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𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑇𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑦 𝐹𝑜𝑢𝑟: 𝑇𝑜𝑜 𝑀𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑉𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑝𝑡2

Sabrina followed quickly behind Ada as she hurried toward the front door, Karl held tightly in her arms. Polly had left to confront Grace. Tommy had rushed to confront Kimber. She had learned that Freddy Thorne was amongst the men fighting. It seemed that everything was falling apart. But Ada thought she could fix it.

"We can't let them bloody kill each other!" She shouted, as she carefully put Karl in his pram.

She had dressed herself in all black, saying she wanted to look like she was going to a funeral. The whole idea of it startled Sabrina, because it could become reality, just when things were getting better.

"What are we going to do Ada?" She asked. "Kill them with kindness?"

Ada nodded with a smile as she got her son comfortable in his push chair. He was somehow calm, almost sleeping.

"It's like a bloody war out there!" Sabrina argued.

"That we need to stop." Ada stopped, turning to face her. "Your little brothers are out there. So are mine."

Sabrina's eyes widened. She hadn't known that her younger brothers had pushed their way to join Andrew and their father. She hates that it was that knowledge that persuaded her to help Ada, and not the idea of fighting as a whole. But George and Peter were too young, too inexperienced. They had no idea what they were getting into. Ada could sense that she had changed her mind.

"Go get changed into something black." Ada said. "It's on my bed waiting for you."

Before Sabrina could head to the stairs, they were interrupted by the sudden opening of the back door. Jenny Potts rushed through, her hair pulled out and cheeks flushed.

"We can't let them do this." She said quickly. "Your father's too old for the scuffle."

Ada nodded. "Me and Sabrina think the same, we're going to convince them to stop. If you can dress in black, you can help."

Jenny didn't both asking about the need for a dress code. She was already following Sabrina up the stairs within seconds, fixing her hair along the way. Sabrina pauses by Ada's wardrobe, turning back to glance at the older woman, a hint of a smirk on her lips.

"You really care about my father?" She said as she pulled a new dress over her head quickly, turning to see Jenny doing the same.

"I care about all of you Sabrina. You're like family." She said, brushing the comment off easily, as she always had done.

"I hope he knows what a brilliant woman he has found himself." Sabrina said as she turned to the mirror, shrugging on a coat. "You both deserve happiness."

Jenny stopped still, her hands remaining firmly on the hat that she was placing on her head. Her arms were bare, given that Ada found black a boring cookout and didn't have enough of it to go round. She wouldn't meet her eyes as Sabrina slipped her shoes back on, until she finally spoke up.

"You're not mad?" She asked, and Sabrina's eyes widened.

"Of course not!" She exclaimed. "No one can live without love."

They moved down the stair one behind the other. At the bottom, Jenny held back, tugging on Sabrina's arm and pulling her in for a hug. Warmth spread through them and Sabrina frowned. It reminded her of what little she could remember of her mother. But she was happy. She loved Jenny as much as both of her parents.

"Thank you, Sabrina." She whispered, before pulling away.

"Think nothing of it. You've always been like a mother to me." Sabrina said, and they hurried back to find Ada.

"And you've always been like a daughter."

Ada was ready by the door, an impatient jitter on her face as her jaw twitched, her nails chewed against her lips. Karl was eerily silent in his pram- it was the day that Sabrina hadn't heard him cry. As soon as the two appeared by her side, she was out the door, leaving them to close it behind her and hurry behind toward the Garrison.

The two sides stood in opposite lines, staring at each other hatefully, with such intensity that Sabrina thought they could've killed each other there and then without their guns even raised. To be so close to the violence that the boys had always talked of woke her up slightly, revealing to her the realities of the lives that the people closest to her lived. She had been so sheltered despite the fact that it went of all around her. She had only been pinched the other day when Tommy had called for her aid at the bar, but now it seemed like she was being shaken with hands on both arms, her head rattling in the process.

They were like two black clouds, edging closer to one another like shadows under moonlight, waiting to clash together in a loud storm. Even the thumping of their feet against the stray coal and thick dirt sounded like thunder, which matched well to the flashes of blinding, hot fire of the factories that lined the street.

