Anna Gray had experienced nothing but trauma since she was stolen from a family she had long forgotten. In the fleeting peace of her adolescent years, the fearful girl found comfort in the protection of her brother, and the beauty of her flowers.
B...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Annie had eventually returned from her state of shock, after some gentle coaxing from Tommy. The man was almost at a loss, despite his clear intelligence, emotions were not his strong suit, and it had been a long time since Ada had needed any form of comfort that he could draw experience from.
The girl retired swiftly, laying awake and staring intently at the cracked ceiling. She listened to the eerie silence of the house, occasional creaks and drunken mumblings from the passers-by on Watery Lane reaching her ears.
Annie missed her brother. The last thing she wanted after witnessing Arthur's violent rage was to be away from Michael. Despite his attempts, Tommy was still new, and he still had nothing on her brother.
When morning arrived, she heard Tommy's movements so early that it was questionable if the man had slept at all. The unlikely pair trailed quietly down to Charlie's yard, Tommy going about business as usual, while Annie hoped her horse could occupy her mind long enough to stop seeing red.
Tommy had left not too long ago, different business pulling him away, but he was content to leave the girl in the company of her horse and the horse from the auction, under Charlie and Curly's watchful eyes.
"Is there a flower shop around here, Curly?" Annie had asked after a while of stroking and brushing her horse. The man had been bustling about the stables, both relaxed in each others' presence. Even in spite of her discomfort with new people, Curly was barely a mark in her anxieties - Charlie, however, had a resting glare that Annie actively avoided.
"Only a small one. Quite run down, Mrs Hudson owns it, refuses to close, she says. Knows flowers better than anyone. Opposite the Garrison." Curly rambled, barely hearing his owns words as he tended another horse.
"Thank you, Curly." Anna smiled anxiously, giving her horse a final pat as she hurriedly headed in search of the elusive flower shop. She checked over her shoulder constantly, stumbling men and obnoxiously loud women startling her each second.
Charlie entered the stables, surprised to only see Curly. "Where did she go?"
Curly glanced around in surprise, not having noticed the girl's absence. The older man noticed his companion's confusion, sigh ikr heavily.
"Shit."
❀
Curly was right. The flower shop was run down - and that was putting it lightly. The green-painted pieces of wood building the outside were rusted and rotting at the corners, the faded gold letters were peeling severely, so bad that Pretty Petalshad now become Petty Peals. The pots and hanging baskets of flowers littering the path next to the quaint shop were wilting and grey, a likely result of the plumes of factory smoke. But Annie didn't care. A pure smile graced her face for the first time since the incident at the auction, and she opened the door gently, welcomed by the tinkling of a bell.
