Field of Poppies

June-September 1915

            Max found Polly in the betting shop one morning. "Auntie Pol, mummy's gotten sick again."

"It's okay, love. It's natural." Polly assured the little boy. "Come sit with me, I'm sure she'll be down in a moment."

"'Cause of the baby?" He asked, climbing up onto Polly's lap as she worked in her office.

"Yes, darling. But she'll be alright."

They had told Max about the baby a little while after they got Tommy's letter back. Though it was bittersweet, Tommy remarked that he was happy and hoped that he would be home soon. Though he didn't give false hope about being there in time for the birth. At that point in Amelia's pregnancy, everyone had given up hope on that happening. Especially as more news about the war hit the homefront. And more men were starting to come back.

It was horrifying. Men burned, deformed, missing limbs. Their stories started to circulate around Birmingham, the things they'd seen. The things they'd done, what others had done. The horrors they'd witnessed. Knowing the Shelby boys were in the middle of all of that, made Amelia sick to her stomach. She began to go to church with Polly every week. But it never seemed to be enough, so she started to go multiple times a week, sometimes every morning. Even when there was no service, she would go and sit in the empty church and pray.

She was never particularly religious. Her parents seemed indifferent to the church, as they were more focused on succeeding in life. They never saw prayer or submission to God as a way to move up in the world.

Amelia felt almost guilty that she was trying to use religion. Trying to comfort herself with prayers to a God she never really believed in. But at that point, she felt so helpless that she needed to do something.

The priest of the church began to recognize her as she went to church more often. He offered to sit with her for company.

At first, Amelia just agreed to let him sit with her. Then, she began to tell him about her fears and her doubts.

Telling a man of the cloth about her lack of faith was a bit funny to her. But Father Carr didn't seem to mind.

"Sometimes I think that it's all just a cruel joke," Amelia admitted one day. Max was with Martha and the betting shop was quiet, so she took the free time to visit the church. "To take Tommy away from me while I'm pregnant."

"Some things are hard to explain. We ask why God would allow for war to happen. We ask why he allows hardship in our lives. It is beyond our knowledge. Sometimes, religion doesn't have all the answers like some people think."

Amelia looked up at the stained-glass windows that allowed some of the dim light to come in. The particles of light mixed with the hazy smoke from the candles lit at the altar. "I just want him to come home to me."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny Owens was the first in the Small Heath group to get seriously injured. While out of the tunnels, in one of the trenches, he was hit by a piece of an artillery shell.

"For fuck's sake, if you're gonna get injured, don't get hit in the neck," Arthur said as he held a shirt to Danny's wound right at the base of his neck.

"It just grazed me," Danny replied, trying his best to stay calm and breathe.

"It'll be okay." John kept him propped up so he wouldn't bleed to death.