The Pigeon Man by Joel Edward Stein

Author:Joel Edward Stein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pants On Fire Press
Published: 2015-11-18T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

One behind the other, the boys snuck up to the pigeon coop. They stealthily crept to the door, military style on their hands and knees, and got on either side of it.

Tommy swung the door open and screamed, “Hey little greenhorn! Whaddya doin’?”

This was so unexpected, so shocking, that Danny froze in his tracks. It brought back some of the things he tried so hard to forget. Images that flashed like a movie projector were suddenly turned on inside his head. Scenes of doors being smashed open and Nazi storm troopers rushing in and knocking down whatever or whoever was in their path. He watched how his Great-Aunt Hanna had suffered a broken arm when a storm trooper shoved past her; knocking over a table and shattering the china teapot his mother cherished so much. The bad memories that he fought back, flooded in again.

“Why are ya just standin’ there? Ya jerk!” Tommy taunted. “Let’s see ya fight me now!” He shoved Danny hard against the wire siding of the flight cage, tearing open a gap in the loft. The pigeons began to panic at this sudden intrusion. One of the frightened birds dove off its perch and out the gaping hole. Another followed it. And another.

“Oh, no!” Danny cried out. “Why are you doing this?” He tried to move around Tommy to close the damaged siding but Tommy blocked the way.

“Yer not goin’ nowhere,” Tommy snarled. He looked around to make sure the other boys were seeing how tough he was.

Danny was more afraid about what Delaney would think, and more concerned about the pigeons that about himself.

He blindly shoved Tommy out of the way trying to save the birds and the loft. Tommy stood there bewildered, not believing that Danny would actually do such a thing.

“I thought ya wuz so tough,” Ken taunted Tommy, trying to aggravate him more. This was becoming more fun and entertaining than Ken had expected.

Tommy tried to punch Danny but Danny grabbed him around the waist and threw him into Ken; knocking both of them to the ground. Danny just wanted to prevent more birds from getting out of the loft. But this infuriated Ken. Ken grabbed the stick from the boy standing behind him. He swung it wildly hitting Danny on the forearms and back. Then he went after the loft with the full intention destroying whatever was in front of him. Danny tried to take the stick away from him but he was struck on the forehead and began to bleed.

***

Isabelle was grazed by a BB, and one of her flight feathers was nicked. Tobey flew between the shooter and Isabelle, taking a BB in the chest. It stunned him but he kept on flying. Isabelle followed him. They both flew high and wide until they made it out of the boys’ range. They could sense that they weren’t far from their loft and although they were winded and wounded, they kept going in the direction of their home. They were out of harm’s way now.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.