In Small Heath | Peaky Blinders

twenty-two; twos company, threes a crowd

Monaghan Boy.

The horse- and Bash- had quickly become quite good friends. Whenever he could, Bash would tend to him and make sure he had settled in- much to Charlie's displeasure. Knowing that his nephew was there- where Tommy had hidden the guns — directly on top of where Tommy had hidden the guns, hadn't sat right with him. It wasn't because the boy was blind, but rather the boy was a Shelby.

A Shelby that took after his father way more than his mother and it scared him. Charlie kept telling himself it was because there was too many hazards, he told him- but that was just an easy excuse, a cop-out for saying he was just afraid of any outcome.

If the horse was to be spooked, and bucked its hind legs, Bash wouldn't be able to move away in time- or if the horse bolted and dragged him down the docklands — that was what constantly ran through Charlie Strongs mind.

Day in, day out.

"Charlie, I can feel you standing behind me." Bash's voice cut the silence like a hot brass iron scalding a cows hind.

Though Bash wasn't entirely sure if it had been Charlie, but as he guessed, he was almost certain he was right. There was an air to Charlie that others didn't have, the way the air became less muggy almost. If anyone was to hear what happened, second handed, they'd think he has working eyes on the back of his head. Or, better yet, he had a power that could only be passed down via a gypsy princess, perhaps.

Hearing his voice had startled Charlie, almost making him drop the plate of freshly baked biscuits that he'd made Finn get from some local bakery.

"Sorry, Bash- didn't think you'd want any company."

Well, it wasn't a complete lie, and Bash could tell- not by his voice, but he could just tell. He knew something had been bothering the family for a day or two now, but he didn't know to what depths it was bothering them. It wasn't like he could ask, they wouldn't have responded truthfully regardless of the question.

No one ever told him the straight truth anymore. It was as if losing his eyesight made him more susceptible to talking.

"Company would be nice..." Bash hesitated in answering, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

Letting people know that he wanted their company was like pulling at strings that lead to nowhere. No, it would lead to people pitying him and he'd had enough of that. He'd had enough of quite a lot of things, come to think of it.

Another bout of silence feel upon the nephew and uncle duo, just the sound of heavy horse breathing to cut the almost deafening sound of nothingness. If only he had lost his hearing instead. That would've made his life a whole lot easier.

"Yeah? I can stay for a bit, got Curly looking out for the canal boat."

The canal boat returning from Camden Town with contraband on, no doubt.

For a moment, Sebastian Shelby wondered what the Shelby Company was in all of its glory. A betting shop and a protection racket were the main two- those had been in place before the war, before they were even old enough to look over the kitchen counter. But now? He wasn't sure if things had been added under the radar, behind everyone's backs.

He knew race fixing were next on the agenda, to take on Billy Kimber, but that was all that was known.

"What do you think of Monaghan Boy?" Bash asked, taking his hand off of the horses neck- allowing it to fall back down to his side.

Charlie tilted his head, the boy really wanted to know about a horse, not about what things had visually changed, or what was new with the dockyard.

He just wanted to know about the horse. Charlie should've expected it, Bash hadn't changed in that sense.