Marguerite - A Thomas Shelby story

Chapter 19

The coat he had, his holster and his cap were all gone, stolen. Almost all his possessions were stripped from him when he'd been interrogated. He'd managed to make his escape without the help of a firearm; he left a pretty picture of crushed skulls and broken limbs but it was soon his turn to be turned to dog food as some reinforcements were now tracking him. Billy Kimber's men were relentless, sweating and grunting like raging pigs fuelled by the promise of money, but under the façade of a proud soldier, each man was merely low-class scum who'd sold their mortal souls to the highest bidder. 

Not that Thomas cared anyhow. He needed his knife, and was beginning to lose his cool as he still hadn't found it. It was no use now, they were closing in, so he needed to think of something, and fast. He crawled along the wall, and found himself in a tight alleyway. It was muddy and putrid, but made for good cover. He was in fact in a small passage behind a row of houses. If he kept crawling, he'd make it to the back of his house, but he'd have to be smart and fast, for it wouldn't take long for Kimber's men to catch up. 

He knew what to do, he'd hide in a garden up ahead, and when Kimber's men would split up, he'd take one of the men out silently, with a brick. At least he'd be armed. And then he'd sprint like a madman back home. 

He waited for five minutes and then heard a shout;

"Shit, we've lost him boys. Spread out and find the bastard. Billy wants him dead or alive, so don't waste your time. Now go!" 

The raucous voice rang out through the small alleyway as several heavy steps rushed in different direction, one headed straight for Tommy. 

Three...

Two...

He slid out of his hiding place behind a garden gate and slammed the brick with all the strength he had against the man's head. He heard a grotesque thud. The man lay with a bloody nose and an obliterated forehead and Tommy grabbed the gun and dashed down the path to his house. 

The rest of the bastards would face the wrath of the full Shelby family if they dared show up to the house. 

He burst in through the backdoor with so much force that he almost shattered the glass. The rest of the family leaped to their feet, guns in hand, ready to shoot the intruder, but seeing it was Tommy, they rushed to him. 

"Tommy, what the fuck happened?" yelled John, sending Finn up to his room.

With one swift look, Polly understood that Kimber's men would soon have the house surrounded. 

"They're all out there," she stated, lifting her brow at the furious brother, "Get ready for a fight."

"They want conflict, we'll give it to 'em," roared Arthur, who'd clearly been drinking. 

They grabbed as many ammunitions as they could from the stash, hand grenades and the lot. 

Tommy began shouting orders about the house. 

"I want Ada and Finn  to stay upstairs with someone! Pol you should-"

"Don't tell me what to bloody do, Tommy. If they're about to shoot up this house, I'm giving 'em hell back," answered Polly in a rough tone, more at Kimber's men than Tommy. 

John rushed upstairs to guard Ada Shelby, his sister and Finn, his little brother, the youngest. Finn was just a kid, he had much to live for, and John wasn't about to let a feud between The Blinders and Kimber take that away from him. 

From the upstairs bedroom, he had a perfect view of Billy Kimber's men arriving in two monstrous carriages, of a glossy black. 

"We'll send them back to Kimber in those carriages in a sorry state," he mumbled angrily.