Chapter 28

The horse – Monaghan Boy - arrived that Saturday, though Tommy planned to wait till the next Saturday to take it out and do the powder trick. A Saturday morning meant kids would be around, off school, and the women would be out as usual too, a maximised audience of people who would spread the word into Small Heath and Sparkbrook without it seeming unusual for them to talk. Especially if he told them not to tell anyone else.

Then he'd send the horse back to the rider. He'd already picked the race and bribed everyone involved to fix it – Monday after next. True, he'd done it all without running anything by Billy Kimber but if he'd asked for a meeting, he wouldn't have got it – so he figured if he got Kimber's attention then so much the better because they could sort something bigger out and if he didn't then it didn't matter that he had fixed the race anyway.

Tommy spent the day at Charlie's Yard, settling the horse in. He was a beautiful beast and Tommy found himself wondering how Lily felt about horses. Maybe he could teach her to ride. Not a horse like Monaghan Boy, obviously, but maybe he could get her a pony to learn on. He could lead her round Charlie's yard until she was confident, then he could take her out to the fields.

The day went by quickly and he ended up going straight to the shop to get Rosie from work himself. He felt slightly guilty at cutting Lily out of their Saturday afternoon ritual, though it gave him the chance to ask Rosie about taking the bab to see the horse the next day after church.

"Lily's never been on a horse, but she's never seemed scared of them when they go by, so I don't see that she wouldn't like to see him," Rosie had shrugged when he asked her.

"I got him here to use your idea about magic," Tommy hold her, his arm slipping into her pocket to entwine with hers.

He had come to adopt this approach when they were out, their height difference meant his hand slid easily into her pocket and it wasn't too noticeable that it was resting there rather than just brushing by her coat unless you stopped to look properly at the two of them as they walked. After he had told her how important it was he kept her on the right side of the law, he had checked himself for how often he slid his arm around her waist when they were out. Particularly on this walk home on Saturdays. His hand in her pocket was the compromise.

"Did you indeed?"

"Uhuh. So, if Arthur murders me it's on your conscience."

"Arthur knows he needs you, I reckon you'll be safe."

Tommy snorted, "Arthur knows he needs me, does he? That's news to Arthur I imagine."

"You just wound his pride is all, you need to make sure he knows what he's better at than you."

"What is he better at than me?"

"Well he's more pleasant for a start, more of a people person, you could say."

"More pleasant indeed!"

"Tommy!"

"Alright, alright – I'll think on how to heal Arthur's hurt pride."

"Well don't do it too much now, do it when you need to smooth over the transition."

"The transition eh?"

"For when he gives in and makes you the leader, officially."

"And when will that be?"

She shrugged and raised an eyebrow at him, "Whenever you've planned it to be I imagine, Thomas."

Thomas. Sometimes she called him Thomas and it was very soft and sweet. And other times she called him Thomas and it was pointed and sarcastic. This was the one of those times.

"Alright Rosalie," he said, mimicking her tone, "I'll heed your advice."

"Just you see that you do Thomas," she replied breezily, "Arthur might need you, but I don't so you're not safe from me – and my gun skills are getting really quite good."

"Is that right?" he grinned and went to take his hand from her pocket to give her a smack, but she laced her fingers tightly through his and pulled it back down to the depths of the pocket before he could take it out.

He laughed and shook his head at her, squeezing her hand.

The truth was her gun skills were getting quite good. He had started her on small pistols, obviously, so there wasn't too much kick back, but she'd mastered it quickly and already moved up to something slightly larger.

They ducked into Harrisons, where the man said nothing about her hair, and bought Lily some sweets, which he presented the bab with upon their arrival home as an apology for not coming to get her before he went to get Rosie. She seemed unconcerned, having had rather a busy day accompanying Ada into town.

"Shh Lily," Ada cut across the girl as she started to respond to Tommy asking her what they'd done in town, "It was our secret girl's outing – he doesn't get to know."

Lily looked between him and his sister and he raised an eyebrow at Ada, but Ada's eyes were fixed on Rosie's – and another one of those wordless conversations that he didn't care for was happening between them.

