Field of Poppies

July 28, 1914

England and Germany At War.

Your King and Country Need You.

Tommy was downstairs in the kitchen, sat at the table, chewing on his nail anxiously. The newspaper hadn't left his hand even though he'd already read the headlines. His brothers were near, they'd shown up to Tommy's flat with the newspaper in hand. John in the doorway of the kitchen, unsure of where else to stand. Everything felt uprooted. Arthur was leaning against the kitchen counter his face in his hand.

To interrupt the somber mood was the sound of small footsteps skittering down the stairs.

"Daddy!" Max launched into Tommy's lap.

The toddler seemed to snap him out of his daze. "Hello, hello." Tommy kissed his cheek and hugged him close.

Amelia came down a few moments later, having been the first-person Max woke up. "Morning." She greeted as if it were any other day. But there was a tell that things weren't right. All three of the Shelby boys were in the kitchen. At that time of the morning, they were usually off doing work. Unless there was a family meeting, it was rare for the three to just come over and lounge around the flat. Then she noticed the looks on their faces. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Tommy cleared his throat and handed her the paper.

It didn't take too long before the news sank in. But she still read the headline a few times just to make sure she was reading it correctly and not just making the words up in her head. "What? But...what does this mean?"

"Means we'll be shipped off to God knows where." Arthur lifted his head with an agitated look. He didn't take kindly to others telling him what to do, even if it was the government. "Fighting for God knows what for God knows how long!"

Tommy didn't have the heart to tell him to calm down in front of Max. "It won't be that long." He muttered.

"How could you possibly know?" The sense of dread and panic settled in fairly quickly for Amelia. "How do you know what they're planning on doing?"

"It'll be alright." He assured her without any facts to really base it on. "It might be over before anything happens."

"But, I-"

"C'mon, nothing we can do right now." He took the paper from her hands and tossed it onto the table.

"Tom." Arthur gave him a stern look. "You know-"

"Look," Tommy spoke over his older brother. "the military will be mobilizing the Rifles. That's inevitable. But since it's a volunteer basis, I don't think they would ship us overseas."

"Tom, you don't know that!" Arthur urged.

"Daddy..." Max started to pick up on the worrying atmosphere. "Are you leaving us?"

"No, Max."

"Tommy, please." Amelia didn't want him saying anything that wasn't true that might break their son's heart later on.

The room was starting to get a little too loud and crowded for his taste. Tommy got up, set Max down, and walked out of the kitchen without saying anything else.

"Tommy!" Amelia called after him but he simply shut the door behind him.

~~~~~~~

"It'll be alright, Thomas." Charlie was sat in the Yard, mending a bridle.