Tommy was in the centre, his brothers surrounding him with Danny Whizzbang to his right. Her father wasn't too far away from the centre, the same with Andrew, but her younger brothers had somehow tucked themselves to the left of the street, a weak glare on their faces. But Freddy Thorne was nowhere in sight. It was twelve against at least thirty.

"If we're going to use guns, let's use proper guns." She could hear Tommy shout.

The dust around the factory door closest to them shifted, erupting into the air like smoke from a fire. Freddy emerged from behind the fog, running out strongly, a machine gun held tightly in his grip. Ada didn't falter.

"Move!" She shouted, her elbows flying out sideways.

She strutted forward, her chin high in the air, not a hair out of place. Her confidence didn't waver as she stared forward, parting through her brothers with ease. They stood by the pram, each of their hands interlinked.

"What are you doing?" Freddy shouted, his eyes widening upon seeing her standing in front of him for the first time since he was taken, his baby only meters away.

"I believe you boys call this 'no-man's land'." She shouted.

Karl was crying again, his wails ringing out against the walls of the street that closed them in. Eyes were wide from each side as they stared at the women. Both Sabrina and Jenny could feel the eyes of the Lewis boys, piercing straight through them.

"Now, shut up and listen." Jenny snapped, her chin lifting as her motherly voice of authority bit out.

"Have you lost your mind?" Andrew shouted out, shrugging forward to stand a step closer.

"She said shut up!" Sabrina called out, tightening her grip on the older woman's hand as her eyes drifted along the faces of her family.

"Most of you were in France. So you all know what happens next. I've got brothers and a husband here, but you've all got somebody waiting for you." Ada said, moving away from the group to stare at the other side. "Now we're wearing black in preparation."

Ada's chest was heaving with anger as she looked around at the men on each end. She glanced to Jenny and Sabrina, beckoning them to help her, to speak with her.

"Who'll be wearing black for you?" Sabrina asked loudly, her gaze shifting from Kimber to the faces of her family, zoning in on the frightened glances of Peter and George. "Think of them right now."

Ada nodded. "Fight if you want to, but that baby ain't moving anywhere."

Jenny stepped forward, linking their hands in a chain once again. "And neither are we."

The three turned in surprise as Billy Kimber spoke up, his hands pulled lazily in his coat pockets.

"She's right you know. Why should all you men die? It should just be them who caused it."

It all so quick, that it appeared to be a blur. A gun was ripped from his side and pushed eye-level, aiming between the women and to the other side. They screeched as a gunshot rang through the air, splitting the tense smog in half as a bullet whipped past their heads and into the small crowd.

It hit its target. Tommy stumbled backward, his chest jerking backward so quickly, that the rest of his body couldn't catch up. His hand met his chest. Two more gunshots. Sabrina's ears were ringing. The puddles on the floor ran red.

"Don't shoot!" Freddy screamed.

His legs pounded against the floor pushing forward toward the pram, moving faster than he even knew he could. Ada was on the ground, her hands covering her ears as she tried to push her baby forward, out of harm's way. Jenny felt a tug at her arm, and Sabrina was pulling her to the side and into a strong and familiar hold of another. She glanced up, seeing the wide eyes of Fred staring back down at her.

"Enough."

Tommy bounded forward, the seeping blood barely noticeable to anyone else as he forced himself to move, his gun held up. Another shrieking gun shot, and Kimber was crumpled on the floor, a gaping hole through his head, a bath of blood around his body.

It went silent. The minute of incomprehensible chaos fizzling out into the heavy chorus of laboured breathing. Each side stared at each other once again, until they each lowered their guns, standing rigidly.

"Kimber and me fought this battle one on one. It's over." He paused, watching the wide eyes blink, unbelieving. "Go home to your families."

One by one, they turned to retreat, Kimber being dragged along with them, a trail of red streaking behind them. Tommy looked down to Danny Whizzbang who laid motionlessly on the floor. The sand of his hourglass had run out, but it felt more as if it had been smashed to pieces too early.

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