His Sister Orla

07

It had been several days since Orla had threatened the newest citizen of Birmingham and even though she was sure Tommy had heard about it, he hadn't said a word to her about the matter. Tommy knew that Orla Mae was very well tempered but when she got upset, she had her reasons.

With the boys away at the fair, Orla and Polly decided that they would spend their day lighting candles at the church. So many men, young and old, had lost their lives in France and the two women found comfort in lighting candles in their memories.

"Aunt Pol, I have a question for you." Orla had been thinking quite hard about other day. Her beloved aunt had questioned why she was so devoutly faithful to her brother and this concerned the young woman. Orla knew the type of man her Tommy was and she adored his entire being.

"Well go on then girl." Like Orla, Polly had also be contemplating the conversation that took place on the day in question. Even though John was entirely correct, Polly would never admit it. She knew Thomas would always protect the girl. Orla was the only thing he held sacred. Polly wanted the best for all of her nieces and nephews and Orla and Finn were the only two she had the potential in reaching anymore. The eldest four had already made up their minds on the people they were to become.

"I would like for you to tell me the type of man who you think Thomas to be, please." After the words had left her mouth, Orla turned to face her Aunt.

Even though Polly had a black veil covering her face, Orla could see the confusing in Polly's eyes.

"Orla, my dear, Thomas is a bad-"

"Well hello ladies" Turning to face the new voice inside the church, the two women seen that it belonged to man they did not recognize.

"A gentleman would put out his pipe" Polly had turned to face her candles again at this point. Orla followed her aunt's lead and stayed silent, something she had become very good at over the years.

Apparently this man is the new inspector that had beat the daylights out of Arthur.

Polly and the inspector exchanged several words before he turned his attention to Orla. "Now who might this be?" The inspector walked towards the young girl. He had never seen her before, and he had no knowledge of her relationship with the Shelby clan.

"You will leave the child out of this" Polly, of course, was always on the attack for her nieces and nephews, she would always protect her little ones. Orla, still bowed in front of the candles, continued to be still. She wanted to draw as little attention to herself as possible. Her mind wandered to what Tommy would do if he were here. Most likely, he'd make sure she was perfectly okay first

When she was little, Orla had ran off from Polly in the market, she couldn't have been any older than five or six she remembered. Orla had wandered down the the cut, she always enjoyed watching the water rushing down. Polly was in a panic when she realized that Orla had run off and she went immediately home to fetch the boys to help look for her. When Tommy had heard that Orla was missing, his entire world crumbled. His Orla could not be missing, she just couldn't be. Racing out the door, Tommy thought of every possible place Orla may have went, and the cut was the first to come to mind. "The fucking water." Tommy had taken her to the cut on several occasions and Orla giggled and laughed for hours, just watching as the nasty Birmingham water race past them. Eventually, Tommy spotted his baby sister sitting on the edge. Making his way over to her he called out, "Orla Mae! What are ya doing out here by ya self?" Hearing her Tommy behind her, Orla turned to find him, but as she did so, her little body slipped from the edge and she went right into the icy waters. Tommy, of course, didnt hesitate to strip off his thin overcoat and dive in after Orla. Tommy did get the two out of the cut, but he scrapped up his hands and cut open his face trying to get to her, but he didn't care, he had to save Orla. As soon as her feet hit the ground, tears flooded from her eyes. Tommy wrapped her up in his thin coat and looked her over. Even though blood was pouring from his own wounds, Tommy made sure Orla was in perfect health. He always made sure Orla was okay, before anything else.

Snapping back into reality, Orla continued to listen to what the inspector had to say.

"Now, now, why would you Shelby's want to protect this little one? Who is she to you? -- You see, I am looking for something of great significance, and I will find what I am looking for, no matter who the consequence is to you."

At this point, the church had flooded with other police officers. They had orders to turn the place upside down, and that is exactly what they did.

........

Once they had left their beloved church, Polly and Orla cleaned up the debris and rubble the coppers had left behind, then headed home.

Soon enough, Orla's brothers returned home. Walking into the house, Arthur and John immediately started bombarding Polly with questions about what had happened in their city. Once she had explained, Polly ordered her nephews to go out into their city and let the people see their faces. "You better show people  your still the cocks of the walk," were her words.

As Arthur and John made their way out the door, Polly questioned Tommy about his own agenda, however he ignored his aunt. Tommy immediately made his way across the room and stood in front of Orla. Thoughts bombarded his already chaotic mind. She looks okay, no cuts or bruises, he thought. Tommy brushed her hair out of her face, held her cheeks in his palms and looked into her eyes either concern. "Orla Mae, did that fucker hurt you?" His eyes showed nothing but concern. He didn't give a damn about the people in this city. He didn't give a damn about the pubs or the money, not in this moment. Tommy Shelby's only concern was his baby sister.

"I'm okay Tom. I'm okay, promise" Orla answers with a small smile, and leaned into her brother's chest. Tommy returned the hug for a few seconds then turned his attention back to his aunt. Once he informed Polly that he was going to stable the horse, Tommy made his way out the door.

Before he let thr door slam, he bellowed out,  "C'mon Orla, help me out, will ya!" Orla rose from her chair and grabbed her coat. She kissed her aunts cheek and ran after Tommy who was already halfway up the street.

As she approached her brother, Tommy started to question her. "Promise me you're or'right Orla" Of course that was the first question out of his mouth. Orla glanced up to her older brother, "Yes Tommy, we're or'right"

....................................

Hellloooo! So I suck. It's been forever and this chapter is definitely not what I had in mind! I had ideas rumbling around this head of mine, I'm just struggling to put them into actual words!

I hope you enjoy, sorry it wasn't better 💕