Disclaimer: I do not own anything Peaky Blinder related, that belongs to the series creator Steven Knight.

Face Claim for Rosemary Parker: Celina Sinden.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Trouble Begins.

"Have you seen Ada today?" Polly asked entering the kitchen, a slight frown on her face as she wondered where her niece seemed to disappear off to every day. With everything that was going on, Polly wasn't fond of being in the dark on the whereabouts of her family especially with this new copper lurking about.

"Not since breakfast when she dropped the children off," Rosemary replied drying her hands after finishing the dishes, she turned around to face Polly and paused under the thoughtful gaze of Thomas' aunt. Her stomach turned slightly as Polly approached her and she forced herself to focus on tidying around the kitchen now that the children were out in the garden playing after lunch.

"You know what Thomas is hiding," Polly stated as she stopped just feet away from Rosemary, she watched the younger woman squirm under her gaze knowing that she just needed to ask the right questions to get her to break. The idea that Thomas might have done something that affected the entire family and was hiding it worried her, she knew that this copper would reign hell upon them if they were caught doing anything that they shouldn't be.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rosemary replied with a shrug of her shoulders, her eyes darting away from Polly and she returned to tidying the kitchen to escape her piercing gaze that threatened to break her. No, she wouldn't betray Thomas' trust like that not when he had finally started to open up to her; he didn't want anyone knowing what he had done, especially when he was determined to work this out for himself.

"One small suggestion, get better at lying. Your face is like an open book," Polly told her, she moved to sit down at the kitchen table and lit up her cigarette as she watched Rosemary with great interest. It almost amused her to see the other woman trying to hide her emotions, she sat back and watched Rosemary knowing that Thomas had certainly chosen well when he had picked her.

Rosemary was loyal, she wouldn't betray him unless she had no other choice and Polly feared that might be her undoing; she would hang alongside him especially if Thomas was caught up in what Polly had caught wind of. But they had Kathleen to think about and Polly knew that Thomas would do anything to keep his family safe; it was her nephew's one redeeming quality that she loved about him.

"If Thomas has gotten himself into some sort of trouble, then you need to tell me, especially with this new copper about," Polly instructed firmly, she couldn't help if she didn't know what was going on. Thomas seemed to think that he had to handle everything on his own, that he had to face the world alone and the consequences where his alone to bare but that simply wasn't the case.

"I honestly don't know what you are talking about Polly," Rosemary stated again, she shook her head and stared at Polly knowing that the woman was right about one thing. She needed to get better at lying, she couldn't betray Thomas and her face was usually a dead give away when she was lying to someone. Her father had always said that he loved that about her, that he could always tell what was going on in her mind just by looking at her face but now it wasn't a benefit.

Polly pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing at Rosemary before she got to her feet and prepared to leave; if Rosemary wouldn't break then it was up to her to track down Thomas and find out what was going on.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Polly said pausing by the door and looking back at Rosemary, she liked her and she didn't want to see her get hurt for any folly that Thomas had. Her nephew had his mother's common sense and his father's devilment, it was likely going to be his downfall especially when they were fighting and Thomas did something stupid.

"I'm tidying my house Pol, I'm pretty sure I've done that thousands of times before," Rosemary teased slightly, she offered Polly a small smile before returning to what she was doing. It was only when Polly left her that Rosemary let out a deep breath, she leant against the side of the counter and looked out into the garden where the children were playing games. She really hoped that Thomas would do the right thing with those guns, having them lying around with this copper about wasn't going to end well.

"Boys, don't be running too far ahead," Rosemary called after James and Stephen who were racing ahead of her as she walked them back home after dinner. Margaret held her hand while she carried Katherine as they made their way through the streets, Rosemary wished she'd been blessed with more hands so that she could keep hold of them all. Managing five children as they made their way through the cobbled streets of Small Heath was no small chore and Rosemary felt like strangling John for his disinterest in his children.

"Watch where you are going," Rosemary shouted just in time to see James crash into a lady that had been standing on the sidewalk looking rather lost as she stared down at the piece of paper in her hand. The bright green suit making her stand out rather oddly in the dim street and Rosemary couldn't quite say that she had ever seen anyone dressed in such a fashion before.

"I am so sorry about them," Rosemary apologised hurrying to catch up with the boys without losing either of the girls, she was glad to see that James hadn't managed to knock the poor woman off her feet. Rosemary gave the boys a stern look and encouraged them to apologise to the woman that they had nearly knocked to the ground while playing their game.

"It's quite alright," the woman replied waving off Rosemary's concerns, her thick Irish accent catching Rosemary by surprise; it wasn't something that you tended to hear here in Small Heath especially when you spent your entire life there. Sure, there was the occasional Irishman that could be found around but nothing like what Rosemary was hearing, she guessed that's why the woman was wearing a bright green suit that made her stand out so much.

"I am sure your sons didn't mean it," the woman reassured adjusting the hold that she had on her bag with a kind smile, she peered down at the boys who were now looking down at their shoes.

"My nephews actually, I was just walking them home to their father's house," Rosemary corrected gently, she loved the boys dearly but she would never replace their mother and she would never try to do so. Martha had been their mother and Rosemary would try to keep her memory alive for them.

"I'm Grace, Grace Burgess," the woman said introducing herself, she was new to the area and she had a feeling that getting to know the locals might work out in her favour. The journey from Ireland had been a long one and she had several meetings that she had to make if she could ever find her way around this place where all the streets looked the same.

"Rosemary Shelby, welcome to Small Heath," Rosemary replied offering out her hand for Grace to shake, a kind smile on her face as she pretended not to notice the slight widening of Grace's eyes. No doubt the Shelby reputation had already made itself known to the newcomer; it seemed like nobody was untouched by what was said about them these days.

Grace did her best to keep her face neutral, the last thing she wanted to do was blow her cover before she had even started working. The very fact that she had run into one of the Shelby women catching her by surprise, she had assumed that it would be awhile before she'd see them.

"You couldn't tell me how to get to the Garrison, could you?" Grace asked holding up the smudge paper with directions that seemed to be leading her in circles no matter what she tried to do. It had cost her the better part of an hour trying to find her way to the pub and not a lot of people had stopped when she had tried to ask for directions.

If it wasn't her accent putting them off, they'd given her rather strange looks and waved her off without so much of a helpful direction. Rosemary nodded her head before pointing Grace in the right direction, no doubt the woman was meeting her husband there and judging by the smudged writing he hadn't left her clear directions.

Grace smiled thankfully realising that the Garrison was just around the corner from where she was. Perhaps her work would be even easier than she thought, surely a wife would know what was going on and would be easier to get information out of especially if she didn't know those to whom she was giving it. However, before Grace could cement her friendship with Rosemary a panicked Ada appeared with the news that Arthur had been attacked and had called another family meeting.

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