"Why do we even bother to say that anymore? I mean, look at us- surrounded by a graveyard of broken promises."
Esther Solomons- the woman that had held Thomas Shelby's heart from the time they were mere children. The woman he had loved. The woman he...
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*~*~*~*
1919 - September
A small smile graced Esther's lips as she walked through the streets, her eyes never once leaving Peony's small figure as the girl ran ahead of her mother. Laughter falling from the four-year-old's lips as she chased after Emily in a game of tag. Neither of the girls paying much mind to the world around them, of the men and women littering the streets around them as they enjoyed their game. They were happy and careless-- just as Esther wanted them.
"Careful, girls!" Esther called out as she watched the girls narrowly miss running into a less than happy looking man.
"Should put the damn things on leashes." The man grunted, shooting the Eisen woman a hard look.
"I'm sorry, sir." Esther offered a tight-lipped smile, paying no real attention to his words. Before the man had a chance to offer more of his opinion, Esther quickened her pace. Refusing to let some pissed man make her lose sight of the girls.
It was a familiar routine that she had grown accustomed to in recent months. Since her return, John had made sure to help the woman get settled. Finding a small flat for her and Peony a few blocks over from Watery Lane as well as a job as a seamstress for one of the dress shops. A job that allowed Esther to work from home, turning her work in at the shop every Monday and Thursday so she could keep an eye on Peony and Emily-- both girls too young to join Emily's siblings at the school.
Rather than keeping the young girls shut up in the flat or in John's house all day long, Esther always chose to take them out. Allowing them to run and get what little fresh air Small Heath could offer with the factories. Trailing behind them as they played their games, always maintaining a watchful eye for any signs of danger. For any sign of men with lingering eyes and grabby hands.
"Where are we going?" Peony asked the other girl, still struggling to get a lay of the land, even after nine months of living there.
"This way!" Emily flashed a mischievous grin as she quickened her pace. Peony did the same, the girls surging forward together to weave between the people and few horses filling the busier road ahead.
"Girls!" Esther's eyes widened, watching as they narrowly avoided being trampled by a horse. The fair-haired woman hurried ahead, paying no attention to her own surroundings. Something that proved to be a mistake as she found herself falling backwards after colliding with a taller man. "Shit!"
"Sorry, miss." The gentleman apologized as he knelt down to pick up the hat that had fallen from her head, letting her long blonde locks fall past her shoulders.
"My fault," Esther waved off his apology as she pushed herself up to her feet. Her eyes scanning the street for any sign of the girls. "Fuck, did you see where--"
