Only Time Will Tell - A Peaky Blinders Story

Chapter 4 - Family meeting

"Right, I've called this family meeting because I've got some very important news." Arthur starts once everyone is sat down. He takes a second longer to stare at Cass's face but decides to ignore it. "Scudboat and lovelock got back from Belfast last night. They were buying a stallion to cover their mares." Arthur starts, crossing his arms over his chest as he clearly loves having this much power over a room. "They were in a pub on the Shankhill Road yesterday, where there was copper. Some sort of inspector. He was handing these out." He continues, passing the pile of papers down the table.

"If you're over 5 feet and can fight, come to Birmingham." John reads after snatching the sheet out of Ada's hands. "They're recruiting protestant Irish men to come over here as specials." Arthur adds. "To do what?" Ada says, a clear look of confusion on her face. "To clean up the city, Ada." Cass and Tommy both say at the same time with a sigh. "He's a chief inspector. Over the last four years, he's been clearing the IRA out of Belfast." Tommy continues, knowing Cass won't be bothered to explain anything.

"How do you know so bloody much?" Arthur asks through gritted teeth, clearly annoyed that he isn't the only one with this information. "I asked the coppers on our payroll, thought Tommy would like to know." Cass answers, rolling her eyes when Arthur sends her an angry look, slumping in her chair as she does. "Why didn't you tell me?" Arthur then asks, slightly offended. "We're telling you." Tommy answers before their sister can think of anything smart to retort.

"So why are they sending him to Birmingham?" Polly says as she inspects the sheet of paper with a magnifying glass. "It's all those bloody strikes at the BSA and the Austin. Because of that, the papers are talking about sedition and revolution. I reckon it's communists he's after." Tommy replies, not noticing the glare Cass sends Ada as their younger sister tries to act normal through this topic. She's hiding something, and she knows that either Cass or Tommy are going to figure it out. Cass has noticed that she's been sneaking out every night, even though Ada thinks she's getting away with it.

"That means this copper's going to leave us alone, right?" Polly says, drawing the sisters back into the conversation. "There are Irish men in Green Lanes who left Belfast to get away from him. They say catholic men who crossed him used to disappear in the night. They were never heard from again." Tommy says. "But we ain't IRA. We fought for the bloody king. So did Cass. And anyway, we're peaky blinders. We're not scared of coppers." John says as he gets more and more frustrated with the whole situation. "He's right." Arthur whispers, agreeing with him. "If they come for us, we'll cut them a fucking smile each." John continues, looking around the room in search of approval.

"So, Arthur..." Tommy then says, looking his oldest brother in the eye, "is that it?" he continues in a bored tone. "What do you think, Aunt Pol?" Arthur says, ignoring the stare he is receiving. "This family does everything open. You've nothing more to say to this meeting Thomas?" Polly says. "What about you, Cass?" she then says, looking towards her oldest niece who is keeping her stoic expression with bored eyes. "Nothing that's your business." Tommy says plainly. "This whole bloody enterprise was my business when you 4 went to war. What's changed?" Polly snaps back. "We came back." Tommy and Cass say in unison, prompting Tommy to turn and walk out of the door.

Cass can't help but sigh as she feels everyone's eyes on her. She carefully stands, making sure to scrape the chair across the floor to annoy everyone, before walking out the opposite way and making her way up to her room.

She lays on her back on her bed and stares up at the ceiling. Her eyes flutter closed as she takes a deep breath and pictures her soldier standing in front of her. In the two years that they knew each other in France, she noticed that his features didn't change very much. Sure, his cheekbones became more prominent due to the lack of food the men had in the trenches, but everything else seemed to stay the same. She smiles slightly as the image in her head changes. She sees her soldier laughing as she dances around the make-shift hospital to try and make the injured soldiers feel better. She feels her heart quicken as she imagines the feel of his lips on hers.

She slowly ends up falling to sleep dreaming of the happy times with her soldier, wishing that she could know if he was alright.