TROUBLE - peaky blinders

21. sadists and sprinting sisters

Clara rolled her eyes at King Maine, glancing at a scoffing Will who had also seemingly caught the remark.

"C'mon, Finn!" Clara encouraged with a smirk, watching as her younger brother punched Isaiah straight in the nose. "That's it!"

"All right, Isaiah, your turn." King Maine instructed, puffing on his cigar.

"Finn! Call yourself a Shelby?" The man questioned, as Isaiah rapidly paced his attacks. "Fucking hit him, for fuck's sake! Hit him."

"I'll bloody hit you," Clara hissed lowly, her remark only being heard by Will, who tightened his grip on her shoulder in case she tried to lunge forward. A sudden and loud shout rang through the gym, causing Clara's head to snap behind her. Her eyebrows scrunched together as Arthur slammed a boy to the floor.

She rushed over to the ring behind, her eyes wide as Arthur got lost in himself, hitting the unconscious boy over and over again. His knuckles were blazed red with blood, as men around her rushed to hold back the infuriated Arthur. The girl could only stand and stare at the body, her eyes glancing between her rabid older brother and the unmoving figure. The boy on the floor was young, recognisable and barely older than her.

She felt Finn and Isaiah looking over her shoulder and with a quick push, she'd turned Finn around, trying to force him to look away, but his gaze had already locked on the boy. Clara pressed an exasperated hand to her forehead as her eldest brother yelled and struggled against the hold of the men holding him back. By the body, a man had taken the boys pulse, his head was shaking and it could only mean one thing.

"Fuckin' hell, Arth..."

☆

"WHAT A BRILLIANT MORNING, DON'T YOU THINK?" Clara huffed in annoyance, puffing out a cloud of smoke as she sat on the bench in John's office. Her voice was edged with venom. Her fingers pinched her nose as she straightened up. Finn and Isaiah sat beside her, their eyes trained on the floor in anticipation as they processed what had happened. The three sat in Arthur's barren office, where John had them dumped in. By the time they'd arrived back at the den, word had already reached Watery Lane.

Arthur had killed a man.

"Fuck," Clara laughed spitefully, her head shaking as she took another drag of her cigarette. "Not a moment of peace in this bloody family is there, Finny boy?"

"Shut up, Clara." The boy said quietly, his eyes still on the floor. The girl rolled her eyes, looking behind her, locking eyes with Tommy as he glanced over towards the office. Clara cursed quietly, stubbing out her cigarette with the toe of her boot, kicking the remains under the bench. She sat back against the wall, her head held high as her brother opened the door and swiftly closed it behind him.

Tommy shoved his hands into his pockets, standing opposite the three with a sigh. "Alright, what happened?" He asked, looking expectedly at all three.

"It was a fair fight," Finn answered, causing Clara to bite back another laugh of disbelief.

"Yeah. Arthur just caught him with a good 'un." Isaiah chimed in. Tommy's eyes moved to Clara who was merely staring at him with a straight face. Seeing that she wasn't going to answer, Tommy pushed himself off the wall and stepped closer to the three.