“It’s to keep them safe.” A squawk came from above.
Ming lifted her head to see a large blackbird perched in the tree.
“Keep who safe?” she asked. “The polar bears?”
She wondered why she and Tang didn’t have somewhere safe to go when the sirens sounded. Why were polar bears more important than pandas?
The blackbird chittered. “Of course not the polar bears! The humans. In case the zoo is bombed and they escape. Have you ever seen a polar bear?” He looked Ming up and down. “You look a bit like one actually, but a bit more round and fluffy.”
“I am neither round nor fluffy!” Ming huffed.
“You are a little bit,” Francis mumbled beside her. “Have you seen the little Ming toys? They are absolutely adorable!”
Ming gave him a sharp look and he snapped his beak shut.
“Anyway,” the blackbird continued, “if you had ever seen a polar bear, you would know how deadly they are. Sometimes I hang around here at feeding time, and it’s a bloodbath! The way they use their sharp teeth to rip into the…”
Ming felt her breakfast rise in her throat.
“I think that’s quite enough,” Francis said, seeing the look on her face.
“Maybe I’m not related to polar bears after all,” Ming mumbled. “Makes me glad I’m a vegetarian.”
“Me too,” Francis said. “Otherwise I would have been a goner when I landed in your enclosure. Come on. Let’s see if my new friends have made good progress with phase one of our plan.”
He led her to the monkey enclosure, and they were immediately greeted by loud whoops from two little monkeys. They leaped through the branches to where Francis stood outside their cage. Their heads and faces were gray, and their huge eyes twinkled with mischief as they performed tricks. Ming could see why Francis liked them so much.
When they had finished their show of twirls and cartwheels and death-defying leaps through the air, Ming stamped her paws on the ground in appreciation. The monkeys jumped down to grin at her through the other side of the wire fence.
“Madam,” said one of the monkeys, giving her a low bow. “Welcome to Monkey Hill.”
“Nice to see you, Francis,” the other said.
“Ming, this is Chiney and Jacky.”
Ming gave them a shy smile.
“Have you made any headway with the map?” Francis asked anxiously.
“We have. The camels told the llamas, who told the Shetland ponies, who told us that there’s a large map in the administration building,” Chiney told them.
“There’s one problem, though,” Jacky said with a frown. “It’s in the boss’s office.”
“We had the pleasure of his company earlier,” Ming said with a shudder.
Francis’s eyes brightened. “We could do it the next time the sirens sound! The humans will be in the shelters so it will be easy.”
Ming’s stomach lurched. “Not if there is an attack on the zoo,” she said. “Have you really thought this through?”
Francis nodded, then looked at the monkeys to see what their response would be. Chiney grinned and gave a thumbs-up. Jacky sighed, then nodded, too.
“So you’ll do it?” Francis asked. “You’ll deliver my message?”
“We’re in,” Jacky said. “We’re tired of this war. The little monkeys are terrified. If there’s something we can do to stop it, we will do it.”
“Plus, it’s been a while since we’ve caused any mischief!” Chiney added.
“Bravo!” Francis flapped his good wing in excitement. Ming tried to summon up a smile, but she didn’t feel their joy. Not when their lives could be in danger. Her blood went cold as she suddenly realized something.
“Shhh!” she hissed, quieting their celebrations. “Listen!”
Francis cocked his head to one side. “I don’t hear anything.”
“Exactly!” Ming cried. “The sirens have stopped. That means that the—”
“Humans!” screamed the monkeys, jumping up and down as the keepers and workers returned to their posts.
“The boss!” Ming cried. “He’ll be coming straight back to my enclosure. We have to get back there!”
Francis’s head swept from side to side. “There’s no way back without being spotted.”
Chiney winked at Ming. “You head back to your enclosure. We’ll take care of the rest.”
“Go!” Jacky shouted.
