Upstairs/Downstairs
Chapter 12

Moonbyul's POV

The next thing I knew my alarm was buzzing. Much to my surprise I slept from mid-afternoon until 5:15 the next morning. I'd like to say that I felt well rested, but that bed would take a bit of getting used to.

The next thought had depressed me completely. It was that I realized I had to go to the bathroom. After a minute I crawled out of bed and stood in a somewhat cold cabin for a few seconds. Then I decided to brave the outhouse. 

The first unpleasantness of my day was that I had to walk outside across the cold dew covered ground. 

"Son of a , stupid morning dew. I hate it." I cursed loudly as I walked to the outhouse. 

Upon arriving at the outhouse, I detected as what I merely describe as "The Smell". A smell so rank, that no amount of the spray stuff that my mom keeps in the bathroom would cover up. I nearly threw up as I walked in the little wooden outhouse. 

Entering, I was greeted by the sight of a round hole on the small platform in a room which was the size of a small closet. I didn't bother to look down the hole, no person should have to see that. Of course it got even better when I noticed what they had for toilet paper; some old rags. Thank god, I only had to pee. 

After quickly peeing, I quickly fled the outhouse and returned to the cabin. Normally I would take a hot shower to wake up and get clean. But that wasn't an option. I didn't have any soap. But considering the smell I detected from some people here, bathing wasn't done all that often. 

So I did the best I could, I threw on my shoes, grabbed a pitcher from the cabinet and got some water from the stream. Taking a drink, it was cool and clean, at least something here didn't smell. 

After splashing water on my face, I combed my hair and dressed in my other dress. The entire time, I had to ignore my hunger and desperate need for coffee, from the yet to be invented Java Barn. 

I hated the conditions, but all I had to think of was Solar's grave in 2018 to spur me on. I refuse to let the Victorian age beat me, I am Moonbyul and I will crush it. I also think of it this way, if I'm ever up for a part in the Victorian era, I've got it nailed. The last thing I did was put my phone on the solar charger. I did take pain to put it in a way, it would not be easily be seen. 

At this point a thought occurred to me and I dug my kindle out of my bag. I had scanned in all Solar's journals and maybe I could see what she wrote last night. Would they change with me interacting with her? I desperately wanted to know what she thought of me. 

But my spirits soon fell as I read the entry. 

April 29th, 1869. 

It rained most of the day. The big news was that Cecilia, the servant, quit today as she has just gotten ingaged to her beloved, Richard Howe. She was always a quiet sort, but very attentive to her work. 

She will be busy planning her wedding and will also soon be moving away. I hope father will be able to hire someone to replace her soon. Until then, we will have to do without. I spent some time working on my needlepoint, but otherwise it was a pretty normal day. 

I find myself wondering what life will be like when I live in the Nam estate. They have many more servants than we do. I just know I will be happy there. I have my doubts, but I am positive they will disappear, once I happily settle into married life.

It didn't change, after re-reading the entry three times, I realized the entry didn't change. Not one single word changed from the first time I read it and no mention of me. I know from the comments she always wrote in her journals just before she went to sleep. So she would have known of me by then. Somehow the journals I have stayed exactly as they were. So much for knowing what Solar was thinking. I guess the powers that have decided, that would be one advantage too many. I guess I have to earn this one. 

Ready for my first full day in 1869, I headed down the path towards the Ferrer home. I arrived a few minutes before 6. Entering the back as all proper servants should. I found myself in the kitchen where a middle aged man looked at me with a smile. 

"Hello, you must be Moonbyul. I'm Thomas Bailey, the cook. My wife told me that you would starting today. I've made some coffee. The pot is on the stove. I'm not sure if you drink it."

'COFFEE THAT WONDERFUL, BLACK, LIFE GIVING BLOOD THE ESSENTIAL TO SUSTAIN HUMAN LIFE. GIMMIE, GIMMIE.' My mind immediately screamed, "Thank you, I could really use some." I said, while ignoring my internal excitement. 

"You'll find a cup in the cupboard to the left of the stove."

Badly in need of some coffee, I found a cup and poured myself some from the antique coffee pot, which was on the stove. 

I immediately took a drink, only to discover the coffee was extremely strong. I'm pretty sure you could strip paint with it. Regardless, it was coffee so I drank it. 

Feeling marginally better, I turned to Tom. "So, where do I start?" 

"Well, my wife left you out a proper servant's uniform for you. She guessed at the size. It belonged to a servant that quit some years ago. After you change into that, you can help me in preparing breakfast. Breakfast itself, will consist of Devilled Kidneys, Kedgiree, muffins and fresh milk from one of the local farms. Breakfast is served promptly at 7:30. Mr. Ferrer is very strict on punctuality. A holdover from his old army days. But I'm used to that, as I was once a soldier myself. Was wounded fighting in Ashanti in 29." He said while slapping his leg, obviously showing the location of an old wound. 

I wasn't familiar with the Ashanti conflict, but the British army was involved with numerous conflicts in the 1800's as they expanded their empire. Undoubtedly that was one of them. I just nodded quietly. 

I found a small empty storage room and changed into the uniform, which was a simple black dress. Despite my experience with time travel, it still was a bit disorienting. Here I was in a house full of antiques and not a single modern device to be seen. Not only that, the clothes, the attitudes, everything. But I pressed on. Not only did I have a mission but also I was an actress and