"It's alright Lily," he told the baby, "I won't ask you to betray Ada's confidence about what you did on your secret girl's outing – but you remember you're my best girl, not Ada's best girl."

She giggled and Rosie flicked the back of his head as he crouched in front of Lily, shaking her head in amusement at him.

"Tommy's threatened you're going to like Ada more than you like him," she told Lily.

"Everyone should like me more than they like him, I'm much nicer," Ada said, rolling her eyes.

"We'll let her think that, eh Lily?" he said, standing up and bringing her up into his arms, "Now what are we having for dinner tonight my little love?"

"Pasta!" Lily replied, clearly excited.

"Pasta?"

"From your book."

"From my book?"

"Well, from Rosie's book that you got her."

"Oh, I see. Well I don't think I've ever eaten pasta Lily, have you?"

She shook her head, "Rosie says it's expensive."

He looked over to the redhead, who was deep in conversation with Ada, a smirk on her mouth and Ada giggling as she spoke in a whisper, waving her hands around.

"Oi," he said to them, and Rosie rolled her eyes at his sister before turning to him.

"Yes Mr Shelby? Master of the house? Demander of attention?" she asked sardonically

"You are asking for it, lady of the house," he replied, raising an eyebrow at her and smirking, "Isn't she Lily? Just asking for it!"

"Asking for what?" Lily asked him.

"For me to tickle her until she wets herself laughing," he told the child, who giggled.

"Rosie's a grown up, she doesn't do that."

"Ah maybe you're right Lily," he said, smirking between the sisters, "I'll find something else sufficiently grown up to annoy her with for when she annoys me. What can you think of that she doesn't like Lily?"

"Alice in Wonderland."

Tommy smiled, "Well, maybe I'll read Alice in Wonderland aloud every night at dinner for a week to annoy her, do you think that would work?"

"It would annoy her, but she wouldn't be very nice to you I don't think."

"No, I would certainly not be," Rosie cut in.

"Ah well, that would make me very sad Lily," he said, kissing the child's forehead and turning back to Rosie, "Now this bab tells me you're making pasta for dinner."

"Uhuh," she said, nodding.

"She said it's expensive."

"It is – you have to get it over in the Italian shops, I went yesterday afternoon."

"Do we need to review the food money?"

"No," she rolled her eyes, "I can budget just fine thank you – would you like to see my receipts?"

"No my darling, I just want to make sure you're not spending your own money buying fancy food to make things from that book," he replied, "You just make sure and tell me if you need more money in the food allowance."

Rosie smiled but shook her head and rolled her eyes at his concern, "I'm managing the money just fine – I come in a bit under most weeks, so it means I can do a fancy dinner from your book every couple of weeks or so when I've built up the extra. Plus half the time I get more than I pay for so I've started asking for less than I really need."

"Well, let me know if you need more – though the person in the bookshop said that book was for every day meals for a family, not fancy meals."

She grinned, "I think they're every day meals for a family who have a cook and a butler and maids."

"Couldn't even get the book right," he said, rolling his eyes, "I told you I don't know women's business."

"That's alright, I'm here and I'm far more clever than you," she told him, smirking and dodging through into the kitchen before he could reply.

"That sister of yours Lily, what an impudent little wench she can be, eh? Don't you be taking after her or you'll spend more time over my knee than you spend standing up."

Lily smiled at him and shook her head.

"That's my good girl," he said, bouncing her a little on his hip.

Since their discussion he had had no need to follow through on his threat of smacking her, she'd been on her best behaviour and had done what she was told when she was told most of the time. He'd raised an eyebrow at her once or twice when she snapped at her sister, which had resulted in a quick enough change of tone that he had been satisfied to leave it there.

"Shall we go see if Rosie needs any help in the kitchen?" he asked the baby.

"Oh see if Rosie needs help," Ada said, smirking at him, "Not if the darling lady of the house needs help?"

"Shut up Ada!" called Rosie's voice from the kitchen, "Or I'll fill Tommy in on your girl's day and what you bought!"

"Don't you dare!" Ada cried, her hands going to her hips even though they were in separate rooms and Rosie couldn't see her.

"Don't be taking after Ada either, she's always heading for a good spanking," he said to Lily.

