The sound awoke some of the birds, who screeched and fluttered their wings.
“It’s all right!” Francis whispered, trying to hush the noise. “We’re not here to hurt you.”
A pair of small lovebirds flew to the ground and looked up at Francis, both cocking their heads, their eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What are you here for? You want to join us?”
Francis shuddered at the thought of being trapped forever. “No, we are just…”
Toca stepped toward the birds and they hopped back as she loomed over them. “It is none of your business,” she growled in a low voice.
The lovebirds shook their feathers at her indignantly, but they flew back to their perch. After that, the other birds quieted. Francis noticed that none of them seemed to care that Toca was making an escape.
Toca checked that the coast was clear, then stepped out, not looking back.
“Do you want to say goodbye?” Francis asked.
Toca trilled a quiet laugh. “Why would I want to do that?” she asked. “I’ll be glad to see the back of this prison.”
“But your friends,” Ming added. “Won’t you miss them?”
The birds in the aviary suddenly grew very quiet. None of them seemed to want to say goodbye to Toca, either.
“What is there to miss?” Toca snapped. She strode away from the aviary into an open clearing.
Ming exchanged a look with Chiney and Jacky behind Toca’s back, but Francis ignored them. They had come this far. They couldn’t change their plans now because Toca was a little unpopular.
“Ready?” Francis asked, noticing that Toca’s feathers were trembling slightly.
She nodded. “I can do this,” she said, flapping her wings a few times as though testing them out. “It’s been a while since I’ve flown any distance other than back and forth in the aviary, but I could never forget how to fly.”
She jumped slightly as though about to take off. “Wait!” Francis called. “Don’t forget the message.”
Toca looked slightly annoyed. “Of course,” she said. “Silly me.”
She swiped the red capsule out of Francis’s wing, clutching it tightly within her sharp, curved claws. Then, without another word, she took to the sky so suddenly that she almost knocked Francis over.
“Something’s not right with that bird,” Ming warned. “Did you see the way the other birds looked at her? Are you sure you can trust her?”
Francis suddenly realized that he really wasn’t sure. He had been so desperate that someone could deliver the message that he hadn’t been as cautious as he should have been. He watched anxiously as Toca gained height. Suddenly the air-raid sirens wailed, catching Toca off guard. She faltered for a moment, almost losing her grip on the capsule, but quickly recovered.
“It’s not safe out here in the open,” Ming said.
But Francis remained where he was, watching Toca fly farther and farther away, in the wrong direction. Toward Germany.
“No!” he shouted. “Toca, that’s the wrong way!”
Ming, Jacky, and Chiney stood beside Francis, the four of them watching as Toca ducked and dove through the sky. She soared low for a moment, flying right above them, then called out a single word, “Sorry,” before heading off.
A furious fire ignited within Francis as any chance of delivering his message slipped further from his grasp.
“I have to stop her!” he cried. He ripped off his bandage with his beak, then took off, chasing after Toca as fast as his injured wing would allow, fear and adrenaline pushing him on.
“Francis!” Ming shouted, but she was far, far below, Jacky and Chiney beside her just small blurs bouncing up and down.
Francis flew on, surprised at how well his wing was holding up. His shoulder felt stiff and sore, but it was more of a dull ache. He was flying again! The joy of it was overtaken by a regret that he hadn’t tried one last time to deliver the message himself before trusting Toca.
Below, the humans ran for cover. In London, the closest and safest places to hide were the underground train stations, but some humans used their basements if they had one, like the staff at the zoo. Others had temporary shelters made from curved steel panels dug into the ground at the end of their gardens. From this high up, Francis thought that they looked like silvery wood lice stuck in the mud.
He scanned the sky for Toca. He was gaining on her now, and she didn’t seem to know that he was in pursuit. He used the same tactic that the air force sometimes used and flew higher, planning to attack from above so that she wouldn’t see him coming. But as he rose, an almighty sound roared directly ahead.
