After handing out the money to the families, John walked with me hand in hand to the yard to find Tommy. Despite all that had happened already that day, he was in good mood. He swung our arms as we walked, whistling a jaunty tune. "What's got you so chipper?" I asked him between my laughs. "I've got a beautiful girl on my arm, what more could I possibly need." he responded, placing a kiss on top of my head.
When we got to the yard, Tommy was nowhere in sight. We wandered round for a few minutes before finding Charlie and Curly in one of the barns with a beautiful white stallion. "He is beautiful." I told Curly, slowly walking to the creature with my hand held out. It gently sniffed my fingers once I got close enough, then allowed me to stroke his nose and head. "He's Tommy's. He got him at the fair." Curly told me, stroking the stallions side. I turned to John, "I hope you didn't get him from the Lees." I commented, searching his face. "I won him from Johnny Dogs." Tommy told me, coming round the corner with a cigarette in his mouth. "Right." I said, turning back to the creature.
"Does he at least ride well?" I asked, moving along the horse to slowly inspect it. "I do not know, that is why you are here." He told me, coming to stand next to John. "You want me to ride him?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. He nodded, taking a drag from his cigarette. I rolled my eyes, "Curly, give me a boost?" I asked. The burly man quickly obliged, using his hands to make a foothold to push me up onto the horse. I patted the horses neck as Charlie untied him, letting us loose to canter around the yard. I felt safe atop the confident horse and let out a laugh as we passed John and Tommy for the third time.
I pulled the horse to a gentle stop in front of the brothers as I lost count how many times I had passed them. "He's perfect, Tommy. Great to handle and real stamina." I said as John helped me off, holding my waist as I slid down to the ground. "Are we talking about the horse or my brother?" Tommy joked. I laughed, earning a glare from John. I wrapped my arms around his waist and lent into his chest. "Bloody pisstake, the pair of ya." he mumbled, wrapping an arm round my shoulders. "So you approve of the horse then?" Tommy asked me, throwing his cigarette on the ground. I nodded. "He's a wonderful creature." I confirmed. He nodded to himself and walked towards the barn where Curly had taken the horse.
It was a couple of nights later and I was waiting with Scudboat and Arthur at the end of Watery Lane for John. I pulled my thick coat tighter around me as the cold air whistled through my hair. A few moments later, I saw John and Finn coming up the road, pictures in hand. "We are blocking the entrance, mate." Scudboat told him once he was in earshot. John patted his shoulder and took my hand. "Alright, love?" I nodded, smiling at him. He leaned down for a kiss, I brought my other hand up to the side of his neck. We broke apart after a few moments and followed Finn and Arthur down the road. There were a few people milling about but we carried on walking towards the fire that had been started in the middle of the road.
The bonfire had been started with planks of wood but the pictures of the King were what kept it alight. There were a lot of people surrounding it, talking and keeping warm by the hot flames. We quickly found Tommy and Charlie. Tommy was telling people to chuck their pictures onto the fire and Arthur began opening a bottle of whiskey, spitting the cork onto the fire. Someone handed John a drink, and I stood between him and Tommy, Finn was in front of me.
John put his spare arm around me, kissed my temple and laughed with Charlie. He handed his drink to Finn for a mouthful who offered it to me. I shook my head at him and he passed it back to John. "I hope to God you know what you are doing." Arthur said from the other side of Tommy. I shivered slightly despite the warm flames and tucked into John's side a bit more. Arthur must have noticed because a few moments later, his outstretched hand offered me his scarf. I took it gratefully and wound it round my neck.
When the reporter that Tommy invited to the fire arrived, I steered Finn by his shoulders around the fire and away from his brother. John followed, never straying more than a few feet from my side and I noticed Arthur was only ever a few feet away as well. This made me worried. Once we were on the other side of the fire and Finn had ran off with some of his friends, I turned to John. "What's going on?" I asked, winding my arms around his waist and looking up at him. "We're havin' a fire." He told me, taking a swig from his drink and looking down at me. "No. I meant what is really going on." I clarified."Why are you and Arthur never more than a few feet from me?" I asked him.
He looked over my head into the fire. "We just want to make sure you are safe, Polly had a visit from that copper." He told me. "There's more to it than that. Why are you both stuck to me? Why not Finn or Ada or Polly?" I questioned, John continued to avoid my gaze. I reached up and put my hand on the back of his head, turning it to make him look at me. "Tell me." I instructed him. "He threatened you directly. He told Polly that if he saw you by yourself, he'd nick ya and leave ya in the cells for the night. Let the men and his men do what they wanted. We didn't even want to give him half a chance." He told me, tightening his arm around me. I pulled his head down to me and kissed him passionately. John pulled me closer to him and kissed me back. I broke away from him and looked up at him with heavy eyes. "So, if everyone is here. That means the house is empty." I told him, suggestively. He did not need to be told twice and starting pushing through the crowd towards the house. I laughed and allowed him to pull me along with him.
John wasted no time once we were back in the house, he pulled me into him by my waist. He kissed me passionately, bringing one hand to the side of my face and leaving one on my waist. I brought both of my hands up to his head, resting one on his cheek and used the other to knock off his cap and knot into his hair. He moved to take off my coat, he pulled at the collar so I dropped my arms to allow it to slip to the floor. I did the same to him, pushing his coat until it joined mine at our feet. John peppered hot kisses down my neck as he bent down to pick me up. I quickly wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling his body into mine.
