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Prologue

The air was oddly warm for an early November morning. It was just after sunrise, Sabrina's favourite time of day, when the golden rays of sunlight trickled over the rooftops like treacle and the birds were surely breaking out into their morning song. There weren't many people out in the streets at five o'clock in the morning; only the odd drunk pulling an all nighter or sometimes the local factory workers heading out for an early shift.
One could almost call the scene peaceful, a single few hours in the day when there wasn't a thick cloud of smoke hanging in the air from the clanging factories of Small Heath and the streets were filled with a serene silence rather than the screeching of a mother or the roaring of a fire.

Today was different though.
Today was the day that her brother and father, along with the Shelby brothers, would finally return from war. It wasn't silent. Her sisters were erupting the kitchen in a cacophony of clashes and clangs as they attempted to make cakes and pies for their return. Even the sun seemed brighter at the though of Andrew and Fred Lewis finally being sat at the dinner table with his family, the horrors of war no longer threateningly hanging over their heads.

Sabrina, however, was worried about one thing and one thing only. Her worry came in the form of a young man with a cheeky smile and pretty, blue eyes.

John Shelby, in Sabrina's eyes, could do no wrong. He was like a saint, his mischievous doings flying straight over her love-stricken heart with ease.

Sabrina dressed herself in her finest dress and placed her golden locket around her neck before wrapping her hair in a delicate twist. She dusted her face with makeup, coating her eyelashes in a thick, black wax and applying a blush lightly to her rounded cheeks.

The Lewis family were in no means poor. Although estranged, their mother had come from a wealthy London family and had been left savings from her parents when they passed. She had married Fred Lewis against their wishes and in doing so cut all financial ties, coming to live in a small terraced house in the middle of Small Heath.

Fred Lewis was a hard working man that wasn't afraid to do the dirty work in order to provide for his family. The fact wasn't exactly hidden either, with his closeness to the Shelby's.

"Sabrina!" Her name was screeched from downstairs and so she hurried down the creaking staircase, skipping to the bustling kitchen. Betty had already managed to ruin a tray of cupcakes and was on her way to burning a loaf of bread.

"You should have told me you were starting to bake before you did so." Sabrina stressed, taking the tray of muffins and placing them on the table before scurrying to remove the bread from the oven.

"This first loaf is for the Smiths, they've been struggling recently." Betty nodded, taking the bread and turning to hand it to Jane, who had already sneakily dug her grummy hands in the cake mixture. "Hands off!" Betty screamed, batting her paws from the bowl and handing her the large loaf of bread wrapped in a towel.

"Now take this to the Smiths. And no snacking!"

Jane hopped off the chair and made her way to the front door, wasting no time in pulling on her coat when leaving the house. Sabrina shook her head and placed the next batch of bread into the oven before setting away on rolling the pastry for the pies.

The two girls worked in mostly silence, the odd word being shared in order for the oldest sister to tell Betty how to do certain things. It was just like a normal Sunday morning, except even busier. Their usual number of batches had tripled due to the return of many men to their families and there was to be a large celebration in the streets.

"Where's Mary?" Sabrina asked as she stirred the meat fillings.

"She went with Jenny to visit Polly and Ada." Betty replied and Sabrina nodded, lost in thought. "Imagine how happy she is. All three of her boys are coming home today."

Betty smiled cheekily as she nudged her sister with an elbow. "But I'm sure you already know that." She teased, noticing the tongue of red on her already rosey cheeks.

"For your information, John Shelby no longer occupies my thoughts." Betty laughed having unintentionally caught her sister out.

"Who ever mentioned anything about John Shelby."

Sabrina could feel her whole face burn with embarrassment and so she busked herself with placing the cupcakes on a cooling tray and wrapping a pie with some cloth. She handed the pie to Betty, not meeting her eyes.
"You can take this to Polly too- and bring Mary back with you. I could do with some capable hands in the kitchen today."

Betty scoffed, taking the tray in her hands and walking to the door with a roll of her eyes. "You can't avoid the Shelbys forever Sabrina." She called back before shutting the door behind her noisily.

Sabrina leaned against the bench counter, exhaling audibly. Betty was right, she couldn't avoid them any longer, no matter how much she wanted to.