Messerschmitts.
Toca faltered, startled by the appearance of so many fighter planes. Francis refocused his energy. He had the upper hand now, being used to flying through such extreme conditions. He wouldn’t be so easily deterred.
Below, the bombing began. Huge missiles fell from the sky in quick succession, whistling as they dropped lower, lower, lower, then hit their target with an enormous blast that threw both Francis and Toca off course.
The sky filled with black smoke from the explosions below and the planes above. Francis glanced back. The zoo was far away now, Regent’s Park barely in sight. The enemy planes kept coming, and then suddenly, as if out of nowhere, there were Spitfires. The Royal Air Force, preparing to wage battle in the sky.
And Francis and Toca were caught up in the very eye of the storm.
As furious as he was at Toca for betraying him, Francis could see that the toucan was struggling. She flew in ever-decreasing circles, disoriented by the noise and the smoke and the planes. He had to lead her back to the zoo. Maybe he could force her to land and make her realize she was wrong.
He flew on, pushing his injured wing to its limit, even though the searing pain had returned and his whole wing burned. Toca was flying much lower to the ground now, trying to get away from the chaos all around her. But that meant that she was in danger of being hit by the groundsmen below, a blast from the bombs, or flying into one of the barrage balloon’s wires. She knew nothing about the dangers of war, dangers that were hidden in plain view all around them, like a tiger waiting to strike its prey.
Francis closed in until he was only feet away from Toca.
“Toca!” he yelled, hoping she could hear him over the rattle of gunfire and the thunderous cracks of the bombs landing.
She glanced backward, startled for a moment, but then flapped faster.
“Toca!” Francis shouted again, trying to compete with her much larger wingspan. “Just drop the capsule,” he begged. “If all you wanted was to escape, you’ve done that. The capsule means nothing to you.”
She ignored him, but she seemed to be tiring. Some birds were not made for long distances, Francis knew; maybe toucans were one of them. She soared for a moment on the wind, heading back in the direction of Regent’s Park and giving Francis the opportunity to catch up. He swooped down in front of her, cutting her off so that she had to frantically flap again to stop herself from dropping out of the sky.
Toca looked terrified and exhausted as she searched for an escape. But Francis and Toca both knew by now that although he was the smaller bird, he could outlast her in the sky.
“I just wanted to be free,” she cried. “Is that so terrible?”
Francis shook his head. “Of course not. But why did you take the capsule? You could have left without it.”
“I knew you would only let me out of the aviary if I promised to help you. I had to take the capsule in case you changed your mind and locked me back up.”
Francis felt ashamed of himself. She was probably right. He was so focused on his mission that he didn’t stop to consider the other animals in the zoo. He’d only thought of those who would be helpful to him.
“I just want the capsule back,” Francis said. “Please, Toca. You know how important it is.”
“No!” Toca screamed. “I can’t. If I land now, I’ll be caught. I don’t want to go back there, Francis.
”
“Pass me the capsule, then,” Francis asked, reaching out a claw.
Toca’s talons tightened around the capsule, and Francis could see the terror in her eyes. “I can’t,” she said. “I don’t want to fall.”
Francis’s mind raced. His hurt wing was tiring. He had to get the capsule back. His only option seemed to be to wait for Toca’s wings to fail her, but despite everything, he didn’t want to do that. There was only one more option. He’d have to grab it. He darted at her without thinking, his eyes trained only on the capsule held within her grasp. Toca screamed and swerved to one side. Francis attacked again, this time managing to catch hold of the end of the capsule within his beak, but Toca pulled away, yanking it away from him. “Stop! You’ll kill us both!”
The zoo was directly below now. Francis could make out Ming and the monkeys watching as he and Toca waged a battle of their own, below the planes. His wing began to seize up, so that Francis flew slightly lopsided. Time was running out. He didn’t have long until it gave out altogether. He opened his beak wide and, with a loud war cry, dove at Toca, knocking them both into a spin. Their wings and claws became entangled as they both struggled to break free, sending a flurry of feathers through the air as the solid, unforgiving ground rose up faster and faster to greet them.
