For the first time in as long as I could remember, I slept a full night. I didn't wake up once for the entire night, not even when Esther finally emerged from the kitchen to come to bed. I didn't have to contend with the blanket being pulled off, or being kicked in the night, I didn't even have to put up with the constant noises that plagued my sleep back at the factory. It was quiet, peaceful. I had forgotten what peace was like, what silence actually sounded like. Although I liked being able to sleep a full night, I missed the noise. I missed Isabel.

When I woke the next morning, it took me a few seconds to understand where I was. Sunlight was just starting to peek through the window at the top of the room and I could hear Esther breathing softly beside me. She moved slightly as she slept, and I found myself, for just a second, thinking I was back in that factory with Isabel lying beside me. Esther was older than Isabel, but they were so alike, even as they slept, it was almost surreal. They both slept with their mouth slightly open, one hand dangling off the edge of the bed. It took Miss Jenkins yelling up the stairs to wake us for me to realise where I was.

"Girls? We have work to do, time to get up!"

"Coming," Esther mumbled, though I don't think it was loud enough for Miss Jenkins to hear. She rolled over and stretched her arms out, careful not to hit me across the face in the process. "Good morning, how did you sleep?"

"Better then I have in a long time," I said, rubbing my eyes.

"Good. We should get going, Miss Jenkins won't be happy if we're late, we have to get breakfast ready."

Esther rolled herself out of bed, stretched and then crossed the room to the chest of drawers where she had left her clothes the night before. I followed suit and rolled across the bed and onto the floor before grabbing up my clothes from the chair. The two of us quickly changed out of our nightdresses and into our work clothes. Once dressed, I pinned my hair up in a knot at the base off my neck before jamming my bonnet on my head. I then crossed the room to the chest of drawers and grabbed the small jar of paste from on top and smothered it onto the burn, just like Robert had told me to.

When the two of us were dressed, and my burn had enough paste on it, we left our small attic room and descend to the kitchen. Before we had even entered the kitchen, we could hear the clattering of the pots and pans as Miss Jenkins prepared breakfast for the household, and for us. I had no idea what a normal breakfast would entail, for both the Ealing family and for myself, as I had never had breakfast. Back in the factory it was always two meals, no more no less, eating in the morning was a dream for all of us. Though I wasn't entirely sure I could stomach anything after the meal I had eaten the night before. Eating barely anything to suddenly eating a lot was more than my stomach could handle.

Entering the kitchen, Esther and I were met with the site of Miss Jenkins running around the kitchen, throwing things into the oven or on top of the stove, she barely glanced up when we entered. I glanced at Esther who shrugged her shoulders and set about with the jobs I expected she did every single day. Having no idea what I was supposed to be doing in terms of helping with breakfast, I stood awkwardly in the corner, watching Miss Jenkins and Esther do all of the jobs that I should have been helping with. My mind was telling me that I should be doing something, but I didn't know what to do.

"Right, Rosie, this morning, you will be taking tea to Master Robert and Miss Matilda, Esther will prepare the tray for you and give you instructions on how to get to their rooms. I would suggest going to see Master Robert first, so he can help you with anything you might need before you see Miss Matilda. It's better to know what you're doing before going to see her," Miss Jenkins said.

"Okay," I replied, nodding my head. I was glad Miss Jenkins had a system in place for my first day, I didn't like the idea of the first person in the household I see being Matilda, especially as I had little knowledge of her other than what I was told. If I messed up with Robert, it would not be as bad, but I was certain that Matilda would have wanted my trial terminated if I did anything wrong, even on my first day.

"It will be simple enough. Master Robert will have tea and some toast whilst Miss Matilda prefers not to eat first thing in the morning. You will just have to leave the trays in their room and come down here for your next task."

"Okay."

