-
July 1924

EVERYONE SAT IN TOMMY'S OFFICE, waiting for him to speak.
"Before I begin, I want to let you know I made a mistake. I made a mistake, and I want to apologise to all of you. Arthur, you warned me against getting involved in Russian business, and you were right."

Arthur hummed.

"I doubted your wife, for that, I am sorry. Linda, I have added 3,000 here, in the hope you will forgive me." Linda stood, taking the money. "Apology accepted"

"Esme, I doubted you as well.

"Now John has got innocent lives on his conscience. Ordinary working men..." she hissed. "Yeah, alright Esme, got it" John stopped her. "No she's alright" Tommy said. "You and Arthur are gonna have to share that burden. But i hope the house that you can buy with this," he tossed money in front of John.

"Can become a place of contemplation. Perhaps redemption"

John took the money and returned to his seat.

"Charlie, for lost tools and dangerous goods and Curly's wise words. Johnny, for board and lodgings." he tossed money at them.

"Lizzie." He whispered, handing her money. She scowled and threw it at him.

"Michael, for the killings. Five for cutting and five for shooting."

Cassidy frowned, keeping her hand in Michael's. Micheal had decided it was only right for Cassidy to be there because their secret affairs were no longer a secret.

"No, Tommy." Polly stood. "What? Tell me, eh? This is who I am!" He shouted.

"And this is all I can give you for what you have given to me. For your hearts and your souls. Yesterday, I nearly lost my son. You should fucking understand that. For what, eh? For what? For this? For this?" he ranted.

"And I know that you all want me to say that I will change, that this fսck¡ng business will change." he mocked.

"But I've learnt something these last few days. Those bastards. Those bastards are worse than us. Politicians, fucking judges, lords and ladies. They are worse than us. And they will never admit us to their palaces no matter how legitimate we become. Because of who we are, because of who we fսck¡ng are because of where we are fucking from."

"Isn't that right Ada?" he asked. "Our Ada knows. She got smart about revolution. And she knows you have to get what you want your own way"

"Lizzie, I want it known, that money was for you because some nights it was you who stopped my heart from breaking, no-one else. And the rest of you, you took the King's shilling. You took the King'a fucking shilling. When you take the King's shilling, the King expects you to kill."

"Isn't that right Arthur?" he looked at Arthur. He stayed quiet. "Yeah, that's how it works, right John?"

Micheal stood, taking the money. "Thats right" he whispered.

"That's right Pol," he pointed at Micheal, "That's fucking right"

Polly shook her head. "Tommy you've had a bad time we understand. So at an alternative time, when we have all recovers i would like to put before the family, an alternative view of the future of the Shelby Company Limited" she took the money from Micheal.

"A more hopeful view" she continued.

"Which i for one would quite like to hear" Ada spoke. Esme stood. "As would i"

Lizzie agreed.

"Come on Arthur, train for the dock leaves in one hour" Linda urged. "Then we will get the boat to new york and it'll all be in the past"

"I will be off then Tom" he stood, along with everyone else. Arthur said his goodbyes.

"You can go but you won't get far, Arthur" Tommy said. "Uh, all right Tom" Arthur nodded, thinking he was joking.

"He told me that the Chief Constable of Birmingham has issued a warrant for your arrest. Murder, sedition, conspiracy to cause explosions. John, they're coming for you as well. Murder, conspiracy to cause explosions. Michael.."

"What the fuck Tom" Arthur said.

"Thomas what are you saying" Cassidy asked.

"...for the murder of Hughes." he continued. "Polly.."

"Wait a minute, what the fսck are you.." Arthur asked.

"-the murder of Chief Inspector Chester Campbell." Tom looked down.

"Why didn't you fսck¡ng tell us, Tom"

"The people we betrayed last night, they want to bring us down. They control the police, they control the judges, the control the juries, they control the jails. But they do not control..."

Knocks came from the door whilst everyone shouted. Her heart pounded as she watched the family shout.

"Look what they did to us. Why didn't you tell us before?" John shouted. "You are my brother." Arthur argued.

"Listen to me. So I've made a deal."

"They will hang us!" Arthur shouted.

Micheal looked at Cassidy with pure panic and horror in his eyes. "Micheal," she mutters, keeping a tight hold on his arm.

"We will fucking hang" John shouted. "It's all taken care of" Tommy assured.

Everyone began shouting.

"Lizzie, collect up the money and bring it to the cellar. You will all get your money in due course. When the police gets in, do not resist. You go with them, and you do not say anything"

"Arthur, I have made a deal with people even more powerful than our enemies"

"Arthur" Linda shouted from outside.

Linda ran in, going for Tommy. "You did this deliberately! You made this happen to keep us" She shouted at him.

Arthur grabbed her.

She watched as everyone left the office, unsure of what was happening. Isiah stood behind Micheal and Cassidy, too confused.

Coppers stormed in, grabbing Micheal and the rest of them. "Get off him," Cassidy shouted as they pushed him up the wall. She ran forward, grabbing the back of one of their shirts and tugging on it. Another copper pulled her back aggressively and she screamed as he lifted her from the floor.