Ming didn’t wait to be told twice. She hurried away with Francis struggling to keep up. Ming raced on, expecting to be caught at any moment. Instead, a sudden loud shriek rang out behind her, followed by laughter and applause. She paused to glance back. The monkeys had escaped their enclosure and were running riot among the gathering crowd of zookeepers. They were mostly women, like Jean, volunteers who had stepped in after the men left their jobs to go to war. The monkeys pulled hats off the keepers’ heads and raided the cotton candy stall. A couple of the monkeys, she noticed, had intercepted the boss and were pulling vigorously at the bottom of his trouser legs.
Francis hid behind a trash can outside the enclosure, while Ming squeezed back inside. Tang slid the door shut and they both slumped to the floor, trying to look as calm as possible.
A second later, Jean arrived.
September 19, 1940
After they’d almost been caught, Francis kept a low profile. Luckily, Jean seemed to be on Francis’s side. She was a good sort, Francis thought. If there had been a way to communicate with her, he would have considered asking her to deliver the message. Francis was more and more convinced, however, that the boss was an enemy spy.
He thought about George again. George would have liked Jean. George was a gentle sort just like her; he wasn’t made for fighting, he was made for caring for animals.
Francis’s plans had been delayed and he was becoming more and more frantic by the hour. There hadn’t yet been an air raid for them to put their plan in action. They still needed to break into the boss’s office. The camels had told Francis that they’d spied a large map of Britain through the boss’s window when they were delivering supplies. Once Francis and the monkeys had procured the map, they’d leave for Bletchley immediately. Francis wished he could accompany them to Bletchley, but speed was vital and he would slow their progress. At least he could help get the map, though.
Francis had split the plan into two parts. Part one: get the map. Part two (as long as they weren’t caught): the monkeys would escape in the dead of night to deliver the message. By the time the humans discovered that the monkeys were missing, Jacky and Chiney would be far out of the city.
Hopefully.
The monkeys were cunning enough that they should be able to make their way unnoticed.
“I haven’t seen the boss today,” Tang remarked. “Maybe you could get the map now?”
“It’s too risky,” Ming said. “Too many humans around.”
Francis stomped his feet in frustration. “The longer we wait, the less chance there is of the message getting through to the right people. Once the Nazis launch their attack, it will be too late. I have to get that map tonight,” he said.
Francis could hardly breathe. He felt as though a huge weight was pressing down upon his chest.
Ming smiled at him and he felt the pressure ease a little. “You can do it,” she said. “If anyone can, it’s you.”
“She’s right,” Tang said. “You’re pretty remarkable. For a pigeon.”
Ming gasped. “Did you say that I am right?” she teased. “Did you hear that, Francis? Tang agreed with me for once!”
Francis forced out a laugh, but his mind was racing. He was grateful for their confidence in him, but he felt more and more unsure of himself, as though he were forgetting his place in the world.
He waited impatiently as the zoo shut down for the day and a hush fell upon them. After the recent air raids, the silence felt oddly wrong. Ming and Tang mouthed “Good luck” at Francis as he hopped between the bars. He gave them a small wave with his
good wing and headed to Monkey Hill.
Jacky and Chiney were already waiting outside the monkey enclosure. They scurried over to him.
“We’re out of time,” Francis said. “We have to raid the boss’s office tonight, sirens or no sirens. Are you ready?”
Chiney grinned. “We were born ready!”
“Do you know the way?” Francis asked, worried that they might have missed a vital point in their plan.
Chiney pointed at a large wooden noticeboard. A color map of the zoo had been pinned to it, with the buildings numbered and labeled, and a key down one side. The administration office was labeled in bright red. Francis studied the map, checking and double-checking the route until he was certain that he knew where he was going.
Jacky glanced around nervously. “Keep an eye out for humans.”
The monkeys led the way to the main offices on the other side of the zoo. Francis stared in horror at the caged birds as they passed a giant aviary. He paused, watching as they flew back and forth beneath the raised netting covering their cage.
