Chapter Text
The sun almost dared to shine that day on the streets of Small Heath.
It was a novelty to it's residents, who were all too used to the smoke and smog of the factories, that actual day light now seemed some how unnatural.
But that morning the clouds had parted, a pale blue sky stretched above the rows of cramped houses and sunlight spilled between the chimneys.
The people of Small Heath noticed.
Women stood in doorways with their sleeves rolled up, taking advantage of the rare warmth.
Washing flapped above the narrow yards and children had been sent outside the moment breakfast had finished.
Mothers were determined to make the most of the weather before the smoke returned, bringing the rain with it.
The Shelby boys had taken full advantage of it, just as the other children had.
They had claimed a stretch of cobbled street for themselves and transformed it into a cricket pitch.
It wasn't much of a pitch, the cobbles were uneven and there was no grass to bee seen anywhere.
Their wicket was a street lamp and every time the ball struck the metal post, it produced an almighty clang that echoed between the houses.
Several parents had already shouted from the doorways for them to stop, the noise of the ball hitting the lamppost and the arguing echoed all through the street, but none of the children had bothered to listen.
The residents had eventually reached an unspoken agreement, the cricket was irritating but at least the children had been occupied.
The cobbled streets were too uneven for marbles and there was nowhere safe for them to run except between the houses.
The alternative was having dozens of children indoors and nobody wanted that.
So the game continued.
Arthur Shelby stood proudly in the middle of the street, his shirt untucked and his sleeves rolled above his elbows.
He was the oldest and already carried himself as though the entire neighbourhood belonged to him.
Tommy stood nearby, quieter, just waiting for his turn again.
Where Arthur seemed to need everyone to know he was there, Tommy was always perfectly happy to watch.
He watched the game, he watched the other children, he even watched the adults peering from windows and doorways.
He noticed things, he always had.
'You notice too much Thomas.' His mother often said, he never knew if it was meant as a compliment or not.
At that moment however, he was watching Arthur take his turn to bowl.
Arthur swung his arm with far more enthusiasm than skill, the ball shot forward, striking the street lamp with a loud CLANG.
The noise was deafening, across the street a baby sitting in a pushchair immediately burst into tears.
The ball bounced off the post and rolled across the cobbles, coming to a stop only inches from the wheel of the stroller.
'Hey!' A small voice carried across the street.
The boys stopped, Tommy was the first to look in the direction of it, Arthur the second.
A group of girls were sitting outside one of the houses, dolls sat on each of their laps.
Most were no more than a year or two younger than the boys, but it was one girl that caught their attention.
She stood and quickly began marching towards them.
Tommy frowned as he watched her, she was little, tiny even.
Her blonde hair fell in soft curls around her face, with a white ribbon tied neatly at the back.
She wore a flowered dress with long sleeves and little frills around the collar, the sort of dress that looked far to clean to belong anywhere near Small Heath.
There was something almost ridiculous about the sight of her marching towards a group of boys twice her size, but she didn't seem to think so.
She stopped directly in front of Arthur, not intimidated by his size or scowl.
'That poor little baby.' She said to him with growl.
'What?' Arthur blinked, taken back by the girls attitude.
'You terrified him.' She pointed to the pushchair.
Arthur looked to the crying baby and then back at the girl. 'So?'
'So, you should throw more carefully.' The little girls face tightened.
A few of the boys snorted at the remark.
'And what are you going to do about it?' Arthur stood straighter, not prepared to be made of a fool of by the petite thing.
'I am telling you, stop.' The girl placed both hands on her hips.
Arthur laughed loudly, the other boys joined, but Tommy just watched her.
She didn't move, didn't step backwards, didn't even look frightened.
'I'm Arthur blood Shelby.' He announced as if it meant something, leaning towards her face slightly.
The girl stared at him, there was a pause as they just looked to one another.
'And I'm Ruby March.' She shrugged, her lip curling.
'Never heard of you.' Arthur frowned.
'I didn't say you had.'
Her response made several of the boys burst into laughter.
Arthur's mouth fell open, Tommy couldn't stop himself, he had never seen his brother lost for words, a small laugh escaped him.
'You shut up.' He pointed to his brother with fury.
Tommy immediately looked away, meanwhile Ruby had already lost interest in Arthur, she crossed the street and went directly of the crying baby.
'Come here.' She cooed as she carefully lifted him from the chair.
The baby continued to cry for a moment before Ruby tucked him against her shoulder.
'There, there.' She rubbed his back. 'Those nasty boys scared you didn't they?'
The baby hiccupped as he began to calm.
Ruby glared over her shoulder at the group of boys, specifically Arthur.
