When a group of their neighbors plans to oust Mrs. Krnc because she feeds the pigeons that cause a mess, Rachel and her great uncle Benson work to encourage better communication and search for an alternate solution.
In 1918, caring for her family's homing pigeons while her father is away fighting in World War I, twelve-year-old Pam comes to suspect that a mysterious stranger in her small North Carolina town is a German spy.