Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

71.

 
Days passed quickly, each one busier than the last as word came from Scotland that Aberama Gold had not only broken out of hospital with Polly’s help but that he had attacked members of the Billy Boys. Tommy sent Arthur, Finn, Niall and Johnny Dogs after him, to bring him back and force him to listen to their plan. Ailbhe had been trying to do it all, do Jade’s work and her own, cover for Finn with the betting shop all while trying to keep Tommy sane since his right-hand men were missing. Liam and her worked long hours, sometimes going hours without saying a word while they sorted accounts and contracts. Sometimes Ailbhe could give Tom advice and sometimes all she could do was nod and pass him a lighter. But she did it without questioning him.
 
That particular morning, Jimmy McCavern was coming to Birmingham, arriving on the cut into Charlie’s Yard where he would be greeted by the Peaky Blinders, what appeared to be them anyway. McCavern could make out Thomas Shelby, knowing him when he saw him, all straight lines and square jaw. But he didn’t recognise the young woman with him. She was too young to be Elizabeth Shelby, his wife yet the way Tommy stood beside her, a little in front of her as if to protect her let McCavern know she was family.
 
“Mr Shelby, my bullets ache to get inside your tinker head” He called out in his thick Scottish accent as they approached and he recognised the young woman. Ailbhe Kennedy.
 
Mosley and all of the rumours in England had warned him about her.
 
Ailbhe braced herself as he started singing, the Billy Boys anthem he used to surely try and get under her skin.
 
“Up to our knees in Fenian blood. Surrender or you’ll die. We are the Brigton Derry Billy boys”
 
It was the song Jade had told them they sang as they came to kill Bonnie. It made Ailbhe shiver, trying not to think about how afraid he must have been, trying not to think about how many other Irish men and women the Billy Boys were proud to have killed.
 
He fired his gun into the air, as if to accompany his singing before he pointed it directly at Tommy’s chest. But Tommy didn’t even flinch.
 
He hopped off the boat, stowing his gun and holding the white flag Mosley had made sure he had. They were now allies and they would have to act like it, no matter how much it displeased them.
 
“You know, it’s a pity. I was looking forward to killing you” McCavern told them, as if it was just another day in the life. Of course, for them it was.
 
“All of you” He nodded at Ailbhe, a sick and twisted smile on his lips.
 
He wasn’t like Mosley. Jimmy McCavern was a bad man, a sick and twisted man who loved violence and didn’t care what he had to do to fill that thirst for blood and power. Pairing up with Mosley was good sense, giving him power and influence. Ailbhe knew he was a simple man, not complex like Mosley.
 
Tommy had brought Ailbhe, wanting her to see McCavern for herself, get an opinion of him so she could advise them going forward but he had also warned her to say as little as possible. Anything she said or gave away could be used against her.
 
“You’re at the back of a long queue” Tommy replied, not missing a beat nor looking any bit bothered.
 
“My white flag is a flag of truce, yours is more of a flag of surrender. Is it not?” He taunted them, knowing the Billy Boys were ahead after the murder of Bonnie Gold.
 
The revenge missions Aberama Gold had been carrying out were halted when Arthur, Niall and Finn arrived, convincing him to listen to Tommy’s plan and come back to England.
 
“Whatever you say, Mr McCavern” Tommy replied, not even looking at him “The colour is the same, the outcome is the same. I believe we have friends in common. We should postpone our war”
 
These so-called friends were no friends of theirs but Ailbhe knew Tommy had plans for Mosley. But as usual they were playing the long game.
 
“Your brothers left me a hand grenade” McCavern stated, clearly not impressed with the set-up Arthur and Finn had left for him in Scotland with every intention of killing him.
 
“He sends his apologies” Tommy promised, tilting his head “You left me and my family land mines.”
 
McCavern looked at Ailbhe, caught for a moment staring at her as she looked at him with folded arms and narrowed eyes. The rumours were true. She was very pretty, in an almost tempting way but was clearly Tommy Shelby’s war dog, just like her man Finn Shelby was.
 
“For which I too apologise!” He shrugged, looking at Ailbhe sympathetically.
 
She just glared at him.
 
“Then peace it is” Tommy replied lowly, wanting nothing more than to put a bullet in McCavern’s head just like Ailbhe wanted to use Tommy’s hat to take his eyes but they had to keep calm, play the long game.
 
“Your message said you wanted to seal our truce with some business” McCavern added, nodding his head towards Ailbhe and looking her up and down “Does this business include the little lady being a gift in our truce?”
 
Ailbhe felt her temper flare, glad that Finn wasn’t here because she wasn’t so sure he could be stopped in taking McCavern’s eyes and putting him to the bottom of the cut behind them. Tommy gripped his hands tighter in front of his body, his own temper rising at McCavern’s audacity. But he took a deep breath and carried on.
 
“Since we’re men of similar interests and distribution networks, I thought we might use our temporary settlement for our mutual benefit”
 
It was all a part of the plan they had worked out. It would be a part of Mosley’s downfall constructed by Thomas Shelby and his family.
 
