Cut From The Same Cloth

by Wenlock

"Polly knew that Rose would do more than survive; she would thrive. She was indeed cut from the same cloth as Tommy – and that would be both her blessing and her curse." What began as a brief imagining of a younger Shelby sister, Rose, and an encounter with Alfie Solomons, has grown into a story of life growing up in the most notorious family in Birmingham.

1. Rose

Alfie looked across the desk at the young girl in front of him. She was nervous, twisting her skirt in her fingers, a slight tremble in her legs. But she was working hard to convince him that she wasn't. Her jaw jutted out in front of her, her shoulders pushed back, her eyes locked on his, pleading with him to see the confidence she didn't feel. He leaned back in his chair, still eyeing her. She was definitely a Shelby. There was a strong physical resemblance to Tommy. But it was more her demeanor and the way she held herself that matched what he'd seen in the other family member he'd encountered; A fearlessness and belief that what she was doing was the most important and obvious thing in the world. It was quite something to behold in someone so young. He almost smiled. But he'd seen a lot in his life and a child can be a dangerous thing in the hands of an enemy. He wasn't about to let his guard down yet. So, he narrowed his eyes and waited for her to speak.

"Mr Solomons," her voice was clear and surprisingly without fear, "My name is Rose Shelby. I'm Thomas Shelby's sister."

"I know who you are," Alfie replied gruffly. She flinched a little and he almost felt bad. He only knew who she was because she'd told Ollie at the door and Ollie had told him before he allowed her into the factory. But it didn't hurt for her to be afraid of him. He still needed to know why she was here and there could be any number of nefarious reasons for her presence. He admired Tommy for his intelligence and sheer hubris, but he certainly didn't trust him or, by extension, any of his family.

Rose swallowed and tried again. "Mr. Solomons, thank you for seeing me. I'm sorry for just turning up but I didn't know how else to contact you." She took a deep breath. "I'm here to apologise for what happened to your kin and to tell you that it was all my fault and that I didn't know who he was when I hit him and stamped on his foot and that I'm very sorry and to ask you to please not kill any of my brothers." She took another deep breath after speaking, having forgotten to take a breath during. She remained a little breathless as she looked – nervously now she'd explained why she was there – at Alfie, awaiting his response. Her chest was beginning to feel sore. She ignored it.

Alfie couldn't help but stare open-mouthed at the small girl in front of him. Of all the things he expected her to say, this wasn't one of them. He thought she might be delivering a message of some sort from her brother. He had no idea what she was talking about. Rose stared back at him, still breathless, getting more afraid the longer he was silent.

"Mr. Solomons, I swear I didn't know who Amos was when I hit him. I didn't even know who you were. Tommy had to tell me who you were and that it was a bad idea to get into a fight with your family. And if I'd known, I wouldn't have got into a fight with him. I would have just walked away, honest." Another deep breath, more nervous twisting of her skirt, more trembling in her legs. She suppressed a cough as her chest tightened.

Amos. Now, it was beginning to make sense to him. His cousin, Joseph's idiot of a son. That branch of the family lived in Birmingham. He remembered now - he'd heard through the family grapevine that Amos had been injured. He'd had a broken nose and two broken toes. The injuries had stuck him as funny when he'd first heard about it; he couldn't imagine how one could sustain such wildly different injuries. Of course, in Alfie's head, it was a scrap between teenage boys. He'd thought nothing of it. It seemed now, however, that Amos had had a run-in with the youngest Shelby sibling – a girl of no more than 9 or 10 years old by the look of her. He examined again the colourful bruise spreading out under her left eye and across her nose and the graze to her chin on the opposite side. He assumed when he first saw her that this was just more evidence of how savage those gypsies are, they didn't think twice about what knocking their kids about. But maybe there was a different explanation.