“Where are you going?” the small birds chittered. “What are you doing?” Francis ignored them. There was no time for small talk.
The birds were beautiful, their feathers so brightly colored that they made Francis feel dull in contrast. The thought of not being able to fly for any distance, ever, scared Francis more than any war could. One of the birds was hidden in the shadows, and Francis suddenly felt guilty for ever complaining about being a pigeon. He gave the bird a small smile, but the bird just stared back, emotionless.
They continued on, past the camel house and across the lawn where he and Ming had met the llamas. Past a restaurant, and then finally they reached the tunnel entrance at the very edge of the zoo.
“The east tunnel,” Jacky said.
“This leads into Regent’s Park,” Francis said, remembering the map. “The main office is across the road on the other side.”
They crept through the dark tunnel, their footsteps echoing within the stone walls. At the end, Francis peeped out cautiously. Although it was dark and there was a curfew, a few humans still wandered along the road. Francis could hear the sounds of motor cars in the distance. As soon as he was sure that the coast was clear, he gestured to the monkeys to follow, then half ran, half jumped across the road until he was safely across.
“This is it,” Chiney said, looking up at the redbrick building in front of them.
“Let’s hope they have what we’re looking for,” Francis said. “The next part comes down to you.”
The monkeys scaled a black drainpipe running down one side of the building until they came to a window on the first floor. “I think this is the boss’s office,” Chiney called down to Francis.
Chiney climbed over Jacky’s back and took hold of the windowsill. Francis held his breath as Jacky swung from the drainpipe, performing an impressive backflip up and over Chiney to land feetfirst on the narrow window ledge. Jacky joined him, and the two monkeys seemed to argue for a moment.
“There’s no way in!” Jacky called down to Francis.
Francis surveyed the building. The windows were closed and the door was secure. He started to think that their plan had failed at the first hurdle, when he heard a flutter of wings above and a cooing sound. A moment later, a pigeon took off from the roof.
“Of course!” Francis cried. “The chimney!” he told Jacky. “Can you fit down the chimney?”
Jacky gave Francis a nod, and he and Chiney clambered farther up the drainpipe, along the gutters, and up onto the roof tiles until they were out of sight.
Francis held his breath hoping that the monkeys wouldn’t get stuck, or caught, when he heard the lock at the front door being slid open. The monkeys appeared in the open doorway, their fur slightly soot-covered, and bowed dramatically.
“Welcome to our humble abode,” Chiney joked.
Francis hurried inside and the three of them entered the closest room. It looked like an office. At either end of the room were two large oak desks, covered with papers and files. Francis took a look at one while the monkeys checked out the other, riffling through papers and throwing them in the air when they were not what they were looking for.
“Don’t make a mess!” Francis hissed. “We don’t want anyone to know we were here, in case they guess what we we’re looking for.”
Chiney frowned at Francis uncertainly, but he took more care to keep the papers in order.
“I don’t think it’s in here,” Jacky said. “The camels mentioned it being on a wall.”
“That’s it!” Chiney said. “We need to find a room where the camels could spy through the window.”
They moved along the darkened hallway to a room at the back of the house. Francis nudged the door open slightly with his head, and the door gave a loud creak. They froze, waiting to see if anyone was still in the building who might have heard them. When no one came, they ventured into the room.
“It’s there!” Chiney cried, pointing to the wall.
Jacky slapped a paw over his mouth and gestured wide-eyed to Francis with his tail. Two large armchairs sat in front of a fireplace. One was empty, but a loud snort and grumble came from the other chair. Francis moved as quietly as he could and saw two large feet set on the floor, attached to two legs wearing gray pajamas, which led to a human asleep in the armchair, his mouth open wide as he snored loudly.
“The boss!” Francis hissed.
Jacky gestured at the door, suggesting that they should leave. Francis looked at the boss, then at the map on the wall. It was so close, he couldn’t bear it. If they left now, empty-handed, they might not get another opportunity to return. But if they stayed, and the boss found Francis in his office with the monkeys… Francis gulped.
