Lost Little Lew
The story of a lost pigeon in New York City...
Howdy, readers!
This is the ongoing serial of a lost pigeon named Lew in New York City.
It hasn’t all been hot dogs, pizza and rainbows…
Find the full series here:
In today’s chapter… Now that the crew has checked in on Francois, it’s time for them to work out their next steps.
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Before leaving, I took one final look at Francois in his cage. I felt wretched for him…
We made our way back through the vents towards the exit. There was more barking, but this time Ruby was right by Joan’s side and Joan didn’t even flinch.
In our small cluster, we moved briskly through the vents, completely unfazed.
We hopped out into the sun of the rooftop and fixed the vent entrance panel back into place.
Pausing on the roof, we each took a moment to enjoy the quiet relief of Francois being ok. We could breathe easier now. A little knot of worry in my tummy had been thankfully undone. Except there were plenty of other knots still fastened tight…
Joan broke the silence. “He’s going to want to go straight back into the mall once he’s out.”
“He’s not going to be ready,” said Ruby.
“I know,” said Joan. “He’s just going to get himself hurt.”
None of us knew what to do. The situation felt like an unsolvable riddle.
Even though I had only in truth met Francois recently, I felt like I had known him for a very long time. I felt like I understood him. And Joan was exactly right. He was going to get himself hurt. He was smart, but he was stubborn. And so long as the mall heist needed to be done, he would be the one to do it. He wouldn’t let any of us put ourselves in danger like that.
“No point just standing around,” said Joan finally. “Let’s get some lunch. Then we can come up with a plan.”
“I have food at the greenhouse,” said Ruby.
In agreement, we took off back across town.
*
We got to the greenhouse and went inside. Joan and I landed on the central tree branch while Ruby slipped off to a little storage area to prepare some food.
As we waited on the branch, I asked Joan a question that had been nagging at me.
“Why don’t we just get Francois and fly away?” I asked. “Leave the city. Find somewhere new.”
Joan had obviously already considered it.
“I wish it were that simple, Lew,” she said. “Howell is more powerful than you think. Birds who betray him, they don’t get away with it.”
In that moment, we both suddenly heard a strange tapping sound. It was coming from above. I looked up and there was Howell himself standing on top of the greenhouse, tapping the glass with his claw, grinning.
Before I could react, my attention was snapped to the sound of a flock of flapping wings. I looked over and pigeons were pouring in through the window entrance into the greenhouse. They were charging in like a swarm of angry bees.
Suddenly, we were surrounded. There were pigeons all around us, in front and behind and on all of the nearby branches. It was Mac’s pigeons from Central Park. Mac himself then stepped forwards from the crowd, standing right in front of us on the branch.
He looked at Joan with an evil smirk. She held her ground.
The pigeons were cawing at us and taunting us. We were completely trapped.
Ruby was then ushered through the crowd and pushed over to join us.
“I didn’t tell them where we were, I swear,” she told us.
Joan quickly helped Ruby over and tucked her behind her. The three of us stood close together on the branch, Joan in front.
It took a moment and then the pigeons in front of us on the branch parted and Howell walked through like the menacing king he was.
The pigeons soon settled.
“What a lovely home you have here, Ruby,” he said. “I had no idea you lived in such luxury. Perhaps the billboard club could use an expansion.”
“We’re working on the mall heist,” Joan assured him. “Francois just had a little injury, that’s all.”
“Oh, I know,” said Howell. “At least he seems to be recovering well. Well done on getting him to a vet. I wouldn’t have thought you had the connections.”
He could instantly tell how surprised we were, just as he had anticipated.
“You didn’t think I was keeping an eye on you guys?” he said. “I have eyes and ears everywhere.”
“What do you want?” said Joan.
“I just wanted to check in, that’s all,” said Howell. “I want to make sure you’re all doing ok while your friend is in the repair shop. It’s an important time right now. Wouldn’t want any of you slipping off for a last-minute vacation or anything like that.”
“You see,” he went on, “you three are the key. Two betrayers and a newbie. What’s your name again anyway?”
My voice felt mouse-like. “Lew,” I said.
“That’s right,” he said. “Lost little Lew.”
Howell scoffed and the pigeons around us laughed along.
“As I was saying,” said Howell. “You three are going to be what makes Francois get back into those vents and try again. He’s going to do it for you guys.”
He stopped and let it sink in for a moment.
“Now,” he continued, “a little birdy of mine at the vets told me that Francois thinks he’s getting out tomorrow, which makes things quite simple actually. I want the heist done by sundown tomorrow.”
“He’s not going to be ready,” said Ruby.
“You watch,” said Howell. “He’ll be ready.”
Howell took off first, quickly followed by everyone else.
The three of us stood by in the now quiet and empty greenhouse.
“Francois isn’t ready,” said Ruby hopelessly.
“I know,” said Joan. “He’ll try, but it won’t end well.”
Suddenly, everything clicked in my mind.
“I have an idea,” I said. “It needs to be us. Before Francois gets out. Us together, keeping each other calm. It’s the only way we can overcome the pigeon panic. Together. We need to do the heist together.”
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