At the last moment, they separated. Toca managed to swoop up and out of the tailspin, soaring back into the sky, heading for the trees. But for Francis it was too late. He could only close his eyes as he waited for impact.
September 20, 1940
Ming watched in horror as Francis plunged from the sky. In the distance, the cacophony of sirens and bombs continued, but the noise was drowned out by the sound of her heartbeat pulsing inside her ears.
“We have to do something!” she cried desperately.
Some of the other monkeys had come to watch the two birds fighting in the sky. Chiney and Jacky pulled them into a tight huddle.
“What are you doing?” Ming asked as one by one the monkeys climbed on top of each other, forming what looked like the base of a pyramid.
“No time to explain!” Jacky shouted as he clambered up the tower of monkeys.
Francis hurtled through the air, getting closer and closer. The monkeys all looked up, adjusting their position this way and that while Jacky shouted out commands. Those on the very top linked their arms and tails together into a makeshift net. There was a sudden whoosh and the monkey tower wavered slightly as Francis landed within their grasp. Miraculously, the tower held firm.
Ming hurried over as the monkeys carefully dismounted, leaving Chiney and Jacky holding Francis in the middle of the circle.
“Is he…?” Ming began.
Chiney lowered his head as Jacky gently lay Francis on the ground.
“Francis?” Jacky whispered. “Can you hear me?”
Francis’s wing twitched. He opened his eyes with a groan, then tried to sit up, his feathers trembling.
“You have got to stop falling out of the sky,” Ming tried to joke. “Are you all right?” She checked him over for any signs of blood or broken bones.
He held his healing wing awkwardly, but apart from that appeared to be in one piece.
Chiney pointed to the treetops marking the boundary of the zoo. “The toucan went that way,” he said. “The traitor!”
“We’ll go after her,” Jacky said as a few of the monkeys nodded. “We’ll find her and get the capsule back for you.”
Francis shook his head frantically. Jacky and Chiney stared as Francis lowered his head in his wings.
“I’m so sorry, Francis,” Ming whispered, her voice breaking. “Please… say something.”
She knew how hard he had tried—putting his life at risk so that he could deliver that message. But now it was gone and had taken all of Ming’s hope with it. As some of the monkeys returned to Monkey Hill with their tails trailing between their legs, she knew she wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
Francis coughed and spluttered as though he were about to be sick, and Ming stepped back. She watched as he bobbed his head back and forth, making a half-choking, half-gasping sound.
Ming lifted a paw to pat Francis on the back as he opened his beak wide. Something red appeared. He continued coughing and the thing emerged from his throat in one piece.
“The capsule!” Jacky cried. “He has it!”
“You have it?” Ming laughed. “You have the capsule! I thought you were choking to death.”
Francis smiled grimly. “A little trick I picked up from an owl I met during training.”
“What do we do now?” Ming asked.
Francis looked up at her. “We?”
She nodded and so did Jacky and Chiney. “Yes, we. We want to help. What can we do?”
Francis lifted his reinjured wing. “I’m not sure there is much I can do until this is healed,” he said. “We seem to be out of options.”
“That treacherous toucan!” Chiney snarled. “Was she a spy, Francis?”
“I have half a mind to go after her,” Jacky agreed.
“She wasn’t a spy,” Francis replied. “She just wanted to be free and made some wrong choices.” He smiled at Chiney and Jacky. “You two have done more than enough to help me, but the risk is too high. The mission was given to me, and I must be the one to complete it. Alone.”
The monkeys glanced at each other, remaining silent.
He was right, Ming thought. The humans were already keeping a closer eye on the monkeys after their numerous escape acts. She would offer to take the message herself if she thought there was any way a giant panda could travel through London undetected. Francis looked worse than he had when he’d first landed in her enclosure almost two weeks ago, utterly broken.
