29.May.1870
Morning
Well, this shall definitely NOT be a boring stay in London. Nor will it really be a recovery period. Not if every day is to be like yesterday. Trouble seems to follow this group like ancient hunters followed the herds of elk. And all the trouble seems to involve fighting of some sort. Very exciting while you are participating, but afterwards a bit scary. As wonderful and kind as these new friends are, I do believe that I like the hard work and the kind of excitement you find on dig much better than chasing these strange undead creatures everywhere. I hope that Pappa finishes his paper soon so that we can be off to the next assignment. I checked in on him this morning to make sure that he was doing all right. They have been treating him very well. He says that he eats more regularly here than at his friends houses. Probably because his friends are just as apt to lose themselves in research. Or maybe it is because Graves and his staff are such superior help. Anyway, I believe that the first draft of Pappa’s paper is nearing completion. I wonder who he’ll have review it this time… Probably one of his friends at the university. I should really get over there sometime and see if they’ve added any new archeology books to the library. Or maybe I should do that after Pappa finds out where we are going next so that I can begin to research our destination. I like to be prepared with basic knowledge about the area. That way we aren’t re-inventing the wheel each time trying to learn if the things we dig up are different or the same as the way people do things now…
Anyway, back to yesterday. I can’t believe it was only yesterday afternoon that I last wrote here. I feel years older…
We all traveled off to the hotel where the American was staying. The room was accessible from the roof, so several of us decided to go that way. I wanted to go over the roof because so many people were going by way of the front. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it very far. I slipped and fell on my bum. How embarrassing. After that unfortunate incident (where the only thing really bruised was my pride. Sigh…) I decided to stay with Mrs. Whitnell and Mrs. Cuthbert in the alleyway and check into the stable. They did some of their looking in the past magic and saw that, yes, the horse had been stabled here, and that it was pretty demonic.
Suddenly, the entire party boiled out of the front and we were swept into the carriage. Everyone seemed distraught, but it took me a few minutes to understand that a young ladies’ school run by a friend of the party (one Lady Ottoline) was in danger of being attacked. About 20 minutes later, we reached the school and found that it was, indeed, being attacked. But instead of the screaming girls that I expected (remembering my own brief days at school when spiders used to send all the girls screaming from the room. Hmpf.), I found well-organized young ladies being sorted out and sent on errands: some to call the police and others to find missing girls. This Lady Ottoline must be one impressive school mistress. One of the older girls (she looked like she may have been a teacher of some kind) told us where to find the man who attacked the school. Apparently, Lady Ottoline and and another of the girls were holding him off in the weapons salle. I wasn’t prepared for the weapons salle to be the house’s old ballroom. I guess it makes sense. All the mirrors would be put to good use in training… We found the two mentioned, plus a gentleman that Miss Chigwigeon seems to know, fighting this man. But what a strange fight it was—his injuries seemed to disappear, and disarmed weapons to appear in his hands. I ran over to the weapon racks and grabbed a sword. Sir Cosmo, Lt. Wooster, and mister Cain had also grabbed weapons and jumped into the fray. There just wasn’t anywhere else for a fighter to stand, so I rushed out to the garden with Dr. Wilson and Mr. Cuthbert. We noticed the garden gate ajar (as well as a cigarette stub like those Mr. Sentenza smokes) and ran out of the garden. We immediately noticed a commotion in the church across the way and ran to investigate. Out of bushes that I know were too small to hide it, the demon horse jumped out and attacked us. We all three split and the horse chased Dr. Wilson. Confident that, if nothing else, he could blow the horse up too (I mean, he’s blown up everything else we’ve encountered…), Mr. Cuthbert and I ran into the church. Where we encountered a floor more slippery than ice. I was able to grab the door, but I lost my sword. Mr. Cuthbert slid up the main aisle and landed near some pews. I tried to slide over to the stairs that we could see, but misjudged my force. After much spinning and sliding (I’ve never slid that wildly, even on the slickest pond in the middle of the coldest winter), I found myself in the middle of the floor, near absolutely nothing to grab hold of. I tried to stand up and move, but couldn’t get myself out of a lying position. So I started slowly trying to move to see if I could get any grip on the floor in any position. Eventually, I found a slow swimming method that would eventually get me to a wall where I could pull myself (assuming that it wasn’t slick too). Mr. Cuthbert had planned better and was able to pull himself along the pews to the stairs. He looked like he was debating whether or not to come help me or head up the stairs, so I yelled that apprehending this monster was more important. I’d make it to safety eventually. I always do at some point after misjudging my actions gets me in trouble…
Suddenly there was a loud explosion! It sounded as if it had come from the top of the tower Mr. Cuthbert was trying to climb. About this point, I got to the wall and pulled myself towards the door. Only to find that there was a pile of rubble and scaffolding where there had been an entryway a few minutes before. My first thought was to blame Dr. Wilson, but I was informed later that it was really the fault of the man who had a huge explosive at the top of the tower. Mr Wilson had fired, but all the damage came from Sentenza’s bomb. Well, it’s a good thing that I am used to climbing over and around rubble, or I might have had serious difficulty getting out of the church. I thought that our assailant was dead, but there suddenly came a pair of hands digging out of the rubble. So I took my sash and tied them together. His hands were REALLY cold. I wondered how someone that cold could still be alive. When he got his head out of the rubble, he looked around and then seemed to die. Apparently this was just a ruse that my fellow party members had seen before. While we were sitting there, most of the rest of the party rejoined us. The fire in the church tower went out quite quickly. I wonder why… Then the man that Miss Chigwigeon knows (I know now that it is her father, Mr. Rip Chigwigeon) ran up and pounded a pipe through the chest of Mr. Sentenza. Disgusting. But it didn’t bleed. I guess he’s another of these blasted undead creatures. I hope that there are no undead anywhere near our new assignment… The corpse did, however, open his eyes and glare at Mr. Chigwigeon.