Micheal turned his head. "Get off her she's fucking pregnant," He shouted.

"You can't take him!" She screamed.

Isiah pushed the man backwards and placed a reassuring arm around Cassidy, keeping her from causing anymore damage. "Micheal" she shouted, watching as they pulled him out the house. "No, get off him, he's not done anything wrong!"

"Isiah you look after her," he shouted just before he disappeared outside.

Quiet sobs left her mouth as she clung onto Isiah, things moving in slow motion as the rest of the family were dragged outside.

Tommy stood, watching from his office door and Cassidy scowled at him. "You bastard," she screamed.

"Cass, stop," Isiah said, holding her tighter.

-

TW
MISCARRIAGES

Cassidy lay alone on her bed, staring at the candle in the corner of the room. Her face was stained with tears as she remained silent. She frowned, sitting up when she felt a strange sensation in between her legs.

Her heart pounded as she stood up, rushing to the lavatory and grabbing tissues, reaching under her dress. A horrified gasp left her mouth when she looked down at the blood soaked tissue. She shook her head, grabbing more and continuing what she'd done before.

"No," she whispered, her knees growing weak as she fell to the floor.

She aggressively grabbed more tissues, placing them in between her legs as she realised what had happened. "Rose," she shouted.

Cassidy stared down at her blood stained dress and covered her mouth. "Rose," she repeated, holding onto the sink.

"Yes, your grace." She appeared but her face soon dropped. "Oh my, Cassidy." She kneeled down, grabbing more tissues to clean up the mess.

"I need a doctor," Cassidy said shakily. "I need a doctor, get me a doctor."

Rose nodded, rushing away and calling for the family doctor.

Cassidy's mother, Juliette, appeared and gasped at the sight. "Cassidy what has happened?" she questioned, looking at her pale daughter.

"I'm sorry," Cassidy croaked, grabbing her mothers hand. "I'm so sorry, i should have told you."

"Oh my.."

"I was pregnant, mother, and i was going to get an abortion but..i'd thought about keeping it and-" She looked down, the horrible feeling filling her once more.

"My daughter," Juliette whispered, pushing Cassidy's hair out of her face. "Who was the father?"

Cassidy shook her head as tears streamed down her face.

"Who was it, Cassidy?"

"Micheal Gray."

Juliette bit her bottom lip and cradled the younger girl, not wanting to argue or upset her any further.

-

As soon as the doctor stepped away from the bed after making sure everything was okay with Cassidy after the..situation, she quickly stood, holding onto the desk for support. "My lady where are you going?" The doctor asked as she grabbed her coat.

"I cannot stay in this house tonight," she muttered, pulling it over her shoulders.

"It is not safe for you to do anything at this moment. You have just lost your child."

"Thank you for reminding me," she scoffed, rushing down the stairs and out to the car.

Micheal was gone. Polly was gone. The only person she could go to was Isiah.

-

"What on earth?" Isiah groaned, opening the door and freezing when Cassidy stood before him. "What has happened?" he asked, noticing her tear stained face.

She stepped forward, nearly collapsing into his arms. He held her, closing the door over and stepping to the room beside them. "Cass what's happened?"

"I miscarried, Siah." Her voice broke.

His face dropped as he carefully helped her into the couch. "And i have nobody. Micheal is gone, he will be hung."

"Cassidy.."

"And i know i wasn't planning on keeping the child anyway but..oh my god. Michael's gone and i thought if i kept the baby it would give me a sense of reassurance" Cassidy held her head, leaning back.

"You're all i have now, Isiah. I can't rely on my parents for any sense of comfort or reassurance." She told him. He stood beside the couch, listening.

Nothing happened that night because they no longer felt anything for each other. All that Isiah did was console her. She'd just went through a somewhat traumatic experience and he knew all she needed was somebody to be there. And that's what he did. He was the person that was there.

-

Cassidy closed the door over, allowing the maid to take her jacket. She turned the corner and stopped when she heard her fathers voice. "Cassidy, come in here will you," he said.

She hummed and opened the door to the dining room, seeing an unfamiliar face sat at the table. The dark haired man stood. "This is Anthony James, the Cavalry officer we spoke about."

"Oh," she whispered. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she said.

"The pleasures mine" He smiled softly, taking her hand and gently kissing her knuckles.

"You see, Anthony's tour was supposed to finish in March but he has to go away for another year or so. So the marriage will still be spoken about, just pushed back." Joseph spoke.

"Oh..that's unfortunate," Cassidy said, trying to sound as if she cared.

"I look forward to getting to know you Miss Gold," he nodded his head at her.

"When do you go back to working?" Cassidy asked. "November," Anthony said. "Very well then, i assume you have other things to speak about so i'll be excused," Cassidy smiled, bowing her head to him and leaving the room.

She'd been so caught up in her and Michael's affairs that she'd completely forgotten about the possible marriage that was to happen between her and the officer.