Lily Shelby is the youngest sibling of the Shelby clan. When she was a toddler, fever struck her and left her forever changed. Her life is reduced to stumbling around in silence and darkness, as she is blind, deaf and mute. The Shelby's are growing...
Tommy was meeting down at Uncle Charlie's yard with a new business prospect of a man-Father John Hughes. The man was quite interested in the orphanage Tommy planned to open. Lily herself would be there often, to play with the other children and learn things in an environment not as strict as school, and where it was under Tommy's name and employees. The rest of the Shelby's had been overjoyed that Lily had unlocked the beginnings of language, and were all getting very good at finger spelling. Lily was learning more each day, and already had stopped with the tantrums and wild, naughty behavior. She was finally acting like a civilized girl.
Grace had taught her how to wash herself, and brush her own hair and dress herself, spelling to her what each thing was, such as 'w-a-s-h' and 'b-r-u-s-h' and 'd-r-e-s-s.' Tommy was proud of the girl, and his wife, of course, for such a life changing accomplishment. No longer did they have to worry about putting the girl into an asylum, or stop tantrums every five minutes. It seemed all along all Lily had wanted was to understand-and now she was getting that.
Tommy coughed, flicking his cigarette into the muddy water and turning his chair to face away from the priest, spitting onto the ground as if in silent disgust at the continued remarks the man made. The priest seemed adamant on getting an office close by the orphanage, and told Tommy he would stop by after work, to take confessions from the 'little creatures', as he so called the children. Tommy could sense people well-maybe it was the Gypsie in him, maybe not, but he found himself silently second-guessing letting Lily play there, and he vowed to make sure she did not.
The family had a meeting. Lily was allowed to come along to visit Polly, and she greeted her in the small flat she had grown up in with a gentle hug, leaning into her aunt's chest with a small sigh of happiness. She still murmured and made sounds that only the deaf did. But this was only a simple sigh of joy from seeing her beloved aunt. She pulled out of the hug, and let her hands wander over her aunt's clothes, breathing in the scent of her perfume. Polly handed her a candy, and Lily touched her chin and held out her hand-the sign for 'thank you'. Polly smiled so big her face probably ached from all the joy and pride at seeing Lily able to communicate.
Lily busied herself with organizing coins at the table. She knew which ones were dimes, nickels, quarters and pennies. Grace had taught her the difference by feeling the size with her fingers. Every so often, she would take a sip of the hot tea her aunt had made her. Life had gotten a lot calmer, and a lot simpler since Lily's breakthrough, as they called it. Lily didn't know what her family was meeting about-she was just happy to be included at the table. It wasn't as if she could share their secrets anyways.
Lily was back home, at Arrow House, traipsing the gardens. Tommy had gifted Grace a beautiful sapphire necklace. Lily had wanted to feel it between her fingers, but when she neared it, and grazed it with her fingertips, it had felt hot to the touch, and nausea had filled her stomach. It had startled her, and now she was here, comforting herself in the garden. There was so much she didn't know about life, and she was eager to learn all day and all night, but Grace had her own life to attend to, as much as she wanted to spend all day with the girl and teach. But Lizzie could teach her too-at least that's what Lily discovered when Lizzie began spelling into the girls palm.
She wandered over to the swing Arthur had built for her out of rope and wood, pulling herself onto it, gently swinging herself back and forth. The lace socks she wore peeked out of her black boots as she pumped her legs to keep swinging. She wanted to show Tommy how high she could swing. She liked him better now that she understood communication effectively. Before, when she behaved like a wild thing all the time, he had looked down on her, and somehow, she knew that. But know he was proud of her, and viewed her as an equal. Now he knew there was something intelligent inside her brain, and not just mush. She waited until her maid came to take her inside, spelling into her palm when Lily asked for Tommy 'l-a-t-e.' Lily crossed her arms, trying to act indifferent.
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Of course he would be home late, when it was past her bedtime. She wanted to ask if she would be allowed to stay up late, but she knew Tommy wouldn't allow it. Besides, Grace insisted the maids keep the children on a good sleep schedule. So, Lily begrudgingly followed the maid inside the large home, keeping a hand on the wall to keep from tripping over Charlie's toys, and to keep her bearings about her. She bathed herself in her own porcelain bathtub, remembering inside her head the days she used to squeeze into the washbasin when Polly forced her to stay clean. How she used to hate cleaning and brushing her hair, when she didn't understand the use. But Grace had taught her you must stay clean to look, feel and smell nice. It helped you not get ill.
After she scrubbed herself clean, Lily pulled a nightgown over her head, and her hands wandered on the sink until they found the hairbrush, and she ran the item through her long tangles until she could run her fingers through without them catching on knots. Then, she meandered into baby Charlie's room, finding his forehead, kissing him. Another thing Grace had taught her was that you must be gentle and quiet around babies and young children. Then, she lay in her bed, pulling the covers to her chin as she waited to fall asleep. She had no idea that the next morning would fill her stomach with dread, as Ada spelled into her palm that Grace was gone, dead.
The lovely life that had just begun at Arrow Hall would change, seemingly with one bullet. All liveliness would be gone, replaced with sadness and anger inside Tommy Shelby. He would spend his nights riding out on his black horse, in the fields with a fire in front of him. The children would be alone with their maids, alone to toss and turn in their beds as they mourned and missed Grace all the same as Tommy.