Rose shifted her legs, wishing he would say something. She was used to Tommy's silences. He always thought about what he was going to say before saying it and then waited even longer to say it. She'd also learned to be fearful of Tommy's silences, especially when he was dealing with her. They inevitably preceded the pronouncement of a punishment or a few choice words about her behavior or worse, a prolonged silence which could last days as he made it clear just how disappointed he was in her. Once, she'd seen a man disrespect Tommy to his face – called him gypsy scum. Arthur and John had grabbed the man by his arms and turned him towards Tommy for judgment. Tommy had been silent for what seemed to Rose to be an eternity, he'd just looked at the man who could barely stand he was so scared. Then, "Cut him." Rose turned and ran away then, but not before she heard the man scream and not before Tommy saw her.

Now, standing in front of Alfie and his silence, Rose thought she might faint. She felt the same fearful anticipation when confronted with Tommy's silences – except with Tommy, she knew that he was her brother and that he loved her and that the worst that could happen to her was a thrashing. She didn't know what Alfie would do to her but from what Tommy had told her about him, he was very likely to kill her there and then in his office.

She opened her mouth, unable to bear the silence any longer. Alfie held up a finger before she could form a word, and she closed her mouth again. "Sit down," he said not unkindly. He could see it was only a matter of minutes before her legs buckled. She sank gratefully into the chair opposite him, coughing with the movement. He was curious about why it was so important to her to come all the way to London to apologise to him for giving Amos what he'd most likely deserved. Amos was a tall lanky youth, a good few years older than her and almost twice her size. He was very impressed that she had not shied from engaging in a physical fight with him, and even more impressed that she'd managed to injure him so soundly. It had not escaped his attention that she believed that he would kill one of her brothers as retribution for this fight. He wanted to know what – or who - had put this idea into her head. But first, there was a question he needed to ask her.

"Does your brother know you're here?"

She looked him straight in the eye and, without missing a beat, lied straight to his face. "Yes."

Without breaking eye contact, he tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. He was impressed with her hubris. "Miss Shelby, given that you have come here to my office with the express intention of asking me not to kill your brothers, do you really think it's a good idea to lie to me?"

Rose's face lost its colour. She should have known not to lie to him. She had picked up pretty quickly that Alfie Solomons was as sharp as Tommy and could, it seemed, also see straight through her.

She looked away from his gaze, cleared her throat and answered quietly, "No."

"Let's try again then, shall we? Does Tommy know that you are here in London in my office?"

She lifted her eyes and looked back at him, "No."

He reached for the telephone and Rose shot forward in her chair. "No, please, Mr. Solomons. Please don't phone him and tell him I'm here. He'll go mad."

"Rose – may I call you Rose?"

Rose nodded, confused. What else would he call her?

"Rose, my dear, your family are, I have no doubt, extremely worried about your absence from Birmingham. It would not do to keep your whereabouts from them. As I am sure you well know, Tommy will not take kindly to me not telling him where you are. He will, most assuredly, 'go mad' when he finds out you are here. I am very anxious that his anger isn't directed towards me. That, I'm afraid is your burden to bear as a consequence of travelling halfway across the country without telling him."

He picked up the phone and gave the operator the number of Tommy's office. Rose paled even more at the thought of how her brother would react to the news Alfie was about to give him. Her stomach dropped to her boots. She knew she would be facing Tommy's wrath sooner or later, but she hadn't even had a chance to talk Alfie down from avenging Amos' injuries. Tommy would skin her alive once he got his hands on her and it would all be for nothing. She listened to Alfie's side of the phone conversation whilst wondering if she could run fast enough to try and escape Alfie's factory. Would she be able to survive on her own in London? She'd read Oliver Twist – maybe there was a gang of thieves and pickpockets she could settle in with. Right now, anything was looking more promising than going back to Small Heath.

"Tommy! My old friend and business partner, - yes, yes, I know it's not a good time for you but I am the bearer of good news. I have in front of me a small red-headed girl who looks an awful lot like you. – Yes, Rose is here, in my office, looking at me like I'm signing her death warrant by talking to you. – Calm down, Tommy, put away the knives. I have not kidnapped her, she appeared in my office about half an hour ago all by herself talking about how sorry she was for injuring one of my kin and asking me not to kill any of her brothers. – Tommy? You there? Hello? - Yes, you can speak to her."

