•·.·' ❪ hostile — act one ❫ '·.·•
| CH. 3 |

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CHARLOTTE RIDES IN THE CAR between Finn and John in the back, the bar maids legs crossed and hands placed together in her lap while Thomas and Arthur sit in the front as they pull up in the middle of a field, horses and caravans surrounding them.

Charlotte leans forward in confusion, craning her head around to meet Tommy's eyes, "I thought you said we were going to the fair. If I knew we were off to a muddy field, I would've brought Josh. He loves this bloody stuff."

He flicks the engine off, turning to her, "We have business first. We aren't staying for long. Come on." He hops out the car, motioning for us to follow, "Bring your wits."

"What business?" Arthur grumbles, eyebrows furrowed.

"That's the Lee family." John points, jumping out of the car quickly, leaving Charlotte to pick Finn up and take him out herself.

"Tommy!" A man greets happily, arms in the air in a excited wave.

"Johnny Dogs." Thomas smiles, immediately locking their hands in a solid shake.

"Tommy," He grins brightly at the family, "How the hell are you?"

"All the better for getting the city smoke out of me lungs." Thomas nods, contradicting himself as he blows out a cloud of smoke from his cigarette.

"I thought you became a bit too grand for us." Johnny begins to walk, Tommy by his side and the other four behind.

John glances down at Finn, who's hand is tight around Charlotte's while his eyes roam all over the wild landscape, taking in the features you'd never be able to catch a glimpse of in Birmingham, "Take him back to the car will you?" John mumbles, "Just leave him there, he'll be aright."

Charlotte rolls her eyes at the way his treating his younger brother before picking the boy up and placing him back inside the car, ruffling Finn's blonde hair before pushing herself between Arthur and John, following behind Thomas quietly.

"I'm riding with the Lee family now." Johnny informs him, nodding down at the small group of kids running around beside the stream.

"I heard." Thomas nods, "Myself, I'd rather live among pigs." He snarls moodily, earning hard glares form the children's fathers.

Johnny shakes his head, nudging him, "Come on, Tommy. No disputing. So, your first fair since France?" They come to a stop, the trio behind them doing the same.

"What do you know about France, you war-shy Gypsy bastard?" He chuckles before stepping closer to a large white stallion, "So, this is the horse."

Johnny hums before wandering off towards the Shelby's car, allowing Charlotte to step forward beside Thomas as he inspects the horse, running his hands over the soft fur and lifting up the hooves.

The woman's eyes follow Johnny as he prances around the car, tapping certain parts of it, causing her jaw to drop in realisation, "Hand on a bloody minute," She snaps, "You're ain't swapping your family car for a horse."

Johnny waltzes over again towards her, hands dug deep into his waist coats pockets, a smug smile plastered across his lips, "Of course we're not swapping it. Huh? That'd be mad."

Thomas whirls round on his heel, "We're gonna play two-up." He brings out two coins, passing one to Johnny and keeping one himself.

"You're taking the fucking piss." Arthur growls, throwing his head back as they watch the two men flip their coins, allowing them to land on the ground.

Both of them squat for a second, reading the coins before raising again, Thomas politely passing Johnny the car keys, causing Arthur to roll his eyes angrily.

"I knew it. I knew it." Charlotte sighs, shaking her head in disappointment.

"Tommy, you bloody idiot." Arthur scowls loudly.

"Shut up, you two." Thomas glares at them both, "I won. I promised Johnny I'd let him have a spin in the car if he lost." He motions for Johnny to leave, patting him on the back before he scurried away excitedly.

"You're fuckin' lucky, Thomas Shelby." Charlotte chuckles, the sound of loud laughing cutting her own short.

Their heads turn towards three men cackling happily, their heads thrown back and hands in trouser pockets. Tommy's jaw clenched as he nears them, "Are you Lee boys laughing at my best mate? Are you?" He starts to raise his voice, visibly angry, "Eh?"

"Tommy! Tommy!" Johnny starts to waltz over again, calling for the man.

"I ask you a question!" He snarls, ignoring the desperate yells from Johnny as the man rushes in front of the arguing group, shaking his head.

"Tommy, come on, it's just the craic." He steps closer, their faces inches apart as he whispers, "Get your family and girl out of here and go and enjoy yourselves at the fair before they start a war. Huh?" He turns to his friends, speaking in their native language, "Go on. Go. They're from good people." Johnny starts to walk away, "Their grandad was a King."

"Yeah, but his mother was a Didicoy whore." A man grumbles, still visually riled up by the situation.

Charlotte goes to rush forward but before she can even move a step, Thomas has already whipped the man around his face with the back of his cap, the metal causing a massive gash. Arthur and John are pulled into the fight as well, joining in to finish the group together. Charlie watches from a far, eyes rolling as she shoves a desperate man off of her roughly when he starts to beg for help but he's thrown back into the quarrel by the woman.