Things kind of quieted down at this point. We sat and watched the corpse while someone was sent for. I lent a hand with sorting out and bandaging wounds that were not yet taken care of. Eventually a lady came and did some sort of exorcism or something (I didn’t understand all the technical things). It appears that the man was a bounty hunter after Dr. Wilson’s reputation. See, I told Dr. Wilson that he really shouldn’t blow things up. It seems that he has an enemy because of all his rockets…
By this time, I was exhausted. We all traveled back to the house where there was some food laid out. I ate, checked in on Pappa to make sure that he was getting at least some sleep, and then went to bed myself. I’m very tired this morning because I just can’t sleep in, no matter how late I stayed up… So, while the rest of the household has been asleep (except that I think I heard someone head down. Maybe they were going to attend church?), I have been tending to the damage done to my clothing yesterday, updating my log, and performing my simple worship. We spend so much time in the field that I rarely have time to attend a formal worship. So I have developed my own that I can do anywhere. I’m sure whatever deity understands…
I do believe that I hear others rising and heading down the stairs. Perhaps there will be a meal ready soon.
29.May.1870
Evening
The rest of today has been wonderfully quiet. This is the kind of recovery day that I expected to return to. I did spend some time consulting with Ms. Sinclair on some better clothes for running around with the group. I’m familiar with the Turkish Trousers that we talked over, but I usually only wear them in the field. She gave me some good ideas for city usage. I realized, lying in a puddle of skirts on the floor in the church, that something would need to change. So today I have been trying to alter the clothing I was wearing yesterday (that is already in a sad state. Anything I do to it won’t hurt it any further). I’d rather not have additional crinolis if I can help it, but I don’t want massive petticoats either. I’m thinking of incorporating a few of the boning lines into my overskirt (I could then hide the casings with trim or something). Then I would only have one skirt to get out of before I was in my trousers and short skirt. I shall get my fellow women’s opinion of this attempt before I alter any of other skirts. I probably really only need 1 or 2 of the modified skirts. Really, we probably won’t be in London THAT long…
30.May.1870
There is great uproar in the house today. But in a good way. It seems that Sir Cosmo has proposed to Miss Chigwigeon! It was all announced at tea today. They were a distractingly charming couple. It seems they are still in the shy stages of having just confronted their feelings. I wish both of them the best. They seem very happy around each other.
So I liked my first skirt alteration. But after consideration, I think I’ll take Ms. Sinclaire’s idea and use a traditional crinoline with a short skirt and trousers under it. And I’ll wear them constantly here in town. I decided on the change because one never knows when this group’s trouble (or, really, trouble in any form) may crop up. I probably wouldn’t have time to run up and change into my “adventuring” outfit. But, on a happy note, I do have one skirt that won’t need the crinoline. And I have fixed up the skirt that was all but ruined the other night. I was able to hide the fabric mends, as well as boning casings, with some frills that I got from some of the torn petticoats and old trims. (good thing they were out of a good fabric. And that the tears were in places that allowed me to scrounge fabric). I may even enough left over to finish a new bonnet. I haven’t had any new clothing in a while, so this is kind of fun! Maybe, if we don’t get very busy again soon, I’ll overhaul a few of my other outfits. I know we can’t afford anything new, but I can surely have some nice looking things to wear if the group goes out and invites us along. Maybe I’ll visit the bazaar for some new trims or even a bit of new fabric…
As I look back, I realize that my log may look a bit strange. There’s only a short paragraph about Sir Cosmo’s engagement followed by a much longer paragraph about clothing. Hmmm. I guess it is because I really don’t know Sir Cosmo and Miss Chigwigeon very well yet (we only met a little over a month ago—no, I guess make that almost 2 months) It’s hard to make really lasting ties to people when I’m sure Pappa and I will be gone soon. I shall have to look for a suitable gift and present it before we leave, since I have no idea where we shall be next. Today Pappa sent off a copy his first draft to a friend for initial revision. He should get it back in a few days. In the mean time, if I know Pappa, he’ll already be working on draft two. I should remind him that he promised to take me to the museum sometime soon. I should also remind Ms. Sinclaire that she said we could return to the library at some point. I’m so excited!
31.May.1870
Hooray! Pappa has promised to take me to one of the museums at Oxford today! The Ashmolean has both exquisite art pieces as well as several good archaeology exhibits. He needs to visit with one of his colleagues at Oxford and has told me I can have the day to myself! I love the museum. Perhaps I shall ask Ms. Sinclaire if she would like to join me. Or she might want to wait until a bit later when we do another day trip to the Sedgwick museum up at Trinity. I know Pappa has made arrangements to meet with another of his colleagues there later this week. There are also some quite good collections that are not open to the public that she might be interested in. Seeing as how Pappa knows the collection owners (mostly department heads at the college), we could get in to see some of them. Ms Sinclaire seems to be a bit perturbed as of late. It would do her some good to get out and see something interesting… I shall have to broach the subject after our morning classes. We’ll be leaving around 10. It should be a nice, quiet train trip to the university…
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