CHAPTER ONE
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A man riding a beautiful black horse trots into a courtyard. A girl, considerably younger than him, trots beside him on an equally beautiful grey horse. The horse's hooves click on the cobbles. Laughing and chattering of the residents in the courtyard ceases to have existed. Whispered word goes around the children and mothers like wildfire. All games are frozen. Washing is left in baskets.
These people have brought instant terror to the people within the courtyard. Both are immaculately dressed. The man in a dark suit and polished shoes. The girl in fitted riding bottoms, a spotless buttoned up shirt and a tailored jacket. Both well-groomed and fairly attractive. The man's face is hidden with his cap while the women's long hair covers hers.
They are Thomas and Lillian Shelby. Members of the Peaky Blinders and now the only ones in the courtyard.
"Where the fuck are they," Lily said turning to her brother. She was 16 now and an important member of the Peaky Blinders. It had been a surprise to the rest of the Shelby family that Tommy would allow his younger sister, and a girl, to be a part of the gang. He believed that Lily was fully capable of holding her own and despite his sister being independent and carefree, Tommy would rather protect her by his side than she be out and about like Ada would do.
"Calm down little sister," Tommy replied and takes his gold watch on a chain from his vest pocket and checks the time. "Zhang should be bringing the witch out soon."
"Well they better hurry up soon, it's bloody cold out here," Lily shivered, breathing out cold air while her horse seemed to agree with her and snorted steam into the cold air.
Soon Zhang and Mai, the rumoured witch, arrive at the end of the street before slowly heading towards the two Shelbys. Tommy takes a fat cigarette out of his pocket and offered one to Lily, who chose to decline. Shrugging off his sister's decision, he lights the cigarette with a match, took a puff and saw that Zhang and Mai had arrived.
"Sir? This is her." Zhang cautiously told the infamous leader of the Peaky Blinders with his heavy Chinese accent in English.
"The girl who tells fortunes?" Tommy replied, wanting the ordeal to be other and done with fast. His sister was ever so impatient and would easily become annoyed from having to wait in the cold.
Despite being a girl in a man's world, Lily was clearly a member of the Peaky Blinders. Despite her small and innocent appearance she had a mean right punch and easily got angered. This was both fortunate and unfortunate for the Shelbys. They had grown used to Lily's fits of rage and had to step in to stop her from maiming or killing a man. One of these fits had nearly caused a man to go blind and had led to Arthur receiving a broken nose. However this allowed the youngest Shelby girl to gain a reputation for herself, build respect and cause many men to know not to mess with her. In every incidence of these fits of rage Lily faced, it seemed to Tommy that a familiar face calmed her down every time, with the exception of himself of course, was Walter Fenton.
Back in the courtyard Zhang confirms Tommy's question and starts to perform the ritual that the Shelbys were there for. Taking a dragon woven velvet pouch out of his pocket, Zhang looks up to Lillian Shelby reaching for the revolver in her pocket while Thomas took the two pounds needed for the transaction out of his pocket, noticing the two Chinese shrinking back at his sister's actions.
Taking the money from the gangster, Zhang hands over the velvet bag to Mai and gestures her to perform the ritual, despite her bafflement. Hesitantly, Mai pours a palm full of red powder into her hand and approached the horse with the encouragement of Tommy's half smile. Finally she blows the powder towards the horse's nose which receives a snort and whinny from the horse.
While Tommy looked upon the girl's actions and was now in a cloud of the red dust, Lily could hear the whisperings of children. One voice she heard was a child whispering, "They're doing a magic spell to make it win a race." Smirking at the comment, Lily was impressed at the knowledge of the little girl talking to her sister.
Mai repeated the process another time and Tommy chose to rub it into the flesh around the horse's nose. The bag was now empty. It was over. Tilting his cap to Zhang and Mai in acknowledgement, he looked at Lily and indicated at her to say what she needed to say.
"The horse's name is Monaghan Boy." Lily shouted across the courtyard towards the women and children watching from the sides. "Kempton, 3 o'clock Monday. You ladies have a bet yourselves but don't tell anybody else." Both Shelbys were fully aware their words would spread like wildfire throughout Birmingham.
Satisfied that they achieved what they had set out to do, Tommy and Lily Shelby wheel their horses around and trotted down the courtyard back to where they had come from. Ducking under the flapping sheets and clothes set out to dry they heard a fading whisper before they left, "Those Peaky Blinders are using witchcraft now." Both just smirked and trotted away, they would do anything to ensure they won in the end.
