𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃
chapter 54

Florence stood in the busy room of Tommys house, laying eyes on Gina and Micheal. He was telling her about the deal. She looked away from him, looking back to talk. Suddenly her eyes widened. The price, that's what had gotten her.

Florence chuckled at Gina's ways, grabbing a glass of Champagne and swigging it. 

"So did you know?" Lizzie asked Polly, standing opposite Florence. "What? Oh that tonight's special guest may have fucked you when you were a nightclub hostess? Yeah. Lizzie if we were to strike form our guest list, every man from Birmingham who-"

"Fuck" Lizzie whispered. "Yes or no?" she asked. "Fucking yea"

"Shit"

"Mr Oswald, my wife, Lizzie. Lizzie, Sir Oswald Mosley" Tommy introduced. They looked at each other. "Since we all appear to know and since knowledge is permission, i'm sure Mr Shelby in the spirit of our honest relationship you won't mind me saying, it was a bottle of champagne and an evening well spent"

Florence scoffed. "Actually it was an evening wasted" Lizzie corrected,. "For the champagne and brandy you bought me, as i recall it was the booze that put you to sleep a little prematurely" she said, throwing a coin into his drink.

Florence bit her lip, grinning.

-

Everyone sat watching as a dance was performed in front of them, A swan dance. Polly discretely disappeared outside of the tent.

Tommy leaned forward, frowning at Arthur who was asleep, he then leaned backwards, looking at Micheal and Florence. They looked at him. He nodded toward Arthur and Micheal tapped him. Arthur grunted and looked at Tommy, sitting straight.

Florence's eyes diverted to the car approaching outside.

-

Arthur stood in front of the headlines, squinting when Linda appeared. "I heard there was a family occasion?" she said. "Look i'm sorry, Linda, that animal inside me, it comes out and i can't stop it"

Florence watched from the fountain.

"Fuck, Linda, without you, come inside please" he begged. "His name was Frederick, all we did was talk, Arthur. He just listened. And now he has no face. he's as ugly on the outside as you are on the inside"

She pulled a gun and Florence's eyes widened. "May you peaky blinders all rot.."

Florence pulled her own gun. "In fucking hell" Linda shouted. A gun sounded out it wasn't Arthur who fell.

She looked as Tommy appeared. "Arthur" he asked.

They all looked over their shoulder at Polly who held a gun. Linda lay on the floor. "Mum" she whispered.

-

They cleared the table, laying a screaming Linda on it. "Outside, till it's done, brother" Tommy urged, pushing Arthur away. Linda groaned, screaming as Tommy searched her wound.

"Linda, i would've taken your bullet" Arthur kneeled beside her. "I deserve the bullet"

"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" Linda screamed. Arthur stepped away. Florence held her down. "Linda, look at me" Tommy said. "You've got a kid if you die, he'll come to us to raise"

"I used a derringer" Polly said.

Mosley appeared. "Get him out, family only"

Florence stepped toward him, her gun in her hand. "Mr Shelby, in you behalf"

"Get out" She shouted, pointing her gun at him. Lizzie went to get something from the kitchen whilst Tommy pulled the bullet out, Linda screamed.

"Almost there" he said. "Hold her" he poured whiskey on her open wound. "Is she gonna be alright tom?" Arthur asked, growing hysterical. "If you love her, go to the library and get some opium, go on soldier"

"Right" he nodded.

"Fucking opium, Tommy?" Florence asked. Tommy shrugged.

"You can use mine, brought a bit to celebrate the wedding proposal" Polly said. Florence's eyes widened. "He proposed?" Tom asked. "One knee" she nodded. "Congratulations Pol"

Tommy convinced Linda to drink what was in the glass and she soon fell unconscious.

"You should of let her do it Pol, you should of let her" Arthur cried. Florence covered her mouth, upset by his state. "Brother, you've got things to do, you've got a kid. We need you. All right?"

"Yeah"

"Aberama wants you as best man" Polly said. "You hear that?" Tommy said, hugging Arthur. "I save his life an he hugs him" Polly joked.

