Thomas cleared his throat, "I promised my friend Freddie Thorne that I'd say a few words over his grave- if he should pass before me." Ada grabbed Mia's hand, giving it a light squeeze.
"I made this promise before he became my brother-in-law, when we were in France, fighting for the king." Tommy said, "Amen." Arthur concluded.
"In the end it wasn't war that took Freddie- Pestilence took him." A tear fell from Mia's eye that she was quick to wipe away. "But Freddie passed on his soul and spirit to a new generation, before he was cruelly taken." Thomas finished.
~
The blinders all gathered outside the burned down garrison. "Who would do this to us?" Polly asked Thomas.
The betting shop was mental that afternoon, John ran around trying to find his aunt. "Poll, did he say who did it?" He asked following her out the door. "He's gone to the black lion." She replied, grabbing her keys. "on his own?"
"Tommy does everything on his own." Polly sighed, walking away from the boy- who continued to follow her. "Should I go see him?" He asked, "no!" His aunt tutted."And where the fucks Arthur?" John questioned again, "Protecting the Garrison's whiskey from the police."
Mia sat on the windowsill reading her book quietly. "Six." Polly said, bursting into the room.
"Six what?" John asked, trailing in behind her. "Six questions since coming through that door. Soon you'll have to start being the man with the answers." John gave her a confused look, "why?" "Seven." Polly said, making Mia giggle.
"When London happens you'll have to hold up your end. Or we'll find someone else that can." Polly told her nephew as she lit a cigarette.
~
"Sit down Finn." Arthur ordered his younger brother- who complied, "where the bloody hell is Tommy?" John complained. "He's on his way," Polly sighed. "While we're waiting patiently..." Arthur stood, groaning as he heaved a large crate off the shelf. "Whiskey." He poured a glass, handing it over to Mia. "It's good stuff aswell," he told her. "Before Tommy gets here there's a few things we need to get straight between the rest of us." John started. "I want to know when we all took a vote on this expansion south?"
"If you have anything to say, you wait for Thomas." Polly scolded him, "Polly's fuckin' right." Arthur agreed. "I see all the books- Legal and off-track. In the past year the Shelby Company Limited has been making one-hundred and fifty pounds a day." John continued, ignoring the pairs request. "Right? A FUCKING DAY." He spat.
"So what I wanna know is- why we are changing things? Polly, look what's happened already." He said looking up at his aunt. "We haven't even set foot in London yet, and they've already blown up our pub."
~
Mia visited Freddie's grave the next day.
"Why'd you have to leave me Fred?" She said, tears falling from her eyes. She may have been putting on a brave face since the funeral but the girl was completely and utterly broken inside. She hadn't ate- hadn't slept because the thought of her brother never coming back again made her feel sick to her stomach.
"I thought I'd find you out here." Thomas spoke, making the girl jump. "Fuckin' hell why'd you have to sneak up on me like that Tom?" Mia laughed. Tommy gave her a soft smile, stepping closer. "I came to ask you something." He said quietly, wiping the tears from her face. "And what would that be?" Mia asked looking up at him.
"How would you like to become an official blinder?"
~
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
AAAAAH! First chapter down, to be honest I had no idea where to start with this story.