He looked at his new friends and realized that he couldn’t put them in danger.
“Go!” Francis whispered. “I’ll get the map.”
Jacky shook his head. “We said we’d help you and we will,” he whispered back.
Francis hopped up onto a chair, then onto the desk. He pulled at the lower corners of the map with his beak, trying to ease it away from the wall without ripping it or alerting the boss to their presence.
Jacky pulled at one top corner, while Chiney took the other. Slowly, slowly, the map began to peel away from the wall. It was almost free when Francis lost his balance, knocking into a pot of ink. The inkpot wobbled back and forth for a few terrifying seconds. Then, impossibly slowly, it fell onto its side and began rolling across the desk. Francis leaped forward, reaching his beak toward it to stop it from smashing to the floor. As his beak grazed the pot, it fell over the edge of the desk. Time seemed to stand still as Francis could do nothing but watch it drop. Then, at the last second, Jacky’s tail swooped in and grasped the inkpot.
The three stared at one another, none of them daring to breathe or make a sound. Francis slowly turned to look at the boss. His feet remained motionless. The monkeys helped to roll up the map, then they made their way silently across the floor, hurried out the door, and rushed down the stairs as fast as they could, not stopping until they were in the relative safety of the tunnel.
“That was close!” Francis gasped.
He looked at Jacky and Chiney, who were breathing fast, and laughed. “We did it!” he said. “We actually did it. Right under the boss’s nose as well.” He gestured to the map. “Let’s take a look.”
Jacky placed the map onto the ground and Francis used his beak to open it up to its full size. He scoured the name places until he found what he was searching for.
“That’s it!” he said excitedly, tapping his beak to where Bletchley Park was located. “This is where you need to go.”
The monkeys leaned over his shoulder. “That’s where we are,” Jacky said, pointing to Regent’s Park.
“It’s farther than I thought,” Chiney said, all of his earlier excitement about the mission gone. “What if we get caught? If the boss had woken up in there…” He didn’t finish
his sentence. He didn’t need to.
Francis examined the map again. It did seem rather a long way. He could cover a lot more ground when he was flying. The monkeys would have to make the journey by foot, and who knew what obstacles they might encounter on the way? Francis’s stomach dropped. He couldn’t let them take such a risk on his behalf.
“We’ll do it,” Jacky said.
“Are you sure?” Francis asked.
Chiney took a deep breath, then nodded. “You promised an adventure, and this journey will certainly be that.”
“You can change your mind,” Francis said. “I can find another way.”
“We’ll do it,” Jacky repeated. “We know what is at stake if we go, but we also know what might be at stake if we don’t. We want to help, Francis. We don’t want to be stuck in this human war anymore.”
“All right,” Francis said. “If you are absolutely certain. Go back to Monkey Hill and study the map—it will be better if you know it by heart rather than taking it with you. Tomorrow, we put the second part of the plan into action.”
“We’ll go on ahead,” Jacky said. “We should make sure we’re not seen together.”
Francis watched them disappear into the darkness, when suddenly there was a flash of lights and the pounding of footsteps along the pavement. Francis raced around the corner to see the monkeys being held by two men in uniform. Jacky dropped the map and it rolled beneath a bush as he continued to struggle free. The monkeys did their best to escape, wriggling and waving their arms around, but it was no good.
They had been caught before they’d even left the zoo.
September 19, 1940
The soldiers pounded on the door of the administration office Francis and the monkeys had just left. A light came on in a window at the very top, and Francis hurried to the bush to retrieve the map. He gasped as Jean appeared in the doorway, relief flooding through him. He hadn’t realized that Jean lived so close to the zoo. Jean’s eyes widened as she saw the escapees. Francis couldn’t hear what she was saying, but she called out behind her, then disappeared into the building.
World War II Page 5