Take Two
New chapter alert!
This is the story of Lew, a lost pigeon in New York City.
Things are heating up. It’s time to try the mall heist again, except this time they have a new plan.
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Joan and Ruby both stared at me, waiting for a proper explanation.
“So, for the first mall heist attempt, it was just Francois, right?” I said. “He went in alone, all by himself. As tough as Francois is, pigeon panic got him. That’s why he was smacking against the walls in the vents. That’s why he hurt his wing. You should have seen him in there. He was totally out of it.”
“What are you getting at?” Joan asked.
I continued on. “Remember when we were in the vents back at the vet and you heard the dog bark, Joan? I could see the pigeon panic on your face. You were just about to lose it too, just like Francois did. But you didn’t. I think I know why.”
“Because we were together!” said Ruby, catching on.
“Exactly!” I said. “We were together. That’s how we get past pigeon panic. We do the heist together.”
Joan nodded as she thought it over. “As a group, we keep each other calm… That’s not a bad idea.”
“And it has to be before Francois gets out,” I said. “You saw what he was like today at the vet. He’s still hurt. He thinks he’s going to be fine by tomorrow, but he won’t be. Sure, he’ll be able to fly, but he won’t be able to do something like this. It’s too dangerous.”
“That won’t stop him from trying,” said Ruby.
“That’s why we need to do it in the morning,” I said, “before he can get to the mall.”
“But we don’t know where the jewellery store is in the mall,” said Joan. “We don’t have time to do the research that Francois did. What if we get lost in there?”
“I was with Francois while he studied the mall,” I said. “I know how to get to the store.”
I could sense their hesitation. They weren’t sure I could do it. Normally, I wouldn’t have been sure either. And yet in that moment I felt totally confident. I knew I could do it. I knew it in my bones.
“Are you sure?” asked Joan.
Her eyes were questioning. I felt a powerful strength in myself as my words made themselves heard.
“I’m sure,” I said.
I wasn’t used to stepping up. I was used to following plans, not making them.
They weren’t sold straight away, but I could eventually see that Joan and Ruby believed me. They were willing to trust in my plan.
We talked the heist over all through the afternoon and into the evening, discussing every little detail. We talked about the vents and how we would need to stay close. I thought about mentioning the scratching noises I had heard the last time, but I convinced myself it had probably been nothing. It certainly wasn’t worth worrying Joan and Ruby over. We then talked about how we would steal from the jewellery store. We knew that we wouldn’t all be able to go into the store together. There were too many of us. In a small space like that, we’d be caught straight away. And if there’s one thing that freaks humans out more than a bird indoors, it’s a mini flock of them indoors.
“I’ll do it,” said Joan.
If any of us were going to be able to do it, it was her.
After we called it a night, I sat alone on my branch, about to go to sleep. The moon was big and bright in the sky. As I looked up, I saw the silhouette of a bird patrolling the glass roof of the greenhouse. They were one of Mac’s pigeons keeping an eye on us.
I slept better that night knowing that Francois was ok.
*
We woke up so early the next day that the three of us were, in fact, the birds to wake the rest of the world up.
We sat together on the central branch of the greenhouse tree for breakfast. We were quieter that morning than we had been the evening before. The excitement had settled and been replaced by nerves. It was crunch time and reality was setting in. Ruby was especially feeling the pressure. She wasn’t touching her food.
“You need to eat,” Joan told her. “It will help later.”
Ruby nibbled at her food.
The good news was that it was a clear and perfect day. The sun was out and there weren’t any signs of rainclouds.
After some breakfast, it was time to go. Nerves or no nerves, we knew what had to be done.
We left the greenhouse to set off for the mall. As we left through the window, the two pigeons on top of the greenhouse roof both got to their feet to follow us.
Making our way across town, Mac’s two pigeons flew behind us. At one point, one of them peeled away and disappeared.
Once across town, before flying to the roof of the mall, we stopped by the look-out ledge just across the street from the main mall entrance. Even if we were going to be stuck going for it no matter what, it was still good to know what the day’s conditions looked like.
From the ledge, it seemed to be a very typical day in New York City for the mall. Vehicle traffic was loud and stinky and the footpath in front of the mall was going at a steady pace. The spinning door at the entrance was in constant motion, twirling like a flower.
Joan and Ruby weren’t quite sure what I was looking for.
“It’s looking good,” I said.
We made our way up to the roof and started the process of opening the vent entrance. Once the vent was open, we noticed that we weren’t alone on the mall roof.
A small flock of pigeons stood behind us with Mac standing front and centre.
“I hope you don’t have any regrets, Joan,” he said.
Joan stood strong and didn’t respond.
“See you guys soon,” said Mac with a nasty smirk.
Once again, we went into the vents. Together.
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