Pilot Officer Brand raised his eyes, looked over the sights of his guns at the young faces. Suddenly he jerked at the RE8 controls and pulled up the nose of the plane into a steep climb.

Grimm struggled to balance, reached forward and hit the pilot on the shoulder using his silver hand. ‘What are you doing?’

‘It was a girl,’ Brand shouted back. ‘And the other one wasn’t much more than a boy.’

‘Spies,’ Silver Hand screamed. ‘Spies. You have to kill them.’

‘Sorry, old bean, but I don’t shoot children.’

‘Then land this thing, let me get out and I’ll shoot them,’ the sergeant raged.

Brand’s cheerful young face turned hard. ‘We have a job to do. Orders to obey. We’ll drop those leaflets over Peronne then head back. I can’t land here anyway. The rough moorland would smash my undercart like matchsticks. I’ll take you back to the Somme airfield.’

‘But they’re miles east of the airfield. They have a day’s start on me.’

‘Can’t help that. Now get that box of leaflets and prepare to tip them over the side on to the German trenches. We’re nearly there. Watch out for enemy planes.’

The pilot climbed again. The only other aircraft they saw were British fighters, who dipped their wings to say hello, then went on their way. Grimm saw flashes from the ground and brown puffs of shells exploded around them as the enemy guns fired at them. ‘I’m on your side, you fools,’ the traitor muttered.

He gathered the box and tipped the leaflets over the side. They fell like a storm of snow and drifted down towards the pale faces of the troops below. A few machine-gun bullets tore through the canvas of the plane so Brand climbed higher as he turned for home. He looked over his shoulder.

‘I reckon we’ll be over the village of Cléry in a few minutes. That’s where you wanted to go, wasn’t it? If your spies were headed east then you’ll be ahead of them, won’t you? It’s better than going back to the airfield.’

‘Yes,’ Silver Hand snapped. ‘Drop me as near to the village as you can.’

Brand gave a gentle smile. ‘Here we are... Cléry,’ he said. ‘Time to drop you.’