After stitching up Thomas Shelby, Evie treated herself to some good cheese and fresh bread before studying her notes on a particularly challenging case she had been assigned recently. She suspected that her employer, Dr. Robertson, had given her the case because he was fed up with it himself but maybe this would be a chance to prove her abilities to him. Thinking about the odd symptoms of the patient all the while petting Oz, Evie was once more interrupted by a knock on the door. Not again, she thought. It was her only day off this week - or rather it had been. Now, it was past midnight, and if that wasn't enough, she was still annoyed that she'd been called to help Thomas Shelby – of all the people – earlier in the day.
'Who's there?', Evie called out and stood behind the door waiting.
'Thomas Shelby', came the reply after a few moments of silence. Evie froze, then considered not opening the door. Not only because it was late at night but because she didn't particularly look forward to talking to the man. On the other hand, leaving the leader of the Peaky Blinders standing in the street was probably just an invitation for further headache and so she opened the door just enough to poke her head out.
'I hope you're here about a horse, Mr. Shelby.'
'I am', he replied, and she could smell the alcohol on his breath immediately. Memories flooded her brain then, of her father drunk out of his mind and how it had eventually ended. Her father had been a predictable alcoholic but whether the same was true for Thomas Shelby, she wasn't entirely convinced of. Evie knew that she had been lucky, her father had been a peaceful drunk but still, Evie involuntarily took a step back. Unfortunately, Thomas Shelby seemed to take that as an invitation to step into her home.
'Aren't we leaving then?', Evie asked, trying to catch his gaze as he looked around the room like he was looking for something.
'Nah', Tommy shook his head, his piercing eyes slowly coming back to her as he drew out the 'a', almost slurring the word but not quite.
'I don't follow', Evie decided to leave the door open for a moment longer. She was still hoping she could get him to leave quickly.
'May I?', Tommy finally inquired, already moving towards her kitchen table where he promptly sat down before she could think of an answer. Evie sighed and almost closed the door on Oz who chose that very moment to rush outside. He meowed at her loudly in protest.
'Oh no, you're definitely staying with me', she told the protesting cat, glad not to be entirely on her own with her drunken visitor.
'Water?', Evie was eying Thomas from her sink. But he just stared back at her blankly, at least it seemed that way for a moment. As she observed him more closely, she determined his face betrayed a mix of the familiar hostility and something new. She couldn't tell what it was, but she wasn't surprised, he seemed so drunk that she wondered if he was even aware of his surroundings. She made the decision for him and placed a glass of water near his hands before sitting down and letting Oz jump up into her lap. Oz purred and settled down.
'Bad luck', Tommy mumbled watching Oz rubbing his head all over Evie's arms.
'Right, curses and bad luck. Didn't think the clever Thomas Shelby believed in those things', Evie replied while rolling her eyes at him. She'd be surprised if he would remember it the next day and so she felt more comfortable speaking her mind now. They were trapped in a realm that didn't quite seem rooted in reality; those small hours of the morning felt like no-man's land.
He chuckled at her observation but stopped as abruptly as he'd started.
'Me mum taught me that', he said. The alcohol brought out his Brummie accent even more now than normal. Evie didn't say anything to that. What was there to say? She had her own experiences with that.
'Right, so about that horse, Mr. Shelby?', she reminded him impatiently when the silence had stretched out longer than she had thought possible.
He looked up at her again, his expression guarded and more alert now but then he cleared his throat and lifted the glass to drink instead. Evie didn't know what else to say and so she waited, petting the cat until she heard snoring and when she looked up Thomas Shelby had fallen asleep at her desk.
'Fuck', Evie sighed. This was somehow even worse than talking to him. 'Unbelievable…'
However, as she watched him, she found that she couldn't bring herself to wake him up. Instead, she went to her couch and brought back a blanket to wrap around him as best as she could. She wouldn't attempt to move him, but she figured with the amount of alcohol he'd had after suffering major blood loss, she didn't need to risk him catching a cold too. If he died in her kitchen, she might as well leave England for good right now. Doing her best to ignore the snoring Thomas Shelby at her kitchen table, Evie went back to her case notes.
'Dr. Calman!', someone was banging on her door. Before Evie had a chance to answer it, Thomas Shelby knocked over the chair on which he'd been sitting as he jumped to his feet, fumbling with a gun that he pulled out from underneath his jacket. She should have known he'd be armed.
'Dr. Calman!', Evie recognized the voice as belonging to Billy Rowe, one of her clients. And one of the few people who referred to her as 'Doctor' without making it sound like an insult.
