"Alright, John, there's only one man guarding the house. What's troubling you?" Tommy asks, as the eldest four siblings and their aunt settle down in the snug.
"Polly," John says, looking to his aunt, "you know what it's been like since Martha died."
"God takes the best first." Polly replies, placing her hand over his.
"Truth is, my kids have been running bloody rings around me. Running barefoot with the dogs until all hours." John admits, fiddling with his cap which rested on the table.
"Pol, give him ten bob for some shoes. Is that it, John?" Tommy states.
"Tommy, maybe we'd be better off doing this without you," Polly warns, and he sighs, chucking his packet of matches on the windowsill by where he stood.
"What's your point, John?" Kezia asks.
"What the kids need is a mother. So that's why I'm getting married." John tells them.
"Does this poor girl know you're going to marry her?" Polly questions, "or are you going to spring it on her all of a sudden?"
"I've already proposed and she...she said yes." John answers.
"I think there's a shell about to land and go bang." Tommy states, lighting his cigarette.
"I-it's Lizzie Stark." John says, taking a sip from his beer as his family start laughing.
"Are- are you being serious?" Kezia questions, through her fits of laughter, as Arthur falls forward cackling, pounding his fist against the leather of the chair.
"Course I'm being bloody serious," John glares
"John, Lizzie is a strong woman and I'm sure she provides a fine service for her customers-" Polly starts but is interrupted by her nephew, "I won't hear that word. Understand? Do not use that word."
"What word is that, John?" Tommy sighs.
"You know what word that is." John replies.
"Everybody bloody knows." Arthur chuckles.
"Well, everybody can go to hell." John states.
"You've had some seriously stupid ideas, but I think this wins top spot," Kezia shrugs, "she's a prostitute, John."
"I don't think that's the right word," Tommy tuts, glancing at his younger brother, "she's a whore."
"Right, I want it known. If anyone calls her a whore again, I will push the barrel of my revolver down their throats, and blow the word back down into their hearts." John threatens.
"Men and their cocks never cease to amaze me. John, Lizzie Stark never did a days work vertical." Polly says.
"She's changed .All right." John exclaims, banging his hand on the table, and standing up, "people change... l-like with religion."
"Lizzie Stark has got religion, eh?" Tommy replies.
"No. No, she doesn't have religion. But- but she loves me." John insists, before turning to his elder brother, "now listen, Tommy. I won't do it without your blessing. But of all the people in the world, I want you to see it as... to see it as brave."
"Oh it's brave alright." Arthur comments.
"Brave is going where no man has gone before. And with Lizzie Stark, John that is really not what you'll be doing." Polly adds, snickering along with Arthur and Kez.
"Please, welcome her to the family. As someone who's had a hard life. Alright? Because I need someone. The kids need someone." John pleads with Tommy.
"But does it have to be a prostitute?" Kezia asks
"Shut up, Kez. Just please understand, me and the kids, we need someone." John begs, his imploring being disrupted by the youngest Shelby who opened the door, "Tommy! Kez! We've been done over!"
"Scud and Bea, they're at the house, they told me to come and get you," Finn explains.
"Bea? What the fuck is Bea doing there?" Kezia asks.
"She was looking for Polly," Finn responds, as the family rush out of the pub.
-
"What the bloody hell happened here?" Arthur asks, pulling up a chair for Scudboat to sit on, as Kez makes her way through the scattered furniture to get to Bea who was frozen in the corner of the other side of the room, her head turned down towards the floor.
"The Lees. All of them, cousins, nephews, even their bastards," Scudboat answers, as Kez finally reaches Beatrice.
"Bea," Kez says, noticing blood dripping to the floor.
"Bea, it's me, look at me," Kezia whispers, Bea keeps her head bowed, shaking it.
Kez reaches for a chair, before Tommy yells at her to stop, "don't touch anything!" He warns.
"Tom, she needs to sit down," Kezia states, staring at the wire cutters in Tommys hands.
"Why would they leave wire cutters?" Polly questions.
"Nobody move," Arthur warns.
"What are you boys on about?" Polly says, walking around picking up cash boxes, "Pol, don't touch anything," John states, stopping her.
"Erasmus Lee was in France, whenever we gave up ground to the Germans, we'd leave behind booby traps, set up with wires, and we'd leave wire cutters as part of the joke," Tommy explains.
"Somewhere in here there's a hand grenade," John says, "it'll be attached to a wire."
"Bea? Did you see anything?" Kezia asks, and Bea shakes her head once more.
"Tom, whatever they've done, they haven't done it here," Kezia states.
"Why not? You can't be sure of that," John says.
"It was Tommys name on the fucking bullet, whatever they've done, it'll be aimed for him, and him alone, Bea was here, she would've noticed if they'd set something up," Kezia responds, "and where did Finn go? He was following us down the lane."
"He likes playing in the car when he's stressed, pretends he's driving," Polly replies.
"The car? The one that literally only Tommy drives?" Kezia points out.
"Shit," Tommy says, dropping the wire cutters, and running out of the door.
Kezia finally grabs the chair she was reaching for, placing it beside Bea, "sit down."
