Pigeons rustled. The cages blocked most of the sunlight shining through the turret, making it difficult to see. He scanned the cages. No Duchess. He lowered himself, his palms against the cold metal floor. On the bottom, two rows in, something flashed. His eyes adjusted. And he saw her.

Duchess flapped her wings, her bright plume sparking like a lightning bug.

Shells exploded. Ollie flinched, then slid out a bottom cage, like he was removing a building block. The stack tilted but held in place. He quickly placed the cage in the corner and reached his arm into the hole. He stuck his fingers through the wire of Duchess’s cage and tugged. It held firm. He pulled harder, feeling wire cut into his skin. But the cage didn’t budge.

Ollie pressed his back into the tail. With his boots, he pushed the cages and made a crevice. He reached back into the hole and pulled on Duchess’s cage, feeling it wiggle. He strained harder. The cage slid. He leaned down, creating more leverage. Duchess blinked her eyes. As he pulled the cage through the opening, the antiaircraft guns paused, if only for a second. But it was long enough to hear it. Whistles. Like hundreds of boiling teakettles. Hairs stood on his neck. The whistling grew, then suddenly stopped. As Ollie tucked Duchess’s cage into his chest, explosions shook the ground, each approaching closer than the one before, like the feet of a giant stomping toward the plane.

Ollie climbed onto the cages. Wings beat beneath him. His foot tangled in the cargo net.

Antiaircraft guns fired.

Ollie yanked hard with his leg, freeing his foot from the netting. As he clasped Duchess’s cage and crawled forward, he heard what sounded like a blast of dynamite. His back slammed the roof of the plane. He fell back into the tail, buried in a mound of cages.

Ollie opened his eyes. Pigeons flapped their wings.

“Duchess!” Ollie shouted but couldn’t hear his voice because of the intense ringing in his ears. He pushed cages from his face, but several more fell onto his head. The plane vibrated. The ground quaked with more explosions. As the throbbing in his eardrums subsided, it was replaced with the sound of propellers.

CHAPTER 22 - NORTH WEALD, ENGLAND

CHAPTER 22

NORTH WEALD, ENGLAND

The plane lurched forward, pressing Ollie’s back into the tail. The Blenheim rumbled and shimmied as it accelerated down the runway.

“Wait!” Ollie shouted, his voice drowned by exploding shells. He struggled to push away cages. Wings beat. Feathers flew. The plane rocked hard to the left, slamming his shoulder into a support beam. “I’m in here!”