"Am not," Ada muttered.

"Oh, believe me love, you are," he told her, rolling his eyes but patting her head on his way by.

"Ada," he called over his shoulder, "Where's Finn? I didn't see him on the street on the way in?"

He put Lily down and pushed her lightly in the direction of the kitchen, so he could turn to look at his sister.

"Aunt Polly just said he was playing out," Ada shrugged in response.

"Well go see if you can find him for me, eh? And if he's playing about by the cut tell him I'm going to tan him when he gets home, I've told him before."

"When you were Finn's age you used to jump in the cut and race to the other side," Ada replied.

"Not when I was his age," Tommy lied, rolling his eyes at his sister and turning to walk through to the kitchen, "I was definitely older when I did that – and it was stupid back then too anyway and mum had me over it a few times so don't be pulling that card on me."

He stopped and turned back, his eyes piercing his sister, "And how do you know that anyway?"

Tommy had been twelve when Ada was born, there was no way she remembered him doing it.

"Arthur told me," she replied quickly.

Perhaps a little too quickly. He filed it away to ask Arthur.

Though they had used to jump in the cut and swim across – him and Arthur and John. Along with Freddie Thorne. And Lovelock, Scudboat, Nipper and Danny – back when he'd been just Danny and not Danny Whizzbang. And all the boys they'd run around with who didn't come back from France.

The girls used to watch them, squealing and covering their eyes. That was how John had met Martha in the first place, when she'd been there as part of a group of girls – one of whom had been sweet on one of them. He couldn't remember which of them it had been though, it was so long ago. Another lifetime, when their biggest concern was that their mother would have them if she found out – but it had been worth risking it to impress the neighbourhood girls.

And how easy they had been to impress back then. He tried to imagine Ada being impressed by anyone winning a race across the cut and he nearly laughed aloud. He could just see her face if anyone suggested that was something to be impressed by. Far from going down by the cut to watch, she'd be moaning that her shoes would get ruined.

He supposed she could have heard about it from anyone in the shop really – it might be worth asking who had told her just to hear what face she'd pulled in response to their daring childhood bravery.

"Well go see if you can track him down, I've half a mind to tan him anyway – if he told Polly he was playing out then he knows fine well we think he's on the street somewhere, not out of it without coming in to ask if he can go," he told his sister.

"He might have told Polly and she just didn't tell me."

Tommy raised an eyebrow, "Will I go down to number seventeen and ask Polly where she thinks he is?"

Ada shrugged, "It's Finn's neck, not mine, what do I care?"

He rolled his eyes, "You should look out for one another more. Just away and find him Ada, tell him Rosie's making a fancy dinner, so he needs to get home now."

She grumbled; but went when he raised an eyebrow at her.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

As it turned out, Finn was playing by the cut and Ada dobbed him in as soon as they came through the door – though Tommy had an instinct that was about creating a distraction for his benefit so that he would forget about the secrecy of her girl's trip into town and whatever it was she'd bought that she didn't want Rosie to tell him about.

He opted not to tan his brother, as he'd threatened, and settled instead for smacking the boy about the kitchen a bit and then telling him he was coming straight home after church the next day and not coming to Charlie's yard to meet the horse. He didn't get the impression Finn was all that bothered about not meeting the horse, especially given Tommy hadn't mentioned about the horse's arrival to anyone but their Uncle Charlie; but his own enjoyment of Saturday nights spent on the sofa with Rosie wasn't something he was willing to sully by having to go to the effort of punishing Finn properly.

That was how he found himself the next day in his Uncle Charlie's yard with Rosie and Lily, whilst Polly had taken Finn and Ada home and said she'd deal with lunch for them. On the back of this, he'd asked Lily if she wanted to go for lunch at the tea rooms in town after they met the horse – which she was delighted at the prospect of, and he prayed that the tearooms would be open on a Sunday.

Far from Finn's disinterested attitude, Lily was squirming with excitement in his arms at the prospect of meeting the horse. It was all probably made more exciting by the idea of Finn being excluded from it as a punishment painting it as a great treat to her little mind – and it helped her mood that she had had a great reception upon arrival from their Uncle and Curly, who had both made it seem like her visiting the yard was the highlight of their week. To be fair, it probably was.

