Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

17.

It wasn't even 9 o clock and Ailbhe had already shouted someone out of it. Finn had it coming though, that's what she told herself as she pulled on her boots, leaving her heels from Paris on a crate in the yard. Liam needed some help with the horses and Ailbhe hadn't wanted to spend the day at home on her own so she had decided to join them. She had been in London for quite a while but she hadn't gotten too grand for them. They fed the horses, cleaned out their stables and gave them fresh hay and water. They took a seat around the fire Charlie had lit and Curly had made tea, putting a bottle of whiskey up on the crate they used as a table.

"Oh Charlie look!" Curly gasped excitedly, standing up and pointing at the gates of the yard.

Ailbhe turned in her seat, it was Ada, Karl and Polly, accompanied by Niall and Finn. Michael had dropped them off before he went to get John and his family.

Ailbhe kept her head down, she didn't want to look at Finn any more than she had to. It both hurt and angered her when she looked at his handsome face and he seemed so relaxed, practically serene. If she had looked up, she would have seen how he watched her, kept an eye on her and wanted her to look at him. He felt like shit for the way he had treated her earlier. She didn't deserve that but he couldn't help it. He didn't want her to know how hurt he had been when she left. He knew he had been a bad friend, that he had hurt her badly but he had tried to apologise, tried to make things right but she wouldn't let him.

Polly looked like herself but Ailbhe knew she wasn't.

"We haven't come that far after all, have we?" Ada laughed, accepting the mug Curly held out to her.

"You're not too grand for us yet surely?" Liam joked, putting a drop of whiskey into Ada's tea and winking at her as she sat beside him and elbowed him into the ribs jokingly when he splashed an extra shot in.

They played cards and told stories, it felt normal for a while. They tried not to talk about Tommy or the divide in the family but it was in all of their minds.

"It's not right... Tommy lost his way and can't find a way back" Charlie mumbled, not taking the cigarette from his mouth.

Charlie had known Tommy since the day he was born, he knew him well enough to know that this was Tommy being stubborn and headstrong, much like the others were too.

Ailbhe sighed, folding her hand of cards. She knew she had a losing bunch and although bluffing was something she did exceptionally well, she didn't feel like it anymore.

"I think we've all lost our way a little bit Uncle Charlie" she sighed, leaning in to warm her hands on the fire and leaning against Niall a little for warmth. She felt eyes on her as she looked down at the ground, especially Finn's.

She was right. They had. And no one knew how to get them all back in one piece and on the same track. Ailbhe knew that Linda and Esme wanted their husbands as far away from this family as possible. She knew that Liam and Niall barely trusted Tommy anymore, they felt more like workers than valued family members and that was why they left. Ailbhe missed her best friend and she missed her family because she knew that apart they were weak, just like everybody else. Family was their strength and without that they had nothing.

*

Isiah was the first to reach the phone when Esme called. She was screaming and oscillating between Shelta and English, sobbing angrily and shouting about Italians and guns. Isiah managed to get what happened out of Esme, John was dead. He realised that he was the one who would have to tell the family in Charlie's Yard. He also would have to warn them that the Italians had already moved on their family and claimed a life. Michael was injured but he was still alive. The ambulance had taken him to hospital.