'I didn't do nothing.' Arthur folded his arms over his chest with a pout.
'You threw the ball.' Ruby corrected him with a frown.
'It's a cricket game.' He snarled in response.
'You nearly hit him.'
'I didn't though.'
'No but you nearly did.' Ruby said finally.
Tommy had found himself staring at her, she was strange, most girls he knew would have gone running to their mothers by now, or worse they would of told his.
Girls were always telling, at least that was what Arthur told him.
Tommy wasn't sure he entirely believed him, he never knew when to with Arthur.
'Arthur!' A voice yelled as the front door of the Shelby house swung open.
Both boys froze, a woman stepped into the doorway.
Dark hair, piercing blue eyes, a face that could look warm one moment and hollow the next.
Martha Shelby, or the boys mother.
She looked towards her sons, then towards the baby crying in the little girls arms.
'Have you two been watching your brother?' Her eyes narrowed as she asked them.
They were still, looking to one another and then to the floor, neither able to answer.
'I asked you both a question.' Martha's expression hardened.
'They were.' Ruby quickly stepping in, nodding her head with enthusiasm.
Martha looked at her, the girl smiled sweetly.
'I just asked if I could help. He is just such an adorable baby.' Ruby looked down at the boy in her arms and then back to his mother, her practiced innocent smile never leaving her face.
'And who are you?' Martha studied Ruby for a moment, her expression softening slightly.
'I am Ruby March miss.' The girl said with an unusual politeness, rocking her body almost in a curtsey.
'Well Ruby March, thank you.' Martha nodded to the girl, not that she truly believed her, but she respected her for looking out for all her boys.
Ruby smiled once more to her and then looked at the two boys as the woman retreated back inside.
'You should be nicer to him.'
Arthur rolled his eyes, Tommy still didn't say anything, trying to make his mind up about the girl.
'Oh yes I almost forgot.' Martha's head swung around the door once more, she took the baby from the young girls arms. 'Dinner's ready.'
'But...' Arthur began to groan.
'Now.' His mother snapped, with enough authority he knew not to fight any further.
Arthur sighed, trudging slowly towards the house
Tommy followed, but before he disappeared through the doorway he glanced back.
Ruby was already sitting back with the group of girls, she caught his eye, for a moment neither of them said anything and neither of them looked away and then she smiled, Tommy smiled back, before following Arthur through the door.
A few days later, Tommy found Ruby once more sitting on the curb, a doll balanced on her lap.
She was brushing her hair with a tiny wooden brush, her tongue sticking slightly between her lips as she concentrated.
Tommy stopped.
He had spent the previous few days thinking about her, not constantly, he had plenty of other things to occupy his mind.
His brothers, his father, more often than not his mother and there were horses and his friends, but every so often he had remembered the strange little girl who had stood up to Arthur without so much as a flinch.
'You're Ruby right?' He asked as he walked towards her.
'Yep.' She said with a disinterested tone, only moving her head slightly to look up at him, then quickly looking back at her doll.
'I'm Thomas' He stepped closer to her, trying to keep her attention. 'Everyone calls me Tommy.'
'I know.' She didn't bother to look up this time.
'Oh.' He mumbled, kicking at a stone.
Ruby continued brushing the doll's hair, letting Tommy stand beside her awkwardly.
He had approached her and now he had no idea what to say.
'I wanted to say thanks.' He muttered eventually, clearing his throat before he began.
'For what?' Ruby stopped brushing, narrowing her eyes as she looked at him once more.
'For not telling on me to my mum. You know, when we upset John.' His voice was quiet, his eyes fixed on his fidgeting foot at he spoke.
'You'd of got in trouble.' She said matter of fact, as she stared up at him.
'Yeah.'
'Your brother would of got in more trouble.' She stared blankly at him.
'Probably.' Tommy nodded.
'You're welcome.' Ruby smirked to him, then there was a pause before she added, 'Just be nicer to him.'
'Arthur?' Tommy's face screwed in confusion.
'No.' Ruby laughed. 'The baby.'
'I will.' Tommy nodded.
Ruby went back to brushing her doll, Tommy stood watching for another moment before an idea came to him.
'I'm going down to the woods.' He said slowly, the rock rolling under his foot more interesting than before, but his eyes did flick back and forth between her face and the stone.
'The woods?' Ruby's gaze landed fully on him now.
'Yeah.' His eyes met hers.
'Why?'
'I've got a den.' Tommy spoke more enthusiastically.
'You've got a den?' Ruby's eyes grew wide.
'Yeah, course.' Tommy nodded proudly.
