TROUBLE - peaky blinders

10. breathe out.

TW / CONTENT WARNING: This chapter contains violent actions. These actions may be triggering and should be read with care. This chapter does not delve into anything else besides violence but I felt I should warn you.

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"DANNY'S NOT DEAD...IS HE?"

Her words echoed despite the lack of walls. The fading sun cast a golden glow down onto the three bodies standing in the field surrounded by graves. Clara Shelby stood, her arm around Finn's shoulders as they towered over an empty grave, marked with stone. Its lettering labelling it as the grave of Daniel Owens.

There had been rumours that the new coppers had raided the graveyard, and lingering over the empty hole proved the rumours to be true. At the time, she'd been with Finn, who'd dragged her to find Tommy and tell him the rumours.

"This is where you kept the guns," she continued, piecing together his plan, not daring to look at her older brother. "And now they're gone..."

Tommy sighed, taking his hat off of his head, his gaze focused on where the guns had laid. "There's going to be trouble now, Finn, Clara." He spoke up, "You look after yourselves, do you hear me? I'm going to be going away for a while. Right... Go on."

Finn ran off, yet the girl faltered. "Where will you go?" Clara asked, her hands fidgeting with her own hat.

"I'll figure it out." He huffed, "Now go, stay inside tonight...stay out of trouble." The girl solemnly nodded her head, turning her back to her brother before walking off. Her feet carried her out of the graveyard before she took off in a sprint towards Watery Lane.

The streets were beginning to clear as mother's ushered their kids home before dark, and drunks found themselves in pubs throughout Small Heath. The girl entered the home, reaching behind the coat stand to locate the key before locking the door behind her.

"Pol? You in?" She called out, going from room to room downstairs in case her aunt was lingering. Her voice rang through the house, and there was no reply. The girl climbed the stairs, peering into all of the rooms, half-expecting somebody to be inside of them. Clara figured Finn had run off to Isaiah's, quite like he did on a regular basis, leaving the house to herself.

She stopped in front of Tommy's room, tentatively pushing the door open. She carefully stepped across the wooden flooring, reaching under the man's bed for his trunk of books. Clara opened up the trunk, picking up a tattered, beige book. It looked well-read and little, and faded notes seemed to be scattered along the margins. She placed the book off to the side before shutting the trunk and slotting it back under the bed.

The girl stood to her feet, dusting off the novel, flipping through it once more. She examined the tattered cover of 'Frankenstein', before leaving Tommy's room. Clara crept down the hall into her bedroom. Taking off her shoes and coat, she slung them onto her chair, crawling onto her bed with the book. The girl shifted, making herself comfortable, as she opened the novel.