Meanwhile, Shyla was pacing in her prison. She had a restless soul, and a strong will. "We've got to get out of here," she said with determination.
Mika nodded, "But how? Those two finks are guarding the door."
"I know," Shyla said, now walking in a circle. "We've got to trick them somehow, outsmart them."
"Well, one thing's for sure," Mika said sadly, "we aren't going anywhere unless we can somehow get out of these rusty chains." She pulled at them, hoping they would be old and break, but they did not. She banged her head against the wall in frustration, and a piece of stone fell from one of the bricks. "Maybe if I smack the rock on the chains, they will eventually break," she said optimistically, and began pounding her bonds.
Unbeknownst to the captives, a hummingbird named Speedwing had been watching them since their capture. She now watched the guards, who were drinking ale, which had been delivered to them by Rakefur. After the fourth round of ale, the two weasels began to get sluggish. "I'll just close one eye, and take a half nap. Then, I'll open that eye and close the other so it makes a whole nap," the dim-witted Screwtail thought to himself as he sat down next to the door. Grisclaw too, soon fell asleep, aided by the ale. Speedwing flew down and hovered near the window of the cell.
"Hurry," she said, "before they wake up! How can I help?" Shyla was startled by the soft, high-pitched voice, but she soon saw that the bird truly wanted to, and probably could, help them escape. And in Mika's mind, anything besides pounding her chain with a rock would be worth a try. Shyla's quick mind had already created a plan, maybe not a foolproof one, but it was still a plan.
"What are you willing to risk?" she asked the bird. "Anything,"came the reply, "for a good meal."
"Good. Do you think that with your long beak you could reach into the guards pocket and grab the keys?"
"I think so."
"Good."
"Am I guaranteed a good meal?" Speedwing added quickly.
"Sure. If you can get Mika and me back to the abbey, we will have a banquet in you honor," Shyla said absentmindedly, pacing again. "But even if we get out of our chains, then how do we get past the guards and out of the fort?"
They all thought for a while, then Mika suddenly cried, "I've got it! Rosebud!"
"What?!?" Shyla asked, putting a finger to her lips, as Mika had cried rather loudly. "How is a stupid flower supposed to help us escape?"
"No no no, Rosebud the Skunk!" Mika said excitedly. She turned to the bird, "I'm not quite sure, as I don't know where we are, but I don't think she lives too far from here. If I'm right, a little ways east of here there's a clearing with a patch of flowers in the middle of it. She is almost always in the flowers, I guess she likes the smell," she said with a smile, then continued, "Just call out her name; if you find her, tell her what's going on and when you get back to the fort- You can find your way back can't you?"
"Sure can, and I know just the clearing you're talking about."
"Ok, so then you'll both come back, she'll use her "charm" to get past the gatekeeper, while you get the key from those two dreamers over there. Then you'll give us the key, she'll use her "charm" on the guards and then we run for it."
"Sounds like a good plan to me," Shyla said.
"Me too," Speedwing agreed. "I'm on it," and with that, she was gone.
