Living With Mr Shelby

Chapter Two

I woke up early and began the long search for a job while I looked around my new home. Eventually I gave up on the job hunt as everyone seemed to want a reference from this mysterious Mr Shelby. I found myself wandering around by the docks finding the water comforting and pulled a small notepad and a small pen out of my hand bag drawing pictures of the birds and horses that were dotted around the docks.

"Miss, Miss." I looked around and realized there were no other women to speak off so the voice must have been directed at me and I was pleasantly surprised to see Curly with an older gentleman who waved Curly off and headed away from us with a quick pace.

"Mr Curly, how nice to see you again." I said politely making Curly giggle awkwardly at my polite manner.

"I'm ever so sorry I ran off, Poll gave me a tellin' off for just leavin' you at the station. You find somewhere to stay?" He murmured quickly sitting next to me on the low wall I had seated myself on.

"Oh yes it took a while but I found somewhere." I said smiling at Curly, he dug in his pocket and pulled out a rather squished cheese sandwich and ripped it in half.

"Here Miss, sorry it's squished... I saw you earlier goin' into the bakers I was gonna say hello but I was busy, I'm guessing you hant eaten yet." He placed the sandwich in my hands and began to tuck into his half looking at me expectantly.

"Thank you Mr Curly, I'll have to bring you lunch next time, and you can call me Lola." I said kindly and took a bite making the man's eyes light up happily.

"You can call me plain Curly if you like." Curly offered and helped me stand up once we were done eating and waited for me while I brushed off my dress.

"Very well plain Curly, it's a deal." I said chuckling at my new found friend; we walked for a few minutes until Curly led me towards a large stable.

"You like horses Lola?" Curly asked, suddenly sounding like a child at Christmas. I nodded eagerly and Curly led me inside where my eyes lay upon the finest black stallion I had ever seen. He was nothing like the Shire Horses we had on the farm, this horse was muscular and strong looking with a thick glossy coat and mane. It looked like midnight in a physical form.

"He is beautiful." I whispered and Curly stepped out of the way letting me pet the huge horse, a young boy in a flat cap skidded into the stables looking rather damp and it was then I noticed it had started raining.

"Oi Curly Tommy Says... Fuckin ell Curly how'd you get a girl in ere?" The young boy asked gawking at me as if he'd never seen a woman before, I turned to Curly and curtsied a little and stepped past the boy who was still staring.

"I'll let you get back to work, Plain Curly, don't forget I'm bringing lunch tomorrow." I said as I stepped out to the rain, I loved the rain. It made the dry dirt streets back home smell delicious and the damp timber piles I walked past reminded me of the smell new fences had for weeks after you put them up.

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I woke up early on Saturday and dressed modestly as I was planning to head over to the large church that stood at the end of the high street. Once I got their I curtsied and crossed to the Mother Mary statue and headed to a pew near the front of the church, a woman sat a few rows behind me and I could feel her gaze fixated on my every move.

"Most young women don't respect the old traditions." The woman said in a thick Brummie accent, I looked up as the woman moved to sit next to me and held out a hand for me to shake. "I'm Polly." She said in a forward manner making me think that this woman was very efficient in everything she did and had little to no room for errors in the way she lived her life.

"Lola." I said, shaking her hand and smiling at her. She looked me over and seemed to give an approving look as she let go of my hand.

"Where are you from Lola?" Polly asked gently but there was a tone of danger that made me think twice about avoiding the question.

"Malvern... it's down at the bottom of the midlands." I said hurriedly, Polly smiled and nodded as if she knew the place well and gazed down at the altar in front of us.

"Well Lola it's been nice meeting you but I must get going, if you need anything come to the Garrison and ask for Polly Gray." She said and stood up abruptly leaving me alone with my thoughts. After an hour I headed home and prepaid the lunch I had promised Curly feeling rather appreciative of the new friend I had made.

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When I arrived at our meeting place I saw Curly talking frantically with a tall well-built man in a flat cap. When I looked closer I realized he was wearing the exact same clothes as the boy who had come to see Curly yesterday. I began to panic wondering if Curly had gotten himself into something troublesome but the man pulled Curly into a one armed hug and turned to walk away.

"Drop by the Garrison for a drink tonight Curly. Tommy wants to celebrate his victory." The man almost bumped into me having not noticed I was there and quickly muttered apologies. His face looked worn and tired and he had a thick mustache that he kept running his fingers through as he walked away.

"Hello Lola... I'm sorry bout Arthur he's happy cause there's gonna be a lot of drinkin tonight." Curly laughed a little at the thought. I smiled holding out the paper parcel that had our lunches in and I spent the rest of the day talking with Curly as we watched the boats float by. He didn't seem to want to talk about Arthur so you didn't ask anymore. It wasn't exactly your business. Curly Seemed to appreciate it.