After having enough of water with her whiskey, Sarah decided to go and find her brothers outside and drink it neat, they were easy to find given the sound of gunshots coming from the grounds. Sarah smirked as she crept up on them.
"What's going on?!" Sarah said in Polly's voice, startling the men.
"Jesus! Don't fuckin do that when the child is holding the gun!" Arthur yelled, nearly dropping his glass, which made Sarah laugh as she came and stood next to John, who was watching Michael.
"All right, now cock it with your thumb. There you go. Now she's been cocked. She's alive in your hand-"
John started howling loudly in her ear as Sarah pushed him and snatched the bottle of whiskey out of his hand, ignoring the burn as she took a large sip and listened to Arthur continue
"-It's like waking up a girl when you cock that trigger. She rolls over all sleepy-eyed, and she goes, '-Michael. Michael."
Sarah shook her head in amusement as she watched John and Arthur hysterically laughing. Someone needed to cut them off soon
"What are you gonna make me do, Michael?" John joined in.
"You boys are fucking crazy men," Michael shouted with a smile.
Sarah smirked and came to stand next to Michael as she whispered in his ear. "Yeah, but you feel it, though, right?" She teased.
"Yeah." He nodded as he held the Gun tight, his finger hovering over the trigger as Arthur egged him on
"You feel it. Yeah, you can feel the power. Now, squeeze it."
Sarah went back to John's side and leant back on the fence, she didn't even flinch when the gun went off.
"Powerful. Fucking useless." John snorted when Michael missed.
"Piss off, John." He hissed
"Michael, why does a pen pusher who sits on his arse all day wanna fire a gun Hmm? Eh? Cock it again." Arthur stumbled as he topped up his and Sarah's drinks.
"Cock it again. Round two." John slurred.
Sarah narrowed her eyes as she saw a dark look in Michael's eyes whilst he cocked the gun.
"Mmm. Look at that fucking face, John boy. Look at that face." Arthur teased as John imitated Michael's expression, however Sarah stayed quiet as she became wary of Michael's expression, finding it daunting instead of comical.
Arthur circled his cousin trying to wind him up, "Now he feels it. But you won't feel nothing until you point that thing on a man. So do it."
"Arthur-" Sarah went to stop him from winding Michael up further but went quiet as Michael aimed the gun at John, locking his eyes on his cousin.
"There you go, young boss. There you go. Now you feel it. Now you feel what we feel. This is what it's like."
"Michael, that's a Webley. Jumps on the hammer." John spoke calmly, much calmer than Sarah would have if the gun was pressed against her forehead. She shot Arthur a look as he continued, clearly he wasn't quite understanding the severity of the situation, but he was too drunk to pick up on her look.
"How does it feel, Michael, huh? Better than having a pen in your hand, isn't it-"
Sarah shifted slightly so that she was almost between John and Michael, who glanced at her and slowly started to lower his gun. John scowled at him and, much like Sarah previously had, he'd finally noticed the darkness on Michael's face.
"-More like having your cock in your hand. Yeah." Arthur continued before Michael placed the gun under his chin, however it didn't seem to deter him.
"Yeah, it is." Michael snarled
"One squeeze. I'm gone. I'm fucking meat."
John and Sarah exchanged a look as John nodded at her to stay still as he walked over to his brother and cousin, much like Sarah had done mere minutes before.
"Michael, you fucking watch that Webley don't jump. You know that?" John spoke seriously, now sobering up quickly.
Michael began breathing heavily as he slowly moved the gun up to Arthur's face, who was still speaking.
"When you pull that fucking trigger, and the body of the man you shot wraps itself around your ankles, they pile up. It gets to the point where you can't walk in a room without bringing a load of them with you."
Sarah couldn't take it anymore and went to step in only to be stopped by Polly.
"What's going on?" She's asked, as she approached, it was clear to Sarah that she was alarmed by the sight in front of her. John shot Michael a look as he pulled the gun away from him, "What's going on?" She repeated.
"Polly, we're just educating the boss here on our side of the business," Arthur said, with his eyes still on Michael.
"Michael, get in the house." She told him calmly.
He started to walk away but turned back and got close enough to Polly that she could feel his breath on her face "I'm not a fucking kid anymore." He snarled again before walking back to the house.
