Only Time Will Tell - A Peaky Blinders Story

Chapter 5 - Nightmares

Cass scrambles through the rubble, trying to ignore the high screeching in her ears. She quickly finds the captain and pulls him up to sit upright. "Are you in any pain?" she asks hurriedly, earning a nod in reply. "Come on, I'm gonna help you get out of here." Cass then says as she slings his arm over her shoulder and pulls him up with a grunt. "What's your name?" the captain asks her quietly as they walk in the direction of the nearest checkpoint. "Casandra. But most people call me Cass. How about you?" She replies kindly. "Alfred, love. You can call me Alfred." He replies. "Well, Alfred, we're nearly there. Do you think you can walk on your own?" Cass says, earning another nod before Alfred pushing his weight off her.

Cass lets out a strained gasp as she tries to take another step. The adrenaline of the attack has now clearly worn off, meaning she can feel the searing pain shooting down her left leg. Alfred looks back with a concerned expression when he sees her sitting on a broken wall trying to fix herself up. He makes his way over and helps her to tie his belt around her leg to stop the bleeding. As his hands touch the warm, soft skin of her thigh, the pair lock eyes.

"Aufgeben oder sterben!" a voice filled with anger and fear breaks through their trance. They both break their eye contact to see a young German soldier, no older than 18, pointing a rifle at them and yelling. Cass's German wasn't very good, but she's guessing from the tone in his voice he's yelling something like 'Surrender or die'.

"Alfred, you have to go. Run to the checkpoint. Now." She says forcibly, knowing her injury will slow them down. "No way. I'm not a coward." Alfred says as he stalks over to the boy. Cass watches as they fight, Alfred easily getting the upper hand. He tries to reach for his pistol, but the German soldier knocks it out of his hand ad towards Cass's feet. Without thinking she picks up the gun and points it at the German boy's head.

BANG

"Aunty Cassie!" Katie yells whilst shaking her aunt awake. Cass immediately shoots up to a sitting position on her bed, trying her best to cam her breathing. She can't get the image of the young German soldier out of her head. "Aunty Cassie, are you alright? You've been crying and shaking for ages." Katie then says, fear evident in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Kit-Kat, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just having a bad dream." Cass says with a small smile. "Was it about France?" Lily says from the door, making Cass turn her head in shock before nodding slightly and looking down to the floor. Her nieces immediately wrap their arms around her. It's the only thing they can think of to try and make her feel better. After all, they're just kids. Their aunt has been home for almost 5 months now and she clearly isn't getting any better. Cass gratefully accepts the hug, only noticing that the sun is out when she pulls away.

She looks at the clock on her mantel piece to read that it is 8 o'clock in the morning. She hasn't slept that long since the night before she found out her brothers were leaving – the night before she signed up to join them. She must have needed it, even if she was still plagued with harsh memories. "Come on, Uncle Arthur wants to talk to you." Lily says as she pulls Cass off the bed. "Alright, tell him I'll be down in a minute I just have to get dressed." Cass says with a sigh, pushing the girls out of her room.

She quickly pulls a clean dress out of her wardrobe and changes into it before pinning her hair out of her face, letting the waves fall onto her shoulders. She makes her way downstairs to see her oldest and youngest brothers sitting in the kitchen. "Ah, morning sleeping beauty." Arthur grumbles. "Morning, Arth. You alright?" Cass says with a small smile as she pinches a biscuit off Finn. "Yeah. I don't suppose you wanna go to the pictures this afternoon? I really don't wanna look like a loner." Arthur then says, a glint of hope in his eye. "I'd love to, big brother." Cass says with a happily surprised smile. It's not very often Arthur is so kind to her, not anymore anyway.

~

"Gotta love being a Shelby, ey brother?" Cass says with a grin as they walk past the queue in the cinema. "Abso-bloody-lutely Cassie." Arthur replies, matching her grin. "Where d'ya wanna sit?" he then says, prompting his sister to run down the aisles and sit exactly in the middle of the room. "This film better be good." Cass says as Arthur joins her. "It will be-" Arthur starts to say before he is being dragged out of his seat by two officers, quickly followed by Cass being treated the same way.

"Get the fuck off us! Do you know who we are?!" Cass yells as she elbows one of the officers in the rib with a satisfying crack. "You're both coming with us." One of Arthur's officers says sternly, guiding them all through the crowd.

~

Crack. Cass's nose is instantly broken as another fist flies towards her face. "Ah! You fucking bastard!" she yells as she fights against her restraints on the chair. "Now, now, that's not a very ladylike way of speaking." A deep Irish voice speaks lowly from behind her. "We just brought you here to ask some questions, maybe send a message." The voice then says as the person makes themselves known. Cass looks up at him, sending the dirtiest glare she can muster. Her eyes rake over the older man in front of her. He has a dark moustache, rounder belly than most, and an evil glint in his dark eyes. She can't help but internally cringe as he licks his lips with a smirk.

"I'm inspector Campbell. I've been sent here by Mr Churchill to find something, and I think you know where it is." He says, crouching to her level. "What makes you think I know anything?" Cass says lowly, refusing to break eye contact. "Because you're a Shelby." Campbell replies, almost spitting venom when he speaks her name. "You see, Miss Shelby, I'm looking for some stolen guns. I don't suppose you've heard anything about them through your contacts?" he then says. Looking her dead in the eye as if he's reading her mind. Cass doesn't say anything, she just glares at him which makes him sigh in annoyance. "Your brother didn't know anything either. Oh well. Boys! Make sure our message is prominent, although it is a shame to ruin such a pretty face." Campbell says in a condescending tone as he gestures for his officers to continue beating her.