TROUBLE - peaky blinders

01. the enigma at hand

"OI, SHELBY! YOU'RE DEAD!"

Clara Shelby was often told that she asked for trouble, yet she found that trouble seemed to happen anyway, with or without her consent. It's not like she actively went out looking to provoke a fight, but the Shelby name had a deadly reputation and there were a lot of people out there who were willing to test it.

It came as no surprise that the Sloan brothers had come to fight, their sleeves had been rolled up and their faces tinged a comical crimson. Clara swore that if it were possible, smoke would be pooling from their ears. It seemed as if the brothers had resorted to an attack dog mode of sorts, one which Clara and Will adapted to easily.

Perks of growing up around Shelby's is that every self-defence technique under the sun had been taught and learned since a young age— much to Polly's chagrin.

Clara spat out the blood that had spilt into her mouth, as she rushed forward, sending another sharp punch to her opponents face. Hastily, the girl spared a glance at Will, who was currently holding George Sloan in a headlock as the latter kicked and struggled to break free.

The girl focused her mind back on the punches being thrown her way and with a swift moment, she caught the boy's wrist. Clara smirked in glee as she reached up and grabbed James Sloan's head, slamming it down onto her knee, causing the boy to crumple to the floor with a satisfying groan.

There was a loud crack followed by another crash as George's body hitting the gravel. Clara lazily shoved her hands in her pants pockets as she witnessed Will send another kick to the body before making his way towards her.

"Christ, look at the state of you." Will chortled, his eyes scanning the girls bruised and bloody face.

"You don't look any better." Clara laughed, taking in the boys bloody nose and multiple cuts. She looked towards the Sloan brothers who were stumbling away in defeat with a sly grin. "I can't say I feel bad for 'em."

Will snickered as he shrugged on his jacket which had been unceremoniously flung to the floor before the fight had occurred.

"Pol and Tommy are gonna kill me." She moaned as she plucked her jacket from the gravel. Her hands precariously smoothing out her dirty shirt, which had been splattered with droplets of blood.

"Uh, Clara..."

The girl looked up at the sound of Will's panicked tone. Thomas Shelby was striding across the dirt, his coat flapping with the wind as he approached them.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit." She cursed lowly, shrugging on her jacket, hoping to hide her bruised hands but even then she knew that Tommy was no fool and all he had to do was look at the duo to figure out what had happened. "You should go."

"Not a chance, Shelby." He dismissed, standing beside her as her brother's looming figure grew closer. As soon as the man had come into closer range, the look on his face sent nervous shivers down their spines. "On second thought..."

"Go on, Judas." Clara retorted, as the boy nodded and bolted off in the direction in which the Sloan brothers had hobbled off.

"Clara."

The girl winced as she turned to face her older brother. Clara quickly, clasped her hands behind her back as Tommy halted in front of her.