Arthur nodded to his auntie as he pulled his gun out of his coat, only for Sarah to shove him with her shoulder as she pulled out her own gun, she glanced at her auntie before shooting the bottles lined up, Arthur and John came next to her and joined her.
"Fucking toy soldiers, eh?" Sarah said emotionlessly, before downing the rest of the whiskey and walking back in the direction of the house but stopping as she pulled Arthur around to face her and pushed her forehead against his to hold him still "brother, I'm 'ere because I fucking want to be, not because Tommy is keeping me stuck here, fuck Tommy." She kissed his cheek before going back to the house with Polly in tow.
***
Sarah squeezed John's hand as she saw the meek look on his face "Don't worry, If it comes down to it, I'll do it, alright?" She assured him.
Arthur caught her words and looked over at her blank expression, watching as John nodded at her offer. They got their weapons ready and stepped out of the shadows they were stood in, watching as Mr and Mrs Changretta unknowingly approached them, both of them dropping their suitcases in shock with their eyes wide in panic. Mrs Changretta pulled her husband close to her as John took a deep breath, pretending to be unbothered.
"Thank you, Officer. That'll be all." He said.
"John Shelby" Mrs Changretta gasped, "Is that the lad I used to teach? John Shelby, I smacked your arse."
John rubbed his lips as he and Arthur avoided eye contact with the woman, looking only at Mr Changretta or the ground.
"Let him go," Arthur told her
"Please. Please, let her go." Mr Changretta pleaded whilst his wife clung to him and begged Arthur.
"Arthur? How many times I looked the other way because of your sweet smile. Sarah Crawford, you were such a kind-"
Sarah stepped forward next to Arthur, refusing to let the woman guilt trip her like she was to John and Arthur. "He said, let him go. He's coming with us." Sarah warned
"Not until I know my wife is safe." Mr Changretta said.
"She's safe. We're not going to harm her." John promised without looking at them "Let's just get a move on."
"Look, we're disobeying Tommy's orders just by talking to you." Sarah told them, "Don't push it, please." She kept her voice strong as she spoke. "Just Come with us. Let him go."
"Let him go, too. Say it's done. Say he's in the harbour. He can do you no harm from New York." Mrs Changretta pleaded, whilst her husband shook his head, knowing there was no way out for him and hoping that they wouldn't harm his wife.
"I can't do that, Mrs Changretta. I can't do that. Sorry." Arthur said, still avoiding her eyes.
Mr Changretta nodded and tried to get a grip on his voice to calm his wife. "OK, OK. Audrey, listen."
"No!" She shook her head
"Listen to me!" He shouted, "Go to the café in Mott Street. Bonito will take care of you."
"Let him go, too. He's an old man. I gave you sweets and cakes." She continued to plead for her husband's life.
"Mrs Changretta, there are rules. Your husband knows the rules." Arthur told her, "Come on, old man."
"No." She spat as she still refused to let him go
"Sorry." John sniffed as he went to cock his gun, "We're disobeying orders here. Let him fucking go!" John shouted trying to keep his gun steady, but Sarah took a deep breath and marched past him raising her gun to Mrs Changrettas head.
"You have 10 seconds, or Tommy's orders stand. They stand." Arthur growled
"One! Two!" Sarah yelled as she pushed the gun against the woman's face whilst her husband attempted to shield her
"Please!"
"Three." Sarah continued trying to keep her hand steady. John had tears in his eyes as he finally managed to raise his gun as well.
"I love you forever." Mr Changretta told his wife before letting her go.
"Four." Sarah all but choked on her words.
Changretta allowed them to take him as Sarah released a deep breath and lowered her gun, bile rising in her throat as John stood in front of the sobbing wife
"No, no, no!"
"America. A new life." He tried to say to her as he held her still
"No, no, no!" She wailed as she continued trying to fight him.
Sarah finally managed to breathe normally as she nodded at John to reassure him that she was OK.
"A new love." He said, looking at Sarah as he let go of Mrs Changretta and looking in the distance whilst she fell to the floor. It reminded Sarah of when she found out Cain was dead. Sarah pulled onto John's arm and guided them both away from their former teacher as she lay on the ground wailing, having made no attempt to move.