𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑-𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒 || Peaky Blinders

IV.

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰᴏᴜʀ
ᴅᴀʀᴋ ᴏᴍᴇɴꜱ ꜰᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ ꜰʟɪᴇꜱ

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   HUSTLE AND BUSTLE, bumping into people, toes are trodden on, smells of freshly slaughtered meat hanging from hooks, smells of baked goods and fresh flowers entwined with the rancid smell of body odour, the smell of manure and chicken droppings, caged chickens, tethered pigs, lambs in pens, stalls overflowing with produce, vegetables spilt onto the muddy ground, splashing through puddles, stallholders hollering out their special deals, customers haggling over prices, people gossiping in huddles, a cacophony of sound, bulging bags swinging into peoples legs; the whole place was a mess. The place was manic but Martha knew her way through any market, even one as busy as the bullring. She had managed to secure some new materials for her dresses as well as some second-hand clothes she could fix up - they looked closer to being fourth hand than anything. Julia had picked up everything for Polly and had swiftly returned to Small Heath. Although the day was sunny, the wind was still bitter and nipped at her delicate skin.

   "God, my feet kill!" Martha huffed, barging their way into one of the homes down Watery Lane with their arms clustered with tens of bags.

   "Oh quit your bitching." Julia replied as they headed to the kitchen.

   "Your one to talk, remember when I accidentally pushed you and you got the tiniest cut. You moaned about it for weeks." Martha shot back, pushing through the door that she assumed was the kitchen

   "Yeah, Yeah. Whatever." Julia mused, excepting defeat. The two entered, only to be greeted by a group of women. They dropped their bags and dusted off their clothes that were slightly dirty from the market. "Morning," She greeted with a smile, putting one of the bags on the kitchen side as it had some things that had been requested by Polly.

   "Hello, darling." Annabelle came to help them with the bags as Ada kept her head buried in the newspaper and Polly moved over to her own bag. They'd only been gone an hour or so, meaning it was still quite early. So when Finn came bounding down the stairs, followed by a bunch of overly hyper children. They must have been John's kids that Polly vaguely mentioned when she first went to greet her.

   "Breakfast," Polly pointed to the table as she unpacked the variety of food that the girls had brought back. The four oldest scrambled to the table whilst the youngest hobbled behind, she must have only been two. But instead of heading to the table, she had decided to walk towards Martha after hearing her laughter at one of Julia's comments. "She's taken a liking to you already. Normally, Katie hates strangers. Took her weeks to like our Ada." Polly mused, looking at the little blonde that was tugging at Martha's dress.

   With slight hesitation, she bent down to pick up the girl who seemed to have beamed at the action. There were too many kids for Polly to handle and John hardly had time for them, leaving his children rather touch starved. Children weren't exactly her forte but she had cared for many in her orphanage until they were adopted. They were always drawn to her, clinging to her as if she were their mothers. Katie was the same, her small hands gripping at the exposed skin on her shoulder whilst the other played with the small ruby necklace that hung around Martha's neck.

   "Some bread, please," Katie asked quietly, causing Martha to head over to the table to grab a slice of the buttered bread before it was eaten by the rest. The little blonde happily ate as she rested on Martha's hip, dropping crumbs every now and then. Ada seemed to have the same aversion to children as she had gotten up and headed back to her room.