The Bomber Balloon (3 page)

Elijah Taylor looked over his shoulder. ‘Go home. This is no place for a girl.'

‘I'm not a girl,' Millie answered. ‘I'm a member of the Royal Defence Army. And I'm going to arrest a German.'

‘You're too young,' he groaned as he pedalled.

‘You're too old,' Millie argued. ‘If you can do it so can I.'

Constable Smith gave a wild laugh. ‘She's right, Elijah. She'll be more use than you.'

‘How?' the old man asked angrily.

‘You'll see,' Constable Smith said. ‘You'll see.'

The bicycles hummed along the quiet roads between high hedges and fields full of sheep and cows. The air was warm and scented with late summer flowers. Millie felt as far away from the war as those stars.

Then she heard the creak of Constable Smith's brakes and his cycle skidded to a halt. Though a gap in the hedge she could see why he had stopped. An amber light spilled across the fields from the village of Little Wigborough.

‘Ah, they have crashed in flames,' Elijah Taylor said. ‘There won't be any Germans for us to arrest.'

But Special Constable Taylor was wrong.

Zeppelin L33 had floated down like a dandelion seed towards the waiting fields of England. As the gas leaked it began to gather speed.

The men braced themselves against the sides of the cabin and held on to one another.

The balloon rushed down over Farmer George Eldon's barn and took off the weather-vane. Luckily, Farmer Eldon had just ploughed his field so the Zeppelin landed in soft, crumbling soil.

The crunched landing led to a few sprains, several cuts and lots of bruises, but no one died. Captain Alois Bocker pushed open the cabin door and stumbled down onto enemy soil. ‘Everyone out, quickly,' he ordered, and the men scrambled past him onto the ploughed soil. Then he called, ‘Engineer Wegener?'

‘Yes, sir?' the broomstick-thin young man with dark eyes asked.

‘Open the fuel tanks and let the petrol out. Fill a bucket with the petrol and make a trail like a fuse to the machine. I need to set it on fire so the British do not get the secrets of the Zeppelins.'

‘Yes, sir,' Engineer Wegener said and hurried to obey.

Signalman Kunischt rolled his barrel-body back to his captain. ‘We are very close to that row of farm cottages, sir, and
they have thatch on the roof. When we set fire to the Zeppelin we could burn the houses and barns. There could be cattle in the barns.'

‘A good point, Kunischt. Get the men lined up on the road ready to march. I will deal with this problem,' the captain said. He dusted down his uniform and put his cap straight before marching over to the cottage door. He raised a hand and knocked hard.

A dog barked. There was the scrape of a chair as it was jammed under the handle to keep out the stranger. Captain Bocker spoke in perfect English. ‘Good evening. I am sorry to disturb you.'

The dog barked. ‘Good evening, sir,' the German went on. ‘Are you there?'

‘No,' came the fast reply in a shaking voice.

‘You say there is no one there?' repeated the German.

‘No. I'm not here. I'm in the pub.'

Captain Bocker took a deep breath. ‘Is this one of your English jokes?'

‘I'm not laughing,' the farmer said. ‘I have a shotgun and I'll use it.' His voice wobbled.

The Zeppelin captain stepped aside so any blast from a shotgun would miss him. ‘I simply wish to tell you that my airship has landed in the field at the back of this house.'

‘I just ploughed that field,' the man behind the door grumbled.

‘I am about to set fire to it.'

‘To my field?'

‘To my airship. But I wanted to warn you that sparks may fly and set fire to your house or barn.'

‘Are you one of those bomber-balloon blokes?' the voice asked.

‘
Ja
.'

‘You drop bombs on women and babies?'

‘We cannot help that.'

‘And you're worried about my old cottage?'

‘
Ja
.'

‘Well, why aren't you worried about the people you drop bombs on?' the man asked.

Captain Bocker sighed. ‘When you are four thousand metres in the air you do not think of the people below as people. They are just targets.'

‘And you will be a target if I fire this shotgun through the door.'

The German sighed again. ‘Good night to you, sir. It has been a pleasure talking to you.'

‘You too,' came the reply. ‘Go carefully now.'

‘I will.' The German airship captain wandered down the path to the main road where his men waited.

‘Are you all right, sir?' Signalman Kunischt asked.

‘I don't know. I think we landed next to a madhouse.' He shook his head. ‘Engineer Wegener, light the petrol trail. Destroy the balloon. The rest of you… quick march!'

Millie and the two policemen heard the sound of tramping boots and pulled on the brakes of their cycles. Special Constable Elijah Taylor said, ‘That'll be the army on the way to the crash to see if there are any Germans left.'

‘No,' Constable Smith said. ‘The army are three miles away on Mersea Island. They couldn't get here that quick.'

‘So who are they?' Millie asked breathlessly. The crunch of the boots on the ancient road was closer now.

‘Let's ask them, shall we?' the constable said. He turned on his bicycle lamp and the marching men saw it. They clattered to an untidy halt.

Captain Bocker stepped forward. ‘Good evening,' he said politely, but his hand was resting on the pistol at his belt.

‘Good evening, sir,' the policeman replied. ‘And where are you off to?'

‘Colchester,' Bocker said. ‘It's not far, is it?'

‘Six miles, sir.'

‘And is this the right road?' the German asked.

‘It is, sir. If you would care to follow me?'

The policemen and Millie turned their cycles towards Peldon and wheeled them ahead of the Zeppelin crew.

‘Where are we going?' Millie hissed.

‘Peldon,' Constable Smith said.

‘I know, but why?'

‘Because there is a telephone in Peldon and a few more special constables.'

‘There's Fairhead, Clement Hyam, Charlie King, Joseph May, Horace Meade, Harry Beade and Edgar Nicholas,' Special Constable Taylor said.

‘That's right. Do you know any of them, Millie?'

‘Of course,' she said. ‘They're nearly all in this Royal Defence Army. They'll be in the pub with my dad.'

‘That's right. So when we get to the village I'll go to the telephone box and call the army on Mersea Island. You run off to the pub and get the constables.'

‘What about me?' old Elijah Taylor asked.

‘You guard them while I make the call.'

Elijah made a choking sound. ‘What if that German pulls his pistol?' he gasped.

‘He won't,' Millie said. ‘Just tell him I'm bringing all the farmers from the pub and they all have shotguns for the crows. He'll end up as dead as the crows if he shoots you.'

‘I'll end up deader,' Elijah grumbled.

But it wasn't Elijah Taylor who was in danger. It was Millie.

When they reached the village green Constable Smith stopped and shone his torch on the Germans. ‘Now, gentlemen, if you would just wait here I will call for some lorries to give you a lift.'

‘You will get us a lift to Colchester?' Captain Bocker asked.

‘That's right,' Constable Smith said quietly. He marched across to the telephone box and began to call the army base.

Elijah Taylor turned to the girl. ‘Millie, you know what to do.'

But as Millie walked over the dark grass the Zeppelin captain reached out and grabbed her arm. ‘And where is the girl going?'

‘Bed,' Elijah said quickly. ‘It's way past her bedtime and she shouldn't be out.'