The Forced Marriage | Peaky Blinders

Ireland.

Erin was sat outside the hospital, with a look of despair established across her face. The rain pouring, only made Erin feel even more melancholy.

The time went past gradually as she explored ways to get home. Erin's smartest scheme yet was to hitchhike all the way back to Ireland. Although the thought of travelling appeared daunting at first, Erin would rather die to try to leave Small Heath, then actually dying in Small Heath.

As she was sat, Erin noticed a truck with an Irish number plate. Without a shadow of a doubt, Erin climbed through the back of the truck as sneakily as she could.

___

The journey was tiresome. The bumps of the truck going through the countryside caused a constant ache in Erin's back. By the time Erin had gotten to Ireland, she had lost a lot of weight, to the point she was vaguely recognisable. The boat that she caught in England had docked in Ireland, and she knew the next step was to find her way back to her town. Eagerly, Erin asked people for directions and with no luck, many people ignored her. That was until she saw a familiar face.

"Uncle Simon?" Erin asked. 

The man spun around towards Erin.

"Thank god I found you! We've been waiting for your arrival for ages." He let out a sigh of relief. "We best take you home now."

"I'm not sure I want to go home, Simon. Father isn't mad at me is he?" Erin questioned.

"No dear, he's just happy you're safe. We heard you got shot, the Shelby's only told us you were being sent home, nothing more." Simon stated.

Simon showed Erin to a black car stationed nearby to the dock. The car journey was enjoyed in silence. Erin had forgotten what the Irish countryside looks like. For the first time in a long time, Erin felt gratified and her conscience was clear.

___

Two men opened the gate that they had arrived at. Erin looked out the car window to see her father stood with her brothers and sisters. She pushed open her door and ran out to greet her dad, the man she had been missing so greatly. He flung his arms open and hugged her tightly.

"I missed you." He spoke, "everyone has."

"Dad, why did you make me go in the first place?" Erin asked, relinquishing her tears.

"Come inside, Erin. I'll speak to you about it, tell me what happened too."

Erin stood outside a few moments longer, breathing in the fresh air of the pretty, Irish countryside.

___

"I'm sorry, I had to force you to go, I had no choice." He admitted with tears in his eyes. "It started in September, we had a massive order of our whiskey to be sent to Small Heath. We shipped it off at the end of October. A few months went by where we heard nothing. That was until I got a letter from Polly, it said that there was poison in the whiskey as they tried it out on some young boys, before drinking it themselves. Unfortunately, the boys died but I had no proof where the poison got into the drink."

"So you're telling me someone put poison in your whiskey whilst it was being shipped to Tommy, subsequently they kicked you where it hurts by making me marry and live with them," Erin interviewed.

"I'm promising you now, I did not put any poison in their whiskey. I wouldn't risk everything, especially not this family."

"We need to clear our name as soon as possible because when Tommy calms down he's going to come here." Erin urged.

"Why would they come here? They've already taken you once, why would they do it again?" John challenged.

"They believe it was us, as someone said they overheard an Irish man speaking about attacking the wedding," Erin responded, it reminded her of Michael. "But I think I know who did it, so can I reveal my plan to you?"

A few hours after the plan was negotiated, John selected his men and Erin, as they set off for Small Heath.