'Put that away, I know him', Evie didn't even wait to see if Tommy had obeyed her and went to open the door. 'Billy, what's going on?'
'It's Berta, something's gone wrong, she's been in labor all day and I just don't know what to do, Dr. Calman, I need you to come and help', Billy looked distressed and Evie couldn't blame him. The poor man had inherited his uncle's farm upon his return from France and was practically clueless when it came to the animals. He appeared to be somewhat better with the crops.
'It's alright, let me grab my things and we'll be on our way', Evie was already halfway out the door when she remembered that she hadn't been alone in her house. But luckily it appeared Thomas Shelby had followed her to the door and now stepped into the street after her, causing Billy to gasp audibly.
'It's alright, Billy. Continue, please, what is going on with Berta exactly?', Evie smiled at him, but her eyes kept darting back to Tommy. His presence unnerved her, even as she reassured Billy that there was no reason for concern.
'There's just no changes, you know?', he looked at her pleadingly and Evelyn noticed the man was out of breath then. She should have noticed sooner but it had been a long day and not nearly as solitary as she would have liked it to be.
'Did you run here, Billy?', she inquired, noticing that there was no horse or other mode of transportation. It made sense; he'd probably left in such a hurry that he hadn't considered the journey back. Most of her clients arrive on foot but Billy owned a cart as well as a somewhat obedient mule. He must have been too overwhelmed to get the cart and the animal ready before setting off to fetch her.
'Uhm, yes. Didn't have time to get it ready', he was stuttering as he confirmed her thoughts and realized that he was now asking her to run back to his place with him or for her to get her own horse, Bard. Awkward and impractical, either way.
'Mr. Shelby, how about you give us a ride?', Evie asked as calmly as she could. She figured he wouldn't explain his presence tonight and at least this way she'd get something out of it. Well, technically it was Billy who would profit from this the most but that was fine with Evie.
Thomas Shelby looked at her like he couldn't believe what she'd asked him but then shrugged and walked towards his car while lighting a cigarette. Being startled awake seemed to have sobered him up; he was walking in a straight line and his movements had regained their usual level of self-assuredness. Evie grinned at Billy who seemed less than enthusiastic about the prospect of getting in the car of a Peaky Blinder but he knew he didn't have any options.
The car was already running when they got into the back to sit next to Billy. She immediately started interrogating him to see what he thought the problem might be. Berta had never calved before and first births could be difficult. From the sounds of it, Evie would wager the calf wasn't positioned correctly in the birth canal. That would explain why Billy hadn't seen any progress.
Tommy listened to Evie interrogate the farmer for a moment. The man, Billy, had told him which farm they were going to. Tommy knew approximately where it was and so he hadn't had to interrupt Evelyn who was now in the middle of what sounded like a lecture on dairy cow calving. The poor chap was barely able to follow her words; he seemed nervous and inexperienced. How that guy was in the possession of a cow, Tommy had no clue, but he was still sobering up, so he elected not to ask this question. What was more, he was perplexed that he had actually fallen asleep. He'd been drunk but even drunk, Tommy had trouble falling asleep in his own bed. He considered it for another moment before deciding it must have been the blood loss after his bullet wound more so than anything else.
'Where to now?', Tommy asked, clearing his throat when he realized he had gotten to the last farm he recognized. His hands were drumming against the wheel now. It occurred to him that he was about to enter into a situation he knew next to nothing about. He'd assisted many mares when they foaled but even that had been before the war and he'd certainly never worked with cows.
'Just turn right after that farm there and then it's at the end of the road', Evelyn instructed calmly.
When they got there, she jumped out of the practically still running car and disappeared inside the barn before either of the men had gotten out of the vehicle. Billy was actively avoiding Tommy, but Tommy decided that if he'd already driven them this far, he was going to watch the doctor in action. It would be a distraction at least and maybe something new for his mind to mull over wouldn't be the worst idea. Better than going home to lay awake in that small bed where he would be alone with his thoughts and now that he'd gotten some sleep, he was unlikely to fall asleep again. It would be him, the creaky bed frame, and the shovels behind the wall. The sun wouldn't rise for hours. All in all, there was nothing appealing about the prospect of driving back to Small Heath right now.