"Right Lily, I'm going to put you down here," Tommy said, placing her gently onto her feet, "And you need to stay here while I open up the stall until I come back for you and bring you over to meet him, alright?"

She nodded, her wide eyes focussed on the door of the stall he had stabled Monaghan Boy in. Rosie stood a little further back and he exchanged a smile with her over the excitement of the child, though he found himself second guessing his own actions when he glanced back and contrasted the size of Lily in person against the size of the thoroughbred he could hear snorting through the door. But he'd brought her now and there was no going back.

As soon as the door was opened the child's restraint also gave way and, despite his instructions, she ran forward - and Tommy's heart stopped for a moment.

"Lily!" he shouted – actually shouted, which wasn't like him – and he threw the door back over and, in a few long strides, caught the six-year-old who was racing in his direction with a single arm around her waist.

He didn't even stop to think about what he was doing next, he simply lifted her off the ground over his left arm, swept up the back of her coat and dress and delivered four fairly solid smacks to her backside before setting her back on her feet in front of him.

He crouched to meet her eyes and held her tightly, both of his hands wrapped around her small upper arms and shook her slightly as he spoke, "I told you - you stay back. You could get killed, do you understand? You don't disobey me in the yard! It's too dangerous!"

There was a silence between them for a split second whilst she stared back at him as he looked angrily into her eyes and then her delayed wail rang out, as he had known it would.

The sound dissolved his anger and he sighed.

"Lily…" he began trying to talk to her - but trailed off.

She was crying too hard to even hear him right now, so he loosened his grip on her and pulled her to him instead, trying to cuddle her and soothe her now that his heartbeat was returning to normal; but he wasn't entirely surprised when she was snatched from his arms by her sister, who picked her up and held her to her chest, bouncing her and stroking her hair and kissing her head, all the while glaring at Tommy over the child's shoulder.

He exhaled heavily through his nose, widened his eyes at the ground then returned her gaze, bringing himself slowly from his crouch to his normal height.

"We had a deal Thomas," she hissed at him, "You don't go off like that without a discussion."

"Oh! So you'd rather I'd let her get trampled by the horse then?" he hissed back, both of them acutely aware that they didn't want the still wailing child to be aware of their own fight.

"Of course I don't," she scoffed, "But you cannot-"

"I can, and I will where safety is concerned, Rosalie," he snapped quietly back, mimicking the use of the formal first names.

"You call me that right now and I'll knock your teeth out Thomas," she retorted.

"You try it and I'll leather your arse," he assured her.

She glared at him, then began, in an impassioned whisper, "Thomas Shelby, you are a complete fucking-" but she was cut off by Charlie reaching them where they stood bickering and interrupting them to speak to Lily.

"Lily my little love," he offered, reaching out to stroke her exposed leg that was bent around her older sister's waist, "What's the matter with you?"

She turned her head, towards him, away from Tommy so he couldn't gauge the look on her face, but he heard her wobbly voice tell Charlie, "Tommy – Tommy smack – Tommy smacked me!" then dissolve into a fresh set of wails.

"He did not?" Charlie asked her, his face very serious in consideration of her plight.

Charlie had always been good at appearing to take them seriously, even when they were kids. He'd always appreciated it.

"He did," Rosie muttered, responding for her sister.

"Ah now, what did he go and do a thing like that for to you my little chicken?" Charlie cooed at Lily.

Tommy couldn't see but his uncle's hands had moved to her face and he presumed he was wiping away the new tears that had come with the new wave of wailing.

"She didn't stay put where she was told and nearly went under t'horse," Tommy grumbled loudly, ensuring that the two sisters weren't going to entirely tell the tale of the events.

"There now, you see," Charlie told the little girl, "You gave him a fright and he thought you might get hurt – so he gave you a little hurt now to make you mind him and save you from a bigger hurt later. Means that next time you come back you don't forget what he said, and you don't end up with broken bones."

"I don't think I want to come back," she sniffed.

"Now don't you be upsetting me and Curly by not coming back," Charlie chided gently, "If every child that got smacked in this yard refused to return to it we'd be left all alone and we'd get our work done quickly and be bone idle most of the day! Curly and me likes the distraction."

