In Small Heath | Peaky Blinders

thirteen; death comes knocking

Meanwhile, in Birmingham, heartache spread through the town.

With the women having to take the roles of their husbands, brothers and sons, accidents happened more often than people had realised. As well as this, the cramped conditions in some of the working spaces meant the spread of such uncontrollable diseases like tuberculosis had taken over towns and cities.

A Shelby child, one of Johns, hadn't made it illness free in months, weakened immune systems  weren't easily treatable with the resources the city had.

Katie was dependant on the medicines the doctors gave to soothe her rickety coughs and the worry that she had caused her mother had quickly spread to her aunt and great aunt. They knew how damaging it would be if John returned to his first born having passed whilst he was away.

Finn was doing his part to help but he himself was still only a child, a child who enjoyed chasing away the pigeons and the seagulls - trying to evade being shat on as retribution.

"Finn!" Ada's voice echoed through the empty Garrison, her voice laced with anticipation and worry.

All of their voices had been laced with at least an ounce of worry since the boys left...

Well, almost all.

Theodora had left three weeks after Bash, saying she would feel much safer in the comfort of her parents house but Polly knew she was off to see her lover once again. After that, in the — Polly hadn't been keeping count (but Ada had), time since, none of them had even heard from the girl who was supposed to be a Shelby now.

It was quite rich, coming from someone who vowed a forever and always in a sense.

To abandon at the first small hurdle, well, it was expected of her in the back of everyone's minds.

"Finn, please! This is important!" Ada added, her voice getting louder and louder with every word - borderline screaming by the time Finn walked out from behind the bar.

By the time Martha had managed to pop her head round, Finn had sat himself in Tommys chair, hands tapping heavily against the aged wood. For a moment, he looked like all of the brothers melded into one, and it made Polly and Ada miss them all the more.

Ada sat down in her seat, baby Katie on her lap as Martha held a fussy Harry.

Knowing that Martha had to raise a two and a half year old along with a six month old alone hurt the other women- she kept refusing help despite the constant offers. But Martha was a Shelby, and when it came to it she would ask for help when things became too much.

"So..." Martha started, her voice timid but still loud enough to hear.

"We have letters- well, telegrams..."

Before Finn had the chance to ask what exactly a telegram was, small pieces of paper were placed onto the table, the red military wax sent hearts dropping.

Telegrams were rarely holding good news, but none of them dared to think like that. At least not until they had at least heard what the first one had to say.

"It says here that John was superficially  wounded —" Polly stopped, her head turning to look at the calendar that was pinned to the wall before continuing, "fifteen days ago."

"So why isn't he home?" Ada asked, confusion slowly making its way over both her and Martha's body's.

Polly thought about it for a moment, wanting to brush it off- knowing the real answer was the army needed as many men as possible even those who were slightly injured, but it was better to tell them the truth than what she thought they wanted to hear.