NEW CHAPTERS COMING SOON.
Small Heath, Birmingham, was an unsafe place to be. Men stumbling drunk out of pubs, whores there waiting for them on the side of the street, with gang fights happening around the corner. Unsafe for young girls... but not i...
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• • •
"Like you've nothing left to prove And nothing to lose."
• • •
Did I die? I pondered, coming back around, staring up at the grey sky above.
"Go home. Kimber and I fought this one-on-one. Go home," Thomas' voice rang out. Still alive then, wincing in pain as I shifted.
Tommy's face suddenly appeared above mine, tapping on my cheek, attempting to keep me conscious. Gosh, I wanted to slap him in the face and see how he liked it.
• • •
~ Third POV ~
Harry fell back unconscious into Tommy's arms as he shouted for his brothers:
"We need Pol. Run and get her. Now."
Fuck he thought, seeing the blood oozing out of the young boy, taking his belt and wrapping it around Harry's shoulder in an attempt to slow the bleeding. It wasn't a deadly wound from the looks of it, but he could still die from blood loss, Thomas feared. Picking Harry's petite frame in his arms, he headed straight to the Garrison, yelling for his men to get out of the way.
He placed Harry on the table in the private nook of the now empty Garrison. Looking down at the boy, who started to stir, regaining consciousness as John and Arthur rushed in, followed by his aunt.
"Christ! Get me some cloth and whisky," she said without hesitation, going over to Harry to begin taking off her jacket in an attempt to inspect the wound.
Once Harry realised she started to refuse, squirming away from Polly. Delirious from blood loss and unaware of where she was but, more prominently: terrified of her secret being uncovered.
"Thomas, bloody hold him still! He's losing too much blood," she ordered him as he grabbed ahold of Harry in an almost choke hold so that he didn't interfere with her wound - tightening his grip with every move.
Polly began to unbutton Harry's shirt but stopped three buttons down. Her face paled with bafflement, causing Tommy to look at her with confusion.
"Everyone out," she finally commanded, only causing more confused faces among the men.
"All of you!" She shouts, glaring at each of her nephews until they leave the room, ignoring the questioning of her actions.
At Polly's action, Harry noticeably relaxed, letting her undo the rest of her shirt, uncovering her bound chest. With a sigh, she began inspecting the wound.
The bleeding had slowed, and with her jacket and shirt out of the way, Polly could conclude it was just a nasty flesh wound. She took out a needle and hovered it over a match's flame before beginning to stitch the flesh back together.
Harry grimaced in pain, trying her best to let out nothing more than a grunt. After an agonising five minutes, Polly took a bottle of whisky and passed it to Harry.
"Drink. Trust me; you'll need it." After Harry took a swig from the bottle, she took the bottle back and proceeded to pour some onto the wound. Harry bit onto her other arm, stifling a scream as best she could.
After Polly had cleaned around the wound, she began to tidy away the implements used.
"Thank you, Polly," Harry uttered, to which the woman replied with a hum.
"I'm sorry." She tried again.
"It's not me who you have to explain yourself to. Us women get it. It's a man's world... and a damned one at that." Her reply took Harry by surprise. She was right, though; it was the men she would have to justify her actions to.
"Will Thomas forgive me?"
"There's only one way to find out" she walked out the door only to return a split-second after with Thomas, who followed suit. The man stood by the now closed door, taking a drag on his cigarette and staring expectingly at the girl.
"I, uh, I'm sorry for deceiving you." Harry disclosed, breaking eye contact and causing Tommy to chuckle in reply.
"Thomas, show the young girl some respect," Polly sighed in response to her nephew's reply.
"You didn't deceive me. Do you really think I'm stupid?" He explained with a smirk as he eyed the girl up and down.
"You knew?" She whispered.
"Course I knew, I ran checks..."
"Ran checks on every orphanage for a 'Harry Spring'. Yet no one had any records of an orphan with that name. Until one nun from an orphanage in London said, a Harrietta Spring was previously under their care. And, well, it doesn't take a genius to add the two up. What I wasn't expecting was to find out your records no longer exist."
"I burnt them when I ran away." She confirmed, looking down at her lap, knowing where this was going.
"Now, why would you do something like that?" Thomas continued, a smirk playing on his lips, enjoying the power of knowledge.
"You did it so no one could find you, not even your family?" He questioned, already knowing he was right.
"Family? What are you getting at Thomas?" His aunt quizzed, perplexed by it all.
"I had confirmation this morning; one of my men tracked down my old man in America. Turns out he had a fling with a washerwoman seventeen years ago. She gave birth to a tot. Her family tracked him down after her death, leaving her daughter with him. My father, being the man he is, took her straight to an orphanage when she was only eight years old. That daughter being you, Harrietta?"
She continued staring down, unable to make eye contact.
"I swear, I didn't know you were his... if I had, I would have stayed away from Birmingham," Harry whispered.
"Well. That's a shock." Polly exclaimed, taking a seat and pouring a glass of whisky from the bottle used previously to clean Harry's wound.
"You took a bullet for me," Thomas pondered aloud, sadness appearing in his eyes. Pausing until Harry regained eye contact with him, before continuing:
"...You have a family here if you want it. I owe you my life, kid."
"I thought you'd be mad." Her brows frowning with confusion.
"Mad? No. Annoyed, you still think I can't read your lies." Thomas' smirk reappeared on his face, referring to his and Harry's first meeting. A small smile found its way upon the girl's face at the realisation of his words. A family. A place.
"Thank you, Tommy." She whispered again, tears behind her eyes threatening to flow.
A light knock on the door sounded as Thomas moved to open it, revealing Arthur, John, Ada and Finn.
"So, uh, you're what, our half-brother?" Arthur broke the silence, causing everyone to chuckle and shake their heads at his slow wit, despite Thomas' explanation when they had been sent out of the room.
