Duchess flapped her wings. Instead of landing on her perch, she swooped around.

Susan felt the breeze from Duchess’s wings across her face. As the spring door was about to close, Duchess darted outside. The door slammed shut.

She threw open the door and ran outside. Looking up, she watched Duchess soar above a hornbeam tree.

“Duchess!” she shouted.

Bertie turned, just shy of reaching the cottage. The soldiers sprang from their tent.

Susan watched Duchess circle high over Epping Forest. As the pigeon looped around the perimeter for a second time, Susan’s heart skipped a beat. She’s gaining her bearings, like she’s preparing to fly home. But she’s already home!

The pigeon finished her circumference and flew east.

“No!” Susan ran across the yard. She tripped and fell, then struggled to her feet. “Duchess!”

The pigeon continued her flight.

Susan fell to her knees. Her muscles turned weak. Helplessly, she watched Duchess fly toward the English Channel, until her pigeon disappeared from sight.

CHAPTER 30 - AIRAINES, FRANCE

CHAPTER 30

AIRAINES, FRANCE

Ollie stepped into the cottage and saw Flight Lieutenant Boar sitting on the floor, lightly touching the gauze over his eyes. Madeleine, standing over Boar, pushed away her truffle hog as he insistently sniffed at the lieutenant’s boots.

The creak of Ollie’s weight on the floorboards caused Boar to raise his head. “Did the doctor fix my eyes?”

Ollie recalled the sickening scent of anesthetic, the doctor manipulating the severed cornea with a pair of tweezers. A brownish discharge now blotched the lieutenant’s bandages. “Yes,” Ollie said.

Boar exhaled, then picked at the tape on his bandage.

Madeleine pushed Boar’s hand away. “No. Ten days.”

Boar dropped his hand and licked his lips, crusted with dried saliva.

Madeleine placed her hog outside, then poured a glass of water from a ceramic pitcher. “Drink,” she said, placing the glass to Boar’s lips.

Boar gulped the water, spilling much of it down his flight jacket.

“Take him to the barn, then come back,” Madeleine said. “We’ve got work to do.”

Ollie helped the lieutenant to his feet and guided him to the barn. The lieutenant’s legs were still weak from the anesthesia, causing Ollie to support much of the man’s weight. Ollie’s arm joggled inside his sling, no matter how hard he tried to isolate his lifting, sending hot flares into his shoulder socket. The additional stress of Boar’s weight made his swollen ankle throb. He desperately wanted to rest but feared that a Wehrmacht platoon could arrive at any moment and spot him in the open. So he buried his pain and pressed on.