'With Arthur?'
'No, it's mine.' Tommy's face screwed.
'Does he go there?' Ruby said after some consideration.
'No.' He said quickly.
'You sure?' Her eyes narrowed at him.
'Yes.' He dragged out the word.
'Do the other boys?'
'No.' He shook his head.
Ruby thought for a moment, her eyes squinting at him.
'So why you telling me for?' There was apprehension in her tone.
'I dunno.' He shrugged, kicking the stone down the street.
'Is it because you need someone to come with you?' A smirk tickled Ruby's mouth.
'No.' He snapped.
'You're scared.' She teased.
'I'm not scared.' Tommy scowled. 'Look you want to come or not?'
Ruby stared at him, he stared back.
She thought for a moment, maybe this was a trap, maybe it was some sort of pay back for how she embaressed his brother the other day.
She looked at Tommy, something in his face told her he was telling the truth.
'Fine. I'll come.' She agreed, standing from the curb and brushing the dust from her dress. 'God knows what trouble you'd get into all on your own.'
'You talk to much.' Tommy tried to hide his smile.
'You asked me to come.' Ruby raised her brows at the boy.
'I didn't.' He twisted his head at her.
'You did.' She argued.
He didn't bother responding, just started off in the direction of his den, Ruby hurried after him.
They left their houses behind them, the street gradually became quieter.
The rows of terraces thinned, giving way to empty empty patches of ground, old walls and stretches of rough grass where nothing had quite been built yet.
The sound of the factories still followed them, but the smoke seemed thinner here.
The air smelled different, of damp earth, leaves and grass, things rarely found in Small Heath.
Ruby walked beside Tommy, occasionally stepping over puddles.
'How far is it?' She sighed.
'Not far.' Tommy said with confidence.
'You said that five minutes ago.' Ruby whined.
'It isn't far.'
'It feels far.'
'You can go home.' Tommy turned his head sharply to look at her.
'No.' Ruby said too quickly.
'Why?'
'Because I want to see your den.' Ruby said truthfully.
'Thought you might.' Tommy beamed, secretly excited to show it off.
They continued walking, the conversation becoming easy after that.
They discovered they were the same age and they would be starting the same class at school in September.
'You'll be in my class.' Tommy said, particularly pleased. 'You'll have to sit near me.'
'Why?' Ruby's lips pulled into a half smile.
'So I can help you.' Tommy replied confidently.
'I don't need your help.' Ruby scoffed.
'You might.' Tommy blinked slowly, a small smile on his face.
'I can read.' Ruby said matter of fact.
'So can I.' Tommy countered.
'I can write.'
'So can I.'
'I can count.'
'So can I.' Tommy stopped, looking at her as if he was daring her to argue further.
'Then what help could I possibly need from you?' Ruby also stilled, her head tilting in challenge.
Tommy thought for a moment. 'None I suppose.'
'Exactly.' Ruby smiled triumphantly.
They continued walking, eventually Tommy started conversation once more.
'How many brothers and sisters you got?'
'None.' Ruby shrugged.
'None?' Tommy stopped in his tracks, his brows risen in shock.
'Nope.' She shook her head gently.
'That must be brilliant.' Tommy said enthusiastically, as he continued walking.
'Why?' Ruby asked confused, she had always hated being an only child.
'Because you get everything.'
'Everything?' Ruby frowned.
'Your mum and dad only have to buy things for you.'
'I suppose.' Her nose scrunched.
'And you don't have to share a room.' Tommy eyes shone at the thought.
'No.'
'And you don't have brothers to annoy you.'
'No.' Ruby looked down, feeling sad at that fact.
Her house always felt lonely, she thought having someone to annoy you was better than feeling alone all the time.
'It must be great.' Tommy grinned.
Ruby didn't answer, Tommy made it sound wonderful and she didn't want to sound like a brat when she told him it wasn't.
'What?' Tommy asked as he noticed.
'Nothing.' Ruby's head was bowed.
'You're sad.' He noticed.
'I'm not.' She lied.
'You are.' He titled his head to get a better look at her face.
'I'm not.' Ruby snapped, looking up with eyes brimming with tears.
'Why you sad?' Tommy asked in a tone that almost sounded sweet.
'My mum doesn't like it when I get dirty.' Was the best excuse she could think of.
'That's not a reason to be sad.' Tommy laughed.
'My dad doesn't like me being under his feet.' That was the tame version she chose to tell.
'Oh.' The smile disappeared from Tommy's face, as the realisation dawned on him.
'He doesn't like much.' Ruby tired to say in humour, but Tommy saw through it.