“You stand in a yard full of scrap metal and stolen goods, beside a young lass who’s nothing more than a Fenian tinker’s daughter and you talk like a politician”
 
Ailbhe tried to count to ten, to remind herself that McCavern was in a truce with her family and that putting a bullet into his knee would almost certainly violate that truce.
 
“No, nothing here is stolen Mr McCavern. Charlie simply finds things before they’re lost” Tommy replied, keeping his voice steady and solid and yet Ailbhe knew his patience was wearing thin, his fuse shorter.
 
“And this here is my sister, assistant treasurer to Shelby Company Ltd and the youngest member on any board of directors in this country” Tommy told him, holding his hand out to where Ailbhe stood, still trying to count to ten and remember Tommy’s warning.
 
“The nature of my deal is explained in my proposal” Tommy told him, pulling out the proposal he and Ailbhe had drawn up.
 
“We’ve booked you a suite at the Midland hotel Mr McCavern. If you should need anything in this city, just mention our names”
 
Ailbhe spoke up, letting McCavern hear her voice for the first time and making sure she didn’t sound as though she was about to blow a gasket. She didn’t like the way McCavern looked at her but it was easy to read. He hated her and still imagined what it would be like to fuck her. Men were usually very easy to read.
 
“You’re a long way from home aren’t ya?” he mocked, hearing Ailbhe’s accent, knowing she had started off in this life with a lot less.
 
“We heard Thomas Shelby had a pack of Irish hounds doing his bidding.” He commented, letting them know that he had done his research.
 
Ailbhe simply glared back at him. The Shelby’s didn’t have the Kennedy’s to do their bidding, they were family.
 
“So, you want to impress me Mr Shelby?” McCavern taunted, raising an eyebrow at him.
 
Ailbhe looked at Tommy, both of them sick of McCavern and wanted to put an end to the meeting.
 
“Isiah! Liam!” Tommy shouted, raising his hand up to the hill across the cut where Isiah was stood, rifle in one hand and cigarette in the other. And then Tommy gestured to the other end of the cut, above the roof of one of Charlie’s shed where Liam stood, a rifle just like Isiah’s in his arms.
 
Isiah was just one of the many people in Small Heath who longed to put a bullet in McCavern’s head and therefore he hoped that he would violate the truce in front of him and give him that honour. Liam just didn’t like him, didn’t like what he stood for nor what he had done to Irish people in his own parts. It was reason enough for him.
 
“Also in the envelope is a cheque for five hundred pounds. She can use it to buy a black dress, rent a black horse with black feathers to pull a black carriage with your body in it, should you break the terms of the white flag”
 
Tommy warned him, hoping that McCavern would be stupid enough to try.
 
Ailbhe saw it. That flash of fear in his eyes that he was right to have. The Peaky Blinders didn’t mince their words and they would be only delighted to see Jimmy McCavern’s wife wearing a black dress just like Jade and Ailhbe did for Bonnie.
 
“Now please, enjoy the city it’s my honour to represent” Tommy told him, turning his back and leaving Ailbhe behind for a moment longer.
 
She saw McCavern eye Isiah carefully, recognising his face and knowing that the screaming woman who had fought against them when they shot Bonnie Gold was his sister. And that meant that Isiah would only love to be the one to send McCavern to hell.
 
Turning on her heel she followed Tommy, catching up to him quickly and falling into step beside him.
 
“He’s just Mosley’s muscle. He’s not the brains behind any of it, is he Tom? He's not as dangerous” She had deduced, reading between the lines and spaces of their conversations and what she had learnt in the last week.
 
“He’s still dangerous Alv... maybe more so than we thought” He nodded, lighting a cigarette and offering her one. She shook her head, keeping in step beside him as they made their way back towards the streets.
 
“Arthur, Niall and Finn should be back by now. Finn's in the betting shop” Tommy told her, grinding to a halt at the top of the street.

Ailbhe felt her heart do a little flutter. Finally, he was home. She had been worried about him, not having wanted him to go in the first place but Tommy's orders were final and Finn had wanted to go. Finn had wanted Aberama back before he made things worse. The time would come to avenge Bonnie's death and they would do it properly, not letting them get away with killing their friend, killing a young man who had a future brighter than any of theirs.
 
“Arthur should be with him. I have meetings in The Garrison so tell Arthur come meet me and you have to come too.”
 
He told her, not wanting to go and hear all the complaints of Small Heath but it was business as usual apart from the war with the Billy Boys.
 
“Why do I have to come?” She whined, wanting to go back to the nice quiet office where there were already piles of work waiting for her. She also hoped to spend her lunch break and some time with Finn, having missed him.
 
“Ada says its good politics to have women in the meetings” He told her, not wanting all her questions but she rarely took orders without one.
 
Ailbhe rolled her eyes at him, turning in the direction of the betting shop.
 
“Thomas Shelby OBE, the suffragette and protector of women’s rights” She mocked him, calling it out over her shoulder loudly.
 
If she didn’t know any better, she’d say he almost laughed.