CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Even though the fleeing figure was long gone, the alarm spread along the walltop and across the castle grounds until it caught the attention of Sir Guy, who still sat on the ramparts near the main gate. Climbing to his feet, he demanded of the closest guards, "What's going on?"

"Uh, they say someone was seen runnin' from the castle back around that way ... "

"Someone? Running from the castle? Who? Did they come from inside the walls, or without?"

"Um ... I dunno, sir."

Gisbourne stood gripped in indecision for a few moments, lacking the information he needed to spring into action. Then, narrowing his gaze at the jailhouse door, he muttered to himself, "No. It can't be. It couldn't possibly ... "

But he needed to know. Launching himself down the wall stairs, the panther ran to the jail door, fishing the key out of his tunic pocket. Gisbourne hurriedly unlocked the grated gate, threw it wide and entered with a torch he grabbed from a passing guard. Racing up the stone steps to the second floor, he found the cell door shut just as it should be, but the flickering flames of his torch revealed a view through the tiny barred window that set his teeth on edge. There was really no need for him to open the door and walk all the way to the spot where the empty chains hung, but he did so anyway. For many long moments he simply stood there, eyes wide and jaw quivering in suppressed rage.

One of the guards who'd followed him entered the cell to stand alongside Gisbourne. "Wh-where is he? How'd he ... "

"Yes," Gisbourne growled, "that is the question, isn't it? How indeed?"

"Should we search th' castle an' grounds, sir?"

"Not necessary. You'll not find him here. He's outside the walls already." Sir Guy threw the sputtering torch down on the prison floor with such force that sparks sprayed and the flames nearly went out. Striding out of the cell, he muttered, "And now to find out how he got there ... "

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The Earl looked up from his bed, where he sat propped up on pillows sipping his brandy, when Gisbourne burst in. "Sir Guy, this is most irregular! You could at least knock ... "

"Where have you been, Earl?"

"If you mean since we last saw each other, I went straight to the cellar, got my brandy, and came back up here, where I hope to be sound asleep before very much longer. Where have you been?"

"Not that it is any of your concern, but I have been watching over our little traitor to make sure he doesn't go anywhere."

"Then I am sure he won't."

"Did you go anywhere besides the cellar? Did you speak with anyone? Do not lie to me, Earl - I can find out."

"I do not take kindly to being interrogated in this manner, but if it will get you out of my bedroom, I will answer you. I did not go anywhere but the cellars, and I did not see or speak with anyone else. They've all had the good sense to turn in for the night, as I had tried to do myself an hour or two ago. Now would you be so kind as to tell me what is going on?"

"I would be amazed if you don't already know, Earl."

"Pretend I don't."

"Our little traitor has grown wings and flown the coop."

The Earl sat up straighter, feigning surprise. "Skippy's gone? How? When did this happen?"

"All very good questions. And rest assured I shall get to the bottom of them. Do not doubt it."

"Well, anything that I can do to help - "

But Gisbourne was already gone, slamming the Earl's door behind him with such force that the white cat's ears were left ringing.

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The next morning, all the castle held its breath, waiting to see what the enraged panther would do. Would there be more arrests, more imprisonments, more interrogations? Whom did he suspect of helping to free Skippy, and what did he plan to do about it? Since only one member of the court did in fact know how the rabbit had managed to escape, this mystery came as much of a surprise to the castle staff and nobles as it had to Gisbourne himself. This only served to heighten tensions, with all the courtiers wondering how they were supposed to respond If Sir Guy demanded answers from them that they didn't have.

The expected inquisition never came. Gisbourne stood in the courtyard as the new day brightened over Nottingham, staring at the jailhouse, just staring. At length the Sheriff worked up the courage to approach Sir Guy, but before the wolf could say anything, Gisbourne asked a question first.

"Sheriff, now that Sir Hiss is back in London with King John, are there any other serpents living at this castle?"

"Uh, no there ain't ... "

"And is there anyone living here at all who could slip through the bars of the door or windows to that prison?"

The Sheriff shook his head. "Not even our youngest messengers would be able t' do that, Sir Guy. Not even that escaped rabbit himself ... "

"Then that can only mean there is another way into that jail."

Again the law-wolf shook his head. "But there ain't! I've presided over that jail fer years - well, not fer th' last two, but fer years before that - an' there's only ever been that one door!"

"Then I would say you do not know your own facilities as well as you think. Sheriff, assemble a score of troops, armed with sword and bow. And a couple of more on top of that, supplied with a dozen pickaxes and shovels."

"You gonna dig up around the jail?" the Sheriff asked.

"Hmm. Not an altogether bad idea, Sheriff. But no, the matter of the jailhouse can wait for now, since it currently stands empty. We have an escaped prisoner, and there are only two places he's likely to have gone. One is beyond our reach - at the moment - but the other is not."

