“Spirrr!” sang Shimmer, sounding urgent.

Fifer looked at the bird. “What is it?”

The falcon pointed its beak at one of the windows.

Fifer focused in that direction, not sure what she was looking for. And then she spied a tiny white spot on the sill. “Is that Kitten?”

“Spirrr!” said Shimmer again, and jabbed its wing in the same direction.

“Something else?” Fifer stared past Kitten through the window. There on the floor, forgotten in the melee, was the 3-D door drawing rolled up like a scroll. It looked relatively unharmed. “We have to get it,” murmured Fifer. Her heart began to race. She commanded the birds to circle again while she searched her spell components, trying to figure out her best options for this stealthy, dangerous move. If Fifer got nailed by a spell and captured like the others, Florence and Sky would have no idea where everyone had gone. But if Fifer could get the drawing, they could at least free Simber to help them. And they needed help now more than ever. She had to succeed.

Fifer looked closer at the white spot on the windowsill. “It is Kitten!” she whispered to Shimmer. “She must have snuck out of someone’s pocket when they were being sent to the remote rooms. We have to save her, too.”

It was settled—Fifer had to get the 3-D drawing. But it was going to be a precarious situation. They’d have to swoop in through the large side window, and Fifer would somehow grab Kitten without getting hit by flying components, then jump out of the hammock and grab the scroll. Unfortunately, from inside the hammock, there was no way Fifer would be able to lean out far enough to reach the floor—the sides were too tall. And she didn’t trust asking any birds to pick it up, because if the drawing ripped or got poked through with beak holes, the door wouldn’t work.

Fifer wasn’t sure how she was going to do that without getting struck from all directions—especially knowing she had to leave the safety of the hammock. If she could at least get the 3-D drawing inside the hammock before she got hit, Shimmer and the other birds could take it to Florence.

They swung around, and Fifer saw the scroll was still lying unattended. But half of Frieda’s dissenters were hanging out the windows and doors, staring at her and taking aim. How was she supposed to do this?

“We might have to go through the upper windows so their spells have less of a chance of hitting us,” Fifer told Shimmer. “If we choose that route, can you send some of the falcons down to get Kitten before the dissenters discover her? That will also cause a distraction and allow us to swoop down and grab the 3-D door.”

The head falcon let out a vocal agreement. Fifer pulled out the components she planned to use to clear a path. “Let’s aim straight for Kitten’s window. I’ll start firing as soon as we get close enough. If I manage to knock everyone out of the way, we’ll keep going. If more keep coming, we go to plan B. Got it?”