𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙮, John Shelby

- 20

- CHAPTER TWENTY -

- IN WHICH SHE'S HOMELESS

. . .

LORELAI MILLER FELT terrible for Ada. After everything her and Freddie had been through, the man missing the birth of his child, eventually reappearing to defeat Billy Kimber, it all went to shit when he got ill. And now the Peaky Blinders joined the woman dressed in black at his grave, saddened eyes wistfully starring at the stone.

"I promised my friend, Freddy Thorne, that I'd say a few words over his grave if he should pass before me." Thomas Shelby's voice danced down Rory's ears, the woman stood between Arthur and John finding her eyes wandering over to Ada. "I made this promise before he became my brother-in-law, when we were in France, fighting for the king-"

"Amen." Arthur muttered, blinking gently as the frozen wind slowly bought tears to his eyes.

"And in the end, it wasn't war that took Freddy." Tommy continued as if his brother had never interrupted, eyes wandering up to his sister, nephew crying gently as his cheeks grew cold. "Pestilence took him... but Freddy passed on his soul and his spirit to a new generation before he was cruelly taken."

The air was quiet for some time, the man making his way back towards his brothers, the priest saying a little more before the crowd could disperse away from the wind and the rain and the rather depressing gravestone that looked just as melancholy as they all felt.

Rory and Polly didn't get the time to mull it over for long, the two rushing to follow after Tommy and Ada as they made their way down the graveyard a little. They could see exactly where their current conversation was going, the women debating on whether to stay by the cars or stop the Shelby man from saying something the way he shouldn't.

"Karl's with his cousins." Polly commented as they caught up to the siblings, feet drawing to a stop in the wet grass. "I caught them trying to pinch flowers off a grave." She smiled, Rory matching the look in an attempt to make Ada slightly happier than current.

"Ada." Rory wore a hopeful expression, left arm linked with the Gray lady. "Are you coming home?" She asked, noticing the instant demeanour in the woman as the words left her lips.

"I'm going home." The Thorne replied, tone dripping with stubbornness, eyes switching between her friend and Aunt feeling a little too betrayed by the fact that they wanted her to return home just like Tommy did.

"It's all right, we make Ada embarrassed." The Shelby brother scoffed, gazing at his shoes as they went from clean and pristine to glowing in a layer of brown liquid. "There's another reason we want you home. We're planning an expansion. I'm taking premises in London-"

"Tommy." Polly shook her head, a stern expression falling onto her features. "It's a funeral, business can wait."

Rory's teeth sunk into the side of her cheek, the familiar taste of red liquid seeping out and making her cringe as she allowed her eyes to dart between the three of them. "If Ada was weeping then I'd stop." Tommy refrained from rolling his eyes. "But she's not. The expansion means it'll be dangerous to be a Shelby in London for a while."

"Yeah." Ada nodded, arms folding across her body. "Well, I'm not a Shelby anymore. And I'm not a Thorne now either. I'm free... I have to get Karl home."

"I told you." Polly watched her niece walk away, form blocking Tommy from walking after her. "I told you, let us do it."

"It's alright." The Shelby shook his head, turning to look at the two. "I'll have some men watch her house till the danger passes."

Rory's arm dropped from around Polly's elbow, shoulders drooping gently. "I'm not sure that's going to help the situation, Tom." She twisted on her shoes, walking back up the graveyard, shoes digging into the soft ground as she watched Arthur approach her.

"You won't bloody believe what's happened."

✧

Rory slipped out of the car and rushed for the rope barrier, fingers wrapping tightly around the material dark eyes set on the black-tinged pub. The windows were burnt through, the once transparent glass now covered in soot, an orange reflection from the warehouses dancing up on the walls.

The doorway was gone, a collection of broken wood taking up the space on the floor. Looking past, she could see the collapsed staircase and lack of bar - though the darkness proved to hide most of the damage, the woman suspecting that it was all much worse that what was already noticeable.

A shaky breath rattled its way out of her lungs, Rory's eyes dancing over the lack of upper floor. "It happened at exactly seven a.m." Moss stated, standing beside her, cradling a white feline who'd managed to escape the fire. "Found her behind the warehouses." He passed Sadie to the girl, following up with talking to Tommy. "Nobody saw anything. Our patrols were not in the area."

Rory's fingers delicately ran across the side of the cat's body, her frame moving towards the doorway, curious to see the inside. "Mr Shelby do you have any idea who might have done it?" He muttered a few words with the man, Moss eventually making note of the fact that the girl was getting perhaps too close to the burnt structure. "Madam, the structure is not yet declared safe."

Rory ignored him and stepped into the building, despair dropping onto her shoulders as her mind slowly began to realise that she hadn't a home anymore. She took another step in, twisting around and placing Sadie back down on the concrete floor before letting her shoes crunch upon the debris. Her eyes locked onto the mounds of green tissue paper, arm reaching down to pick up a piece.

"This is everywhere." She muttered, passing it to Polly and then lifting Sadie back into her arms as she walked back outside. "Confetti... I recognise it."

"Who?" Polly looked between her nephew and Rory as he observed the green paper, eyes flickering almost knowingly as his mind worked. "Who did this to us?" She asked, looking up at the remanence of the pub.

"It was a gang for certain." Rory replied, a solemn look on her features. "It just depends who."

✧