"Oh" Arthur breathed, "i'll do it, i'll take it"

"All right, let him be" Tommy nodded. Florence hesitantly followed them out of the room.

-

"Ladies and Gentlemen" Mosley stepped onto the stage. "We'd like to extend our gratitude to the musicians and the dance company for your wonderful performance" everyone clapped. "This has been a wonderful evening" he said. "And not only for the music and the dancing. It has also been about us. The people gathered here"

Micheal looked at Florence, confused.

"English people in the very heart of England. There are no people I would rather be among, no place I would rather be and no time I would rather be alive, because ever since the terrible events of October, when the money markets betrayed us all... I have known that change is coming. The human species has never faced such immense possibilities, such choices. In the lives of great nations...there are moments of destiny...which have swept aside small men of convention and discovered men of the moment."

Murmurs came from people in the crowd.

"And our host is such a man. For him... For him, the little calculations of little men mean nothing. He is a man well suited to the mighty mood that England is now in. The only reason I say this now, at this moment, on this stage, is because I have some news."

People laughed.

"Good news, I think. I'm sure our host will forgive me if I use this platform,this gathering of friends and like minds, to give you, his trusted allies, an early announcement of a long-overdue event."

Tommy stood beside Lizzie, listening.

"I want to tell you good folk
first... that with the dawn of a new decade..I will be setting a new course. Setting up a new political movement here in the very heart of England. And Mr Shelby will be with me, shoulder to shoulder."

Everyone clapped again and the multiple members of the Shelby family shared glances with each other.

"It will offer a new conception of politics in which the great character of the British, our true character, will be reborn. Many of you lost fortunes in the recent stock market crash."

"The men of money," he paused. "the capitalists in New York, the Jews... the money-power, they... they run an international system in which the infinite mobility of money, its capacity to create financial chaos and panic, can bring down any government that dares for one moment to oppose it. For generations, the efforts of hard-working men like you have equipped our competitors against us. The cotton mills of India. The cotton mills of Asia. Created with British money but used for the destruction of Lancashire and Yorkshire!"

"Disgraceful" A man shouted.

"The usurers of New York,
the sweated labour of the Orient combining to destroy the iron and steel factories of Warwickshire and Staffordshire. These are policies that could not be pursued by British statesmen unless they were mad or the servants of Jewish finance! They are the ones who took your money, but it is I and those who know this truth who will light a flame the atheists cannot extinguish! The ranks of our heroes of the Great War have been betrayed again and again by politicians!"

"But hear this - those of you who
fought the Jew war for nothing, you brave men, you will join hands
with the angry youth of Birmingham and Manchester and London
and Liverpool and declare that England lives tonight and marches on!"

"What is going on" Micheal whispered. "I don't know" Florence stared at Mosley.

"I say all this to you now..."

"...because I believe it is in places like this, with people like you,that we will have to pass on our message directly. Our message can be summarised with these words - Britain first. And because this is our message, I doubt it'll be reported fairly in the press. I'm afraid the newspapers of this country are owned by the same vested interests who took your money."

" They sell to the people false news... to raise the interests of the faction and the section above the interests of the nation. So hear my words and pass them on to those with ears to hear. And be reminded that when the new decade begins, there will be the birth of a new political party which will speak for you."

"Someone get him off" She sighed, pinching her nose. "He's hurting my head"

-

𝐀/𝐧

I'll say it now: the reason you may recognise some of these chapters is because when I wrote my first three (maybe two books) mainly this one and Cracking, I grew bored near the end and copied my own chapters from my other stories.

It was my first time writing fanfic and i was so inexperienced so forgive me.

I'm not gonna lie about it.

I've stopped doing this. That's why i had began editing this book in August 2024 (a year later) and tried my best to alter chapters i believed may have been used in Cracking or Overlook.

It's currently mid September 2024 and I simply cannot be bothered searching to see if any of these next chapters have been reused.

Another habit I had was writing parts of the show that had nothing to do with my oc's so yeah.

That's why I would suggest reading any of my other books (The Devils Daughter, Mirrors, One of the Girls, American Wedding) as I don't copy parts of chapters from laziness.

They don't include storyline that don't contribute to the oc's character or story.