Only Time Will Tell - A Peaky Blinders Story

Chapter 12 - Lone bullet

BANG

The shot rings through Cassie's ears as she falls to the floor in shock. She just killed someone. Not just someone, a boy. Granted, he was trying to kill her and Alfred, but he was still just a boy.

She stares at the body, his wide eyes forcing their way into her soul. Alfred moves his limp body off him and stands to correct himself and his uniform. It's not until he closes the boy's eyes that he notices Cass whimpering on the floor. He immediately makes his way over.

"You did what you had to do. This is war. We save ourselves in whatever way the war deems necessary." He says to her as he gently lifts her off the ground. "He was just a boy." She whispers as tears sting her eyes. "I know." Alfred says softly as he guides her away, the checkpoint now in sight.

Cass was almost immediately transferred to another hospital closer to the battlefields, being forced to cast aside what she had done and tend to the wounded like she signed up for. Every bloodied soldier that came in for her help, she could see the boy's face. All she could think about is his family. How devastated would they be? How devastated would she be if that was one of her brothers?

From then on, she couldn't see the young boy. She could see her brothers.

"Tommy!" Cass whispers to herself as she jolts out of bed. She quite literally sprints across the hall to her brother's room, not even bothering to knock as she enters. She takes a sharp breath of relief to see him standing at the window, and not in a pile of blood on the floor.

"What's wrong, Cass?" he asks in confusion as he sees the look on her face. "Sorry. Bad dream again. I had to make sure you were alright." Cass replies, feeling embarrassed about barging into his room without warning. "It's alright. Come on, lay down with me." Tommy says in an understanding tone, pulling his sister towards his bed.

Knowing Cassie is safe helps to send Tommy into a some-what peaceful slumber. Not Cass, though. She stays awake to make sure he's still actually alive and breathing, hoping the soon to come morning sun will prove she's not in a dream.

~

"Get me a Spanish saddle, Curly." Tommy says as he enters Charlie's yard, his new horse and Cass in tow. Cass smiles to herself as Curly runs off excitedly, mumbling to himself about how the horse is a beauty.

"Fine beast you got yourself there, Thomas." Charlie's voice cuts through the air, catching the siblings' attention. "I hope he's worth falling out with the Lee family over." He adds, looking over to them with a raised eyebrow as he places a single bullet on the crate in front of him. Tommy makes his way over to their uncle, handing Cass the reigns to the horse in the process.

Cass chooses to not eavesdrop into their conversation and decides to focus on the horse instead. Especially since Tommy and the boys kicked off at the Lees because they made a comment about her. She takes a closer look at the horse, and gets what Tommy meant when he said he was footsore. He seems to be limping slightly just like she was a week or so ago.

"Come on, Cass." Tommy says, pulling her out of her thoughts. She watches as he climbs onto the horse and offers her a hand to join him. She simply shakes her head. "I'm alright to walk, Tom. I could do with the exercise." Cass says, trying to joke. Tommy knows she won't get on horses anymore because of what she saw in France. To be honest, he's surprised he still can.

~

As they make their way down Garrison Lane, some explosions go off in the factories next to them making the horse go wild. Tommy jumps down and joins his sister at the mussel as she tries to calm him down. "In France, we used to have a saying, yeah? We used to say that it's just the marching band warming up their instruments. That's all it is. Just trombones and tubas. It's just noise. Shh, shh, settle down. That's it. It's just noise. You'll get used to it." Cass says, close to a whisper, as she manages to reign the horse into a calmer state. Tommy watches, almost in awe. The soldiers used to say that in the trenches to try and lighten the mood, not that it ever worked. It took him back to that time, wondering how Cass could've known that.

Little did the pair know that they were being watched by the new barmaid of the Garrison. Tommy had told Cass about her, and about the singing which Harry allowed. Cass felt a twinge of anger towards the man she's known for so long but pushed it aside when she heard that the customers were happy for once.

Tommy takes the reigns out of his sister's hands and leads her and the horse further down the street. They come an abrupt stop when the barmaid disposes of a bucket at their feet. "I'm so sorry, Mr Shelby." She is quick to say with a small smile. Cass immediately recognises her accent. She's from Belfast, like Campbell. "I'm Grace, by the way." The barmaid then says, offering her hand out to either of them. "I know who you are." Tommy says before Cass can even return the favour.

She watches as the two stare at each other for a moment. All she can do is hope that Tommy isn't already falling for her. "What's his name?" Grace then says, choosing to break the tension between them. "He doesn't have one." Cass says with a small, slightly sad, smile. "Poor boy deserves a name." Grace says with a small chuckle, probably from nerves.

"Do you have something to say to me?" Tommy says, once again breaking the small awkward silence that's fallen over them. "I'll leave you guys to it." Cass says quaintly before turning and walking home. She doesn't have the time or the patience to be watching her brother fumble over some random barmaid. She needs to find out what her true intentions are first.