The Secretary ; T . S

Chapter one: the sister

Chapter one: the sister

I hadn't been very well since the war. Not only men did their part in the war to end all wars, us women paid a heavy price too.

A lot of us women became widowed, childless, but some of us found ourselves, having the independence to run a business whilst the men were off fighting, a new sense of freedom and worth was brought into our lives just to be taken away once again when the war was won. However, myself, Poppy Millar, I went to France, alongside the thousands of men but I treated those who fell and needed putting back together. I was a nurse. The things we saw, can make you sick; things I never thought I would ever lay my eyes upon, I did and by the end, I had seen everything.

So with my hands stained red and brain numbed, I returned to Britain. People called me an Angel, sent from above for healing so many men but I couldn't help dwelling on all the men I didn't save, the screams haunted my dreams.

It made me ill. They call it post-traumatic stress disorder. I have vivid nightmares of France and wake up in a cold sweat and felt as if I forget how to inhale.

I didn't return to my hometown, Small Heath, Birmingham for a while. I had to let the fresh air of the countryside to fill my lungs and clear my mind before I could step foot into the smoggy streets. I needed a place of peace to find myself again.

And when I did, I was that sweet girl who lit up the room, like a fresh spring morning my mother used to call me. I became that girl once more.

I came back to my little brother, Reggie and elder brother, Victor, both members of that bloody Peaky Blinders gang. You could say I was far from pleased to hear it. Before the war broke out, I was a seventeen-year-old sweetheart who was completely smitten with a boy but of course, not any old boy like most girls fall for but a Shelby... John Shelby. I was certain I was going to marry that kid, everyone thought it but, he didn't want to involve me in what his brothers, Authur and Thomas were planning on creating and they did; The peaky blinders. The name Shelby now sends chills down men's spines. They are God's of Birmingham. Maybe even London now.

Nevertheless, I had written to John since I left yet, he never replied. I didn't want to give up hope on him, I thought he could have been dead or worse, hated me and got married to some other women out of spite.

No one picked me up from the station that morning, I came home to an empty house, not even a mouse to greet me home after years of not seeing me. Only a note left on the table written in Victor's messy handwriting, ironically reading 'Pick Pop's up from the Station at 5 pm' and underneath in Reg's slightly more legible writing was, 'Buy Poppy some flowers.' It was now seven and no flowers to be seen, you could say my brothers were useless. The only important thing in their sad little lives is the chuffing pub, the only long term relationship they have ever had.

The sound of my small high heels clicking on the cobblestones echoed as I marched to the pub where they always used to drink at, I knew that's exactly where those two idiots would be.

As I trotted heavily footed through the streets, workmen stopped and stared, taking a good look at me, everyone knows everyone around here so my face was almost foreign to these people now, I don't look like I used too; a pink tailored dress hugged my womanly figure like a second skin with kitten heels to match, my hair glossy and curled, I had become quite fashion forward upon my return.

My hands pushed open the doors of The Garrison with my icy fingertips, the warmth of the bustling pub gushed over me with the hot aroma of smoke and whiskey that tickled my senses making me reminisce of the good ol' days.