Alfie held out the phone and its earpiece to Rose who stared at it terrified. "Your brother wants to talk to you, Petal." Alfie looked at her encouragingly, stretching the phone out to her. Rose swallowed and gingerly took the phone from him. She brought the mouthpiece to her face and very slowly moved the earpiece to her ear.

"Hello?" She'd meant to sound normal but her voice trembled.

That silence again. It sounded louder than his words which followed. "Are you hurt?"

"No"

"Did you go to there by yourself to see him?"

"Yes"

"Pass the phone back to Mr. Solomons". His voice held no emotion. No anger, no relief, no worry.

She passed the phone back to Alfie.

"There, you see. I was telling you the truth. - No, I'm sorry Tommy, that's not going to happen. I am very aware how precious this child is to you and I am not going to run the risk of handing her over to strangers even if they are wearing flat caps. I will hand her over to you and you only. Got that? – I know it will be some time before you are here but you have my word that I will take the very best care of your sister. There are many things which are fair game in our line of work, Tommy, but this child isn't one of them, you have my word on that. – Right then, Treacle, see you soon."

Alfie replaced the earpiece in its receiver and sat back in his chair.

"Well, Petal, I do not want to be in your shoes when your brother gets here."

Rose couldn't stop the tears which welled up in her eyes. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. She was frustrated and tired and hungry and scared, and she had been feeling so brave and confident. She'd envisioned how Tommy would get over his anger at her running away once he heard that she'd stopped the war between the Shelbys and the Solomons. He'd be so proud of her and tell her how brave she was and that she was a real Peaky Blinder now. But she realised once again that she had no control over what was going to happen. Her chest was feeling tighter and it was sore every time she breathed. She knew that wasn't a good sign. She coughed a rattling cough.

Alfie watched all these thoughts pass over her face and felt sorry for her. She really didn't look too well. "When was the last time you ate, petal?"

Rose shrugged.

"How about I get Ollie to being us some good food and you can start again and tell me why you came all the way from Birmingham to see me. We have a few hours before your brother gets here, so I'm sure we'll be able to fix whatever the problem is. It must be important for you to have gone to all this trouble."

Rose looked at him in surprise. She wasn't expecting him to say that. She felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe she could put things right and save her brothers' lives after all. She smiled tiredly at Alfie. "I'd like that."

Alfie grinned at her, jumped up and threw open his office door. "Ollie", he yelled, "Bring us some lunch, and make sure it's a decent spread." He closed the door, turned back to Rose and, with a twinkle in his eye said, "Right then, Petal. Let's feast."

Rose sat back in her chair feeling absolutely full. She'd been so hungry. She hadn't eaten since the evening before. The food Ollie brought was bread and jam with some cheese and apple, but it hadn't tasted like the bread and jam and cheese and apples she was used to in Birmingham. It had been delicious and she'd eaten every bit, licking her finger to pick up the last crumbs from her plate. Food in London was so much better than food at home. She wondered why Ada had never told her how sweet the apples in London tasted.

Alfie had watched her wolf down the food, a look of delight on his face. Like all Jews, hospitality was in his blood, and watching a guest enjoy the food he served was a joy - especially this guest. He didn't usually like children. They were loud and annoying, often grubby and always asking for things. He viewed them in the same way he viewed the police – a necessary evil. Rose Shelby was different though, or maybe she was the first child he'd ever had to spend more than 5 minutes with and was, therefore, demanding a different perspective from him. Here was, for all intents and purposes, an exact copy of Thomas Shelby in a miniature and much less threatening form. She was brave and uncomplicated, intelligent and observant. Unlike Tommy however, she possessed a lightness of spirit which was beginning to show now that she was relaxing. She had smiled at his jokes and had even made one of her own which made him guffaw. He was intrigued by her. He wondered slyly if there were some family secrets he could get her to divulge. That would be very useful in his future business dealings with Tommy. He could tell her guard was very much still up however, so he put that thought on the backburner and focused on the business in hand.

