TROUBLE - peaky blinders

54. seven, eight, nine,

Will hadn't minded looking after her. He relished it. He would prefer to be by her side as she cried in bed rather than stand atop an uneven slab of earth she rotted beneath. The two had adapted to a system, a simple one to ten rating of a day. One being 'alright' and ten being 'I wish you would've left me to die on the floor'. Crass and even blunt, it was a system Clara had laughed at when decided upon, Will hadn't found it nearly as hysterical as she had. He merely agreed to it as she had been the one to take initiative.

The girl's eyes remained on her family as they broke apart after the camera's flash. She watched as they all filed into the building before turning her head back to Will.

"Three," she decided, it had been a lie, of course. If she was truthful it would be a six and she knew it was only going to climb higher as the day dragged on. But she'd caused enough problems. Today wasn't about her. "Now, c'mon we should go in."

Clara jumped out of the car, not allowing her lie to linger in her mind as she slammed her car door shut. Will followed in pursuit, his eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were pursed. He didn't want to be here. Clara could tell that from the get-go, but he wouldn't leave her to do this alone. He would be there at every step.

The two walked in tandem into the small church within the Grace Shelby Institute. Donors and sponsors had been given seats up the front, where the Shelby family sat on one side and the rich men on the other. Kids, nurses and teachers all sat behind, diligently watching as the Shelby family talked amongst themselves. Clara faltered at the entrance of the church. She didn't want to walk up the centre of the aisle. Will noticed her hesitance and swiftly grabbed her hand and pulled her off to the side where they sat at the end of the back row. The children and nurse sitting in the row looked towards them in curiosity, yet none of them spoke up.

The room plunged into silence as Polly Gray stood up and took to the podium, her knowing eyes flitting across the room. They stopped on Clara and Will in the back before they returned to the front of the church.

"Welcome to the opening of the Grace Shelby Institute for non-insured children of the poor." Polly began with a smile, "I would very much like you to join me in thanking the man that made the founding of this establishment actually possible. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Thomas Shelby."

Clara watched as everyone stood to their feet to applaud her older brother, both she and Will remained rooted to their seats. He stood to his feet and basked the applause with Charlie briefly on his hip as his eyes scanned over the hall before he placed the child in a nurse's arms. She watched as her brothers hollered at Tommy as he approached the stand, their whistles and hoots so starkly standing out.

"Erm, I didn't come here today to make a speech, but I will say this. These children are now safe." Tommy paused as he looked at each of the children sitting in pews and seats. "In our care, they will be safe because we are from the same cold streets as they are. And in our care, they won't be shipped away to the colonies, or separated from kin, or made to work for men in their various ways. They will grow up here, at home...loved...in Birmingham. Because this is our city."

"By order of the Peaky Blinders," Arthur added gruffly, his loud voice echoed off the concrete walls. Clara rolled her eyes as she slumped further into her seat. The room applauded once more, everyone standing to their feet in unison as Tommy merely nodded and watched. His watchful eyes flickered towards the motionless Clara and Will, the latter of whom seemed to be whispering something to the girl, who whispered something back almost instantaneously. Tommy looked down before he left the stand to allow Pol takeover for the remainder of the ceremony.

☆

CLARA FELT ILL. The kind of sickness that sprang around the stomach before infiltrating every nerve and overwhelming the body with the feeling of pure nausea. Her head felt compressed, her thoughts funnelling around the confines of her skull. It was an anxious feeling, one that swirled around her veins like a lethal adrenaline.