𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒊𝒓𝒆 » 𝐀. 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒

❝𝒙𝒗𝒊𝒊.❞

Upon her return to London, Nora walked into the office of the opalite to find Clara and Elliot waiting for her. At the sight of her they both froze and looked at each other, and then back at Nora. Nora immediately got nervous as her heart dropped, "What's wrong?"

Clara shocked her head, "Your mum rang, they need you to come to Birmingham. They took Tommy's son." Nora's eyes widened as she ran back out the door but Elliot cut her off in her tracks. "Don't go."

"Don't go?! My nephew has been kidnapped-" "Because he was caught in the crossfire of something very dangerous and not to mention illegal. Nora, we are leaving all of this behind. Don't get roped into this now." Nora looked her fiance up and down, absolutely disgusted and irritated with what she had heard. "I'm going to Birmingham, to help my family get that boy back. If it were my son, I'd want them to do the same." "If it were our son, it'd be less likely to happen because we'd live decent lives, Nora. There's no gangs, no fighting; we'd be people of society."

Nora walks around him and ushers her driver into the car, "We're going to Birmingham, immediately, step on it."

In a few hours time she had finally made it to Birmingham with the entire family stretched thin in worry. She tracks down her mother at the betting shop on Watery Lane with Lizzie and Esme. She greets them all before pulling her mum aside, "I know I'm outside all of this but what is happening here mum?" "It's that damn priest. He's pulling all the strings here, and Tommy, that your cousin. He's so overwhelmed with his desire for power and more power, he doesn't know when to stop Eleanora. He's got everyone at risk now, look what's happened to the boy. And I told him, I warned him about getting back into business with Alfie Solomons-"

"Alfie?" "Yes, the bastard betrayed Tommy again. Probably why Charlie was even taken." Nora's blood boiled as her face twitched and her body shuddered in disgust. I can't believe I ever let that man touch me again, she thought silently as she shook her head. "It's okay, we'll find Charlie, we'll find him. Where's Michael." "He-" Polly cut herself off as she teared up.

"Oh mum, c'mere. It's going to be alright." She pulls her mother into a deep embrace, comforting and caressing her soothingly. She didn't know how this was going to fall into place. How could she leave the Shelbys like this, so disheveled? It was all a mess. Nora didn't know what to think, but she definitely felt like she was making all the wrong decisions lately.

Silence broke hours later when Michael came through the door holding a wailing Charlie. The women all ran to swarm him as Nora took him into her arms as she was always the most efficient in calming him down. "Hi my darling, oh we missed you!" She places his head on his heart as she sings a quick French lullaby to reassure his safety. He slowly starts murmuring and purring along as she's handed a phone with Tommy on the other line.

"I've got him, Tom." She speaks softly on the phone with him. "Rest easy, I've got him now." She positions the phone so he could faintly hear his soft and restful murmurs as she lulls him to sleep. "Thank you, Nora." "Of course, come home to him, and get some rest yourself."

She hands him off to Lizzie once fully asleep and she decides to retire to her mother's house. They share a drink in relief that the child was back in their custody. "You know we're going to miss you around here, Eleanora." Nora smiles as she sits down on the couch resting her head on her mother's shoulder, "You know this means you'd have a reason to come to Australia right? You could visit, escape this even if it's temporary." "Oh, Eleanora please, between you leaving and Arthur it's-" "Arthur?"

"Linda's convinced him to live a sweet Christian life on some reservation in America." Nora snickered, "Arthur? Our Arthur?" "Yes." "Oh he'll lose his mind in a week." "That's what I said, but he's convinced, and Linda is a very convincing woman." "So I've heard, Esme writes quite the letters." She sighs as she looks up at her mother, "You like Elliot, don't you?"