Only Time Will Tell - A Peaky Blinders Story

Chapter 2 - Choices can cause problems

"Come on, kids! You're going to be late!" Cass shouts through John's house. She arrived there at 7:30 since she knew her brother would need help getting his four children ready for the day. "Lily! Katie! Stop fighting. Ben, go and get Frank and give your father his hat back." She yells up the stairs before turning to the 6-year-old who was strolling around pretending to be John. She had to hold her chuckle in as he huffed in annoyance.

"Aunty Cass! She stole my hair bow!" Katie says as she stomps down the stairs, crossing her arms with a frown. "You have plenty of hair bows, just go and choose another one." Cass says, rushing her back up the stairs. "Cass have you seen my hat?" John shouts from the kitchen. "Ben has it!" she yells back.

It's not long before Cass is pushing all of her nieces and nephew out of the door. "Don't run off, alright? We can't be late to school again. The past 3 weeks have been bad enough." She says to the group before sighing in annoyance as the boys run off ahead of her. "Aunty Cassie?" Lily says to her in an overly sweet tone. "Yes, darlin'?" she replies, taking her nieces hand in her own. "Daddy was being loud last night. It sounded like there was a lady with him, but she wasn't there when we woke up." Lily then says, making her aunt's heart stop for a second. "Fuck sake John." Cass whispers under her breath, trying her best to avoid Lily's expectant look. "Don't worry about that, sweetheart. I'll talk to you dad about it. It won't happen again, ok?" Cass says to her, sighing in relief when Lily nods and runs to catch up with her sister.

"Bye!" all the kids yell towards Cassie before racing into the school, prompting her to wave back at them. As she turns from the school, she sets herself the mission to find her kid brother. As she storms through the streets, everyone darts out of her way. She literally looks like she's on the war path, and no one wants to be in the crossfire of the Shelby girl. Most people fear her brothers, but some say that Casandra Shelby can be much worse. It's for the best that everyone steps aside.

Cass storms into the betting den, ignoring the day's hustle and bustle that's going on around her. Her eyes land on John within a second of her being there, and when he notices her stalking towards him, he audibly gulps.

"You alright, Cass?" he says nervously as he stands from his desk. "Did you have a woman over last night?" she says angrily. All John can do is stare at her in shock. He wasn't expecting anyone to find out, he thought he had got away with it. "Well?" Cass pushes, placing her hands on her hips as she glares at him. "Maybe. Why'd you ask?" John replies as casually as he can, earning a smack to the side of the head. "How many times do I have to tell you? No women when the kids are in the house. Lily fucking heard you. I told her it wouldn't happen again, and that's going to be the case, alright?" Cass says, ignoring her brother's response before walking away and into Arthur's office.

"Do you have permission from Billy Kimber to be fixing races?" Arthur says as she walks in, noticing Tommy have a slight smug look on his face. This is when Cass knows that Tommy did the powder trick. "What's got into you?" Arthur then says as he sits back down at his desk. Tommy stays silent, and so does Cass. She wants to see how this is going to play out. "You think we can take on the Chinese and Billy Kimber? Billy's got a bloody army!" The oldest in the room then says, his point suddenly ending up being yelled.

That's when Tommy stands a little straighter against the wall. "I think, Arthur. That's what I do." He says. Cass watches as he pushes off the wall and crouches down to reach Arthur's height. "I think so that you don't have to." He then says before walking away and finally noticing his sister standing in the doorway. "Cass, come with me." he says bluntly, pulling her out by the arm. "There's news from Belfast. I'm calling a family council tonight at 8 o'clock. I want all of us there, you hear me? There's trouble coming!" Arthur shouts at them as they continue to walk away. Cass can't help but roll her eyes.