“Get some rest,” she suggested. “I think you should let Jean look at your wing in the morning, then we can think of a new plan.”
She expected Francis to argue or come up with another feather-brained scheme, but he walked slowly toward the giant panda enclosure, his bad wing dragging along the ground beside him.
“He needs a little time,” Ming told the monkeys who watched him leave.
“We’re still here for him if he needs help,” Jacky said.
“I know,” Ming replied. “Thank you for saving him.”
Ming bid them farewell, then followed after Francis. Despite what he’d said about doing it alone, he still needed her help. There had to be another way to deliver the message. If Francis was out of ideas, then she’d have to come up with one herself.
Francis slept through the night, despite the bombing, which only stopped when the sun rose. He snuggled up with the capsule beneath his good wing and barely stirred even as explosions echoed around the zoo like a thunderstorm. He was exhausted, Ming thought, wishing she were able to sleep so easily. The incident with Toca had upset her more than she’d realized. At the time she’d barely had a moment to breathe, let alone take in what was happening, but now the incident replayed over and over in her head. The way Toca and Francis had fought. The way Francis had fallen out of the sky, as limp as a rag. Ming’s heart raced again just thinking of what might have happened if it hadn’t had been for the monkeys’ quick thinking.
There was a familiar click and clang as Jean hurried in, her face red and flustered as she shouted at someone on the other side of the door. She saw Ming watching and stood in front of her protectively.
“I won’t let you do this!” Jean cried. “Not again. They are not museum exhibits! They have already traveled to and from Whipsnade once. It’s not an easy journey. You could make them very ill… or worse!”
Ming’s blood froze as the voice came in reply. “It is not up to you,” the boss said. “I have made the executive decision to evacuate the giant pandas. They are two of our most valuable assets. It’s no longer safe for them here in London.”
“They are living creatures, not assets!” Jean yelled.
In the corner of the enclosure, Tang and Francis awoke to see what all the
fuss was about.
“Tang!” Ming hissed. “They want to take us away again.”
“Away?” Tang mumbled, rubbing his eyes. “Away where?”
Ming looked at Francis, realizing that he was in clear view. “Francis, hide!”
Francis ducked beneath the straw, but his tiny black eyes peered out.
Jean backed away, looking defeated as two men holding large sticks entered the enclosure. They tried to usher Tang toward the open doorway, but he refused to move.
“Stay firm,” he told Ming. “We’ll not be so easily moved this time. London Zoo is our home. I want to stay here… with you.”
“So do I,” Ming realized, and sat on the floor with a determined thud. However she had come to be there, the zoo was her home, with people she cared about—Jean, the monkeys, Francis, Tang. Maybe if they just ignored the men, they might go away? It wasn’t as though they could really force them to move. It would take more than two humans to drag two giant pandas out of their enclosure.
They seemed to be at an impasse. The boss pulled one of the men aside and whispered to him as time seemed to slow. Ming watched as the man reached beneath his shirt and pulled out a tranquilizer gun loaded with a dart. The last time Ming had seen one of those was when she was a tiny cub living in China. She screamed, stricken with fear. Francis reared up from his pile of straw, launching himself at the man and pecking at his ankles. Jean rushed forward to help, but the boss held her back.
“Run!” Francis yelled over the commotion.
Ming looked at Tang and they both seemed to come to the same conclusion. There was no escape. And if the boss got his hands on Francis… on the message, then…
The man knocked Francis to the ground. Ming tried to help, but the man moved swiftly. He pointed the gun at Tang and then at Ming, and with two swift shots, hit them both. They dropped to the ground in quick succession.
Jean sobbed quietly as Ming’s vision blurred in and out of focus. Tang lay still beside her, his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth. As the world began to spin and fade into darkness, the last thing Ming saw was Francis mouthing a single promise: “I will find you.”
World War II Page 7