"So, Rose Shelby, you started a fight with my cousin's son in Jewish territory, you stamped on his foot breaking two toes and hit him in the face breaking his nose. That, in my opinion, is a very brutal attack. And what's more, you are a Shelby and Amos is my kin. I'm sure you are aware that wars between families start small and end badly. I hope that's not what you intended when you picked a quarrel with my cousin's son?" He was being deliberately stern. He was interested to see how she dealt with this accusation.

Rose flushed with indignation. "I didn't start the fight, he did!" she threw back angrily.

"You were on Jewish streets, were you not?"

A pause, she couldn't deny that. She shrugged. "Yes"

"So, why were you there? Didn't you know it wasn't somewhere a small Shelby girl should be?"

"Well, yes, but I was only walking around. I wasn't looking for trouble. And I'm not small, I'm eleven"

"A Shelby walking the Jewish streets in Birmingham is most definitely looking for trouble. And, I would argue, Petal, that at eleven years of age, you are well aware of this."

Rose knew he would continue to corner her with his arguments. She had had many a conversation like this with Tommy and Aunt Pol. Some grown-ups were too clever.

She sighed. "I just wanted to see what it was like to go somewhere dangerous. Finn is allowed to go everywhere with my brothers but they never take me and he's only a year older than me. They keep saying it's too dangerous for me to go places with them. But how can it be dangerous if I'm with them? And besides, I'm a better fighter than Finn. Everyone in school knows it. How can I learn to be a Peaky Blinder if they won't let me join them?" She coughed another rattling cough. The long speech had made her wheeze.

Alfie could hear the frustration in her voice and understood it. Growing up in a family of gangsters was difficult, especially for a girl with several protective older brothers.

"I'm sure your mum and dad don't want you to grow up to be a Peaky Blinder. Don't they want better for you?"

She cleared her throat. "I don't have any parents."

"Oh?"

"My dad left before I was born and my mam died when I was a baby."

"Ah. I'm very sorry to hear that, Petal."

She ignored his condolences. "Aunt Pol doesn't want me to be a Peaky Blinder. Tommy and Arthur and John don't either. Ada thinks I'm mad to want to be one and Finn says I'd be a rubbish Peaky Blinder. But it's in my blood, I can feel it!"

"Are girls allowed to be Peaky Blinders?" He was genuinely interested.

"Not yet"

He laughed out loud.

"So, tell me then, how?"

"How what?"

"How did Amos pick a fight with you?"

She looked down. She didn't want to talk about it. Alfie saw the hesitation.

"Listen, my little Petal, you're going to need to tell me everything if you want me to spare your brother's life." To his credit, he felt a tiny bit of shame for leading her on in the belief that he would kill one of her brothers because of her. But he also knew it was the quickest way to get her to talk.

Rose looked back at Alfie, worried. She hated talking about her mother but knew she'd have to if she was to save her brothers. She swallowed.

"He said that I killed our mam."

Alfie looked at her gently, suddenly aware this was difficult and personal territory for her. "Go on"

She hesitated again. It was difficult to form these words. "He said that she took one look at me when I was born and…" She stopped in an effort to compose herself. She definitely did not want to cry.

Alfie waited, giving her the time she needed.

Clearing her throat again, she rushed out the rest of the sentence before she lost her nerve. "He said that I was born with horns and that she took one look at me and was so scared she threw herself in the Cut. He said that red hair means that my father is the devil." She swiped angrily at the tears which were threatening to fall. "So, I stamped on his foot and when he bent over, I punched him in his face."

Alfie was once again speechless. This child was full of surprises.

"He's taller than me, so I had to stamp on his foot so he'd bend over and I could reach his face." she added by way of explanation.

"You know what he said isn't true, don't you Rose?"

