Painting The Races Red | Tommy Shelby

Chapter One ✔️

C h a p t e r O n e
U n l u c k y E i g h t e e n

— M a r c h . 1 9 2 2 —

Death had a strange way of effecting people, even those that you barely had a connection to. One moment a person is part of your life, and the next moment, they're gone. Some were lucky enough to avoid seeing death, while others were forced to suffer the memory of the person they had lost. The Scottish runaway, Lynette Reid and the Shelby family had witnessed their fair share of death collectively, though none of them were prepared when Freddie Thorne died as a result of pestilence.

The redhead had never liked cemeteries, not since the death of her mother and then later Alaric. She had always found something eerie about walking above the corpses of those that had been buried. She couldn't ignore the fact that those people were someone's son or daughter, father or mother, or brother or sister. But as she stood in the cemetery between Tommy and Arthur, she felt more comfortable being there to pay her respects. Despite their uneasy start, Lynette and Freddie had become accompanied to each other's company in the two years since Karl was born. He had become part of the family, the feud between Tommy and himself ending as the Shelby's became civil with him for the sake of Ada and her son.

The redhead released Tommy's hand as he stepped forward to speak over Freddie's grave. It was her friend and Tommy's brother, Arthur who took over by wrapping his arm around her shoulder in a brotherly manner. The duo had become much closer over the years of her relationship with Tommy, and she loved having someone around that had a similar sense of humour to her late brother. It kept his memory close without causing any upset.

All eyes turned to the head of the family, anxiously awaiting for what he would say about the man considering they had a difficult relationship. Lynette could see that Ada was especially sceptical of what her brother would say in front of Freddie's parents.

There was a pause before Tommy was able to find his voice. "I promised my friend Freddie Thorne that I'd say a few words over his grave if he should pass before me. I made this promise before he became my brother-in-law, when we were in France, fighting for the King."

"Amen," Arthur spoke at Lynette's side.

"And in the end it wasn't war that took Freddie," Tommy continued. "Pestilence took him. But Freddie passed on his soul and his spirit to a new generation before he was cruelly taken."

Many dropped their heads sadly, and some found their eyes wondering towards the small child cradled in Ada's arms. Lynette had all the sympathies in the world for Ada, but now she could only hope that the Shelby sister would want to come back to Birmingham to be with her family. The funeral ended soon after Tommy's final words, Freddie's coffin was buried into the soil beside the grave marked for him. As the visitors of the funeral started to disperse, Lynette left Arthur's side to approach her partner.

"You did good," she greeted softly, pressing a kiss to his cheek in attempt to provide some comfort. Her gaze shifted to look at Freddie's family who were mourning on the sidelines with their daughter-in-law. "Do you really think it's the right time to speak to Ada?"

Tommy's hand rested on her hip as he too watched his sister's interactions. "I need to speak to her before we go back home, it's too risky for her to stay in London."

"I know she's your sister, Tommy, and I would love to have her back just as much as you do," she sighed sadly. "But look at her, she's a mum now. And she has her own family and life here."