Canary - Thomas Shelby

chapter 20

"Polly, look what's happened already. We haven't even set foot in London yet and they've already blown up our fucking pub" John continued.

"Who said anything about cockneys?" Elena challenged. She knew it was really the IRA who bombed the Garrison and while she wasn't willing to spill that information she wasn't going to sit back and let false accusations fly.

"Who else?" Esme chimed in from the stairs.

"I don't know, any of our other enemies?" Elena responded back staring Esme in the eyes. The girls weren't exactly close and often butted heads just as John and Tommy did.

"Do you know who did it, do you?" Polly interrupted trying to cool the tension

"No, she doesn't know who did it" John answered for Esme. At that exact moment, Tommy decided to walk in and his eyes went straight to Elena as if sensing the tension in the room. She shot him a quick wink that lit up his eyes in a way that only Elena could notice.

"I'm told only family are allowed to speak," Esme said quietly from the stairs. Elena was going to have a sharp discussion with John if that is what he had told Esme.

"Everyone's allowed to speak. On your feet, Esme, let's hear what you have to say.

"I speak for our household" John interrupted before Esme could start talking.

"For christ's sake," Elena said under her breath rolling her eyes at John's antics.

"John, this company is a modern enterprise and believes in equal rights for women" Tommy added in and Elena's heart swelled. Tommy had grown a lot in the last two years for him to say that.

"On your feet, Esme" Elena added in encouragement earning herself a glare from John.

"I'm not a blood member of this family but perhaps, indeed, because I'm not a member I can see things in a different light. So I'll get to my point" Esme said standing up and looking at the assembled group

"That would be nice," Polly said slyly and Elena had to clench her teeth to prevent a laugh from coming out.

"As my husband said, Shelby Company Limited is now very successful. But London... I have kin in Shepherd's Bush and Portobello. It's more like wars between armies down there. And the coppers fight side-by-side with them. And there are foreigners of every description and the use of bombs is the least of it. I have a child, blessed with the Shelby family good looks. I want John to see him grow up. I want us to someday live somewhere with fresh air and trees and keep chickens or something" Esme said and Elena could sympathize with the sentiments. All she wanted was for everyone's safety but as long as Sabini remained in power they were inherently unsafe. The only way for the Peaky Blinders to have true peace would be to take Sabini out.

"But London is just smoke and trouble, Thomas. And I understand that Elena's father is down there but the revenge it's not worth the destruction" Esme finished meeting Elena's eyes at the end. Esme clearly faulted Elena for the talks of London expansion.

"That was a lot of words, a lot of words. Wash them down with a nice drink" Arthur said breaking the stare-down between Elena and Esme as he handed over another drink to Elena. She gave Arthur a thankful smile before downing it. She was going to need several more drinks before she was ready to talk about her father.

"Firstly, the bang in the pub had nothing to do with London. Understood? The bang is something I'm dealing with on my own. Secondly, we've nothing to fear from the proposed business expansion so long as we stick together. And after the first few weeks, nine-tenths of what we do in London will be legal. The other tenth is in good hands. Isn't that right, Arthur?" Tommy said in response.