She didn't say anything in response and Charlie came closer to her and whispered, conspiratorially, "Hey, you know how I know you'll be fine even though it doesn't feel so much like it right now?"

He saw Lily shake her head.

"Because see Tommy over there? He got more smacks in this yard than every other kid put together – and he'd bawl something awful about it too when he caught them – but he recovered. And other than the fact he's a grumpy git at times, he's turned out not so bad overall, don't you think?"

She turned her head then to look at Tommy, her mouth slightly open, a question in her eyes.

He looked to Charlie, back to Lily, up to Rosie, who merely raised an eyebrow at him, then back to Lily again.

He threw his hands up, "Lily I wouldn't put you through anything I didn't know what it was to be on the receiving end of," he told her. He'd thought that was bloody obvious.

She shifted her head back to look at Charlie. Tommy's insides clenched. She still didn't want to talk to him.

"You know, someone did tell me once that Tommy Shelby wasn't always the utter delight he is now," Rosie said, a smirk on her lips. The words were aimed at her sister and his uncle, but her eyes met his. He rolled his own at her.

"You come here to Uncle Charlie," Charlie said, holding his hands out to Lily, who agreed to be passed over.

Charlie settled the child on his hip and Rosie crossed her now free arms. Tommy inched closer to her, trying to guess how receptive she would be to him at the moment. She didn't give any indication and he knew he was not forgiven, but the smirk had told him he would be – at some point. He just wasn't sure when that would be.

"So, go on then Charlie," Rosie said, still not looking at Tommy, "Tell us some of the highlights."

Ah, so he was to be forgiven after a little humiliation. He could cope with that. He pretended otherwise though, rolling his eyes and crossing back to the stable, opening the door so he could head into the stall - where he could hear them but stand with his back to them if he wanted to. Give the impression he was suitably mortified, as she wanted him to be.

"Well, you see now, Tommy wasn't an inherently bad kid, he had his mother's common sense but his father's devilment, as Aunt Polly says, and they did battle in him all the time. He was much more impulsive when he was your age than he is now, Lily. And he wasn't as smart as you, so he didn't learn," Tommy heard Charlie tell the child.

He grabbed a brush off the wall, a brush Charlie himself had definitely whacked Tommy with himself a few times and started running it through the beast's coat.

"He liked sleeping out, did our Tommy. Probably the Gypsy in him, but he'd forget to tell anyone he was going to - so this one morning I get to the yard and he's couried in next to one of the horses, fast asleep."

"What's couried in?" Lily asked.

"Cuddled in," Tommy shouted, his back still turned, "It's Scottish. Uncle Charlie likes to collect words that aren't his – though that particular phrase was stolen in the first place. Some Irish Gypsy brought it to us after he'd been in Scotland for a bit."

An Irish Gypsy with red hair, he remembered. He glanced sideways over at Rosie, whose eyes were on Charlie. Only bloody red head in Small Heath. Irish fire underneath that quiet outer shell. If there was a way to prove those odds, he'd take the gamble.

"Yeah, so he was all cuddled in beside the horse and I didn't think much of it – just left him there and got on with my morning - until a bit later when his mother arrived, crying her eyes out that she'd been looking for him half the night and did I think he'd drowned in the cut and would I take a boat out and look. And I told her he wasn't stupid enough to get himself drowned in the cut and that he was in the stable. She'd obviously been making enough noise he'd half woken up anyway and when I unlatched the stable door he sort of blinked up at her – had those eyelashes even back then – and smiled like the baby Jesus from the manger and says 'Hi mum' and reaches out to wave at her. Well, she grabs that outstretched hand and hauls him to his feet, then lays down a fine volley of smacks on him, and him dancing about, shrieking the whole time trying to twist out from under her and using the hand she wasn't holding to try and cover his backside – which just led to her reddening his legs for him."