'Mines not around much.' Tommy tried to offer her something in return.
'Where does he go?' Ruby asked softly.
'Everywhere.' Tommy sighed. 'He likes travelling.'
'My dad used to as well. We used to travel all over whilst dad looked for work.'
'You travelled.' Tommy turned to her, his eyes growing wide as he realised there was more to this girl than he had ever imagined.
'Loads.' She nodded.
'Where?'
'Everywhere, I don't remember all the places.'
'Really?' Tommy stared at her.
'Really.' She nodded.
There was a pause, Ruby waited with baited breath for Tommy's reaction.
She physically tensed, her eyes screwing shut as she waited for the insults, 'tramp', 'vagrant', 'nobody'.
Children everywhere else had always found something ugly to make of it, she waited for Tommy to do the same.
'That's brilliant!' He exclaimed, his face as excited as the words.
Ruby blinked, no had ever said something positive about it all before.
Anyone she had told before always looked at her differently afterwards, they whispered or laughed and even accused her of stealing things.
But here was Tommy looking at her with fascination.
'What was it like?'
'Different.' She said shyly, not really knowing how she felt about it all.
'My mum used to travel to.' Tommy's excitement calmed slightly as he thought of his mother.
'She did?' Ruby stilled, she had never known anyone else like her before.
'Before she met my dad.' Tommy's voice softened. 'She said she always liked it, never liked being stuck in one place.'
'Why did she stop?' Ruby's head tilted as she looked to him intrugued.
'For dad I suppose.' He shrugged, he had never thought to ask before.
'Do you think she misses it?' Ruby asked thoughtfully.
'Sometimes.' Tommy sighed, thinking of his mother.
How unhappy she often was, how some days she stayed in bed and cried thinking no body was listening, or not caring if they were.
He never really understood it, but maybe Ruby was onto something, maybe she missed the travelling, perhaps some people weren't meant to stay in one place for too long.
He decided that when he was older, he wouldn't stick around Small Heath.
When he was old enough, he would travel, he would see every city, he'd explore foreign countries perhaps.
He would go somewhere where the sky wasn't grey, maybe he would take Ruby with him too, she seemed to know more about it than him.
The path narrowed as they went, until there wasn't really a path at all anymore, only flattened grass and patches of mud between the trees.
Tommy ducked beneath a low branch, Ruby followed, pushing another out of her way.
The trees weren't thick enough to hide the world completely, every now and then Ruby could still see the shapes of houses in the distance.
Beyond them, a thin trail of factory smoke rose into the sky, a train rumbled nearby and the sound faded again.
The trees had grown in a rough strip of unused ground, tangled together with brambles and weeds.
Some were old and white, their roots pushing through the earth, others were thin and crooked, growing wherever they could.
Ruby slowed, she hadn't expected this.
It wasn't really a forest, but to her it felt like one.
'I haven't been here before.' Her voice shook ever so slightly, as she looked around at the towering trees.
'You don't have to be scared.' Tommy glanced back at her.
'I'm not scared.' She bit back.
'I didn't say you were.' Tommy flared his eyes at her.
'You did.' She scowled.
'I didn't, I just said you don't need to be.' Tommy replied with a smirk.
Ruby glared at him, suddenly a bird burst from a nearby branch making her jump.
Tommy didn't bother to hide his told you so grin, making Ruby frown.
'Don't.' She warned.
Tommy bit back his laugh, deciding better than to wind her up further.
'Come on.' He said, picking a stick up from the ground and leading her forward by her hand.
He stepped between the trees, closely followed by Ruby, still gripping him tightly.
The ground dipped slightly, becoming softer beneath their shoes.
Ahead the trees opened around an old ditch, half hidden beneath weeds and brambles.
Tommy climbed over a fallen section of fencing with ease.
'Tommy.' Ruby stared at him.
'Come on.' He gestured.
'Where are you going?' She hiked up her dress and tried to step across delicately.
'To the den.' He shouted without looking back, disappearing through the trees.
Ruby hurried after him, the further they went the quieter it became.
Not silent, she could still hear the distant factories, a cart passed beyond the trees, a dog barked, but the sounds seemed far away now.
Ruby stayed close to Tommy, he noticed but didn't say anything.
'You're alright.' He swung the stick in front of them like a sword.
'I know.' She nodded.
'I'll look after you.' He reassured her, still swinging the stick.
'Thanks.' She twisted her mouth and scrunched her nose.
They walked a little further until Tommy stopped beside a cluster of trees growing around the edge of the ditch.
'There.' He pushed through the branches.
Ruby stared.
