As the stars danced above, twinkling as they swirled through the beats of the waltz, Daisy Shelby couldn't help but wonder how stars were the way they were.

She understood many things, but the sky and space were not apart of her knowledge.

Be it from fear, or denial that things could be out there, she refused to learn. Too many things were a variable in space, not like how they were in the betting shop. She knew her odds of the day, but space? Spaces odds changed within a nanosecond, and it was far too hard to keep track of everything.

She remembered, once upon a time, going to church, being told that there was nothing in space but exactly what God had placed there - but she wasn't much of a believer of the almighty anymore.

He'd sent innocents to their deaths with no remorse. She'd watched her best friend die of consumption, and she was the God fearing woman everyone thought Daisy would turn into. She'd watch her sister in law die moments after giving birth to her niece.

None of those deaths were fair, but she'd always been told 'Daisy, nothing in life is fair and you must learn this the hard way".

Then again, her father wasn't exactly a man people listened to when advice was dished out without warning. After all, he always said fast women and slow horses would be the downfall of their family.

How a woman could be fast, was beyond her, because she knew he wasn't referring to the speed of which the woman could travel.

"Earth to Daisy." Ada called out, her hand centimetres away from brushing Daisy against the nose.

Staring back at her sister with a blank look on her face, Daisy wondered how long she hadn't been responding for. It wasn't often that she allowed her mind to wander off on a tangent, she was always focused.

To an almost outrageous degree.

"Sorry, I hadn't realised most of you had finished."

She hadn't even realised that she had a plate of, now lukewarm, food in front of her. Back before her brothers came home, she almost became the mother of the house. She knew that she'd always have Aunt Pol to mother her, but for those few years, she'd become little Finns only idea of what a mother was.

She gave him her share of the rations she knew he'd eat, and he'd in return call her mum whenever he was ill and delirious. Most people would've thought it wasn't a fair deal, but it was the best deal she could've ever gotten.

"What were you all talking about, anyway?"
"The Lees."

Daisy rolled her eyes, she hated talk about the Lees, no- actually, she just hated the Lees overall. They hated her back, so it was more than justified.

"What's your idea, then, Thomas? Because I know you've got one."

Blue hit honey brown, brows synchronised as they each raised their left in an 'I dare you' manner.

"I'm going to see a man about a horse, nothing more - nothing less." Tommy started, watching his sister's face contort as she thought.

It didn't take long before the statement he was waiting for, to come to light, they didn't need a horse but he wanted one. He wanted another chance at fixing the races,

"But we've already got a horse, Monaghan Boy is all we need."

What Daisy didn't know was earlier that very morning, Thomas had gone out of his way to venture into China Town, and have one of their supposed witches perform a powder trick on Monaghan Boy. In fact, Thomas had made it his duty to make sure the news didn't get back to her until after the horses first race.

The horse was going to win until he had served his purpose, and only then would it lose.

"Well, I wanted another one. A dawn and dusk thing. You'll understand when we get her." Tommy finalised his sentence with a court nod, and a vague gesture for Daisy to continue with her food.

With a defiant push of her bowl to the centre of the table, giving John ample time to swipe the bowl and finish the soup within, Daisy stood up and grabbed hold of Ada's shoulder to drag her along in the process. She wasn't going to give Tommy the satisfaction of a silent agreement.

Once, and only once, Daisy was certain the duo were out of earshot, she let out a short burst of laughter.

Neither of them had been expecting it, but it was such a strange sound that Ada couldn't help but crack a smile of surprise. It would've been a laugh too, had the look on Daisy's face not persuaded her otherwise.

With the moon split between clouds, the silver caste it shon down on the wet cobbles left little to the imagination. Had it been brighter, lighter even - she would've sat and stared, and talked. Talked about whatever her sister wanted to talk about, but their day was almost over.

It usually was whenever they sat down as a collective.

Tommys business had him away for hours, leaving Daisy in charge of the house. She hated being in charge of the house, but needs must.

"I think, dear Ada, we might need to make a quick visit to the library in the morning. Can't keep Tommy thinking we just sit idly by as he does 'all the hard work'."

There had been a time where Daisy wouldn't be seen dead in the library, but when Tommy had been away - she made it her duty to make sure she was well versed in topics that might become over the table conversations. Of course, she hadn't read anything on horses— communism, or guns. Just books on how to run a business, cookery books from decades prior — and once upon a time, books on how to properly care for a child.

"But —"
"No buts in library, Ada. Just books."

With no room to argue, and a viper like grip on her upper arm, Ada allowed her legs to walk in the same direction as her sister.

Growing up, Ada idolised Daisy, wanting to be exactly like her when she reached her age, but as time grew on, she was one of the few who realised just how worn out Daisy was. She had always gone a mile a minute, not stopping to catch her breath, but that was Daisy. Throwing herself head first into situations so she didn't have to think about that was happening elsewhere.

Even with the boys home, she still did it out of habit. A nasty habit, it was, too.

Had the library been open, she would've gone straight there, but with opening hours being a day away, the best place for the pair of them was in Daisys' house. It wasn't much, but it was hers - free from the stink the boys create, a home away from home, somewhere even Polly would want to willingly spend time in.

"I can't go to yours, D, I've got plans—"

Ada did have plans, but not ones she could allow her sister to find out about. Freddie was her little secret, not anyone else's- and she'd done her best to keep it from getting back to Tommy.

Daisy finding out, would lead to that being over.

"What's in the library that's so important?" Ada asked, struggling to fall instep with the elder Shelby whose grip had only just slackened from her wrist.

The two shared a look, and as brief as it was - Ada understood.

Thomas knew a man that had worked in the library just before the war efforts began, and he was certain that he would've continued as if nothing had happened. That was why Daisy wanted to go to the library, well, that and to see what she could read about the history of horse racing.

"You little fox, Daisy Louise!"

Edward, the librarian, and Daisy had been friends long before the war. His sister, Betty, was Ada's age, and that was the one thing that managed to bring the two together.

It was a play date, when they had first met, they bonded over their desires to leave Small Heath - but in the end, neither of them did. Daisy didn't regret it, but she knew Edward did. Whilst her dreams were put on hold after her mother died and her father left, Edward's tripled — as if making up for hers.

"We'll just ask him questions about the likelihood of accidentally producing baby horses... and the correct name for baby horses."

Daisy just wanted to talk, but the more she knew, the more she would be likely to keep going back. Edward was like a rich wine, honey and pear, addictive and in just the right quantities — the best thing to happen.

"Can't you just ask Betty? John still calls round a few times a week. Bet he feels bad about what happened between them before he married Martha."

God rest her soul,  Daisy thought quickly, before turning her gaze onto the red painted door they'd ended up at.

Unlocked, as always, something Tommy hated, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Are you coming in, or what? It's just for a night, you can catch up with your mystery another night," she paused, turning to face her sister properly, bottom lip sticking out just a little bit, "please, Ada, pretty please?"

Just like that, in the very same way Tommy would've, Ada folded and stomped her way inside- not bothering to look at the triumphant smile plastered on the other's face.

Daisy always got what she wanted in the end.

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a massive, massive thank you to -novxscomet for making the banner at the top of this chapter and all chapters moving forward!