Earth did he want anyway? Something ridiculous, I'm sure."

     Teddy joked, trying to draw humour from the behaviour of most of the film people throughout their time here. Thomas laughed, but only halfheartedly. The kind of laugh that could almost be misinterpreted as a strong exhale.