"Boys!" She screeches, causing them all to come to a halt above the other limp men, "Will you fuckin' pack it in?! You've proved your bloody point!"

The Shelby men all glance over at her, blood running from their knuckles as she shakes her head at them in disappointment, the fighting being nothing new or horrific but the consequences that follow are never anything good, "Fuckin' children the lot of you." She rolls her eyes, "Let's get going, aright?"

"Alright, sunshine, calm down." Thomas mumbles and moves towards the girl, "It's nowt new."

・❥・

The fair visit was very short lived and soon the family were back in their car, travelling to Birmingham to return to the comfort of home. But, when they arrive, the place is turned upside down — women complaining, others cleaning up the destruction in the streets, doors smashed off of their hinges.

"What the bloody hell has happened?" Arthur grumbles.

"Jesus Christ." Tommy sighs.

"Joshua." Charlotte breaths under her breath, frantically tapping Thomas' shoulder, "Let me get out. I need to go find Josh."

His head shakes defiantly, continuing to drive the car up the destroyed street, "It's too dangerous, Charlie. We don't know who or what they're lookin' for."

"Thomas Shelby, you will fucking stop this car and let me get out." She snaps loudly, glaring at him angrily, "Tommy."

"Fine, fine." He huffs, doing as he's told and watching as she pushes past John and onto the cobbled street, her slightly revealed chest pumping up and down in worry, "Bring Josh round ours if you need. See you later."

The rest of the men in the car send their goodbyes, waving and nodding towards the woman as the car returns to moving again, leaving Charlotte's head to whip back and forth, uncertain of where to look first.

The house. The chances of him being there are slim, but it's a starting point. Charlie breaks off into a run, her dress bundled up in her fists as she tries not to trip over the uneven floor when she finally arrives at her street. Children and their parents are huddled up outside, arms wrapped around each other while sobs rack their bodies — the experience haunting them. Usually, Charlotte would question them to ensure they were okay, but that wasn't her priority right now. She needed to find Joshua, worry now wriggling in her veins.

The old wooden door of their house is thrown open, revealing the dirty hallway as she speeds insides, calling out desperately for her brother. Receiving no replies, her heart starts to beat quicker as she steps over the broken furniture, checking each room thoroughly before ending up in the kitchen, all the cupboard doors open and their contents thrown in every direction.

A small huddled figure in the corner catches Charlotte's eye and she skids to the floor in front of her brother, his head shoved down onto his knees and his arms are curved around himself. Gently, she runs her fingers through his hair, causing him to flinch at the sudden contact, her heart breaking even more when his head raises, showing his wet cheeks and swollen eyes.

"Josh." She soothes, slowly gripping each side of his face, forcing him to meet her eyes, "What happened? Are— are you okay?"

His lip quivers as he tries his hardest to form a solid sentence, "Where— where were you?"

Her face falls lower at his words and she holds in the tears begging to be released, "Tommy had invited me to go to the fair. I told you, this morning."

He swallows thickly, almost choking on his own tears, "They just— just bloody barged in here while— while I was havin' me— me lunch."

"Who?" She questions, searching his eyes for answers, "Josh, who just barged in?"

"The coppers." He states, "The fuckin' police broke— broke into everyone's home! Searching for— for anything, they said. Money, d—drugs, guns, bullets." He sighs sadly, his breaths shorts and snappy, "It was— was so fuckin' scary, Char. They wouldn't leave me alone."

Her eyebrows furrow as she carefully wipes another tear away from his cheek, "What do you mean?"

"They— they yelled. Loads. Refused to leave until I left." He sniffs sadly, his brain remembering the situation and crushing him more, "I— I came back in as soon as they went onto the next street."

She sighs, manoeuvring around him some she's able to pull his head into her chest in a warm hug, pressing a caring kiss to the top of his head, "I'm so fucking sorry that I weren't there. But, I'm 'ere with you now, okay?"

He nods, hiccuping before peering up at her, "What— what are we going to— to do now?"

"Tommy said we can stay at theirs." She tells him, noticing how his face immediately falls at the mention of the Shelby family, "Josh, I know they're not your favourite people ever, but, we can't stay 'ere. There's no fuckin' front door."

He huffs, wiping his eyes with the sleeves of his jacket, "Fine."

"Thank you, thank you." She smiles, slowly standing them both up and moving her hand down to his, gripping it tightly before leading him through the house, again stepping over the destruction, "We better be quick."

・❥・

Without any care for the family inside, Charlotte throws the front door open, smashing the door knob into the hallway wall as she leads Joshua through the Shelby's home into the kitchen where they're all huddled, staring at her in astonishment.

Thomas steps forward, noticing her worried expression and the tight hold she has on her brother's hand, "Charlie? You okay?"

"Those fuckin' coppers broke into me house. Scared the livin' shit outta him." She snaps, turning slowly to face Josh, motioning to a seat beside Arthur, "Sit there."

