KOPF AUS

After weeks of not being able to catch the thief, it ended up that the thief chose the wrong time to sneak into the house, as they snuck in through the little hole in the wall, they stumbled across a Shelby family meeting.

“Tom, we have an audience.” Arthur says when he notices you, a little girl no older than the age of seven or eight who he noticed crawling through a hole hidden behind one of the tables in the corner of the room. All eyes moved to where you were and the second you made a move to escape, Finn’s hand clamped down on your shoulder, making you squeak in pain and attempt to pull away.

“Let her go Finn.” Tommy asserts, his cold glare keeping you in place as Finn relinquishes his grip on you, backing off and standing next to Michael and John.

“You can all go. I need to have a word with our guest.” Tommy says to his family, glancing over at them.

“Be gentle with her Tommy, she’s just a girl.” His Aunt Polly commands, her stare stern before she glances at you, your gaze fixed on the floor as you scuffed your shoe against the floor in an attempt to distract yourself from the fact you’d been caught. The family exits the kitchen, all eyeing you carefully as they walk out.

“Sit down.” He says, gesturing towards a chair and watching carefully as you cross to the chair he was pointing at, climbing up to sit on it. Your gaze didn’t move from the floor and Tommy could tell you had been living on the streets or something, your hair was greasy, and your face was filthy. Your clothes were ragged and just as filthy as your face and Tommy felt his heart sink.

“M sorry mister. I didn’t want to steal I was just hungry.” You apologise, fiddling with your fingers.

“Why were you stealing, eh? Aren’t your parents feeding you?” Tommy asks gently, pulling out a chair of his own and sitting opposite you.

“I don’t have parents, mister.” You say, your small voice quivering as you relive the moment you lost your parents in your head.

“That’s why you were taking food? You had no one looking after you?” Tommy questions, worry hidden in his voice as he watches you nod. He didn’t know how long you’d been living out in the open for but upon finding out that you had no one to look after you he felt sadness clutch at his chest. No child deserved to be living alone on the streets. Tommy pondered his options. He could kick you out. He could send you to an orphanage. Or he could take you in himself. And for some reason, Tommy was drawn to the third option. He struggled with actually saying the words but eventually he was able to open his mouth to speak.

“Would you like to live here with me and my family?” He finally offers, watching as your head shoots up to look at him. He could see the clear hesitation on your face, and he couldn’t blame you, he was a stranger after all.

“We have plenty of room. You’d have a warm bed, clean clothes, and plenty of food. I don’t want to send you out onto the streets.” Tommy continues, watching as you have an internal debate about the whole situation.

“Are you sure?” You ask quietly, locking eyes with Tommy and noticing his eyes don’t look as cold as they did when you first entered. Now they carried some warmth that made you feel safe.

“Yes, I’m sure. I’ll look after you, I promise. If you want me to, that is.” Tommy says, noticing your small nod.

“I want to stay with you, mister.” You reply, smiling when Tommy nods in acknowledgement.

“Then you’ll stay here with me. You don’t have to call me mister. You can call me Tommy.” He says, smiling when you nod quickly.

“Thank you, Tommy.” You say as you return to fidgeting with your hands, a habit of yours you’d never been able to drop.

“I’ll have someone take you for a bath, shall I? And have someone get you some clean clothes and then you can meet my family and have something to eat. Does that sound good?” Tommy proposes, standing up as you leap off the chair to join him. Tommy took you up to one of the large bathrooms and told Mary to assist you with freshening up while he told Frances to go to the local clothes shop to buy you some new clothes. When he knew you were being taken care of, he returned downstairs to inform his family of his choice.

It had been a week since you moved in with Tommy and you had very quickly become part of the furniture around Arrow House and every member of the Shelby family loved you. Polly and Ada doted on you. John and Arthur loved to toss you over their shoulder and listen to your bursts of laughter and Finn loved to take you out to see the horses, lifting you up when you wanted to pet their soft faces. Tommy had also become softer since taking you in. He and Grace didn’t have any children of their own, but they certainly treated you as if you were their own. You brightened their lives and they loved having you around.