This is just a random idea I had. What if Mary and Matthew knew each other from childhood? In this chapter, Mary is six, Matthew is seven and they meet for the first time. I'm assuming that Matthew and his family would be living in the village somewhere and that they would have next to no contact with the family at the big house as they aren't closely related. R&R please

"MARY JOSEPHINE CRAWLEY! GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!"

The screams of her furious governess echoed throughout the house, intermingled with the whining sobs of Edith. She deserved that slap, Mary thought indignantly. How dare she play with her dog toy and then get sticky jam on its nose? Stupid Miss Thompson must have given it to her, she was always trying to make her share things with her sister, but this dog was hers. Mary clutched the dog tightly in her hand, protecting it from any other dog thieves that might take it from her again. Her hand still tingling from the sharp smack she had given her sister, she fled from the nursery, her tiny feet running as fast as they could, down corridors, endless stairs, down into the kitchens. Mary flew through the kitchen, accidentally knocking a bag of raisins out of a kitchen maids hand. The maid squealed as the tiny black fruits scattered themselves over the perfectly scrubbed floor, being stickily trodden on and squished by a blur of dark hair and white dress which promptly disappeared into another room. Mary, frightened of getting another scolding, ran faster and ran full pelt into Carson, thumping into his solid frame.

"Lady Mary?" Carson looked fondly down at her with a twinkle in his eye. Her cheeks were rosy from running, her hair ribbon had become untied and trailed down over her shoulder. "What are you doing down here?" He raised his impressive eyebrows. "Hiding from Miss Thompson?"

Mary eagerly nodded her head, her messy curls bobbing up and down. "I HATE her!"

Carson gave a hearty chuckle at the irate little girls face and retied her hair ribbon. "Well now, Miss Thompson is going to teach you all the things you need to become a grown up lady."

Mary's face crinkled up as she thought about it.

"I am a grown up lady though, aren't I, Mr Carson?"

Carson handed her a small brown paper bag from his shelf, filled with her favourite pear drops and smiled at the small girl. "Well, perhaps not quite yet. But soon."

A screech tore through the kitchens. "MARY!"

"It's her!" Mary whispered. "What should I do, Mr Carson?"

Carson bundled her quickly towards the door. "May I suggest the stable loft as a suitable hiding place, Lady Mary?" He gave her a small wink as he closed the door and she giggled.

XxX

Mary ran down into to the stables, scuffing her white shoes on the rough ground and looked up at the loft. It was quite high, higher than she had thought and she hesitated before the wooden ladder. Mary shook herself crossly. She wasn't a scaredy cat like Edith, she was brave, an explorer. She bravely placed her foot on the bottom rung and began to climb. Maybe this could be a new game? But absolutely not with that horrid Edith; perhaps when her new born sister grew up a bit, they could play together?

Before she knew it, she had climbed to the top of the tall ladder into the warm, fragrant hayloft. She grinned triumphantly at her achievement and noticed guiltily that she had torn a great rent in the side of her white frock, the front of which was now decidedly grubby. She saw a good hiding place in the corner where bales of hay had been tightly stacked from floor to ceiling and walked over, giving a gasp of fright when she saw there was already someone, a little boy with scruffy blonde hair, sitting there reading.

Her gasp made his head jerk up in surprise and he stared at her for a few seconds. Suddenly remembering his manners, he stood up and held out his hand, saying in a friendly tone, "Hello! I'm Matthew, what's your name?"

Mary wasn't sure what to do. She had never really met any boys before. Did her Papa count as a boy? Anyway, she felt sure that this boy shouldn't be here. Hmmm. What did Granny do when she wanted to scare people? Mary pursed her lips and glared at him, drawing herself up to her full height. She was secretly pleased to notice that she was just a little taller than him. Matthew's bright blue eyes widened in surprise at this unexpected reaction to his friendly greeting.

"I'm Lady Mary Crawley. What are you doing here, in my Papa's stables?"

Matthew held out his book to her. "I'm reading and I'm hiding from my father; he says boys shouldn't be reading made up stories." His happy face fell for a moment and he rumpled up his hair.

"Well, that's silly!" laughed Mary, her imitation of her grandmother dissolving in an instant. "My Papa has hundreds and millions of books in his library and he reads them." She paused for a second. "And he's a boy!"

Matthew's face lit up. "Does he really and truly have millions of books?"

Mary nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! He's an Earl, you know," she said, copying her grandmother's voice again.

"Do you live in Downton Abbey then? Mother says we're related to them, but only a little bit."

"How can you be related a little bit?" Mary scoffed. "You either are or you aren't!"

Matthew wasn't quite sure but tried to explain anyway. "Well...um...I think it's because we have the same last name, but you're a Lady and I'm Master Crawley."

"That's the silliest thing I ever heard! I know all my family. There's Mama and Papa, Edith and Baby Sybil, Granny, Auntie Rosamund and Uncle Marmy and that's it!"

Matthew's fair eyebrows knitted together. This little girl was making him cross now.

"You don't know anything! You're only five! Baby!" He stuck his tongue out at her. "And...and you're really ugly!"

"I'm SIX!" Mary shouted, pushing him hard in his chest with both hands. Matthew fell down into the hay, blinking in shock. "And Mama says that one day, when I'm grown up, I'll be the most beautifullest girl in the whole world and everyone will want to marry me, even the King, so there!"

Matthew's annoyance at her was forgotten instantly as he pointed at his book in excitement. "That's just like in my book! Look!" He showed her the picture in his book of the beautiful princess with flowing ebony hair and porcelain skin, surrounded by princes and dukes all vying for her hand. Mary cautiously sat down beside him, entranced by the colourful drawings.

"What happens to her?" she asked tentatively, a little ashamed of her outburst. What would Mama say if she had seen her push down this boy?

"She's the most lovely princess in the world and everyone wants to marry her, all the princes and everything but..."

"What?" asked Mary eagerly.

"She turns them all down, even the very richest prince of all."

Mary laughed at the absurdity of it. "But why?"

"She falls in love with someone else, but she can't marry him."

"Why not?"

"Her family don't think he's rich enough and he's not a prince."

"Oh. Well... shouldn't the princess marry a prince?"

"She should marry the one she loves, don't you think? That's what I'm going to do anyway and me and my wife will live in a house full of games and books and my sons are going to read all the stories they like." Matthew gave a firm nod at this last statement and Mary pondered over these new ideas. "And anyway, it turns out that he was a prince after all, 'cause someone dies and... well...I don't know how it works, but he gets to be a prince."

They sat, their heads together over Matthew's story, enjoying the tentative beginnings of new friendship. Mary shared her pear drops with her new friend and introduced him to her dog, fixing him with a firm stare, daring him to laugh. However, instead of laughing at her, Matthew solemnly made a little seat out of hay for the dog to sit in. Perhaps this boy wasn't so horrible after all, she thought. And he was definitely more interesting and fun than her sisters.

As they began to strain their eyes reading to the end of Matthew's book, Mary realised it was getting dark and she stood up abruptly, breaking out of their fantasy world.

"Oh no! I'll be late for dinner and Mama will be so angry!" She began to run towards the ladder but Matthew shouted after her.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"Do you want to read tomorrow? I've got another really good one!"

She nodded, cheekily sticking her tongue out at him and scrambled down the ladder, steeling herself for a scolding.