Tommy grinned in spite of himself as Charlie told the story. Baby Jesus in the manger indeed. He might have passed for a changeling child left by the devil instead, but Tommy was fairly sure he'd never have passed for the baby Jesus. He remembered trying to jump out of the way of his mother's hand that time, and he remembered being marched back through Small Heath with the back of his legs all red, advertising to what had felt at the time like the whole world, that he'd just caught himself a smacking. But he also remembered his mother giving Arthur a good clatter when she noticed him laughing at Tommy's predicament and promising him the same if he didn't get out from under her feet and find something to do. John had still been a baby then. He didn't remember where his father had been. Presumably gone, because when was their father not gone?

"Then what happened?" Lily asked Charlie, her face shocked.

"Ah, then she held him to her and cried into him that he'd given her such a fright to disappear without telling her where he was going and that she'd been worried sick. And that set him off crying too – he was always sensitive y'see, just like he is now. That's why he got upset and smacked you when you gave him a fright, because it scares him bad. Just like he scared her. And he said he was sorry and he wouldn't do it again and she hugged him tight and said good, and then she gave him a good belt and dragged him out of the stable and pointed at all the bits of wood lying around and said if he ever did it again she'd put him over her knee right in the middle of the yard and tan his hide with the biggest bit of wood she could find."

"And did he do it again?" Rosie asked, an amused note in her voice that suggested she knew the answer fine well.

Tommy bit his tongue to keep from answering her himself.

"He did indeed, the devilment won over the common sense that time. Not like you Lily, because you'll remember you stay where you're told to stay when there's horses about, won't you?" Charlie asked.

"Yes, Uncle Charlie," she mumbled.

"Good girl," he replied, "Not like silly old Tommy over there."

"Silly young Tommy," Tommy called over his shoulder, "Old Tommy uses his brains."

Rosie snorted derisively, but she didn't say anything.

"Well silly young Tommy then," Charlie said to Lily, "Who didn't use his brains, he did it again. And when I saw him in the stable I thought of making myself scarce, because I didn't fancy being around for it – but I hoped maybe this time he'd remembered to tell his mother where he was off too. Knew I was wrong as soon as I saw her marching towards me across the yard. I nodded to the stable and she grimaced at me and said 'Get me a stool, Charlie and a bit of wood big enough he can feel it and small enough I can hold it.' I half thought of trying to talk her out of it, but Tommy's mother was a strong woman – three of you at that time, right?" he called over to Tommy.

He turned around, to confirm, "Yup, that was when I was seven or just turned eight, John'd have been about three, maybe four, then. Ada wasn't born till I was twelve."

He stayed turned around then, and hung the brush back up, but he leant against the wall, watching from a distance as Charlie finished the story, his eyes on Lily.

"So - she had three kids at this point, three boys, and you know boys are worse than girls, right?" Charlie said to the child, who nodded solemnly in response.

He smiled slightly at the seriousness of the child, who really could know nothing of the sort, and chanced a glance at her sister. Rosie must have felt his eyes on her because she met them. Her arms were still crossed, but he got the ghost of a half smile.

"And women are much stronger willed than men, so I didn't think I had a chance of convincing her not to tan him in the middle of the yard like she had promised, so I just got her what she asked for."

"Traitor," Tommy grinned at his uncle.

"I'd be traitor to you before I'd be traitor to your mother, she'd of had my head off quicker," Charlie answered with a smile, then looked back to Lily, "Anyway she puts that stool down so she's sitting facing the stable and she's the first thing he sees when he comes to and opens the door, and when he does and he realises exactly what's about to happen his face falls like something out the pictures. And I see him looking around, thinking he can make a run for it, but she just looks at him, points at a spot in front of her and says 'here, now' in a tone that sent shivers down my spine. And he did what he was told but did it so slowly – you've never seen him move so slowly. And she asks him if he remembers what she told him last time he came and slept here without telling her where he was going, and he nods, all slow like because he knows he's sealing his fate, and she says 'Right then, let's get it done,' and puts him over her knee and sets about giving him the spanking of his young life."

Lily's eyes were round and fixed on Tommy, who nodded and said, "Didn't eat my dinner sitting down for a long time after that."

"Did she hit you with the wood?" Lily asked.

"She did – made me go collect it from him too," Tommy relied, rolling his eyes, "Let me up at what I was stupid enough to think was the end and told me to go ask my Uncle Charlie for the bloody thing. He'd busied himself on the other side of the yard by this point-"

"Hurt my heart to hear you crying out Tommy."

