Peaky Blinders One Shots

3. Garrison

Finally, the sun rays penetrated through the curtain and I had to drag myself out of the bed. A tiny mirror and a basin were kept in another corner of the room that I had not noticed the night before. I warmed some water and washed myself to the best of my abilities. From habit than any other reason I dressed myself up and put on rouge and powder to look less like a corpse. I walked downstairs to find Mildred petting her cat on the sofa.

"Good morning Mrs Ivan. I wanted to talk to you about something." I tried to sound chirpy to balance out her unfriendly stare.

"I was wondering if you could direct me to find some form of employment." I continued when she did not respond.

"The Whorehouse is on the next street," she murmured with a dismissive look.

Hearing the word still jolted me. I knew that this would be the inevitable conclusion people formed but nothing could prepare me for the icy chill it continued to send down my back at every incantation.

I held my head up high and my back straight while walking out of the room just like our governess had taught us. I could not let my face betray my emotions. I was above sparring with this sad old lady.

The air outside was chilly, I wrapped my shawl around tighter as I wondered where I could begin this search. I must have been a little lost in my thoughts because it was only when the Barkeep from yesterday called out my name did I glance at him. He was carrying in his hands three sacks that looked incredibly heavy. He was panting as he tried to get my attention.

"Missy, did you manage to find old Mildred's place yesterday?" He asked still panting.

"Yes, I'm all settled in. Thank you for directing me." I smiled. Then it occurred to me that I could ask Harry about a job.

"Harry, is it okay if I call you Harry?", he nodded so I continued "I am Grace, let me help you carry those to the pub."

"These are heavy, lass; you won't be able to lift them."

"That is okay, I used to help my father all the time." I grabbed one of the sacks and lifted it up.

He seemed impressed as he lead the way to his pub which I now noticed was called Garrison. He put them away behind the counter once we were in.

"So, Harry I wanted to ask around about any potential job opportunities, where would you suggest I begin? I can do pretty much anything, I could tutor kids, I can do bookkeeping I am good with numbers or housekeeping if that is a requirement but I have had formal education so I can be very useful."

"Nobody can afford any of those 'round here, Grace." He laughed "They barely keep themselves fed and watered"

"Is there nowhere close by I could look for something?" I asked desperately.

"I could use some help with the books here but won't be able to pay you nearly enough to cover everything."

"I would be so grateful for anything," I said.

"You might also want to look for something else to earn rent," he suggested.

"No that's fine. I don't need to pay rent." I said in a small voice.

"Alright, you can start right away. The books are in the back room. I have to warn you though, this is not a place for a fine lass like you. Keep your wits about you and remain vigilant. Be wary of the men that come to the bar and remember to keep an eye out for the Peaky Blinders. Stay clear but let me tell you if they want you there isn't much I can do about it"

"I shall keep to myself don't worry," I said hurriedly to reassure him. There was nothing worse that could happen to me after Edward. 

I got behind the counter and entered the back room. It was only used for storage which was pretty apparent. Dust bunnies gathered in every corner of the room, spider webs the size of whole windows, it seemed dank as if no one had opened a window in here since the previous century. I carefully placed my shawl and bag on a crate and started stacking the extras against the wall.

After clearing the main area I dragged the table and chair that had been pushed to the side to the centre of the room and dusted everything as well as I could. Harry pointed me in the direction of all the logs and I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon trying to make sense of the accounts.