Matters of the Heart (PEAKY BLINDERS)

Prologue.

Small Heath, Birmingham

1914

Llewellyn Turner could feel the gravel collecting in his shoes as he ran down Watery Lane, not even a little bothered by the small stones digging mercilessly into his heels. All he could focus on was the letter crumpled in his right hand, his fist clenched over the seal of the British crown.

He finally spotted the familiar door of the Shelby residence, nearly toppling it over as he brought both fists up to the door and pounded until it finally sprang open.

Though he had seen it probably a hundred times by now, the sight of Polly Gray holding a gun straight between his eyes was enough to seize all the muscles in his body, his heart stopping its bounding beat.

At the sight of him, Polly visibly relaxed, letting out a deep breath as she let her hand fall to her side.

"Oh, God it's just you. I expected you to come running any moment now, but not to come knock our door off its bloody hinges. Christ, come in love."

Llewellyn found himself sat in the Shelby kitchen, his eyes scanning the letter once more as Polly poured tea into the two empty glasses between them. She couldn't help but scan the empty look on his face, her heart breaking at the sight.

"I got the mail just before you came. There's three letters, just like that, in the pile. The boys are at Charlie's yard right now. Thought I'd let them have their last bit of fun before..."

Llewellyn nodded, not needing her to finish the sentence. They both knew exactly what came next after Arthur, John, and Tommy read their own letters.

He ran his finger over the teacup, watching as the ripples moved and then died in the brown liquid.

"Aunt Pol I need you to promise me something".

Pol shook her head, letting her hand rest on his.

"Don't even bother. There's no need to make me promise that. How many times am I gonna have to tell you this until it gets through that thick skull of yours? You, Lillian. You two are my own. So don't you doubt for a second that I'm ever going to stop taking care of the both of you. She'll stay here, with Finn, Ada and I. And when you come back, because you will Llewellyn, she'll be here, happy and healthy as she can be, waiting for her brave big brother, you hear me?"

Lyn nodded slowly, biting the inside of his cheek so the burning of his eyes would cease. In the end, he let his shoulder fall, his palms resting on his eyes as the tears sprang forward, his sobs echoing through the kitchen.

For the rest of their time, neither of them said another word, Lyn's head resting on Pol's shoulder as she held his shaking form, trying to sniffle as quietly as she could.

⚔︎♛

Lillian had been ecstatic when Lyn had told her they'd be moving into the Shelby residence. He didn't have the heart to tell her that he wouldn't be going with her, nor would any of Finn's brothers.

But he also knew he couldn't wait to tell her the moment before he got on the train. So the day before he was to be at the train station, he woke his little sister up at the crack of dawn, and dedicated his entire last day to her. He took her riding at Charlie's yard, took her to the pictures and brought her so many bags of popcorn that she could barely walk out of the theater, Lyn having to carry her atop his shoulders as they walked all about Small Heath.