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Mother Rabbit was kept very busy in the mornings, getting her many school-aged offspring ready for their day's classes at the school King Richard had set up for the children of Nottingham. This educational facility had come as a double-blessing for the widow; not only did it give her boys and girls somewhere to go during much of each day, but she often helped out at the school herself, earning extra farthings on top of her income as an occasional housekeeper for some of the nobles. Things were so much better now than they had been under Prince John, but like all of the town's peasants, she wondered how much longer that would last.

"Momma, can we have off school to go visit Skippy today?" asked Sissy, her oldest.

"Now, Sis, you should know better than that. A school day's a school day, and I'll not have you missing classes for family frivolities."

"But, Mum, we haven't seen Skip in ages!" protested Chauncy, one of Sissy's many brothers. "Maybe he's in trouble ... "

Mother Rabbit couldn't deny to herself that she too harbored worries about her eldest son. Those worries had started the day she learned of King Richard's death, and only deepened when Skippy's idol Robin of Locksley had been forced into an outlaw's existence again. These were perilous times to be a subject of the royal court, especially now with this mysterious Guy of Gisbourne on the scene. She'd heard about what he'd tried to do with Friar Tuck, as well as rumors of heightened security at the castle itself. Skippy had not been home since well before Sir Guy's arrival, and she doubted it was because he was too busy with errands. She could only hope he was doing the wise thing and keeping his head down to avoid attracting the attentions of this sinister enforcer King John had dispatched to darken their township.

Those hopes, along with many others, were about to be dashed to tatters.

The heavy knock upon their door at just that moment could not have been more ominous, or more in contrast to the beautiful spring morning whose sunshine was already beginning to flood into the rabbits' cottage. The raucous horseplay of the rambunctious brood was stilled to immediate silence as Mother Rabbit crossed to the door and opened it.

Sir Guy filled the doorway, but his lean and dangerous figure could not hide the score of soldiers who stood behind him, waiting with the Sheriff. "Good morning, ma'am," the panther said with cold formality. "Has your son the messenger perchance been by to visit you last night or this morning?"

"Skippy? No, no, we have not seen him in better than a fortnight. Why? Is he not at the castle?"

Gisbourne's smile could have curdled milk. "No, as a matter of fact he is not." And with that, he roughly pushed past the rabbit matron into her homestead. Most of the children recoiled and cowered at the sudden intrusion of this menacing presence they'd heard so much about, although a few of the older boys stood their ground, feigning the same kind of bravado they imagined their eldest brother might display in such circumstances. Sir Guy regarded them with bemusement, then dismissed them utterly; although he was no expert at telling rabbits apart from one another, it was plain to see that none of these were old enough to be the escaped traitor.

"How quaint," Gisbourne sneered, shifting his focus to the house's interior itself. The rabbit cottage was built around the base of a large tree, and several of the larger roots could be seen twisting through the stone walls. At the rear of this central family area, two descending branches formed a "V"-shaped arch into another area of the hovel. "Excuse me while I have a look for myself ... "

The panther went into each of the tiny bedrooms off the main room, poking his nose into every corner and cupboard and checking under every piece of furniture. At last he strode to the front door, clearly not satisfied with the results of his search.

"I told you Skippy wasn't here!" Mother Rabbit scolded.

But Gisbourne, contrary to appearances, was hardly leaving. "You'll forgive me if I don't take your word on that." Leaning out the open door, he barked, "Bring on those picks and shovels! Dig up the floors, and knock through the walls! We're not leaving until we've turned this place inside out to make sure there are no hidden holes where the fugitive might be stashed!"

Mother Rabbit stood mortified at this announcement. "You ... you can't do that! This is our home! We've nowhere else to go!"

Gisbourne glowered at her. "If you do not wish to be harmed, you and your brood here will vacate the premises at once. Otherwise, we will work around you, and will not be responsible for any pick that finds its way into your foot ... or your skull."

The panther's tone suggested that he was not exaggerating. The concerned mother gathered up her children as best she could and shooed them out onto the road, even as a dozen of the guards streamed into their besieged home and set about their mission of demolition. Some of the younger rabbits cried as they saw what was being done, but enough of the soldiers remained in the road to keep them too intimidated to do anything about it.

The distraught mother saw the Sheriff and approached the wolf, who seemed only slightly less taken aback by Gisbourne's actions as the rabbits themselves. "Sheriff, what is this all about? What has Skippy done?"

"That scamp of yers has been helpin' Robin Hood, ma'am, an' don't you try denyin' it. He knows where Robin Hood is an' wouldn't tell us, an' then to top it all off he broke outta jail last night an' got clean away."

Mother Rabbit put her paws to her face in alarm. "Skippy? In jail?"