The Shelbys soon reached Charlie Strong's yard, their uncle, to leave their horses in the stable. Both Tommy and Lily unsaddle their horses while Charlie calls out, "Curly? Get here." Curly was a simple minded man but he was gentle and had a way with horses like no one else.
"I need to go," Lily curtly told her brother and uncle, not caring about what Tommy was about to do with their uncle and instead needed to meet someone.
"See you later then sister," Tommy replied, having an inkling what Lily was needed to do. "Don't forget we have business to take care of tonight."
"Fear not brother, I will be there," Lily joked and walked out of the yard, hearing the voices of the men get quieter.
It did not take long for Lily to reach her destination. Standing at a very familiar door she knocked and heard footsteps approaching the door. As the door opened a booming voice was heard.
"About bloody time," Walter Fenton now faced Lily. "I was expecting you an hour ago."
"Oh well I'm here now, Tommy wanted me to come with him to see Zhang," Lily replied walking inside the apartment and took her coat off.
"At least now I can do this," Walter said before leaning down to Lily's height and kissing her. Sighing in bliss, she reciprocated the kiss, wrapping her arms his shoulders. They had been together for four years now, only sharing kisses as Lily refused to lose her virginity until she was 18 years of age. Breaking the kiss, Lily and Walter just stood there, arms around each other in bliss.
"What have my brother's been making you do," Lily asked, knowing that one of her brothers, whether it be John, Tommy or Arthur, would have an errand for Walter to do for the Peaky Blinders.
"Not much really. Collect payments, check the imports are coming in, not had to put anyone in order yet." He joked before slyly adding, "Now why don't you make us your famous chicken pie for supper."
"You cheeky bugger!" Lily laughed, playfully slapping her love on the arm. "Fine, I guess I can make it this one time. In celebration of Monaghan Boy's win at the races on only this one time Walter Fenton, you hear me?" She pointed her finger at him.
"Alright, alright flower," Walter chuckled, following her into the kitchen and aiding her with their dinner.
It was just past six in the evening and Lily was making her way down Watery Lane towards the Shelby home. Wrapped up in a black, fur line coat to protect herself from the cold that was creeping up the later it got. Reaching the door and entering her humble abode, Lily breezes though the hallway and parlour which was decorated with brass and fancy floral crockery. Lily notices that Tommy's coat had been tossed upon one of the parlour's chairs and carried on into the pantry, through a black curtain and into the betting shop.
Lily walked into the large room, dominated with the cigarette and cigar smoke of both the punters and workers. There was no sign of Arthur or Tommy and John was at the blackboards writing the bets down. Noticing his younger sister in the shop, John came down to embrace her in a hug.
"You and Tommy are in trouble Lil," he told Lily, "Arthur ain't happy with what you did with the Chinese."
"Oh well what can he do?" Lily just shrugged it off and received a smirk and a ruffle of her hair from John before heading towards the office. Reaching the door to her brothers' office she could hear the finishing words of Arthur's sentence, "…the powder trick down at Garrison court."
Choosing to open the door, Lily could hear Tommy stumble after he had been in fact leaning against the door.
"Why isn't it the little devil herself," Arthur exclaimed seeing his youngest sister who had caused Tommy to stumble.
"Hello Arthur, I see that Tommy in trouble," Lily cheekily replied, receiving a laugh from Arthur and an exasperated sigh from Tommy.
"I'm not forgetting you Lily, you were there too."
"Times are hard. People need a reason to lay a bet." Tommy defensibly replied to Arthur.
As the Shelbys' conversation continued, Lily could sense that Arthur felt that Tommy was threatening his authority. This was leading him to become angry and blustery while she and Tommy stayed cool, with Lily saying little to prevent Arthur from shouting at her. Now any other day she would gladly stick up for herself however Arthur had a way with words that would piss her off and result in an anger fit and Tommy was just better at handling Arthur's tantrums.
"There was a Chinese." Arthur started back onto the subject he had wanted the confrontation to be about.
"The washer women say she's a witch. It helps them believe." Tommy nonchalantly replied, shrugging as if it meant nothing.
"We don't mess with Chinese."
"Look at the board..." Tommy replied, indicating to the blackboard that John was working at
"Chinese have cutters of their own." Arthur snapped back, getting frustrated at Tommy's replies.
"We agreed. I'm taking charge of drumming up new money."
"When did we agree that?" Arthur was getting pissed. Thomas simply glances at the bottle of rum on Arthur's desk. While Arthur retreats a little. "What if Monaghan Boy wins?" Thomas just stares hard at Arthur to suggest it's all under control which results with Arthur getting to his feet and banging his fists on the desk. "You fixing races now Tommy?"