Tucked between the trees was a little shelter made from fallen branches, old pieces of timber and scraps of wood Tommy had collected over months.
A piece of torn sacking had been stretched across one side to keep the rain out.
It was crooked, the roof didn't quite meet in the middle, one wall leaned noticeably further than the other but to Ruby it was somehow perfect.
'Wow.' Ruby gasped.
'Good isn't it.' Tommy smiled.
'And you made this, all by yourself?' Her eyes grew wide.
'Yeah.' Tommy nodded enthusiastically.
'Arthur didn't help?' Ruby narrowed her eyes, not sure she believed him.
'No.' Tommy snapped.
'Why not?'
'Because he'd ruin it.' Tommy scoffed, making Ruby laugh.
'Come on.' Tommy called as he ducked inside.
Ruby followed.
The den was surprisingly cosy, there wasn't much room at all, they had to sit close together, knees almost touching, with low branches of the roof hanging just above their heads.
Tommy reached behind a pile of leaves and pulled out an old biscuit tin.
'What's that?' Ruby's head tilted to see it better.
'My treasure.' He beamed as he opened it.
Inside were a handful of marbles, several battered comic books and two small toy soldiers.
'Those are yours?' Ruby asked leaning in closer.
'Yeah.' He nodded.
'This one's lucky.' He explained holding a marble between two fingers, before dropping it into Ruby's hand for her to inspect.
'Why's it lucky?' She asked, looking at it closely.
'Just is.' He shrugged, making Ruby giggle.
'This one's really rare.' Tommy held up another one.
'How do you know?'
'I just do.' Tommy said as if it was as simple as that.
'You're making things up.' She laughed.
'Maybe.' Tommy grinned, not minding Ruby calling him out.
He liked having someone near by who questioned things as much as he did, who noticed things in the same way he did.
'What about these?' Ruby asked, gesturing to the toy soldiers laying on top of the comics.
'I stole those from Arthur.' Tommy said with a smirk.
'You stole them?' Ruby gasped.
'Maybe borrowed.' He looked away guiltily.
'Without asking?'
'Maybe.' Tommy chewed on his lip, a sure sign he was guilty.
'That's stealing.' Ruby sounded outraged.
'He won't miss them.' Tommy shrugged.
'You're a thief.' Ruby looked at him suspiciously.
'So are you.' Tommy smiled.
'I am not.' Ruby protested, horrified by the accusation.
'You stole my marble.' He gestured to her balled hand.
Ruby looked down, noticing she was still holding it.
'Oh, sorry.' Ruby pulled her lips into a straight line with embarrassment, but Tommy just laughed.
Ruby dropped in back into the tin and joined in with Tommy's cackles.
For the next hour, the den and the space around it became anything they wanted it to be.
First it was a pirate ship and then a castle.
The toy soldiers became armies, the branches were swords and the little patch of trees became an enormous kingdom to them both.
Tommy was a pirate captain and Ruby a queen, then Ruby became a pirate queen, which Tommy complained was cheating.
They argued and then they laughed.
They invented stories and somewhere between dragons and pirates, something changed.
Neither of them noticed it, but they had become friends.
Not because they were introduced by their parents, or because they lived close by and no one had told them to play together.
Some how they had just chosen each other.
By the time they returned to Small Heath, the sun was beginning to lower.
Ruby's dress was covered in dirt and there were leaves caught in her hair.
Tommy had a scrape across one knee and mud on both shoes.
Arthur spotted them immediately as they entered the street.
'You've been with her.' He grimaced as he marched over.
'Yeah.' Tommy shrugged, not caring how his brother reacted.
'Gross.' Arthur screwed his face as he looked to Ruby.
'What's gross?' Ruby frowned.
'She's a girl.' Arthur pointed to her accusingly.
'She's not a proper girl.' Tommy screwed his face as he argued.
'What does that mean.' Ruby recoiled her head in outrage.
'You're not wet like most girls.' Tommy tried to correct what he had said.
'All girls are wet.' Arthur looked disgusted, truly believing so at that age.
'Ruby's my friend.' Tommy shook his head.
Arthur looked between them, then a grin spread slowly across his face. 'Ooooh.'
'What?' Tommy barked with a frown.
'You love her.' Arthur drew out his teasing words, to make the effect harsher.
'Shut up.' Tommy's face immediately twisted in disgust.
'You love Ruby.' Arthur sung.
'I don't.' Tommy snapped.
'Yeah you do.' Arthur beamed.
'I don't!' Tommy actually shouted.
'What do you mean love?' Ruby folded her arms across her chest, looking to them both confused.
Both boys froze, Arthur suddenly looked uncomfortable.