She looked down at her hands. Everyone in her family had told her it wasn't true. They'd said not to listen to anyone who said it. Aunt Pol had told her that red hair meant royalty to the Gypsies and that she was related to a Gypsy Queen. John had said that she should tell him the name of anyone who said anything about their mam and he would go round and shut them up. Arthur had swung her up in the air and told her that she was the prettiest Shelby that ever lived and to ignore anyone who said otherwise. Ada had once punched Jimmy Parsons in the ear for calling her a devil's child. Then, one day a few months ago, Maggie Johnson and Annie Keel had pulled her hair so hard she'd fallen over into a puddle and split open her forehead on the curb. They kicked her and told her that she belonged in the gutter and that she should be glad her mam was dead because if she were alive she'd have given her away to an home for wicked children by now. Rose had arrived home muddy, in tears and with blood streaming down her face. Tommy was in the kitchen when she walked in.

He took one look at her, picked her up and sat her on the counter next to the basin. He took a cloth and cleaned her head and her face. He got the ointment and smeared it over the wound which wasn't very big. Then he carried her upstairs and helped her change into clean clothes. Only then did he sit down on the bed and stand her in front of him.

"What happened?"

Rose told him.

"Mouse, there will always be people out there who will try to make you afraid of them. They'll tell you that your red hair means that you are a devil's child. They'll tell you that not having a mam and dad means that no one loves you. They'll tell you that being a Shelby is a curse. They will look for your weakness and try to use it against you. But Mouse, you have to take that which makes you weak and turn it into a strength. Having red hair doesn't mean you're a devil's child, but it does mean that you are different from everyone else, and that's a strength. Not having a mam and dad doesn't mean no one loves you. It means you know more than anyone how important family is. And having a strong family is more powerful than you could know. Being a Shelby isn't a curse, being a Shelby is a gift. They should all be afraid of you. Let them say what they want about you, but don't let them get away with it. Bide your time, look for the opportunity, then make them pay."

Rose didn't really understand what Tommy was saying. "How can I make them pay? Maggie and Annie are in the class above me. They're stronger than me. And when the kids push me over or pull my hair, I can't run after them cos I get out of breath. I can't fight everyone who calls me names. There are too many of them."

Tommy smiled his half-smile at her. "So, don't make them pay by trying to do the things they do. Do it your own way."

"How?"

"What are you good at, Rosie?"

"What?" It annoyed her when he talked in riddles.

"You've just told me all the things you can't do. So, tell me what you can do. What are you good at?"

She tilted her head at him, thoughtfully. "Lessons. I'm better than all of them in reading and numbers. And I'm good at noticing things about people that no one else notices. Like, I knew that Aiden Gillen's mum was really ill cos he didn't bring anything in for lunch for weeks and he wore the same clothes for days. I gave him half my sandwiches. And then this week he wasn't in and Miss Perry told us his mum had died and everyone was surprised cos he hadn't said anything, but I already knew. And I also noticed that Miss Perry had a man friend cos she started smiling more and she wore perfume and lipstick every day and she'd look out of the window with the daft look that Ada gets when she fancies someone. And then she came into school with an engagement ring on and said she was getting married, and everyone was shocked, and Gareth Smiley cried cos he said he wanted to marry her, but I knew. It was obvious."

Tommy's half-smile had turned into a full one. "So, then, use what you notice about your enemies to hurt them. What have you noticed about these girls who did this to you today?"

"Maggie tells Annie that she's her best friend but secretly she's jealous of her cos Annie parents have more money than hers. Maggie's dad smacks her mum about when he's drunk but Annie's dad buys her and her mum presents all the time. Annie's always talking about how great he is. And Annie never invites Maggie to her house and she always has sweets in her lunch sack but she hardly ever shares them with Maggie."

"And right there is all you need to get your own back on them for what they did to you. And make no mistake, Little Mouse, you have to make them pay. It's time to start making sure your enemies know who they're dealing with. If you don't they'll never stop. It's up to you to take back the control and show them who a Shelby really is, eh?"

He took her face in his hands and kissed her on her forehead. "I have to go to work. Go and help Aunt Pol get tea ready."

Rose watched him leave with a puzzled look on her face. She was beginning to understand what he meant, but she wasn't sure that she could be the Rose Shelby Tommy wanted her to be. She wasn't sure she wanted to be that Rose Shelby.