Lily had finally realised why Arthur was so angry at Tommy for getting the help from the Chinese. "What the fuck Tommy," Lily furiously exclaimed, turning to look at her brother. "Why didn't you tell me this in the first place?" All she got in reply from her older brother was him angling his head to hide his eyes now he knew that both of his siblings were against him.
"You have permission from Billy Kimber to be fixing races?" Arthur asks to receive no reply from Tommy and only a hardening of his face. Arthur comes around the desk and comes closer to Tommy. "What's got into you Tommy? You think we can take on the Chinese and Billy Kimber. Billy has an army-"
"I think, Arthur. That's what I do. I think." Tommy interrupts firmly to his brother's adamant questioning. All siblings stare at each other and once again Thomas glances at the rum bottle. "So that you don't have to." With that curt reply he walked off. Lily turned to her brother, wondering what Arthur would do to prevent Tommy from leaving any further.
"Tommy!" Arthur shouted while hurrying after him, "Tommy, there's some news from Belfast-" But He was already walking away through the smoke. Arthur went to the door and repeated to call out, "Tommy! I'm calling a family council tonight at eight o'clock. This time you be there Tommy!" John had noticed his brothers argued and saw his sister just shrug it off. "You hear me?! There's trouble coming."
Thomas had disappeared through the velvet curtain leaving Arthur seething as he stared out. John studied him reacting to Thomas's defiance, which was no shock to John along with Lily. Arthur goes back into the office and slams the door. There he saw his sister already swigging a glass of rum along with a full glass next to her. Taking it, they clinked glasses and he took a swig of the rum.
The eldest and youngest Shelby sibling sat there, contemplating what was to come with Tommy making the decisions.
Lily knew where she would find Tommy, if anyone was looking for a member of the Peaky Blinders they would find them in the Garrison. She approaches the pub owned by Harry Fenton, hoping to find her brother as well as Walter. Lily opens the door and walks straight in.
The pub is an ornate Cathedral built to combat the gloom of poverty. Every brass is polished to a blinding shine. All the mirrors are gilded. Where outside there is dereliction, inside the pub there is an excess of colour and decoration. There is a table by the window occupied by a group of men who gamble and drink to their heart's desire. Others stand at the bar, smoking and drinking bitter or mild. Scud-boat is collecting bets from punters at tables.
Lily is able to spot Tommy right away by the bar and surprisingly, Freddie was right next to him. She could immediately sense the tension between the two men and quickly approached them.
"You don't bet." Lily heard her brother say as she reached them, "Ah, well isn't it my dearest sister Lillian here to join us." Tommy exclaimed pulling her into a one armed hug.
"Hello Tommy and look what the cat's brought in, hello Freddie didn't expect to see you here."
"Little Lillian has decided to join us," Freddie said, calling her a nickname she had hated for years. Scoffing at the comment, Tommy could see that his sister was beginning to get annoyed and ordered another bottle of stout for her to share with him.
"Carrying on with our conversation Tommy, these past few days I've been speculating." Freddie spoke.
"About what?" Lily asked, drinking her glass of stout.
"One of my Union comrades has a sister who works in the telegraph office at the BSA factory." Freddie says while gesturing to his comrades in the pub who all averted their eyes. "She says in the past week there's been messages coming from London to the brass. From Winston Churchill himself. Something about a robbery." Both Tommy and Lily hold poker faces, not reacting to what Freddie was saying despite well knowing what he was on about.
"'A robbery of 'national significance' it said. Underlined. Twice. They're keeping it out of the papers but our girl is snooping. And she found something that'll make you laugh." Freddie pauses for a moment. She found a list of names left on the telegraph machine. And on the list was your name, Lily's name and my name together. Now what kind of list would have the name of a Communist and the name of two bookmakers side-by-side?"
Thomas and Lillian Shelby finally react and both give half smiles.
"Perhaps it's a list of people who give false hope to the poor." Lily says shrugging, swallowing some of her stout.
"The only difference between us and you Freddie is that sometimes the Shelby's horses stand a chance of winning." Tommy confronted Freddie, glancing at his 'comrades' with disgust while Lily nonchalantly finished her drink. Freddie looked upon the two Shelbys, appalled at how the 16 year old girl he once considered a sister and his once friend have become.
"You know, there are days when I hear about the cuttings and beatings that I wish I'd let you take that bullet in France." Freddie directed at Tommy.