Aunt Poll kindly passes the terrified lad a glass of clear water, patting his shoulder reassuringly, "You're okay here, kid." Her kind words almost instantly making the younger boy realise how comforted he feels just being around them.

"The coppers told everyone Arthur agreed to it when he was arrested." Polly straightens up again, lighting her pipe graciously, "They said the Peaky Blinders had cleared out to the fair to let them do it."

"I never said nothing to that copper about smashing up bloody houses!" Arthur snaps, smashing his beer mug against the table angrily.

"Alright," Tommy sighs, "Which pubs did they do?"

"The Guns, the Chain, the Marquis. All the ones that pay you to protect them." Polly replies, "The only one they didn't touch was the Garrison. Make sure people think we were in on it. He's smart, this copper." She glances around at the older Shelby's, "So, go on. Drink your beers, get out. You'd better show people you're still the cocks of the walk!"

The other men in the room reach down, placing their empty beer glasses down on the table before marching out, Thomas giving them one last order before they're gone completely, "Hand out some cash to the landlords of the pubs. Pay some veterans to fix the places up."

John rushes after them, leaving Arthur to slip his jacket on while glaring over at Thomas, "So, what about you? Ain't you comin'?"

Tommy shakes his head, "I have to go to Charlie's to stable the horse." He meets his brothers eyes, noticing them lingering on his best friend, "Not that Charlie, the other Charlie, he's a lad, aright? The horse looked foot-sore in the box."

Arthur rolls his eyes, swallowing thickly before slowly leaving, Polly whirling around on her heel to face him, "Let them see your faces!" She slams the doors shut before facing Joshua, hand on his shoulder once again, "Do you mind popping into the other room? It's quieter and more comforting in there, love. Might help calm you down."

Joshua glances over at his sister, earning a subtle nod causing him to trudge into the separate room, sliding the heavy door shut behind him. Once he's gone, Charlotte furrows her eyebrows, "What's this about then?"

Thomas sighs, leaning against the counter behind him, cigarette resting between his two fingers, "I've got somet' to tell you, Char."

She raises an eyebrow, "Aright, go on."

He rolls his shoulders back, pushing away from the cupboards and placing himself in the seat beside Charlotte, "I had a buyer in London for some motorcycles. I asked my men to steal me four bikes with petrol engines." He licks his lips, noticing the curiosity in the woman's beautiful eyes, "I'm guessing my men were drunk. There's a still inside the factory makes tram-line gin. They picked up the wrong fuckin' crate. The boys dropped it at Charlie Strong's yard as agreed." He scoffs, "They must've taken it from the proofing bay instead of the export bay. Inside we found 25 Lewis machine guns, 10,000 rounds of ammunition, 50 semi-automatic rifles and 200 pistols with shells."

Charlotte's mouth falls open at the information and rocks back in her chair, hand running through her hair in shock, "Tell me you got fuckin' rid of 'em."

He shakes his head, "We put 'em in the stable, out of the rain. The guns hadn't been greased yet."

Suddenly, she rocks back forward, sending a hard smack across the Shelby's cheek, causing him to groan in pain, his head whipped to the side as she rambles, "You fuckin' idiot, Thomas Shelby. That's what those fuckin' coppers were lookin' for! That's the reason they terrified me little brother and hundred of other families! You bastard!"

Thomas sits forward, his hands grabbing onto her shoulders to keep her still, "I'm sorry, Charlie, aright? I— I didn't know it would lead to this. I wanna fix it."

Polly scoffs from the corner of the kitchen, causing their heads to turn, "You read the papers, Tommy?"

He releases Charlotte, pursing his lips, "Racing papers."

Aunt Pol sighs, "So, let me tell you the odds. I reckon it's three to one there'll be a revolution."

Thomas shrugs, "I wouldn't bet on that."

"That copper's betting on it." She replies blankly.

"Tommy," Charlotte grumbles, "He's not gonna let it rest till he gets those guns back. Use your brain, for once."

He sighs heavily, tapping his cigarette into the ash tray beside him, facing Polly again, "Did he talk to you?"

"In the church." She nods, blowing out a large cloud of smoke.

"Did he try to find our Ada?" He questions.

"She was sleeping."

Charlotte and Thomas snort, glancing over at each other with a mischievous look, causing him to lean forward on the table, "Where was she sleeping?" Tommy chuckles lowly.

"I thought you didn't care for women's business." Polly raises an eyebrow, her head tilted and earning a silent glare, "The copper knows your the boss. He wants to meet you. Will you talk to him?"

Thomas shakes his head, "No. You don't parley when you're on the back foot. We'll strike a blow back first." He raises from his seat, whipping his jacket from the near-by seat before marching out of the room, shooting Charlotte one last smirk like always.

"Bloody men." She rolls her eyes, earning a small giggle from Pol.

______________________

bit of a shit chapter, sorry

but how the fuck did this book get five hundred reads in two days...

hope yous are enjoying it :)

not proof read YET.

word count : 2849