Rumours || Thomas Shelby [1]

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KAT HAD BEEN IN THE SHELBY HOUSE FOR LONG ENOUGH TO RECOGNISE ALL OF THE DIFFERENT QUIRKS OF EACH OF THE SHELBY'S.

Tommy was the first one up every morning and was gone before anyone else was even thinking of leaving their beds. Polly liked a certain cup for her tea every morning and read the same newspaper while smoking her favourite brand of clove cigarettes. John called in every morning at 9:15 after dropping his kids to school and then would proceed to complain that they never stay in school the whole day. It was besides the point that he had done the same thing at the same age. Arthur was as predictable as the rest of them. He was the last one up every morning and always had a glass - or a few - of whiskey with his breakfast.

That was why it was easy to recognise that something was up with the eldest Shelby brother. Arthur was waking up earlier and earlier - nearly earlier than Tommy. His normally relaxed and cheerful demeanour had turned paranoid and tense, nearly looking like he was looking over his shoulder every few minutes. His eyes wouldn't meet his family's eyes and he avoided most conversations.

Kat wondered if any of his siblings noticed. Surely they would, Kat reasoned and so, she didn't bring it up. It wasn't until the day Polly finally deemed Kat healthy enough to go home that Kat realised that Arthur was up to something - something that his family were left in the dark about.

Arthur Sr. had returned and was quickly rejected by the rest of his family, besides Arthur Jr. Kat hadn't thought twice about it until Polly had returned into the kitchen with a look of anger on her face. Polly had gone to look over the accounts before helping Kat back home. The plan had been to gift Kat with a bit of money to help her back on her feet but the missing £500 quickly caught Polly's attention.

Polly knew that Arthur sympathised with his father but she never would have thought that Arthur would go behind his family's back to help the man that left them so many years ago. But alas, £500 were missing and neither Arthur were anywhere to be found. Polly quickly apologised to Kat and left to find Arthur before he did anything stupid with all the money.

Kat sighed and wondered if she said something earlier could she have stopped Arthur from doing something stupid like this. She coughed gently and began to make her way home. She tightened her coat around her thin frame - a consequence of the illness that nearly killed her. The last time she was outside was the night when the Irish attacked Tommy in the Garrison. It brought shivers to her bones as she thought about it, the brutal attack that resulted in so much death.

It was a shorter walk to her house than she remembered. Inside, it was cold and dust had settled over all the surfaces. She groaned as she realised that she had so much cleaning to do. She settled down on the couch, her head pressed against the cushion and her feet tucked in slightly so that she could lie down comfortably. She closed her eyes and dozed off, her mind wandering off and she felt herself drifting off. Her breaths deepened until she heard the gentle rustling by the front door.