'Nothing.' Tommy said with an horrified expression.
'Then why did he say it?' Ruby's brows folded.
'He's stupid.' Tommy scowled at Arthur, who burst out laughing. 'Don't listen to him.' He said as he looked back at Ruby.
'I don't.' Ruby shrugged and Tommy looked relieved.
'Bye Tommy.' She smiled.
'Bye.' Tommy nodded to her, watching her run across the street to her own house.
'You're going to marry her.' Arthur nudged him, a teasing grin on his face once more.
'You're an idiot.' Tommy looked at his brother.
Arthur laughed as Tommy made his way into their house.
But that night , when he lay in bed, Tommy thought about the woods, about the den and Ruby and then he smiled, drifting off to sleep with those thoughts swirling round his head.
Ruby's mother was waiting in the hallway when she returned.
She took one look at her daughter and closed her her eyes, rubbing her hand across her face. 'Ruby.'
'Yes.' Ruby stopped, looking at her with her innocent smile.
'Look at your dress.' Her mother moaned.
Ruby looked down, it was filthy.
'I know.' She shrugged.
'You've ruined it.' Her mother scolded.
'I'm sorry.' Ruby's head bowed, she knew how much her mother liked things to be proper.
'Where have you been?' Her mother sighed.
'Out.'
'With who?' Beatrice March gave her daughter a look that warned her to stop playing games.
Ruby hesitated before she answered. 'Tommy.'
'Who?' Her mother frowned.
'The Shelby boy.' Ruby said as quietly as she could.
'The Shelby boy?' Beatrice's expression changed slightly.
'Yes.' Ruby's eyes fixed to her feet.
'Ruby, you cannot spend all day running around the streets with boys.' Her mother spoke sternly.
'We went to the woods.' Ruby tried to argue.
'That is no excuse Ruby.' Her mother snapped.
Ruby bit at her lip, unable to meet her mothers eyes.
Beatrice sighed again, her face relaxing slightly, because despite the mud and the ruined dress and her unruly hair, Ruby was actually smiling.
Not the polite smile she gave to adults, or the innocent one she had perfected when she was trying her luck, or the careful one she had learned to use when her father was angry, for once it was the real smile of a little girl who had had a good day.
It wasn't something her mother had seen often, so she looked at the dress and to her daughter and sent her upstairs.
'Am I in trouble?' Ruby asked carefully.
'No.' He mother said, softer than she usually spoke.
'Really?' Ruby asked confused.
'Really.' Her mother nodded.
'Thank you.' Ruby beamed excitedly, running up the stairs two at a time.
Her mother watched her disappear, as she stood in thought.
She knew almost nothing about the Shelby boy, or the family, before long she would.
She would know that after meeting Tommy, Ruby would spend every possible hour outside and to start with she wouldn't mind, because for the first time in a long time, her daughter was actually happy.
The days that followed became a pattern, every morning Tommy would look across the street and every morning Ruby would eventually appear.
Sometimes she carried her doll, sometimes she carried two pieces of bread wrapped in paper.
Usually she would have no idea where they were going, but it didn't matter, they would disappear together.
The woods became theirs, the den became theirs to share.
They climbed trees until the sun started to set, they built fires that Tommy insisted were perfectly safe and Ruby insisted were going to burn their woods down.
They collected feathers and they found a dead bird once and spent the afternoon giving it a funeral.
They argued about who's imaginary horse was faster, they shared sweets and Tommy taught Ruby how to play marbles.
Ruby would beat him and he would accuse her of cheating, they would argue more, then they would laugh until their stomachs hurt.
Every afternoon they returned home filthy.
At first Ruby's mother lectured her, she soon stopped bothering.
Eventually she simply left her old dress hanging on the back of the chair each morning.
Ruby knew what it meant, the dress was meant for her days with Tommy, for the woods and all the adventures she hadn't had yet.
Tommy's mother had noticed the friendship too.
One afternoon she watched from the window as Tommy and Ruby ran down the street together.
Ruby was laughing, Tommy had a stick in his hand.
They were arguing over something neither of them would remember later.
She smiled faintly as she watched.
'He's always with that girl now.' Arthur grumbled as he stood beside his mother.
'Ruby?' Martha glanced towards him.
'Yeah.' Arthur shook his head. 'She's strange.'
'So is he.' Martha looked to Arthur with a smirk.
'True.' Arthur said after consideration.
They watched as Tommy stopped suddenly and turned back because Ruby had fallen behind.
He waited for her, he always did and when she caught up, they continued together.
Martha watched them disappear around the corner.
Neither child knew what their friendship would become.
