𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐄 ᵖᵉᵃᵏʸ ᵇˡⁱⁿᵈᵉʳˢ

𝟎𝟕, off to the races

VII. 1919

    Ever since she found out about the murder "she" committed, she had been followed everywhere she went. A random blinder would always be a few feet behind her. They never spoke, not that she wanted to; it was embarrassing enough. And when she was at home, there would be a peaked cap somewhere on the streets. She would look out the window and see a man dressed in black occasionally gazing up at her window. She grew annoyed that she didn't have privacy in her own room.

On multiple occasions did she try to speak to Polly about it but it was always the same, "It's just for now. It's to keep you safe". Polly tried not to talk about it and avoided the topic. She thought her aunt didn't want to believe that she killed someone. Even though Vivian had told her that she didn't do it, she would change the subject not wanting to discuss it any further, not letting her mention the actually killer.

Vivian had spoken to Tom at all since he said that he would deal with it. It had been days since she actually seen her brother. He was barely home, always working.

She guessed word got to Arthur and John as they avoided her, but she did not miss the sadden looks from Arthur and the hostility from John.

Arthur didn't want to see his sister apart of the life. When he first heard he was shocked and wanted it to be a big misunderstanding. He couldn't look at his sister without thinking about it, he didn't think Vivian was capable of fitting in the this life. John was confused and let the angry flood over him as he thought of her stupidity. He wanted it to be just a cruel joke. John was worried for his sister as the inspector was in town, but it displayed as resentment.

Sometimes it was the younger peaky boys that followed her. There were few times when it would be Ryan or Isaiah to walk with her. They didn't know why they had to walk with her, they were unaware of the warrant. She didn't tell them, why should she.

On one cold morning, she left the house only for Scott to be waiting for her, he wore his long coat and peaked cap; he was on duty. It was hard to stay away from him due to the fact he worked for her family. Whenever he would be there, she would moved back inside, steering clear of him at all cost, but it didn't stop him from staying outside her window.

Apart from Ryan and Isaiah, she saw Janet every other day. Janet was only across the road and she could speak to a someone without having without the presence of a babysitter. She appreciated having a girl to talk to, she had never really had a female friend since she was younger, when who her family was didn't matter so much. She liked Janet, she was kind and talkative.

Ada was living with Freddie somewhere hidden away. She missed her sister and she hoped that she and the baby were fine. She had no sense of communication with her.

She stayed in her room a lot. No one would have a normal conversation with her or speak to her at all. It grew boring sometimes and the only friend she had was her mind. She thought about what would have happened if she had been arrested.

She had been out and about and wasn't arrested then. Coppers didn't come knocking at the door. If there was a warrant for her arrest, wouldn't they try a bit harder, like maybe check her home address. The fact that it was a private report, confused her. Anyone would be happy to see a Shelby arrested, hung even. They'd hand her in any day. She had caused a teeny tiny bit of trouble with the locals in the years so it wouldn't be a surprise anyway.

But the strangest thing was the fact she was getting the blame when it was the barmaid. Grace must have been seen in the area. Vivian didn't own a gun but it wasn't like it was hard for her to get hold of one and with who her family was it was easy to believe it. So it was obvious that she would be the to blame over a barmaid.