"Pol, get me a rag, and a bottle of vodka, will you?" Kezia says.
"I'm not going to look at you," Bea whispers.
"Why not?" Kezia asks, "I've got to clean your face up."
"You won't like what you see," Bea states, as Polly walks over with a rag and a bottle of vodka, placing it on a nearby table before comfortingly massaging Beatrice's shoulders.
"Pol, clear them out, please? We need a little privacy," Kezia says, crouching in front of Bea, glancing over her shoulder, watching her aunt usher the men out of the room.
"Bea, someone's got to clean this up, if you don't want it to be me, I can understand, I'll get someone else to do it, but you've got to tell me what happened," Kezia says.
"Nobody else, don't get anybody else," Beatrice mumbles.
"Then you're going to have to look at me," Kezia states, "and you know you're going to have to tell me, so why don't we get it over with, eh?"
"You're not going to like what you see, and you're not going to like what you hear," Beatrice says.
"I'm not liking any of this, Bea," Kezia scoffs, "but I'll make it as easy for you as I possibly can. Please just look at me."
Beatrice slowly lifts her head, the blood had been dripping from her nose, her lip was split, she had a gash on her cheek and bruising was beginning to form around her left eye.
Kez reaches for the bottle and rag, "still the prettiest woman I'll ever lay eyes on."
Bea laughs softly as Kez douses the rag, "I'm a mess, Kez, we both know it."
There was silence between them as Kez lifts the rag to Bea's cheek, softly rubbing away the blood that had trickled down her face, before moving onto the cutely which Bea hisses at in pain.
"I'm sorry," Kez speaks quietly, continuing to sanitise the cut, then refolding the rag so she had a clean corner to begin wiping at Bea's lip, she hesitates slightly on her final stroke.
"What happened to you, Bea?" Kezia asks.
"You're already at war with the Lees, if you react it'll only make it more dangerous," Beatrice responds.
"Oh, we could end this war in an afternoon, Tommy told me to wait it out, even as a boy he liked to play with his food," Kezia chuckles, "tell me, I'll behave myself if you ask me to, you know I will. But if you'd rather I didn't behave, all you have to do is say."
"There was a dozen of them, I was just talking to Scud, waiting for Polly to come back," Beatrice says, "I was leaning against the doorway though, I wasn't in their direct view, they hit Scud round the head with the back end of a rifle, and then they saw me."
"One of them took a liking to me, I guess? Said the Shelby's would feel worse if one of their playthings got taken. I should have stayed quiet, I just stated that I wasn't a 'plaything' and then he said that I should have no problem going with them then, he tried to grab me, I didn't want to go with him, I pulled back and banged my head on the door frame, told him to fuck himself, that must've struck a nerve as the next thing I know he's cornering me over here, shaking his fist in my face. I should have stopped talking. I shouldn't have opened my mouth. But I mocked him, said his mother must be proud, and so he hit me, and then he hit me again, and then again, and then a fourth time before one of the others dragged him away," Beatrice explains, "I should have stayed quiet. I was taught to stay quiet."
"Yeah, well, he should be shot, and so should the bible bashers you call your parents," Kezia mutters under her breath.
"This wouldn't have happened if I would have listened to those 'bible bashers' and not talked back," Beatrice remarks.
"Right, that's the issue, the talking back?" Kezia scoffs, "Bea, you had every right to tell him to fuck off, to mock him, he doesn't have the right to raise a hand to you."
"You mean I had every right to tell him how I actually feel," Beatrice states.
"You're talking back right now," Kezia points out.
"That's because you'd never raise a hand to me," Beatrice says.
"Exactly, and neither should anybody else," Kezia states, glancing up at her, before standing brushing herself off and placing the bloody rag and bottle of vodka back on a nearby table.
"You seem to have a problem with everything in the world," Beatrice says, "whether it's a human or a deity."
"Don't give me that bullshit, you threw away your bibles the second-" Kez stops herself from mentioning the death of Bea's parents, "so Bea, do you want me to behave myself or not?"
"Surely it's Tommy you should be asking, after all, this is business isn't it?" Bea remarks.
Kez shrugs, "I couldn't give a fuck what Tommy tells me to do. I couldn't give a fuck if I had to go after the King of England if he laid a hand on you. So tell me, Beatrice, am I behaving myself or not?"
"Why do you even care?" Bea asks.
"Because the last time I killed a man who touched you, you threw a fit, I don't like arguing with you," Kezia replies.
"Do whatever you want, Kez, I don't care," Beatrice says, "just... don't get yourself arrested."
"Right," Kez nods.
"So are you going to behave yourself or not?" Beatrice asks.
"Ahh, but I thought you didn't care," Kezia replies.
"What are you going to do?" Beatrice questions, folding her arms over her chest.
"Avoid getting caught," Kezia answers.
"Good, that's good," Beatrice nods.
"Glad you think so," Kezia responds, "I can go get Polly if you still want to talk to her?"
"That would be helpful, thank you," Beatrice says, watching as Kezia bows her head slightly before turning on her heel, walking towards the doors, she could hear muffled voices before Polly appeared at the door.