Save him

Chapter 6

The boys had gone to the fair for the day. Lana knew that they were going to start trouble with the Lees, but she couldn't stop that from happening as it would lead to the marriage of Esme and John. So she had to let them go and let it happen. 

Something had completely slipped Lana's mind though. She heard lots of horse hooves outside the house that she was living in for the moment with the other Shelby's. She had been staying on the sofa for the past couple of nights she had been here as she insisted that none of the Shelby's give up their room for her.

Tommy said that he would find her a house nearby, but he hadn't seemed to have been able to find one that was close enough. Only Tommy knew that he was just putting it off so that she would have to stay at the Shelby house and be around more. 

The horse hooves were getting louder and louder until she heard three loud bangs on the door. She stood up from the sofa, where she was sat, just in time for the front door to slam open with force. Three police officers had charged in and they went straight for her.

Lana didn't know what to do so she just stood there and let it happen. One of the police officers grabbed her roughly and pushed her to the wall with her hands behind her back. 

"Where are the weapons?" The officer demanded, tightening his grip on her wrists.

"I don't know." Replied Lana, in the calmest way she could.

The officer hadn't been pleased with her answer, deciding to turn her around and punch her. Lana felt the force of the punch all the way through her body, falling to the floor. The officer grabbed her hair and forced her head up to look at him. 

"Fuck you and all your peaky scum." He dropped her head, making her head slam to the floor, bruising her cheek.

All of a sudden a whistle was blown and all of the officers in the house left. 

Lana brought herself up from the floor, feeling the bruises on her face and her legs developing. She took herself over to the kitchen to try and calm herself down and make herself a cup of tea.

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Lana had been sat at the kitchen table for a while. She didn't know how long as she had blanked out, but her cup of tea was stone cold.

Polly walked in, followed by all of the lads. 

Polly instantly rushed over to Lana, "What happened to you?" Polly started to feel around Lana's face, looking over the injuries. The pain made her aware of the injuries that she had actually sustained, like the dried blood that was on her face from her bruised nose, her busted lip, the bruise on her cheek and the small cut on her forehead. 

Arthur and John had come up to her, giving her a hug and making sure she was okay. 

She brushed them all away, "I'm fine, i'm fine, it'll heal. Now what happened?"

From the corner of her eye she saw Tommy looking at her, checking she was okay. She gave him a small nod before turning her attention to Polly.

"The coppers told everyone Arthur'd agreed to it when he was arrested. They said the Peaky Blinders has cleared out to the fair to let them do it." Polly said, lighting her cigarette and throwing the lighter on the table.

Arthur finished sipping his beer before turning to Tommy, "I never said nothing to that copper about smashing up bloody houses."

"Alright, which pubs did they do?" Tommy said, diverging Arthur's anger.

Lana piped up, "The guns, the chain, the Marquis, all the ones that pay you to protect them, the only one they didn't touch was the Garrison."

"Makes sure people think we were in on it, he's smart this copper. So go on, drink your beers, get out. You'd better show people you are still the cocks of the walk." Polly said, bossing the Peaky's in the room to leave.

Tommy made his way to the other side of the room, taking the chair next to Lana. "Hand out some cash to the landlords of the pubs, pay veterans to fix the places up." 

"So we both know what they were looking for." Polly said after shutting the double doors into the betting shop.

Lana took this as her time to leave, "I best be leaving, I need to go fix my face up. I bet I look a right mess." Lana brushed of her injuries with a joke, but Polly's maternal instincts kicked in. 

"You look after yourself Lana, go find our Ada I'm sure she'll help you." 

********************

Lana had spent the rest of the day sorting her face out and calming herself down. She had been beaten up before, but not to this extent and she knew that the injuries were going to get more and more sore as time goes on. 

Lana hadn't gone to see Ada, as she didn't feel like her and Ada were very close at the moment and she knew Ada was busy with Freddie Thorne. 

Lana had been reading most of the day, waiting for something to happen. She knew that the bonfire was supposed to happen tonight but she wasn't sure if Tommy had already gotten the idea or if he needed a push of help. She got the answer when Tommy walked through the door. 

He seemed stressed. He took his hat off and threw it onto the table in between the sofas, sitting across from Lana. 

"How's your day been?" Lana asked, looking up from her book and marking the page before putting it down and giving Tommy her full attention. 

"I should be asking you." Tommy said, pulling out his cigarettes and lighting one, offering Lana one.

She took it and Tommy lit it with his lighter before leaning back into the sofa. 

"I'm fine. What's troubling you?" Lana asked and then took a deep drag of her cigarette. 

"The Irish Inspector wants to meet up with me." Tommy knew that Lana already knew everything that was going to happen but it felt nice for him to have someone to speak to that wasn't as involved in everything as his family was, but also just as trustworthy. 

"You don't parley when you're on the back foot." Lana said, a smirk forming on her face. Tommy returned the smirk at hearing the words he spoke to Polly earlier. 

"So, what do we do to get off of the back foot?" Tommy asked, looking up at Lana and making eye contact.

"I think it's time for a bonfire." Lana said winking. She put out her cigarette in the ash tray on the table and stood up, going into the betting den. 

"John, Arthur, can you come her for a second?" Both the men headed towards her, "What's up?" 

"Could you get Scudboat to block off the lane and start a bonfire in the middle, go round everyone's house and give them money for their picture of the king." John and Arthur didn't even hesitate to follow Lana's orders which surprised Tommy but he felt the same way around her, like she knew what she was doing. 

Tommy stood up, putting his hat back on his head. 

Lana walked closer to him, "Is it okay if I use the phone in your office? I think we could use a reporter, maybe you could speak to them?" 

Tommy nodded, "Yes, of course." 

Lana nodded and headed past Tommy to walk towards the offices, but Tommy grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to him.

"Thank you Lana." Tommy said, meeting her eyes. Lana pulled her wrist out of his hand and put both her hands on his chest, fixing his coat and resting her hands there. She looked straight back up at him, "We'll talk later Tommy." 

He nodded and took in the moment. He liked the closeness. The feeling of her hands on his chest. He wanted to pull her closer, to pull her into a hug, but they were in public and Tommy wasn't one to show his affection openly. 

Polly saw this interaction. Although she couldn't see what they were saying, she could see the emotion that they held for each other in their actions and she knew that Lana and Tommy were going to be connected forever.