They didn't know that years later, Tommy would look back fondly on the first time he saw Ruby marching across that steet.
He wouldn't remember the cricket game or what Arthur had said, he wouldn't remember what they had for dinner that night but he would remember her.
The blonde girl with a ribbon in her hair, who wasn't frightened of Arthur Shelby and had protected John when she could of walked away.
She was the girl he had taken to the woods and shared his den with.
And Ruby would remember him too, not as the man he would one day become, not as the feared Peaky Blinder leader, not as the man who's name would eventually be known far beyond Small Heath.
She would remember him exactly as he was then, the skinny little boy with dark hair, muddy shoes and a biscuit tin full of marbles and stolen toy soldiers.
A boy who had looked at her strange childhood and called it wonderful, who had taken her hand when the woods became frightening, the boy who looked at her like she belonged beside him.
They were only children, they had no idea what the future had waiting for them and for now, they had the woods, the den, the cobbled streets and each other.
And for two children who had grown up either surrounded by noise or drowned in quiet, two children who carried far more troubles than children even should, that was enough.
There were things about Ruby March's family that the children of Small Heath didn't know.
From the outside the March household looked different from most of the houses around it.
Ruby's mother had been born into money.
Not the sort of money that belonged in the newspapers or grand country houses, but enough that she had grown up surrounded by things most women in Small Heath would never have had.
Proper dresses, servants, piano lessons, dinners where people spoke carefully and expected everyone to know which fork to use.
Her family believed in appearances, they believed in marrying well, they believed in keeping one's emotions private and they believed that a woman ought to be grateful for whatever life was given to her.
Ruby's mother had never been very good at the last part.
She had met Ruby's father when she was young and going to places she never should of been.
She had only married him because she had to, when her family found out they had disowned her on the spot.
Beatrice had been hopeful when she was first married, perhaps he would change, maybe she would finally have something that belonged entirely to her.
The marriage had not led to the life she had imagined.
Ruby's father drank.
He drank when things went well and he drank more when things went badly.
He would drink if they had money, until they no longer did.
There were days when he was charming enough to make Beatrice remember why she had fallen for him in the first place and there were other days when he was nothing but an empty bottle and angry voice in the other room;
Ruby had learned very early not to ask too many questions when he was drinking.
She had learned to recognise the sound of the bottle being placed too hard upon the table, the sound of his footsteps, the particular way her mother closed a door when she was trying not to cry.
She had also learned something else, her mother hated being dependant upon him.
Ruby didn't understand it all, she was only a child.
But she understood enough to know that her mother had once been a girl who had wanted things and now she spent most of her time trying to make a difficult man happy.
Ruby hated that, she hated seeing her mother wait for her father's moods change, hated seeing her shrink when he entered the room.
Even though Ruby couldn't have explained the thought properly, something settled inside of her.
She would never live like that, she would never need a man so badly that she had to make herself smaller for him, she would never sit waiting for someone to decide if she was allowed to be happy.
She didn't know what she wanted instead, just that it had to be different, something of her own.
The Shelby household was different.
There was never enough money, never enough space or quiet.
There were too many children and too many people coming through the door.
But there was something about the Shelby family that Ruby would eventually come to understand, they belonged to one another.
Even when they fought, they were all still a family.
Tommy's father was a grifter, a man who could make a promise sound like gold and disappear before anyone realise it was worthless.
He could charm people, he was good at lying and each time he could convince someone that the next scheme would be the one that finally changed everything.
Tommy used to believe him when he was younger, but now he rarely did.
Her had learned that his fathers promises were not things a person could build a life around.
His mother was different, she could be warm and funny.
She could sit with the children and tell them stories that made them forget the state of the house.
But there were other days, days when she seemed to disappear without ever leaving.
She could stay in bed long after everyone else was awake.
Curtains drawn, the breakfast one of the boys had tried to put together sitting untouched outside the bedroom door.
Her eyes would be red, sometimes from crying, sometimes just from staring at the ceiling for so long.
Tommy didn't know what was wrong with her, nobody had explained it to him, there was not a word for it to make him understand.
So in his mind his mother was simply tired or sad and now he thought maybe she missed the life she once had.
He knew she had travelled before and she had spoken often of how she had loved the freedom of it.
Somewhere in the simple logic of a child, that was why she sometimes looked as though she wanted to disappear.
Maybe it was because of his mother that Tommy had begun to notice everything.
He knew when she had slept bad, he could feel the tension in the air when Arthur was about to start an argument, he noticed the way his father touched his face when he was lying.
He could feel the atmosphere in the air change even from his bedroom.