"There are nights I wish you had," Tommy retorted while amused, Lily pats his back knowing about her older brother's night terrors.
"So you don't know anything about a robbery that would trouble Mr Churchill?" Freddie asks the two wanting to get back to business."
"Freddie, I prefer to drink with my sister alone." Tommy replies, pouring himself and Lily another glass of stout. It goes silent between the three of them before Lily recognises the figure that walks past the frosted glass of the entrance.
"Shit." Lily exclaims before getting up, preparing herself to interfere with what was about to occur. Freddie and Tommy see what she has reacted to and become alert to what is going to happen.
"Ah, not again." Harry, the pub owner exclaimed as he dashes behind the bar. "Take cover! It's Danny Whizz Bang."
Everyone reacts. Suddenly the pub door flies open and Danny Whizz-Bang enters. Danny is a barrel of a man, short but wide and round and full of muscle. His face is crimson with rage and he immediately grabs a chair and hurls it across the pub. As everyone scatters, he becomes a one-man whirlwind and begins to smash glasses and knock over chairs.
Thomas and Freddie swap a half amused glance, while Lily is trying to think of how to stop Danny and made them act. They put down their drinks in unison. The two approach Danny from either side, and in restraining the madman and as they work together, it is clear to the people in the pub that they are used to working together in violent situations.
Freddie takes Danny's attention as Thomas grabs him from behind. Freddie dives forward and grabs Danny's legs, upending him. Danny kicks and flails but Thomas falls on him face down. Now Thomas is lying on top of Danny, Lily approaches the struggling man and grabs his face in her hands.
"Danny, you're home. You're home. We're all home in England." She smoothly told the man. Both Freddie and Thomas saw the comedy of this despite being in the same situation with Danny in the war.
"Had to go bang, had to go bang, had to go bang." Danny growls out in a furious mantra.
"You're not an artillery shell, Danny, you're a man." Lily carries on, stroking the man's face. Danny just continues to roar and struggle more. "You're not a whizz bang. You're a human being. Now get yourself together for Christ's sake." This was a common occurrence. Many times had Danny slipped into this frenzied state and it was usually Lily that calmed the man down while Tommy held onto him.
After a moment Danny takes a huge breath and then takes this on board. He begins to breathe more easily. He looks up at Lily's face just an inch from his own. "Ah hell. Did I do it again?" Danny sighs. Thomas kneels up and dusts himself off. He looks up at Freddie and the two men share a weary half smile.
"Yeah you did it again Danny. Got to stop doing this, man." Tommy says, getting to his feet before giving his sister a hand to get up. Freddie holds out a hand and helps Danny up and puts his cap firmly back on his head.
"Danny, next time you feel you're about to go bang, go down Aston. The Garrison is a dangerous place to break the rules." To illustrate his point, Freddie gestures at Thomas who turns away to get his drink. Danny is now fully himself and looks around at the damage and then recognizes where he is.
"Ah shit. Am I in the Garrison Tavern? Oh God. Mr Shelby, Lily, I'm sorry..." Danny begged. Tommy swigs his beer while Lily just pats him on the shoulder.
"Go home to your wife, Danny. Try to get all that smoke and mud out of your head." Tommy sternly said.
"It's going to be alright Danny, go and sleep you'll feel better after." Lily kindly said.
"Yes Mr Shelby. I'm sorry Lily" Danny bowed his head and rushed out of the Garrison. Freddie re-joins Thomas and Lillian at the bar and in silence they share amusement at Danny's bizarre behaviour. Harry comes around the bar and rushes to the Shelbys.
"Mr Shelby, you have to do something about him." Harry demanded.
"Damn right Harry. You pay the Peaky Blinders a lot of money for protection." Freddie interrupted, "You're the law around here now Tommy, aren't you?" Tommy was now gritting his teeth while Lily was becoming pissed. "Why don't you put a bullet in Danny Whizz Bang's head? Like they do with mad horses." Lily was fuming and turned sharply to Freddie, glaring at him. Freddie puts his hands up in mock surrender when he realised he had angered the youngest Shelby. "Maybe you'll have to put a bullet in my head someday too."
Lily and Freddie stare at each other. Thomas doesn't smile as he stands by the side, watching his sister fume at Freddie. He grabs his cap and angles it on his head before heading for the door. He picks up a knocked over chair as he goes and calls out so all the customers and his sister could here. "Bring the bill to the Peaky Blinders. We'll take care of it. I'll see you later Lillian."