Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Peaky Blinder's characters, only the ones I have created.
CHAPTER 5
You thought that by the sound of it someone was getting murdered inside the house I was looking at. And it sounded very much like Arthur. With a sigh, I stepped forward and knocked on the door, a small suitcase in one hand.
It took a moment before it was pulled open and revealed an older looking woman who had dark, curly hair more so than my own. Her eyes were dark brown and her red lips pressed into a thin line.
"You're the nurse?" She asked, looking down her nose at me.
"Was," I corrected her. "Was a nurse."
The woman pursed her lips. "That's good enough. The way my nephew's been screaming 'is 'ead off, you'd think he's dying, but it's not that bad. Come in then. I'm Polly."
Introducing myself, I followed her into the house through a narrow hallway leading into a larger sitting room.
There was a small cooking area on my left and on my right, there was a big round table at which the patient sat.
My eyes fell on an entrance at the back of the room leading to a different area in which I could see people moving around - I recognized it as the betting shop the Shelby's owned.
John was leaning casually against the wall next to it with a matchstick rolling around in his mouth, watching his brother.
Another woman was currently tending to the older Shelby – dabbing at his face with a dirty cloth - shushing him to be quiet.
At that moment Thomas entered the room from the betting shop, closing the curtains behind him – his blue eyes swept over me and that's when the other Shelby's noticed me too.
I felt four pair of eyes boring into me and I tried not to feel too intimidated by it. Clearing my throat, I offered them a forced smile, stepping closer and placing my suitcase on the table.
Arthur's face lit up at the sight of me and he sat a little straighter.
"Ah, me help has arrived," he groaned, one of his eyes were shut and there was blood on his face and on his shirt.
Polly took a seat next to him laying his hand flat on the table – one of his fingers was bent in an odd shape.
The other woman had stopped trying to clean Arthur's face – she had the same features as the Shelby brothers. Her dark hair reached just to her chin and her blue eyes, so like her brother Thomas's, narrowed at the sight of me.
"You know, I'm a trained nurse too," she said, her voice sounding a little offended. Polly rolled her eyes at that and lit a cigarette.
Arthur laughed. "Don't make laugh, Ada. It hurts me face."
Ada put her hands on her hips and huffed: "I bloody am."
"You went to one first aid class in the church hall and got thrown out for giggling," John said pointedly.
"Not before I learned how to stop somebody from choking."
"I'm not bloody choking, am I?" Arthur asked, his eyebrows raised.
"You will be when I wrap this cloth around y'er neck," Ada hissed and that's when I decided to step in.
"I'm sure you wouldn't have needed my help," I reassured the Shelby sister, slowly taking the cloth from her hands and dipping it in the bowl of boiled water on the table.
"But you know how men are, they turn right into stubborn children when they're like this."
Thomas chuckled and Ada smiled at me, her eyes softening a bit. She studied me again and then decided:
"I like her, Tommy, you should bring her around more often."
"What happened?" I asked, pulling out a chair next to Arthur and starting to wipe the blood off his face.
"It was that bloody Irish copper," John spat.
I blinked at that, feeling shocked. A policeman beat Arthur up? For what?
"I was at the pictures when his men came to get me," Arthur grunted. "Wanted to ask some questions."
I raised an eyebrow. "Looks like he did more than just asking questions."
I softly turned his head to the side to examine the cut next to his eyebrow.
Thomas moved to my side, taking the cork out of the bottle of rum he was holding and pressed it into his brother's hand. "Take this, Arthur."
Arthur quickly took a big gulp, his face scrunching up at the alcohol going down his throat and then he handed the bottle to me.
I drenched the cloth with rum before pressing it to the cut on his eyebrow. He hissed in pain, but didn't stop me.
"He said Mister Churchill sent him to Birmingham, Tommy," Arthur groaned.
My eyebrows furrowed as I proceeded to examine Arthur's hand and took out a small wooden stick from my suitcase to act as a splint for his finger.
Why would Churchill send an Irish policeman to Small Heath?
Arthur continued: "National interest, he said. Something about a robbery."
I noticed Polly staring up at Thomas with a pointed look which he ignored.
"He knew all about our war records, said we were patriots, just like him. He wants us to help him, to be his eyes and ears."
Arthur was staring at Thomas while saying all of this, waiting for any response, but Thomas kept quiet.
"We don't help coppers," John said, his face filled in disgust.
"I said to him,-" Arthur flinched as I pressed the wood to his finger and started wrapping a cloth around it.
"I said to him we'd have a family meeting to take a vote."
I stopped wrapping the bandage around his finger and his eyes fell on me, stopping his next words.
The other Shelby's seemed to realize I was there too and no one said any more on the matter.
I kept my eyes on his hand, not showing how much I actually listened or cared for his words.
Thomas didn't seem surprised at Arthur's words, meaning he already knew about this so-called robbery. And so did Polly.
I fastened the bandage and gave his hand a little tap. "There, all done."
Arthur lightly took my hand and gave it a squeeze. "Thanks, love."
John grinned, all thoughts about the Irish copper forgotten. "Maybe I should get myself beat up too so I can get Kara's hands on me."
Ada slapped him for that comment and I laughed, feeling the earlier tension leave my body.
Thomas placed his cap on his head and slapped Arthur's shoulders with both hands.
"Come on then, let's get you a drink." His eyes fell on me.
"You too, Kara."
That was the first time Thomas called me by my first name.
_
A/N: Thanks for the favourites and the follows!
JToshiro (Guest): Thank you! Hope you'll keep enjoying it!
