𝗕𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 | John Shelby

chapter II

IT WAS NOT A GOOD MORNING. First of all, Ada had cleaned up with the baby early in the morning, back to her den. Secondly, Annie had been woken early to collect her belongings from Lee's camp with her husband. As it turned out her aunt had written a letter to her relatives before she was given away and they had sent her all the things they could fit in the car. Putting on one of Ada's dresses she went down to the ground floor.

Annie waited for John for two hours in the kitchen, but he never showed up. Half an hour later the car horn sounded and now a woman, stepped outside. There was a car parked in front of the rest of Shelby's house, but not John's. Cautiously reaching and sitting down, Annie saw a young boy behind the wheel. Looking him over, she deduced that he was the workman of the family.
- Where's my husband? - The guy didn't even look in her direction, but answered.

- John is at the office right now and he asked me to take you.

- I see.

That was the end of their conversation. Annie stared out the window all the way and wondered what was she going to learn about this family? Yesterday she'd humiliated her aunt, set herself up to help her cousins escape, married a gangster and probably given her grandmother a heart attack. The list could go on and on, but it would only evoke negative emotions. She would have to leave bustling London and settle in crime-ridden Birmingham.

The drive was about two hours and it was the worst trip of Annie's life. Her legs were swollen, so the woman almost fell over when she got out of the car. The camp was surprisingly quiet, but when she made her way into the back, she was immediately surrounded by relatives. They were asking how the first wedding night had gone, how good Shelby's boys were and so on. Fighting them off, Annie headed towards 'her' carriage house, Esme's parents were waiting for her there.

- Aunt Cora," the woman raised her puffy face.

She opened the door of the carriage house and invited her aunt inside, leaving her assistant outside the door. It was dark in there, her things neatly on the table, perhaps no one had even unpacked them. The woman sat down on the bed and hunched over. Annie already knew what she was going to be asked.

- She said she was pregnant," Aunt Cora stared at her in shock. After a bit of silence she continued. - I don't know what was on her mind, but yesterday she asked for help and I did.

Her aunt was silent for a long time and Annie began to worry. She didn't want the woman to get depressed or delayed, which would lead to a late arrival home.

- Where were they running to? - Aunty's voice trembled.

That must have been how her grandparents felt when her parents ran away. Annie remembered the servants whispering when she passed them as a child, or her grandmother crying quietly in her room at night, thinking her granddaughter was already asleep. Grandfather, unlike grandmother, did not talk much about his daughter, it was as if she did not exist for him. He thought it was immoral to leave his child and go into the unknown.