A/N Prologue and chapter One in one day? ;D

Still not sure where this will end...

Chapter ONE

The train was late and there was one thing she despised: unpunctuality. Additionally it rained heavily and the roofed part of the platform was overcrowded with workers waiting for their lift to the dayshift in the factories. She stood close to the edge, firmly gripping her small valise, trying to avoid eye-contact with any of the men. A few of them had already whistled at her and one had even dared to touch her bottom while passing by. She had kept a straight face all the while although she was seething inside. She longed for the train to arrive and take her away from this place right now even if it was her home, everything she knew and loved. But it was her past and ahead, along the endless tracks of this railroad, lay her future. A faint whistle drew the attention of the waiting passengers towards the horizon were the lush green hills of the Lowlands stretched out. Grey smoke rose in the distance announcing the arrival of the train to York, to a new life.

Third class compartments were soon as overcrowded as the platform and Elsie was glad to have found a seat next to the window to keep her eyes and mind distracted from the people around her. In Glasgow most of the workers fortunately left the train and she was able to relax a bit. She let go of her bag which she had tightly pressed to her chest all the time and put it on one of the baggage racks above her. When the train started again and the slow and steady swaying movement set in she allowed herself some rest, closed her eyes and rested her head against the window. Her mind drifted off into an uneasy sleep full of too vivid and fresh memories: the happy faces of her parents and her sister when she had told them about her new employment, the sad faces when they said their goodbyes, his disappointed face when she hard turned him down, the anxious face of her dear mother when she had left the house in the early hours of the morning when the world was still clad in darkness. All was now so far away and would continue to exist in a life that was not hers anymore.

The swaying stopped all of a sudden. Slowly she opened her eyes and stifled a yawn. How long she had been asleep she did not know but the world outside had changed. The hills were a different green, the farmland the train passed by was full of cows instead of sheep, trees lined the tracks and the sun was already past her peak. A small silver watch she kept on a delicate silver chain around her neck told her that it was past three in the afternoon already. Her journey had so far taken more than eight hours time. Soon the train would make its last stop in the town of York from where she would take another train to Downton. Her last stop and the first of a new future.

ooooo

Her legs and back ached from the long hours she had spent sitting on the hard wooden bench in the third class compartment. But that did not matter now. She had arrived in England.

The narrow platform was full of travelers that had left the train at this final destination ready to meet their families, friends, husbands or wives. Wherever she let her eyes wander people were greeted by other people, embraced, and welcomed with a smile. Others hurried away quickly but she was sure that those too had someone waiting for them outside the train station. She let her bag drop to the stone floor, adjusted her hat and her coat and took one deep breath before she crossed the platform towards the main building. It had been her decision to leave her home and family behind so she had no right to envy the people around her for their happiness. This was not the time to sink into self doubt.

The main hall of York station was huge and impressive. It almost took her breath away and made her forget the loneliness she had suffered minutes ago, when she tilted her head back to have a look at the wonderful circular arcs that span the platforms. A perfect work of structural engineering she would probably only see once in her life. She took her time to admire the place before a look at the large wall clock told her it was time to move on. The final part of her journey was now inevitable lying ahead.

ooooo

Downton. A small town in the county of Yorkshire in the North of England was her new home. Aside from her only three other passengers had left the train and the loneliness that suddenly came over her could not be compared to any other feeling she had experienced before. This was it. Her new life. There was no way back now. She had to make the best of it, let her feelings and doubts not take over her mind, accept the fact that it had been her decision and that no one had forced her to take on this new employment. She would be strong and self-confident, erect that wall again that had helped her keep her emotions at bay for uncountable times already in the past.

Elsie took her bag in one hand and made her way towards the coaches that waited in front of the small station. One of them would take her to the estate.

"You've to leave her, ma'am. Can't go all the way up to the house." Elsie thanked the driver and walked through the stone gate that marked the entrance to the grounds. A long gravel path led the way to the estate. It cut through lush meadows that were the beginning of an extensive park. The gravel crunched underneath her feet and was the only sound she perceived as she made her way towards the impressive house with its four large towers on each corner of the rectangular building and the single one in the center. She had never before seen such a outstanding building. It looked like a castle not like the manor of an Earl. Still, the closer she got to the house the more it intimidated her. All its splendour and magnificence were lost and replaced by an uneasiness that made her throat feel constricted when she finally stood right in front of it. She dared not to take the main entrance, knock on the oaken door to announce her arrival. Instead she quickly had a look around to search for the back door, the servant's entrance, her entrance to the house.

A small wrought iron gate set in a large yew hedge seemed to be the thing she had been looking for. She took one last deep breath to calm her nerves and made her way towards the small gate when a voice behind her made her jump. It was deep and stern yet kind and soothing at the same time, if something so contradictory was possible. She stopped walking and slowly turned around, her heart beating so hard inside her chest that she was afraid everyone else could hear it too.

"May I ask who you are and what you are doing on the premises?" A very tall man, perfectly coiffed, dressed in a meticulously starched white shirt and a raven black tailcoat looked down at her, inquiringly. Now was the time for her to erect that wall again and not let her nervousness show. She was not a twenty year old girl anymore taking on her first employment away from home without any experience. Head housemaid was a responsible position that required a lot of knowledge, sensitivity and organizational skills. She had all of these skills and she had a strong personality and was self-confident, usually.

"The name is Elsie Hughes. I am the new head housemaid."

A/N I know... there are already quite a few fanfics about Elsie's early days at Downton. But that's where the plot bunny wanted me to go...