Once Miss Jenkins had finished giving out her instructions, Esther lightly tapped me on the arm and led me to the table where we had eaten just a few hours before. On the table were two silver trays, one had a small teapot, a china mug and a plate which Miss Jenkins was just starting to put toast onto. The other was almost identical, just without the plate of toast. Esther gestured to the tray and started to remove all the objects before showing me how they fitted onto the tray, so I could do it myself in the future. Setting up the tray looked like the easiest thing I was going to have to do during my time in the Ealing household.

"You'll go to Master Robert's room first. Take the stairs Doctor Ealing brought you down, cross the hall and up another flight of stairs, when you get to the second landing, Master Robert's room will be the first door on your left. Just knock and he will let you in," Esther said.

"Right, first door on the left, second landing," I repeated, my head spinning with new information.

"Once you're finished, come back down and collect Miss Matilda's tray, I will tell you where her room is when you have returned," Esther said. "You'll be fine, just be polite and do as you are asked."

"If you say so," I muttered.

"You better get going, Rosie. Take a deep breath and keep calm, nothing will go wrong," Miss Jenkins said. She was trying to sound optimistic, but her tone of voice and the anxious look on her face said otherwise.

Nodding, I grabbed the handles of the tray, the fingers on my left hand feeling strangely stiff as they wrapped around the metal. The tray was heavy as I picked it up and any worries I may have had about Matilda melted away and were replaced with images of dropping the tray onto the floor and spilling everything. I tightened my grip on the handles and set off in the direction Esther had told me to go. The hallway outside the kitchen was dark, the candles on the wall doing little to light the staircase, the only strip of light came from the kitchen.

I made my way up the flight of stairs that Doctor Ealing had led me down the night before, my eyes fixated on the tray I was holding rather than where I was putting my feet. It wasn't the smartest of plans as one miss-step would send me sprawling, but the stairs were easy to navigate so all I had to do was make sure nothing slid off the tray and onto the floor. Once I reached the top of the stairs, I entered a hallway lit with sunlight as it streamed through the windows. I blinked, letting my eyes adjust to the bright light after the dimness of the stairwell before I started to follow Esther's instructions.

Crossing the hall, I started up another set of stairs, this staircase was lit with natural light streaming in through the large windows that looked out onto the garden. The wooden stairs had a small, relatively thin, carpet up the middle of the stairs and the walls were littered with paintings of landscapes and people in various poses. It took everything within me not to stop walking and really look at the paintings before me, but I had a job to do and couldn't afford to waste any time looking at paintings.

My fingers tightened their grip on the tray and I continued the walk, following the directions Esther had given me and coming out on the second landing. When I reached what I could only assume was Robert's bedroom, I balanced the tray on the palm of my left hand and knocked with the right, waiting for a response.

"Come in," a voice from inside the room called. I put my hand on the door handle and twisted it, using my back to the push the door open. "Ah, Rosie! I wondered what they would have you doing for your first task."

"Good morning," I said. Robert was sitting at a desk facing a large open window turning a book over in his hands.

"Just set the tray down over there." Robert gestured to a side table.

"Okay."

"Do you have to do Matilda's tea tray as well?" Robert asked, dropping the book onto the desk.

"Yes."

"Thought as much. Miss Jenkins likes to break the new servants in early, especially when it comes to my darling sister. Try not to worry about her too much, though, first thing in the morning she's normally too concerned about her hair to worry about what you are doing. Just try not to engage in conversation," he said, grinning.

"I should get on."

"Very well. I'll see you later for whatever your next task may be." He paused. "Good luck with your first day, Rosie."

"Thank you, sir."

Robert smiled at me and gave me a small nod, I don't know if it was supposed to be reassuring, but something about the way he acted gave me a small glimmer of hope that things were going to be okay. Even with Matilda and her obvious attitude towards me, Robert, Miss Jenkins and Esther had faith that I could do it and I wasn't going to disappoint them on my first job. Whatever Matilda was going to throw at me, I was ready for it. I wanted to make those who believed in my proud, those who thought I could do it, but first, I had Matilda to deal with.