In the stable Tommy spotted Evelyn and Billy crouching near a cow that was laying on the straw and breathing heavily. He'd never much cared for ruminants but Tommy figured it couldn't be too different from dogs and horses, which he knew how to charm. He walked over to the animal and crouched beside her head whispering Romani words of encouragement like he had all those years ago with his mares. Memories from before the war, when he'd still wanted to work with horses flooded in now. He indulged them for a moment before deciding he'd been dwelling on the past too much and so he started listening to Evelyn explaining her diagnosis to Billy. She seemed entirely unfazed by the situation, even a little bit excited. Billy on the other hand seemed like he would not survive long if Evelyn didn't continue encouraging him. The farmer's skin had taken on an unhealthy grey-ish tint and sweat was forming on the man's brow even though the night air was pleasantly cool.
Until the small hours of the morning Tommy continued whispering in the cow's ear while Evelyn went from encouraging the owner to encouraging the beast until finally, the calf was born. But before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief Evelyn instructed them to step back, to ensure the mother could lick the calf clean and the calf could get colostrum, the first milk that seemed to hold the same importance for cows as it did for horses.
'This is almost as important as the birth. If these things don't happen properly, you'll lose the calf, or it'll turn out sickly. Billy? Are you listening to me?', Evelyn was positively waving her hand in front of the man now. From his spot behind them, Tommy smirked.
'Yes…yes! I just – I couldn't have done it without you! What will I do next time?', the man asked immediately, causing Tommy to roll his eyes. Again, Tommy wondered about the farmer. He'd noticed when he'd gone out sometime around dawn to relieve himself that the property was not only large but that the land was good with rolling meadows covered in spring flowers. How come this man sat upon such wealth without the faintest idea as to how to run his business while someone like Tommy had to fight tooth and nail to build an empire out of thin air just because he happened to have been born in the dirt and smoke of Small Heath?
'Oh, you'll know what to do next time! It'll be easier each time and if there's an emergency, you'll just come get me. Our deal still stands', Evelyn was smiling warmly, almost grinning now. She didn't look tired in the slightest, on the contrary, she seemed more awake now than she had been when he'd knocked on her door.
'Thank you!', the man actually went to hug her, and Tommy couldn't help but frown at the scene. Was he not going to pay her and what deal could they possibly have? Slowly, the familiar churning took over his mind again.
'Let's get cleaned up and head back?', Evelyn asked Tommy after watching the cow with the calf for another moment. And while she had said it like it was a question, she still turned towards the front of the barn without waiting for his reply.
'So, what's the deal?', Tommy finally asked when she made room at the sink for him.
'Deal?', Evelyn looked up at him, confusion written across her face.
'With the farmer', Tommy raised an eyebrow. Maybe she was tired after all.
'Oh…well, the deal is that he had to buy some medical instruments so that I could teach him what he needs to know. It's such a small farm, he won't be able to afford a veterinarian for most things. He has to learn what to do and in an emergency, I will teach him as much as possible. Won't charge him either, but he can always pay me in eggs or milk or whatever else he can spare', she shrugged and stepped away from the sink, but she looked slightly flustered now, like she'd been caught doing something forbidden.
Tommy just shook his head but said nothing. It made sense in a way, he knew that she was still new in Birmingham and that she wasn't technically allowed to practice without a male veterinarian accompanying her. This 'deal' could just be her way of getting people to trust her. Frankly, it wasn't like he himself or Aunt Polly did things that differently. You don't bite the hand that feeds you, especially not if you have plans for the hand in question and Evelyn struck him as a woman who knew that.
As Tommy got into the car, he watched Evelyn check on the cow one last time and say her goodbyes to Billy who handed her a small basket. When she jumped into the car next to him, she held up the basket grinning from ear to ear.
'Six eggs, eh? That your usual rate?', he teased. He couldn't resist it, despite the hangover that was starting to make his head pound.
'Well, it depends, Mr. Shelby. Have you given your horses more thought?'
Tommy smirked but didn't have an answer for her and so they didn't speak for the rest of the ride, each occupied by their own thoughts as the sun continued rising. Tommy hoped she wouldn't try to ask again why he'd come to her house drunk. It was a conversation he would rather never have but certainly not while his hangover was growing nastier by the minute. So when they arrived at her home, he was grateful that she jumped out of the car, waved at him, and disappeared inside the tenement all before he could even stop the car.
As Tommy drove off, the first thought he had was that he'd made it through the night. Kimber was dead, Grace and Campbell were gone, and he'd be able to start a new day now. Lighting another cigarette, he began planning the next steps for the expansion of the Peaky Blinders. He didn't notice until much later that he'd forgotten about the white horse altogether.