But Rose was cut from the same cloth as Tommy and, once he'd opened the door in her mind as to what the solution could be, it was inevitable that her brain did the rest. It wasn't long before Maggie and Annie had become sworn enemies. Maggie found herself at the receiving end of endless taunts about her drunken father, and Annie was regularly having her sweets and hair ribbons and other niceties stolen from her by the older kids. Rose had discovered that dropping a few well-chosen words into the ears of the right people had a very powerful effect. Then all she had to do was sit back and wait. For the first time in her life she felt powerful, and that feeling was intoxicating. Kids stopped bullying her and started wanting to be her friend. And thus she learnt her second lesson about power – it draws other people to it like moths to a flame. Tiny, red-headed Rose Shelby with the bad chest was rapidly becoming the person in whose orbit others wanted to be.

The problems came then at home. She was the very opposite of powerful there. She had no say in any aspect of her family life. Everyone, even Finn, bossed her around, and no one listened to what she wanted. Arthur wasn't the same anymore; he was distracted and sad all the time. John was busy with Esme and his growing family. Aunt Pol had moved into her new house. And Tommy was getting busier as the family business grew. He spent more and more time in his new office and she saw him less and less. The only time she had his attention was when Aunt Pol complained to him about her behaviour – she was the only one keeping half an eye on her. And so, she began to behave in ways which guaranteed his attention. Wandering into the Jewish Quarter of Birmingham and getting into a fistfight with Alfie Solomons' cousin's son was an example of just such behaviour.

She looked back at Alfie. She knew Amos' words weren't true. But they weren't entirely false either.

"It is my fault that my mam is dead."

Alfie stroked his beard. "I thought you said you were just a baby when she died."

"I was, but I heard Aunt Pol tell Esme that my mam hadn't wanted to get pregnant again after Finn but my dad didn't care so he made her pregnant with me. But then he didn't want another baby either so he left. And then I was born too early and I was really poorly. That's why my chest gets bad sometimes. Aunt Pol says it was because my lungs hadn't grown enough when I was born so they don't work properly. And my mam was really ill after I was born and she wasn't strong enough to take care of me as well as all the other kids, so she died. See, it was my fault that she died and if I didn't exist she'd still be alive and dad wouldn't have left and everything would be better."

It wasn't the first tragic tale that Alfie had heard. In fact, he had a few of his own he could tell. And Rose Shelby wasn't the only child with no parents destined to grow up looking for love and acceptance in all the wrong places. But there was something about this particular girl sitting in front of him in his office which made his heart ache. There was so much suffering and pain in the world he lived in that he, like Tommy, had decided that the only way to avoid becoming a victim of it all was to make sure that he was in control of it. If suffering and pain were unavoidable, he'd make sure that he was the one inflicting them. Now though, watching Rose trying to catch her breath after another sudden coughing fit, Alfie felt tired of it all. Maybe he should retire, find a nice place by the sea and watch the ships.

"You are old enough to understand that you had no say in being created and put on this earth. You can't shoulder the blame for things over which you have no control."

"Tommy says that there should never be anything in a person's life which they can't control. He says that if you're not in control of something then that thing controls you and that means you lose power and your enemies win."

Alfie laughed. "Well, he's not wrong."

"Mr. Solomons, …"

"Call me Alfie. We're friends now that we've shared a meal together."

Rose looked at him, perturbed. "I'm not sure I'm allowed to be friends with you."

He laughed again. "Well, some of my enemies also call me Alfie. So, whichever you are, you can call me Alfie."

Rose smiled. She liked this strange man who sat opposite her. She'd never met anyone like him. He was chatty and friendly and he made her laugh. And he wore the strangest clothes with bits of cloth and string hanging everywhere and had a pair of spectacles on a chain around his neck. He had a funny accent and called her Petal, and he'd called Tommy Treacle! No one spoke to Tommy like that. And he listened closely to her when she was talking to him and she couldn't help but feel like she'd known him for a long time. She could sense a recklessness and strength in him which she knew made him dangerous to his enemies, but it made her feel strangely safe. She thought she would happily spend days talking to him in this messy, dusty office which smelled not of a bakery but of The Garrison.