Leaving Robert to his breakfast, I closed the door behind me and scurried off to the kitchen to get the next tray. When I entered the kitchen, Esther was nowhere to be seen and Miss Jenkins was rummaging around in the pantry for something. The tray was still on the table, but steam was rising out of the spout of the teapot whilst before it looked as though nothing was in it. I stood, looking at the tray and waited for either Miss Jenkins or Esther to return to the kitchen so I could find out where Matilda's room was.

After several minutes, Miss Jenkins shuffled into the room carrying a life of bread a jar of what looked like jam. She noticed me, but said nothing, deciding instead to dump the items onto the table and grab a knife from one of the draws to cut the bread into slices. She spoke as she cut the bread, not even looking up from her task as she addressed me.

"Miss Matilda's room is on the same floor as Master Robert's. You'll want to continue down the hallway, turn right and it will be the only door you see. Be quick about it, she'll be mad if she doesn't get her tea soon."

"Okay, thank you, Miss Jenkins," I said.

"You're welcome dear, now, off you go. I'll have some breakfast for us when you get back." My stomach growled in protest at the idea of eating.

I smiled at Miss Jenkins and seized the tray the same way I had taken up Robert's before I set off on the same journey I had taken only moments before. My focus was on making sure both the tray and myself looked presentable enough to make a positive impression on Matilda. Robert had barely even glanced at his tray when I had brought it in, but I expected Matilda to scrutinise everything about it, even if I hadn't put it together myself. The fingers on my left hand ached as I flexed them against the tray, hoping to relieve some of the stiffness that had set in.

Continuing to flex my fingers out, I followed the same path as before until I came out on the same landing I was on only moments before. I passed by Robert's room, hearing him move about behind the shut door and down the hallway until I reached the end. A large window looked out onto the garden, the sun shone through, illuminating the entire hall. I turned away from the window and towards a large door on the right-hand side, hidden away from the other rooms. Inside, I could hear someone moving around, throwing things. Matilda didn't sound happy.

I took a deep breath and leant the tray on the palm of my left hand, stretching my fingers out. With my right hand, I knocked lightly on the door and waited for a response, but it didn't come. Instead, there was more walking around and more throwing things, so I knocked again, harder than before so it could penetrate the noise within.

"Enter," a disgruntled voice said within. I lent my back against the door and pushed it open, watching the tray to make sure nothing slid off.

"Your tea, Miss Matilda," I said, trying to keep my voice steady, though the nerves were starting to set in.

"About time. Set it down over there and try not to break anything." Matilda waved her hand to a table next to her bed. She was standing in front of a large mirror, rummaging around a desk covered in an assortment of objects, most of which I had never seen before. "At least you're clean now, I would have had to complain to Miss Jenkins about the standards she keeps."

"Will that be all, miss?"

"No, fetch me the smelling salts from that cabinet over there, this heat is making me faint."

"Yes, miss," I said. Putting the tray down on the table, I crossed the room to a small wooden cabinet underneath a huge window that faced out onto the side of the house. I opened the cupboard door and rummaged around the cabinet until I found a bottle labelled smelling salts in the same untidy scrawl as the label on the burn paste jar.

"Hurry up! You are you moving as slowly as my grandmother," Matilda snapped.

"Sorry, miss," I said, grabbing the bottle from the cabinet, "here." I stood up and crossed the room, jar in hand.

"Finally! Put it down on the desk, I have to finish my hair."

"Of course, miss."

As I approached the desk, jar in hand, the fingers on my left hand seized up, causing my grip to falter. The jar slipped slowly from my hand, my fingers locking up completely. With my grip on the jar having relaxed, the jar slipped my fingers and onto the ground, bouncing off the rug and rolling onto the hardwood that surrounded the rest of the room. A low tickling sound accompanied the jar as rolled across the room, eventually coming to a stop at the foot of a chair. Silence descended upon the room as both Matilda and I watched the jar. I knew what was going to happen before the words even left her mouth.

"You incompetent rat! I knew Mother made a mistake in hiring you, you can't even carry out a simple task without messing it up," Matilda said.

"I'm sorry, miss, I didn't mean to," I said, my voice shaking. I started to cross the room to pick up the jar.

