𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 & 𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐁𝐒 | ❝ why would a dead girl lie? ❞
With the return of the men from France, the world of Small Heath has turned upside down. Women have their husbands back, children have their fathers. The razor gang Peaky Blinders are on the r...
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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐕. women's business ❝ IN THE WORLD ALONE ❞
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BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND 1919
♜ ━━━━━ ADELINE SHELBY WAS ANGRY.
And the best way to soothe anger, the six year old reasoned, was with some biscuits.
It was what she deserved, after all.
She'd been in the kitchen, on her tiptoes, sneaking said biscuits from the tin on top of the cupboard when there was a knock on the door. She'd been so startled she dropped it and soon the tin was clattering onto the floor with a loud bang! Del jumped again, then froze, certain someone was about to come round the corner and give her a hiding to remember.
No one did.
A blessing.
The knocking continued.
Adeline wasn't supposed to open the door unless it was family. Which was a moronic rule, how was she supposed to know if it was family if she didn't open the door?
Adults were painfully thick.
Della hopped from the counter to the chair to the floor and then laid on her belly while she crawled towards the front door. That was what Finn used to do, when they played pretend—soldiers when the real soldiers were away at war. By the time she reached the door, Del's stockings had slipped down and now her kneecaps were pink and scratched. She paid no mind, loading her imaginary gun and yanking the door open with a flourish.
Her imaginary gun lowered and her eyes went wide.
An unfamiliar man stood in the doorway, a man with a hat, a mustache, and a painted smile.
Behind him, chaos reigned.
Del watched in horror as the whole of Watery Lane was in disarray, men and women being turned out of their homes, children that Del knew running down the road in fear, coppers blowing their whistles and everyone screaming something terrible. Monstrous horses rode by while men were on the ground getting beat with nightsticks.
