Ollie overheard the soldiers squabbling as he shut the tailgate of the truck.

“You should have seen Angus at the lofts,” said the soldier to his comrades. “The big oaf knocked over a stack of cages, and one escaped.”

Ollie hesitated.

Angus lowered his brow. “But I caught him.”

The soldier laughed. “You plucked another bird from its nest and strapped on a canister.”

“That’s not true,” Angus said. “It was on a shelf. It didn’t even try to get away when I picked it up.”

Ollie stopped. “What did it look like?”

Angus turned his head.

“What did it look like?” Ollie repeated.

“Odd-looking fellow,” Angus said. “Looked like someone splashed him with green paint.”

Hairs cropped up on Ollie’s neck. “Duchess.”

“Who?”

“You took a bird that wasn’t part of the mission.”

“Way to go, Angus,” said a soldier.

“A bird is a bird,” Angus said.

“Pigeon.” Ollie stepped to him. “It’s Susan’s pet. Where did you put her?”

Angus pointed to the Blenheim at the end of the row.

Ollie started walking toward the plane and felt a hand grab his arm.

“You’re not going in there,” the sergeant said.

Ollie’s blood pressure rose. He stepped to the sergeant. “Then one of your men is going in there.”

The soldier tightened his grip. “We’re not unloading a plane to find one bird. Besides, we don’t even know if it’s the same one.”

Ollie looked to Angus. “Did it have a fluorescent purplish-green neck plume, like it would glow in the dark?”

Angus nodded.

The sergeant let go of Ollie’s arm. “We don’t have time.”

“The commander won’t be happy to hear you took a pet,” Ollie said.

The sergeant wiped his face.

“I understand Susan’s grandfather is friends with an air vice-marshal. I believe his name starts with a P.”

“Air Vice-Marshal Park?”

“That’s the one,” Ollie said.

The sergeant swallowed, wrinkles appearing on his forehead.

“Maybe the commander will go easy on you, and you’ll only be assigned to clean pigeon lofts for the rest of the war.”

“Sergeant,” Angus said. “I don’t want to get us in trouble.”

The sergeant looked at his watch. “Pilots and crews will be here soon. Do you remember where you placed it?”

“It’s in the tail,” Angus said. “I put it in first.”

“Bloody hell,” the sergeant said. “We’d have to unload.” He scratched his head, as if he were digging out a tick.

The other soldiers looked to a hangar, then to the sergeant.

“Very well,” the sergeant said. “Be quick about it.”

Ollie breathed a sigh of relief. Then the siren sounded.

CHAPTER 20 - EPPING, ENGLAND

CHAPTER 20

EPPING, ENGLAND

“Duchess!” Susan called from the porch. She looked at the rows of birches at the edge of the forest. The only movement was shimmering yellow leaves and a few darting sparrows.

“Duchess!”