***

Mary had returned from the Shelby's not long after Betty had left. The pastries and cakes had not been long made when it was time to place them on the tables that lined watery lane and make their way to Birmingham train station.

All of the Lewis children had gathered around the front door of the house, waiting for Sabrina to clear the last of the pies from the bench. Polly and Ada had joined them with Finn, along with Jenny Potts.

"Hurry up Sabrina! We'll be late and they might think we've forgotten!" Peter screamed from his place beside his best friend Finn Shelby.

"Shut your trap, I'm coming!" Sabrina screamed back, hurrying to the front door and pulling it shut behind her. "Let's go then."

The mob of people walking down the street, arms interlinked would have looked strange had it been any other normal day, but it was most defiantly not a normal day.

Sabrina walked side by side with Ada and Mary, their arms linked and faces bright and smiley. All the women could think about was their families finally being complete, finally being together.

The train station was packed but Polly and Betty were able to push their way through the crowds, earning the group the perfect place on the platform. They were silent mainly, the excitement that was buzzing between them loud enough. They waited for fifteen minutes in the same silence, their arms still interlinked tightly in anticipation.

The long train pulled up in front of them, the loud chuffing of the exhaust filling their ears welcomingly and tossing their hair. It took a few minutes for the group to rest eyes on the men they had come for. They had exited the train further down the platform, their hands basically empty apart from the odd jacket or single item. Faces were warn and fatigued, but held a gladness that any man would wear happily had they returned from war.

Sabrina was the first to spot me of the boys. She felt guilty that it was not her father nor her older brother that her hopeful eyes landed on, but it was John Shelby. It was the very big that she had told herself not to obsess over for years of her life that she had noticed first in the crowds of people.

He was taller than she remembered, and more mature looking too. His jawline was more defined, his hair cut bluntly and his arms more sculpted, but he still held the same cheeky smile that Sabrina could recognise anywhere.

She forced herself to search the faces of the men behind him, and she soon rested her eyes on her big brother, his tall, young figure standing out among the older men that hovered around the platform. She broke out in a grin before announcing, "I found them, come on, over here."

Quickly, she grabbed Ada and Jane's hand, pulling them through the crowds of people before launching herself onto her big brother, ruffling his hair like she did when they were children.

"Andrew!" Jane squealed, wrapping her arms around his legs as the rest of his siblings came to pile onto him, weighing his body down. He chuckled loudly, his laugh sounding deeper and carefree, yet scratchy, as if he had waited for years to let out such a joyous sound.

"I've missed you all so much." Andrew turned to pick Jane up, fussing over his youngest sibling.

Sabrina smiled, turning to look for her father, just as she was bumped into by someone, sending her toppling into person.
"Oh, it's just you Sabrina."

"John!" Sabrina stuttered, her speech becoming fluttered upon realising who she had bumped into. She struggled with what to say. "I-"

"I hope you made some of em cakes like you used to. I've craved them." He spoke loudly.

"Um, of course!"

John had moved to greet his sister and aunt before she could put in another word- not that she would have anyway. Sabrina furrowed her eyebrows and turned back to searching through the crowd. Andrew was now talking to George as the girls fussed over him, moving to greet the Shelby brothers or find their father. George has always looked up to his older brother, wanting to be like him so much that when the war first start he snook out to try and sign up for the army. Having such a baby face didn't help him as he was sent home with no hesitation, much to his protests.

Fred Lewis was the last to join the reunion. Betty was the first to see their father and she squealed, rushing away from the group to greet him with a bone-crushing hug, which he accepted eagerly. He ran his hands through her hair endearingly as he watched the rest of his children sprint to him, all seven of them with happy tears in their eyes.

"Thank God you're all here." Fred placed a kiss on Sabrina's forehead as he pulled Peter closer to him.

This was a moment that none of the Lewis children would forget, a moment that would rival all other for the spot as their happiest. It was the day where they were all together, finally.

***

The celebrations were in full swing, women were dancing with their partners, the music was loud and drinks were being splashed left, right and centre. Everyone was blissfully happy. Sabrina was happy that the food was gone, she had seen John sneak his way into her cake tins. He always had enjoyed her treats and it had given her a reason to expert her skills in the kitchen.