In the heat, he managed to carry me up the stairs as the next thing I knew I was being dropped onto the bed. I leant up on my elbows, watching him through heavy eyes as he unbuttoned his blazer, then his waistcoat and finally his dress shirt, dropping them all onto the floor. I stood in front of him, running my hands appreciatively over his muscular stomach and chest. I placed kissed along the battle scars he had there while he made quick work of the buttons on the back of my dress, allowing that to drop to next to his clothes. John stopped for a moment, looking down at my body before concentrating on my eyes. "I love you." he told me, the want in his voice evident as he moved the straps of my slip dress over my shoulders making it also fall onto the floor. "I love you." I told him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him down to me.
He gently put me back on the bed, then took off undershirt, trousers and underpants and climbed on top of me. He kissed up my stomach looking up at me with hungry eyes as I tangled my hand in his hair and watched him. He was trying to draw it out, to be gentle and loving but right then that was not what I needed. I bucked my hips up towards him, signalling that I wanted more. He gave me a cheeky grin before pressing his lips to mine, putting his hand around my throat and applying slight pressure. I moaned into his mouth as I felt him along the inside of my thigh, trying to move my hips to meet him. He chuckled slightly and put one hand on my waist holding me gently in place. I frowned at him slightly before he went to my neck, kissing and gently biting along it and across my collarbones.
When I thought I couldn't take anymore he gave in, pushing himself inside me. I gasped slightly at the sensation. His lips came back to mine as he began moving gently in and out of me. He quickly built up the pace and had me moaning into him with every thrust. I gripped his back and the back of his neck as I felt the orgasm build in me. He brought himself up to his hands to look down at me with intense eyes. I looked back, becoming breathless and moving my hips to meet his. He brought himself back down onto his forearms, a hand in my hair as he kissed and bit my neck. He was groaning with every movement and I knew he was close as well. I pulled his face to mine, I pressed my lips to his as we both came. I moaned loudly into mouth as my legs tightened either side of him and he gripped my hair and the sheets as his own orgasm took him.
He gently rocked back and forth a few more times before coming to a stop. He laid on top of me for a few moments, trying to catch his breath. When he eventually rolled off me, he pulled me into his side and I rested my head on his chest. He managed to pull the sheets over us and at some point when we were both trying to catch our breaths, I fell asleep to the beating of his heart.
I was sat reading a book at the table with Polly the next day, when Ada finally decided to join us. "Where have you been all day?" Polly questioned, not looking up from her paper. "In bed." Ada responded, going over to the freshly cut bread. "Couldn't sleep. Then I couldn't wake up. Then I was cold and then I had to go for a wee. Then I was with this bear on a boat, but that was just a dream. Then I was hungry." She mused and brought some bread and jam over to the table. "Was that you and John I heard this morning?" She asked me, sitting opposite me. I looked over my book at her, "I have no idea what you are talking about." I said, flashing her an innocent smile. She rolled her eyes and started putting jam on her bread. "Why are you reading the paper?" She asked Polly. "Why wouldn't I be?" Polly countered. "I've never seen you read the paper. I've only ever seen you light fires with them." Ada commented.
"BSA are on strike. The mineral are on strike. IRA are killing our boys, ten a day." Polly said, putting down her paper and looking at Ada who was eating her first bit of bread. "What?" Ada asked, mouthful of bread. "Stand up." Polly told her. "Why?" Ada questioned, glancing at me. I slowly put my book down on the table, knowing where Polly was going with her questioning. "Just stand up." Polly instructed. Ada wasn't happy about it but she did what she was told, brushing her hands off and standing. Polly stood up and went over to her, looking her up and down. I sat forward in my chair slightly. "Side on." Polly instructed.
Polly suddenly grabbed Adas breast. "What are you doing?" Ada laughed, pulling away and trying to pull her dressing gown around herself. "Ada, how late are you?" Polly asked. Ada turned away, looking out the window. "One week." She responded, avoiding Polly's gaze. "Five weeks." She resigned, looking at the floor. "Seven if you count weekends. I think it's a lack of iron. I got some tablets." She finished, Polly sat down. She looked at me, exasperated. "But they didn't work." I said, watching Ada closely. Ada sat down, shaking her head. "Whose is it?" Polly demanded. "I'm not saying." Ada told her, looking at me for help. Polly noticed her look. She stood up, "I'll get you an appointment with a woman I know. If one of you decide you want to tell me who he is, come find me." She told us before leaving.
We sat in silence for a few moments, Ada looking uncomfortably around the room. "Does he know?" I asked her, breaking the tense silence. She looked at me, shaking her head. I nodded, "You're going to have to tell Tommy." I told her, she sighed. "I know how he's going to react. He'll make a big fuss and it doesn't need to be." she told me, crossing her arms over her chest. I could tell that she really didn't want to tell her older brother. "I'll tell you what, you go and get yourself dressed and I'll talk to Tommy." I told her without thinking. I immediately regretted it as she stood up quickly. "Thank you, Evie! You're a star!" she said bouncing off upstairs. I groaned and rubbed my head with a sigh.