An abrupt and heavy knock, or rather several knocks, at the door of Polly Greys Watery Lane home woke her up from her relatively peaceful slumber. Had she been sleeping in her bed, she probably wouldn't have heard it- but luckily for whoever was at the door, she had accidentally drifted off in front of the warmth of the fire.

Without hesitation, she grabbed one of the larger guns she had hidden around the house, in Small Heath she couldn't be too careful. Had it been months ago, before the Italians decided to invade and disrupt the life of the Shelby clan, she would've answered the door regardless of the time of day. But the moment the hopeful sun had set behind the clouds of misery, was when the monsters came out to play.

Thomas would know, he was one of them.

Standing at the door, hand on the handle, crouched away from the window as much as possible, she braced herself.

"Who is it?" Her voice called out, firmly.

To show weakness through a wooden door was a fools game. A deadly fools game, or was it a sign of trickery? To act weak to the opponent to gain the upper hand—

"Josette Gold, ma'am! It's urgent!" the young girls voice called out, true and genuine paralysing fear laced through each word.

Polly Gray was no fool, the Gold family couldn't be trusted- but there was something about the girls voice that pulled at her heartstrings enough to crack the door open. Her face was as white as snow, though when she had first encountered the fifteen year old, she had a healthy glow. This was real, it was no trick or scheme to get her out into the open.

Christ, Polly thought to herself, her slender arm reaching out through the crack- latching on to the others arm. With a gentle tug, Josette had been pulled inside the matriarchs home.

"It's— it's about Friday. Somethings going to happen and our Milly knows..." To Polly, the girl wasn't making much sense.

How could someone know about a day that was two sleeps away? How could she know anything about the going's on of a day so up in the air that Thomas nor Polly herself even truly knew what was going to happen.

"Trust me- please!"

Something within her snapped, nothing that the girl could say could get her to have trust in that family, but everyone deserved the chance to voice their opinion. They lived in a democratic state, much to some dismay from the average man.

"Your family has given me little reason to have trust in what you have to say, Ms Gold." Pollys words were cold, but the sharp shrill of the phone cut her off from saying anything else.

What in the heavens, Polly thought to herself. Whoever was ringing her at such an unholy hour must have a good reason to be calling.

"Polly- it's Tom. I think it's best we hear these Golds through. Reconvene tomorrow at noon." Thomas called out, this time Polly had no time to talk and before she had a second to reply he had hung up.

Her scoff was like exhaling toxic fumes, causing Josette to shift on her feet in an uneasy movement.

Just as the Shelby's and Greys heard rumours and stories of the Golds, so had the Golds themselves and the woman that stood proudly in front of Josette was no saint in a world of sinners. She could've been one of the worst people she had ever heard of, but her undying loyalty suffocated everything bad- making them wilt like flowers past their lifespan.

The loss of her children wasn't her fault, everyone and their mothers knew that- but the things she had done in retaliation were far worse than anything that the youngest two Golds could have ever done. Even Milly hadn't done a fraction of anything that a devilish child could have done- but she was a rare exception to the cause.

Josette nor Nicolette had never killed a living thing and that couldn't be said about Elizabeth Grey.

Information was their forte, not grievous bodily harm. All the women, bar Esmeralda, left that up to their father- and also, unbeknownst to them, Bonnie too.

"Tell your siblings and father that we have a meeting arranged for Noon tomorrow. If you are even a moment late, we will not allow you to voice your concern no matter how convincing or compelling your argument may be." Polly replied, reluctantly placing the phone back into its holster.

Josette nodded like a bobble head that had been knocked to the ground, in her mind constantly repeating Thursday at noon—

"Wait- before you push me out and send me on my way... where exactly will this meeting take place?" Her voice had changed from that of paralysing fear to rival the confidence of Polly herself.

It was strange to see and hear a visual and audible change in someone, but silently Polly knew that Josette would go on to do great things. Illegal, but great things.

Having heard the whispers of the people she once saw, Polly almost faltered in stance, almost.

"The Garrison. I'll have someone to meet with you and take you." She replied, gently pushing the young Gold out of the door, only to be met with yet another.

This one seemed to have come from Tommys direction, clearly whatever they had to say was important. No gypsy, not even the Golds, would go to such a great length to spread the word of the gospel.

Nicolette stared at Polly, right through to her soul before nodding her head slightly, ignoring what her sister had to say. It was as though she had just sensed something within the elder but refrained from saying it aloud.

"We'll be seeing you, Mrs Grey." The two called out eerily, voices blended into one, magnifying their wanted effect to send chills through the Grey woman's body.

With that, the two were on their horses, slowly cantering away out of view.

Still stood in her doorway, hands clasped onto the thinning fabric of her late husbands house coat, she wondered for a moment what caused such fear in the lawless to create such reaction.

Just as she began to turn, closing the door as she moved, a foot was placed in its path, stopping her from moving it any further.

Had she not have smelt the death, decay and expensive cigars radiating off of Thomas' body, she would've had an adverse reaction. Instead of reacting in such a way that would draw unwanted attention, her hand left the door as she took small steps away from it. If he wanted to, Thomas could enter without verbal permission.

"If them rumours are true, Pol. Them ones Johnny Dogs and his lot spew like religious gospel- we may have a problem on our hands." His voice had gone from a forced whisper to a tone that she hadn't heard in years.

The rumours hadn't been something that Polly listened to, nor cared enough to remember. What had stuck out, like a sore thumb, that one of the four had a dangerous skill of accidentally predicting death. It had started off as a rumour with no concrete evidence, until the Gold matriarch dropped dead— and then their uncle Leon, followed by their most trusted ally. All three fell within months of each other, all in the exact same way.

If that was what the two girls had come rushing to them for, then they were true... but they very well could have been playing up to the rumours to create a dangerous form of chaos  which destroyed everything in its path.

"And if not? They've wasted an afternoon of our time when we could be utilising it to our advan—-" Polly was cut off, quickly by Thomas.

"Whoever it is, is our advantage Pol! We can use them to stop anyone else ending up like John! He didn't deserve none of what he got, and maybe if they'd been around before- he'd still fucking be here!"

Silently, Polly agreed with what Thomas was saying, but they had never needed direct outsiders help before. Alfie Solomons hadn't ever counted, he owed them for ridding Camden of Sabini and Billy Kimber.

Having four of the most untrustworthy people in the country on their side wasn't a good thing— but it wasn't a bad thing either. The Golds had hung in limbo since arriving to Birmingham. They had done everything asked of them, and more without much complaint. Bonnie had been gaining Thomas money, Milly was an excellent addition to the legitimate side of business and the other three were too skilled at gathering information they could use against anyone and everyone they came into contact with.

"To trust them, Thomas- is signing up for certain death."
"We all die at some point Pol, maybe they can gain us a few more borrowed years whilst they're here."

Dynamite caused less of an adverse reaction, but for once- maybe the Golds should be given the benefit of the doubt.