"Alfie," It felt strange calling him by his first name. Aunt Pol had taught her it was rude to call grown-ups by their first name. "Alfie, I know it was wrong of me to have gone to the Jewish Quarter. And I know it was wrong of me to hurt your kin. I'm very sorry. Aunt Pol says I lose my temper too quickly. But I wanted you to know that what happened wasn't my brother's fault. Tommy has told me never to go into areas which don't belong to the Peaky Blinders but I disobeyed him. So, if you were thinking of punishing him for what I did, please would you not hurt him or any of my brothers? You should punish me. And you can if you want to. That's why I came here."

She took a deep breath after another long speech, and then winced as her chest hurt. She couldn't help but let loose another long, rattling cough. If she were at home, Aunt Pol would have had her with her head under a towel and over a basin of steaming hot water by now.

"Aye, Petal. That cough is a nasty one. Running away from home clearly isn't good for your health. Now, as far as your request goes, I am very happy to hear your apology and to hear that you've understood that what you did was wrong. You should have done what your brother told you to do in the first place and then none of this would have been necessary."

Rose reddened at the rebuke as Alfie continued, "However, what Amos said to you was wrong, also. He deserved the injuries you inflicted upon him. So, as far as I'm concerned, I consider this matter to be over. You are forgiven." He flung his arms out in a gesture of benevolence.

"So, you won't kill any of my brothers? Cos Tommy said that you probably might."

"Tommy did, did he? Well, Petal, be reassured that I will never kill any of your brothers because of something that you did. You and me – we're old friends now.

He grinned at her and Rose felt quite light-headed with relief. She had been so worried that someone else in her family would die because of her. But she believed Alfie's reassurances and knew that her brothers were safe.

"Thank you, Alfie."

"You, my dear, are most welcome."

She slumped back in the chair, suddenly exhausted. The adrenaline of her mission had kept her going ever since she had sneaked out of The Garrison last night, but now she felt as if all the energy had drained out of her. She realised her head hurt and her throat was sore. Alfie saw her sudden exhaustion.

"Rose, little Petal, you look like you need a rest. Why don't you have a little lie down on my couch over there? You can sleep until your brother arrives and I'll stay here at my desk quietly working so that I can make sure you're safe."

He stood up and came around the desk to help her up from the chair. She was so tired; she couldn't even reach out to take the hand he held out to her. Alfie, seeing just how little energy she now had, without thinking, reached down and lifted her easily off the chair. He was shocked at how light she was. She leant her head on his shoulder as she put her arms round his neck and knees around his waist. She was, for all intents and purposes, already asleep. There had been many a time when one of her brothers had carried her up to her bed like this, so it was natural to her to lean into Alfie in this way. Alfie, on the other hand, had never carried a sleeping child in his arms. He froze for a moment, a little overwhelmed by how naturally she'd leaned into him. He stood there and held her for a moment, taking in this new experience. He held her a little closer as he felt another rattling cough escape her lungs. He was surprised at how protective he felt towards her. Then he walked over to the couch and with one hand supporting her head, laid her down gently on the couch. He put a cushion under her head and then gently covered her with the blanket that was draped on the back of the couch. She barely moved.

Alfie looked down at Rose as she slept. He hadn't woken up this morning expecting to be tucking in Tommy Shelby's baby year old sister on his couch. He had gone into business with Tommy very reluctantly. He didn't trust him one bit, but Tommy had presented a very persuasive argument for doing a deal together when he'd sat across from him in this very office just two weeks ago. Alfie would have thought nothing about shooting him in the head, in fact, he very nearly had done. But Tommy had offered a solution to Alfie's Italian problem and Alfie knew there was no alternative. His plan at the time was that, after he'd replaced Sabini's bookies at the tracks with the help of Tommy's men, and his assets had expanded comfortably, then he'd deal with his Gypsy problem. One problem at a time.

As he watched Rose cough in her sleep and settle back down, something told him that the Shelby's were going to be a thorn in his side for a lot longer than he'd hoped.