"Yes, ma'am. Sir Guy ain't foolin' around here. He aims t' get Robin Hood, an' he'll go through anyone an' everything to do it." The Sheriff placed a comforting paw upon the widow's shoulder, finding that he actually enjoyed playing the benevolent law-wolf to Guy's ruthless juggernaut; it might stand him in better stead with the townsfolk when this was all over and Gisbourne was back in London. "Best you just stand back an' stay outta his way, an' this'll all be over in a bit."

She followed his advice, but not by choice; the marauders swept through her house like a whirlwind, hacking and stabbing and digging in a frenzy under Gisbourne's unrelenting direction. The noises coming through the open front door were terrible to the peasant family's ears; it didn't seem as if anything could be left intact when this ordeal was over.

The sun was halfway to its noontide zenith when Gisbourne and the rest of his crew filed out into the street. Past the threshold the rabbits could see a disheartening scene of destruction, with the floorboards pulled up in dozens of places and wall stones cracked and dislodged. Mother Rabbit turned to the panther. "I told you he wasn't here! I hope you're satisfied!"

Gisbourne ignored her. "There is nothing to be had here," he said to the Sheriff. "Burn it."

"Aha- er, what?" The wolf wasn't sure he'd heard right.

"I said burn it!"

"No!" the rabbit widow wailed, and the whimpers of her crying children rose to all-out squeals and bawling.

"But, Sir Guy," the Sheriff protested, "th' boy ain't here. They're not hidin' him, so ... what's the point?"

"It's time to send a message to all the peasants who so dearly love Robin Hood. I will send that message here. Now if you lack the spine to do what is necessary, I will find someone else to do it." Gisbourne turned to the guards. "You heard me. I want this nest of treason burned to the ground!"

Some of the guards seemed willing to carry out these orders, but this didn't stop them from trading confused glances with each other. "Um ... burn it with what?"

Gisbourne heaved an exasperated sigh. "Must I do everything myself?" And with that he stalked off down the street, disappearing into the heart of Nottingham.

"Is ... is he going away?" Sissy hoped aloud. "Is he gonna spare us after all?"

Mother Rabbit took her eldest child into a comforting embrace. "Let us pray so, Sis. Let us pray that it is so ... "

Two blocks away, Otto was working in his smithy when the black panther barged into the hound's workspace. Otto looked up in surprise, not sure what this intrusion might portend. "Can ... can I help you?"

Gisbourne glanced this way and that, surveying the entire shop for what he sought. Then he marched over to the canine and wrenched the red-hot iron bar that Otto was hammering right out of the peasant's grasp. "Hey, I'm workin' that fer a customer!" Otto protested, but Sir Guy was already out the door and on his way back toward the rabbit cottage. Nonplussed, Otto tore off his apron and started after the warrior, slightly miffed but, more than anything, curious to see what this was all about.

More townsfolk fell into step alongside Otto as he followed Gisbourne to the panther's destination two blocks from the forge. The rabbit family's eyes widened in horror as the panther approached and they saw what he held. Then, before anyone could stop him, Sir Guy flung the glowing red brand high up onto the thatch roof of the rabbit cottage. Screams of anguish arose anew from the helpless onlookers as the dry straw quickly caught and flames spread to consume the entire roof.

"What'd you go an' do that for?!" Otto demanded of Gisbourne, then turned to some of the others gathered around this unfolding disaster. "Start a bucket brigade! We gotta stop - "

Before the hound could finish speaking, he found his words cut off by Gisbourne's sword lying across his throat. "Sheriff!" the panther called out above the murmur of panicked voices and the growing crackle of flames. "If anyone moves to extinguish this fire, shoot them. They are violating the king's rule!"

"Y-yes, Sir Guy!" the wolf stammered, feeling events were moving far too fast for him to keep up and not knowing what else to do but follow the lead of the one who'd started all this. "You heard 'im! Shoot anyone who interferes!"

As the fire broke out into a full-fledged conflagration, it quickly became apparent that more was at stake than a single household. The fire burned its way to the massive tree the rabbit cottage was built around, up the trunk and branches until the whole tree was transformed into a terrible torch of gigantic proportions. The crowd, still growing, was forced back by the heat beating down on them.

And then the tree gave a tortured groan and tumbled sideways, falling across the roof of the nearest house and setting it ablaze too.

"Now can we try 'n' quell th' fire?" Otto inquired of Gisbourne with acidic sarcasm.

"If it pleases you, be my guest."

The Sheriff pulled at his collar, sweat standing out on the fur of his brow. "Maybe we'd better get back a ways ... "

"Nonsense," Gisbourne said almost gleefully, then bounded up onto the low roof of a home across the street from the fire. "I want to watch this through to the end from right here!"