Pine led Spitfire through the darkened woods, for the sun had almost set in the horizon. At last, with the moon smiling down at them, they arrived at the nearest jailhouse. Coarse jeers and drunken shouts pierced the air like arrows shot back and forth.
"The prisoners must be quite rowdy this time of night," South whispered with a sniff of disdain.
"Seems likely. How will we free him with the King's regiment and other prisoners blocking our way? We can't just break down the door," Eleanor sighed.
"I have an idea. That loosened shaft there on the roof. If we can remove it quietly enough, thus creating a large hole for us to go through, then we'll be able to get in," Pine suggested.
South shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"There isn't any feasible way that could work. For one, the shaft is bolted to the roof itself, which would damage it; two, we would be visible to other prisoners and could start a riot; three, the drop would be very steep; finally, even if we managed to break in, Gilligan couldn't be held in solitary. In my opinion, we should-"
"We need to move. There are only a few hours left until daylight. We don't have time to argue," Eleanor interrupted, heading to the roof of the jailhouse. "Pine, hoist me up."
Grunting, Pine lifted Eleanor, South, and himself onto the roof, then removed the loose tiling around the shaft and jumped down into the prison. After a few bumps and bruises, they went further into the torch-lit jailhouse. Cold, damp, and musty, the atmosphere was unpleasant to say the least.
"Phew, not mentioning the man-smell…" Pine grunted, wrinkling his nose as South agreed with a disapproving snort. Eleanor tried to ignore the stench as she moved from cell to cell.
At last, a sharp whisper cut through the murkiness.
"Treeward? Father South? Is that you in the flesh?"
"Aye, it's us. Who were you expecting?" South replied gruffly, teasing him.
"We're here to let you out," Eleanor whispered back.
"Eh? Who're you?"
"No time for introductions, pal. We've gotta spring ya first."
Pine tried to pull the bars apart with his strength, but to no avail.
"Those bars are solid steel an' iron, so you won't be able to bend them. Fortunately for you, the guard with the keys is a few cells away from me. He drank a pint too much of warm ale while on duty, and now he's sleeping like a baby."
Sure enough, the keyring hung around the guard's belt loop. Avoiding the other prisoners, Eleanor crept as silently as she could, reaching the guard's belt and cutting the loop with her dagger. Removing the ring of keys, a couple of them hit against each other, and she froze. The guard seemed not to notice, so she took a sigh of relief and made her way back to Greenbriar's jail cell.
"Which key is it?" she asked, holding up the ring.
"I think it's the biggest one. No, maybe the crooked one? Or the silver one? Or-"
Pine groaned in exasperation. "Great goblets, Gilligan! Stand back, I'm going to demolish these bars!"
Backing up, he took a running start and slammed his fists as hard as he could into the bars. Unfortunately, the only rewards he gained were sharp pain in his knuckles and a very loud clang. Everyone in the prison heard it, even the guard, who raised his head up slightly, grumbled incoherently, and continued to snore. Pine sighed in relief as he held his throbbing fists close to his body and Eleanor sorted through the keys, trying each one in the lock. Eventually, one of them fit into the lock, and Gilligan Greenbriar was finally freed. As they walked back to the roof to leave, Eleanor returned the keys to the guard.
Finally outside of the prison, Gilligan, who Eleanor discovered was a praying mantis, thanked them for rescuing him. With Eleanor and South remounting Spitfire, the group continued traveling.
"Pine, should we keep going? I think Eleanor's getting tired," Gill noticed.
Before Pine could reply, South spoke up.
"Perhaps we should stop at the Blue Bell? Besides, I'm starving after our little ordeal," he added.
Eleanor and Pine looked at each other and nodded, with Gill giving a smile, and as soon as they arrived at the inn, fresh ale and roast meat greeted their senses. Seating themselves at a table near the back of the room, a stout Doberman waddled over to them, bags under her eyes.
"What's your order?" she droned.
"Mug of ale all around, please. Oh, and a water for the lady," South replied politely.
"Coming right up. I'll take your food orders next," she continued, waddling away. A feeling of dread filled the pit of Eleanor's stomach, and her fear was justified as the heavy oak door swung open with a dull thud.
The noise in the inn dimmed instantly when a humongous, burly warthog clomped inside.
"Gladys! Where's my lunch, you no-good windbag?"
"C-coming up, Sheriff, sir!" Gladys stammered, moving as fast as her legs could carry her.
"Sheriff of Nottingham – one of the most hated men in all the land," Pine grumbled as the warthog sauntered to their table. With a smirk, he snatched Eleanor's purse and shook it, a few farthings into his burly hand. He snorted, then flung the empty pouch at Eleanor's head before walking away.
"He takes what he wants and is friend to no one," Pine finished with annoyance.
"Eh, he irritates me too, young'un," Gladys said, placing their drinks down on the table. "I'm just an old lady to him; he always complains 'bout the food here and he's so vulgar."
"Well, he's certainly wrong about the food," South commented around a mouthful of lamb.
"We have to take him down somehow," Gill muttered.
"The Lord has provided for us so far," South began as Pine cut him off.
"We'll just steal the money back from him and-"
"Now wait just a minute. I understand Robin Hood's philosophy is taking from the rich and giving to the poor, but there's no way we could take from the Sheriff without him noticing us at all. We'd have to be stealthy about it," Eleanor gently chided Pine with a shake of her head.
South cleared his throat and lifted his robe a little, showing off a bag of gold he had lifted from the pockets of the Sheriff.
"South? You took this?"
"I told you that the Lord provides for us, my daughter. Desperate times call for desperate measures," he replied with a wink.
After finishing a hearty meal and paying for a night's stay at the inn, the friends left it behind, with Gladys waving her hefty tip in the air.