"Leave it, just get out. Mother will hear of your incompetence, don't get too comfortable, you won't be around long enough."

Without wanting to get into an argument, or have my job threatened for the second time, I scurried out of the room, closing the door behind me. I took a breath and leant back against the closed door, taking my left hand in the other. With my back pressed against the door, I started to massage my knuckles, to try and get rid of the stiffness that was still limiting the movement in my hand. My heart was beating faster than ever before after the confrontation with Matilda and I didn't want to go down to the kitchens and have to face Esther and Miss Jenkins knowing I might have just ruined my chances of working at the house full time.

Instead, I pushed myself away from the door and towards the window, glancing out onto the path that I had been on the day before. The trees were swaying in the breeze and the light was dancing off a small stream just behind the tree line, out of sight unless looking down from a height. The natural landscape was enough to calm me down, my heart rate returning to normal but there was nothing I could have done about my fingers, they were still stiff. A couple of the smaller blisters that wrapped around near the palm of hand had ruptured when the bottle had slipped from my grip.

Looking out of that window, massaging my fingers, I couldn't help but wonder whether the job was worth it. I was glad to have a bed, food and protection from the streets, but I couldn't even fetch a jar without dropping it. How I was going to continue carrying things throughout the house was a mystery to me and I didn't like the idea of dropping a tray halfway up the stairs. The injury to my hand was already starting to cause issues and I knew it was likely to get worse before it got any better.

"Rosie? What are you doing?" a voice being me said.

"N-nothing," I stuttered, getting caught out by Robert for standing around and not doing my job.

"I take it your first meeting with Matilda did not go too well?" Robert asked, his footsteps approaching my spot at the window.

"You could say that."

"What happened?"

"It doesn't matter, I should get back to work before I get into trouble with Miss Jenkins." I turned to leave the window to head down to the kitchen when I felt Robert's hand grab my right arm.

"Matilda is bound to go to Mother telling her you are incapable of doing your job to the standard she expects if I know what happened I can defend you. It's better to have someone on your side then no one, right?"

"My fingers seized up and I dropped a bottle of smelling salts, it was a small incident, but Miss Matilda didn't take it that way."

"The fingers on your left hand?"

"Yes."

"That can easily be explained to Mother. I would not worry too much about my sister, she will find anything to complain about and normally there is nothing there to complain about. You didn't mean to drop the bottle and Mother will understand that it was all to do with your injury and not something that could have been avoided. I'm sure you'll trial will be safe, no matter what Matilda says."

"As positive as that sounds, I don't see how I can continue to work if I could drop anything at a moment's notice. It doesn't exactly fill me with confidence."

"Let me talk to my father, perhaps there is something we could do about that. For now, I suggest you return to the kitchen and try to limit what you do with your left hand, that way you won't drop anything."

"I'll try. Miss Jenkins is going to kill me for being late."

"You'd better get going then," Robert said, smiling.

I nodded and, feeling a little more optimistic, headed down to the kitchen for my next task, hoping it didn't include moving things around. I knew going into my first day that it was going to be difficult, doing a job I had never done before with someone who didn't like me. However, with Robert having given me a little boost of confidence, I was hoping things might turn around and look up. All I had to do was figure out a way to stop my hand from seizing up whenever I tried to carry anything.  

~~~

A/N - We are back a little earlier this week, mainly because I couldn't put off this update by a whole 24 hours, I know, I have no patience xD I am going to try and build-up an update schedule, but don't quote me on that...

So, we have officially seen the start of Rosie's new job! Things didn't exactly go to plan, did they? Did Matilda over-react to Rosie dropping the jar? What about Robert? Is it just me, or is he paying a lot of attention to Rosie these days? Hmmm

Don't forget to vote and comment if you enjoyed!

Dedication - This chapter is dedicated to DeannaHellerErskin who went above and beyond with their comments during the judging of Round 2 of 'The Magic Awards'. Your comments meant so much to me :)

First Published - September 17th, 2018