"Yeah, well, I didn't do it again after that, did I? Didn't put my mother through hell wondering where I'd gone to. I brought her back the bloody bit of wood and she's standing up at this point - she yanks down everything I had on below the waist, takes the thing off of me, bends me over and holds me there under her arm all in about three seconds before I could even realise it. Next thing I'm pinned there so I can't move, and she blisters my bare arse for the viewing pleasure of anyone who was in the vicinity. Can't say I blame her looking back but I didn't care for it much at the time."

"Bloody hell!" Lily exclaimed, sounding exactly like Arthur.

"Lily!" Rosie admonished as Tommy snorted.

Charlie tapped her mouth with his finger and said, "Don't you be using their words – you find better words. And don't let your Aunt Polly hear you repeating their words if you're going to, or you'll find yourself getting your mouth washed out with soap."

"And I can also confirm I didn't care for that much either when it happened to me," Tommy said, deciding then to cross the distance back over, though he came to stand nearer Rosie, still giving Lily her space in Charlie's arms.

"Were you a bad boy Tommy?" Lily asked.

"Sometimes," he replied with a smile.

"Ah he wasn't any worse than any other boys from round here," Charlie told her, "In fact sometimes he could be quite a sweet child, do you know-"

Tommy tuned his Uncle out as he began to have his praises sung.

"So," he muttered to the redhead, who turned from listening to Charlie and raised an eyebrow in response, "Have I been sufficiently punished now that we've relived one of the most embarrassing moments of my life?"

"Hmmm," she replied, "I'll think about it."

He rolled his eyes skywards, "Heaven help me."

"Heaven doesn't want anything to do with you Thomas Shelby," she replied smartly.

He closed the small gap between them and ran his fingers along her ribs, where she was ticklish, and she laughed in spite of herself and elbowed him, "Geroff me."

He placed a hand on her lower back then, a still hand, and pressed a kiss to her hair, desperate for the non-physical gap between them to be closed too. She froze against his touch, but he presumed it was from shock. His hand she was probably becoming accustomed to, but he hadn't pressed his lips to her since that night in January when he'd given her his promise.

"Right, Lily, do you want to come meet the horse – safely this time?" he said to the child, interrupting whatever story Charlie was telling her.

She looked at him, then looked back at Charlie, her arms still around his neck and said, "Hmmm."

Tommy bit his lip to keep from laughing at said to Rosie, "Now that's you she's picked that up from. Bloody hmm. Very rude."

She snorted, "As opposed to what you do when you just entirely ignore anything that gets asked that you don't want to answer, as though no one spoke in the first place?"

"You are very rude sometimes Tommy, Aunt Polly said so," Lily piped up suddenly.

"Did she indeed?" Tommy replied, "All these strong-willed women and their opinions, eh Charlie?"

"Don't drag me into it, Tommy, I'm still more scared of them than I am of you."

"That's because you've got a good brain in your head Charlie. Maybe you should take the lead from one of those strong-willed women, Lily, give Tommy a good smack next time you see him being rude," Rosie suggested, a wicked smile on her face. She caught Tommy's eyes, "Seems fair, doesn't it?" she asked, flicking her eyebrows.

He shook his head incredulously at her, running his tongue over his lower lip to stop from laughing.

"Can I Tommy?" Lily asked.

He looked from the older sister to the younger, who was smiling suddenly and sitting up straighter in his uncle's arms. Well, if that final sacrifice of his dignity was what it was going to take.

"Fine, but you get one smack and once you spend it it's gone forever, so you think carefully about when you want to use it," he told her, raising an eyebrow. She smiled, and he decided to push his luck and hold out his arms to her, "So, do you want to come meet the horse now?"

She acquiesced this time and Charlie passed her over, and he carried her over to the stallion. Rosie followed behind them but stayed clear of the horse and learnt up against the wall. She didn't seem keen on the animal in the slightest.

"Now you can touch him but be very careful," he said, stroking the horses nose to show Lily the right action, and she reached out and copied him, "Good girl, now - don't go any further down than this or you get too near his mouth and he's got big teeth."

