Criminal Royalty

This Means War

Tommy was furious. His little sister, his amazing sweet, and incredibly stubborn sister was in the family way. How could such a thing have happened? And with his one-time friend as well, he was bewildered at the entire situation. Of course, he knew how babies were made but the thought that his sister and friend had made one made him shudder.

Before he could do anything he may end up regretting, he went to Charlie Strong's yard; being amongst the horses always put him in a better mood, and he always made his best plans with a clearer head.

Unfortunately, life had different ideas. He had barely entered the yard when a frustrated Charlie came up to him. Charlie had a bullet. A bullet with his name on it. This was a clear sign of war with the Lee clan. But unlike Ada's news, this didn't shock him as it would others; he had known the consequences of blinding a Lee boy and yet he'd done it anyway. Luckily, as always, Tommy had a plan.

A war with the Lees would put him in favour with Billy Kimber, a man who by his own proclamation "ran the races". It was an age-old tactic, the enemy of my enemy is my friend and if they were to live by that logic, the war with the Lee clan made Kimber and the Shelby's friends.

When he relayed this to Polly after he met with Kimber himself, she was less than impressed.

"The Lee family Tommy? You've only just left a war and now you want to start another!" She berated him.

Gypsies were good allies to have but a terrible foe, she just knew this spelled trouble. Tommy could do what he liked when it came to business, but when it came to family feuds, he had crossed a line.

"Not only that but you fixed a race without Kimber's permission - you're making enemies when you should be making friends!"

Tommy took it all on the chin. He was a thinking man, and he'd thought this through far more than his family would give him credit for. It would all work out, they just had to trust him.

Seeing that her nephew wasn't going to be taking her advice on this matter, she shifted topics onto Ada and her situation. It seemed all their conversations focused on one tense topic or another and for a moment, Polly missed the relative ease of the past.

"Ada wrote Freddie a letter, reckon you can deliver it to him".

"Our Ada would be better off without the likes of him".

Polly tried to reason with him, but Tommy would do what Tommy thought best and she could only hope that it all worked out. She could not believe this nihilistic soul was the very hopeless romantic she remembered as a boy. Hopefully, that boy was still in there somewhere and he would allow Freddie to decide for himself what to do.

Tommy took the letter from her, despite knowing he would deliver it to the cut rather than his sister's beau. He told himself it was for the best but there was a small voice of doubt that sounded oddly like his mother telling him to help his sister out. It was this voice that led him to confront his brother in arms later on. Maybe Polly was right. Maybe this would all work out for them. Contrary to popular belief, he was not heartless, and he really did just want what was best for his sister. His little Ada.

Hearing of her subsequent engagement the following day told him he had made the right choice. The news that the happy couple wouldn't be leaving Birmingham, however, threw a spanner in his plans. He had promised Campbell that he would drive Freddie out of town and here he was, not only staying but now endangering his sister too.

As always, there was no accounting for human psychology in plans and even Tommy was vulnerable to the choices of those around him. Now his agreement with Campbell was broken and he was back on the defensive in their little war.

Speaking of wars, at least his feud with the Lee family hadn't gone to waste as Kimber (or Kimber's accountant) had agreed to his plans for the Cheltenham races.