Betty caught her eldest sister tidying the tables near the house. She left the boy she had been dancing with and skipped to stand next to her, taking the empty towels from her hands and placing them back onto the table.

"Come dance Sabrina."

"I have no one to dance with." Sabrina said, picking the towels back up and walking to place them in the house. Betty followed her across the street, tugging her elbow.

"Dance with me! Come on"

Sabrina sighed, smiled and joked, "why would I dance with you?"

Betty laughed and raised her eyebrow as Sabrina took her arm, dropping the towels on the table as they passed. Carelessly they spun around each other in the street, laughter being drowned among the loud music.

"What's wrong? You seem distracted." Betty asked as she took her sister's hand and spun them both around, their dresses wrapping around their legs, almost tripping them.

"I hate girls that giggle all the time." Sabrina answered mindlessly, but it was enough for Betty to understand. She glanced over to John. The woman he had been dancing with had done nothing but giggle obnoxiously for the last half an hour.

Betty spun them around once more before tugging Sabrina to the side of the street with a laugh, sitting them both down on the curb closest to their house.
"You hate every girl that John dances with."

"That's not true." Sabrina couldn't even convince herself that, never mind her sister.

"Maybe that schooling in France is the right thing for you at the moment." Betty suggested seriously but Sabrina shook her head still.

"What good is it if I leave now. Andrew and father have only just returned."

"You have a month until you would leave. And besides, I'm sure we could survive without you." Betty laughed slightly, trying to lighten the situation.

"Go dance with Henry, he's been looking at you since you started dancing." Sabrina stood up abruptly and wondered towards the side of the celebrations.

She hated how hopeless she felt, but she couldn't help it. Sabrina was lost in her thoughts as she walked down the streets. They were mainly empty, with most people joining the fun on watery lane, except from the odd, sad drunk who had been too much of a coward to join the war and so stood out of the celebrations.

Sabrina had been too lost in her thoughts to notice the drunken man that trailed behind her sloppily. Her father had always told her to be careful and wary of the men around Small Heath, and until now she always had been. But on this one occasion, the man thought he could lash his anger on her, a pretty, young woman who he though he could have his way with. And so, he planted his sweaty palms onto her arm, spinning her around and provoking a scream from her plump lips.

He didn't say a word as he attempted to push her into the brick wall, but instead tripped over his own feet, landing on top of her and dropping his bottle to the ground. Sabrina gasped as her hand landed on the glass, and she pushed the limp of a man off of her trying to pull herself up.
"Get off." She screamed as his hands landed on her waist once more.

Sabrina screamed again, except this time it was because the man hadn't managed to get his hands on her once more. A tall man intercepted him easily, sending his fist flying into the drunk man's nose. He punched him repeatedly as the man fell to the floor, blood pouring from his nose like a beer tap.

Sabrina's breathing was heavy as the man turned from the old man on the floor to face her, her own blue eyes meeting his striking oceans. A gasp escaped her lips once more as she realised it was Thomas Shelby standing in front of her, blood staining his hands.

"Thomas." She whispered, looking towards his hand which was still balled in a fist besides him.

"Since when do you call me Thomas?" His face remained void of emotion as he talked, the other man's blood that covered him not bothering him as he looked down at her.

"Tommy didn't sound natural anymore." She said honestly. "You haven't been out of the war two minutes and your already punching someone because of me."

She noticed Tommy's slight flinch at the mention of the war and immediately felt guilty. "Thank you Tommy. I don't know what I would've done."

He shook his head and motioned for them to move out of the side of the street. She walked beside him silently, but before she could speak, Thomas interrupted her. "I won't tell your father of this."

It was if he could read her mind. She closed her jaw and continued to walk besides him, before stopping him, with a gentle hold on his elbow. "Your hand."

Tommy looked down to his bloodied knuckles. He motioned for her to go on without him. "You go straight to your sisters."

"I will." She whispered before hurrying off down the street back home, her heavy breathing never truly settling until she was sat safely besides her siblings.

Maybe getting away for a while was best. She was lucky enough to get the opportunity of education so why waste it?

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