He quickly learned not to ask to many questions and when to stay out of the way, most importantly he learned young how to look after himself and it wasn't long after that that he learned how to look after everyone else as well.
At seven he was still a boy, a little boy who wanted to belong, who wanted to find somewhere quiet and leave all the noise of his family behind.
That was when he built the den.
It wasn't only a game, not completely.
It was a place that nobody shouted, nobody drank and there was no one there for him to worry about.
It was his somewhere that was just his and eventually he shared it with Ruby.
Neither of them understood any of that when they first met, they only understood what they could see.
Tommy didn't think Ruby was like the other girls he knew.
She didn't seem interested in being delicate, she didn't seem frightened of the dirt and she didn't care that the Shelby boys were rough, most importantly she never looked at him as if he was poor.
That mattered most to Tommy, she didn't care that there were holes in his shoes or that his clothes were hand me downs from Arthur that were already given to him by a cousin.
She never cared that his family were different from hers, she simply accepted him just as he was and Tommy had never met anyone like that before.
Ruby meanwhile found her drawn to him for other reasons, Tommy didn't treat her like she was fragile.
Most people did, with her golden ringlets and big blue eyes and tiny stature.
People who saw her clean dresses and heard about her mother's up bringing and always seemed to assume she was just a little girl who needed protecting.
Tommy never did, her argued with her without fear of making her cry, he teased her and made her laugh and never slowed down thinking she wouldn't keep up.
He wasn't scared to tell her she was wrong and when she got frightened in the woods he never laughed, he simply walked beside her and made sure she was ok.
There was something comforting about that, something Ruby was too young to name.
Tommy didn't want anything from her, he didn't care who her mother was or that her grandparents had money, he didn't care if she wore expensive dresses, he just liked her because she was Ruby and Ruby liked him because he always made her feel as though she could be exactly who she wanted to be.
When Tommy asked her again about being an only child, Ruby didn't tell him the truth, maybe because she never really understood it herself.
She was to young to make sense of everything she heard.
Her mother had called her a difficult baby and she knew her mother was poorly giving birth to her, she was aware she was never really the same afterwards.
What Ruby didn't understand was that her birth took something from her mother, Beatrice was told there would be no more pregnancy's after her first.
Her mother had been left with a body that no longer felt her own and a life that had become very different from the one she had imagined for herself.
Ruby was too young to understand that her mother sometimes looked at her and saw a daughter that she loved and other times saw the reason for everything that went wrong in her life.
She didn't understand why her mother was affectionate one moment and so cold the next, or why she would spend hours ensuring Ruby was dressed well and her hair just right.
Ruby never knew the hurt she caused each time she asked why it was only her, when she complained she was lonely and wanted a sibling.
So when Tommy said, 'It must be brilliant.' With such excitement, Ruby only shrugged because she didn't know how to explain that having everything wasn't the same as being happy.
Ruby didn't know how to explain that sometimes she wished she had brothers shouting through walls, or aunts and uncles who popped in unannounced.
She didn't know how to explain that she wished her mother had someone else to love or scold, someone to take all the pressure from her own shoulders.
Ruby was to young to understand how the Shelby house, with all of its noise and arguments and people talking over one another seemed so much warmer than her own.
Tommy didn't know how to explain his own family either.
He couldn't tell her that sometimes he wished his father wouldn't bother returning at all, because with his return he bought uncertainty.
He could never quite find the courage to tell Ruby how much he worried on the days his mother stayed in bed and how each time he would wonder if the loving and joyful version of his mum would return again.
He only knew that his family was complicated and that Ruby's was too, just in a different way.
Perhaps that was why they found one another so easily.
Ruby had grown up surrounded by people who told her what her life ought to look like, Tommy had grown up surrounded by people who had very little control over what their own lives looked like.
Ruby wanted freedom, Tommy wanted security.
Ruby wanted to become somebody who never had to rely on another person, Tommy wanted to become somebody nobody could ever abandon.
Neither of them knew the things they were looking for, they were only children.
They thought they were looking for somewhere to play, a den, somewhere secret, somebody they could laugh with, but without knowing it they had found something much more important.
They had found someone who understood the parts of them they didn't yet have words for.
With Tommy, Ruby could be loud, she could get dirty, she could be stubborn and disagree.
She didn't have to be the well behaved daughter her mother wanted her to be.
With Ruby, Tommy could be quiet, he didn't have to anticipate how her mood would change or pretend to understand the things he didn't, he could just be himself.
That was always what drew them together, not their differences or even friendship, it was more like recognition.
Two children from completely different home who somehow made each other feel less trapped in the lives they had been born into.