"Would he bite me?" she asked, seemingly surprised at the idea.

"If he thought you were going to hurt him. Or if he thought you would taste good, maybe I'll have a nibble and I can tell him if you don't," Tommy said, pressing a kiss to her cheek and pretending he was going to bite.

She giggled and pulled her face away.

"Nah, not so good after all. But then what tastes good to him and what tastes good to me mightn't be the same thing, so you still keep away from those teeth," he reported back to her, then moved slowly round.

"You see his eyes, you make sure to avoid them too – you wouldn't like it if someone came along and poked you in the eye, would you?"

"No," she replied, shaking her head and reaching out to stroke the horse again, carefully avoiding the eyes and running her fingers down his neck.

"Now, Lily, I want you to have a think and tell me if you understand something, okay?" he pressed on as she stroked the horse.

"What?" she asked him, not looking away from the animal.

"You look at his eyes eh?" he pointed with his free hand that wasn't wrapped around her at the eyes in question, "You see how high up they are. You can see that his eyes are taller than me, right?"

"Yes Tommy."

"So you know sometimes when you step on a spider or a bug, or even in a puddle because you don't see it?"

"Yeah?"

"That's why he might step on you – because he's so tall and you're so small to him that he wouldn't see you. He doesn't mean to hurt you, but he doesn't realise you're there. That's why you need to stay where I tell you when we're around horses, alright?"

"Yes Tommy."

"That's why I got such a fright when you ran forward, I thought you might end up under his big hoofs. Take a look down at them, eh Lily?" He stepped back so he could point down to them, "And they've got heavy metal shoes on them too. I wasn't exaggerating when I said that could get you killed, or you could end up in hospital with broken bones. Horses are lovely animals, but they're dangerous. And I would be heartsore if anything happened to you, Lily - we all would be. You're everybody's favourite, so you're very important to us. Do you understand?"

She began to cry again then, soft little wails and he worried he might have gone too far.

"Hey, hey, Lily, it's okay," he murmured, wiping away the tears that were starting to fall, "I'm not trying to make you cry, I'm just trying to make you understand why you need to do as you're told."

"I'm – I'm sorry I g-gave you a f-fright Tommy," she blubbered.

"I know, I know you are," he said, keeping his voice soft and bouncing her slightly on his hip, "And it's okay because you've been punished. I'm sorry if I gave you a fright when I came down on you Lily, but I'm not sorry I gave you those smacks – Charlie's right, it was a little hurt now to make you listen and do as you're told so you didn't get a bigger hurt from the horse, eh?"

She nodded.

"Good girl," he said, kissing her cheek again, "And you don't need to cry or be sorry, because I know you're sorry and you've been smacked for it, so it's done, and we move on, eh? That was the deal between us. Same as all the other kids. Same as when I got my smacks for sleeping out without telling my mother where I was going and worrying her sick, I was forgiven - and it was fine until I was stupid enough to go doing it again and then I was thrashed for making the same mistake twice. But you're much more clever than I was back then, so you won't do that, will you?"

She shook her head.

"Good. That's very good. And that's why you're my favourite girl, Lily, cause you're clever and-"

"I'm your best girl," she cut across him, sniffing, "Rosie's your favourite girl, Aunt Polly says so."

"Lily!" Rosie cut in sharply.

"Aunt Polly says so does she?" he repeated back to the child, ignoring her sister's protest.

"Uh-huh," Lily said, nodding.

"Well, Polly is never wrong about matters of the heart," he conceded to her, "Rosie might be my favourite grown up girl. But you're my favourite little girl as well as my best girl."

She smiled at that, clearly pleased at the accolade.

He glanced over at Rosie, who was standing with her face entirely impassive, wondering if she'd say anything. But, of course, she didn't.

He did notice, however, that when they were sitting to dinner that night, he got a rather large helping of the Victoria sponge she baked when they went home that afternoon – though she did insist it was being baked only because Lily was so disappointed that the tea rooms didn't open on Sundays and was absolutely not being baked because she knew he liked it.

As always thank you so much for reading along and taking the time to review or message me - I massively appreciate it!