That evening, Tweety went to see Gingivere again. He found the cat prince hacking away at the wall of his cell with a metal spike.

"What are ya doing, puddy tat?"

Gingivere set the spike down. "I saw the guards put those two little hedgehogs in the cells on either side of me. I pried this spike out of my wall. I'm going to take a stone from a wall on each side, so they can crawl through and I can hide them in here. That way Tsarmina will think they have escaped."

"Good pwan. But what if ya get caught?"

"Nobeast will think of looking for them in my cell. After I get them inside I'll seal up the holes again. The only one who comes in here is the guard who brings me food once a day, and whenever he shows up, I can just hide them under the straw."

"Okay. But now da Cowim will weally hafta tink of how dey can wescue Ferdy an' Coggs. Good wuck!" Tweety flew away.

Soon, Gingivere had a rock loose. Digging and jiggling, he pulled and pushed until it slid out, aided by a shove from the prisoner on the other side. A small wet snout poked through.

"Hello, Coggs. It's me, Ferdy."

Gingivere smiled. He patted the snout encouragingly. "Sorry, old fellow, it's not Coggs. I'm Gingivere- a friend. Coggs is in the cell on the other side of me. You stay quiet and I'll see if I can get through to him."

"Thank you, Mr. Gingivere. Are you a wildcat?"

"Yes, I am, but no need to worry. I won't harm you. Hush now, little one, let me get on with my work."

Ferdy crawled through and watched Gingivere get to work on the other wall. It took a long time. Gingivere's paws were sore from grappling with the stone, chipping the mortar, and pulling this way and that until the rock finally gave and shifted. With Gingivere pulling from one side and Coggs pushing from the other, the wall stone plopped out onto the floor.

"Hello, Mr. Gingivere. I'm Coggs. Is Ferdy there?"

The wildcat shook the paw which protruded from the hole. "Yes, Coggs. He's right in here."

Coggs went through the hole into Gingivere's cell.

"Hi, Coggs," said Ferdy.

"Hi, Ferdy," said Coggs.

"Try and get some sleep now," said Gingivere. For the first time since he was thrown in jail, he smiled.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What we got so far, toots?" Bugs asked Bella.

"I've finished translating the scroll," she answered. "It was written by my ancestor, Lady Sable Brock. It seems she once found a goose named Olav Skyfurrow injured in Mossflower and tended his hurts. He repaid her by giving her directions to Salamandastron, in the form of a poem. Lady Sable Brock wrote down what he said word for word."

She read the whole thing out loud.

"Twixt earth and sky where birds can fly,

I look below to see

A place of wood with plumage green

That breezes move like sea.

Behind me as the dawn breaks clear,

Woodpigeons come awake,

See brown dust roll, twixt green and gold,

Unwinding like a snake.

O'er golden acres far below,

Our wings beat strong and true,

Where deep and wet, see flowing yet,

Another snake of blue.

Across the earth is changing shape,

With form and color deep,

Afar the teeth of land rise up,

To bite the wool of sheep.

Beyond this, much is lost in mist,

But here and there I see

The treachery of muddy gray,

'tis no place for the free.

O feathered brethren of the air,

Fly straight and do not fall,

Onward cross the wet gold flat,

Where seabirds wheel and call.

The skies are growing darker.

See our beacon shining bright.

Go high across the single fang

That burns into the night.

We leave you then as we wing on,

Our journey then must be

Where sky and water meet in line,

And suns drown in the sea."

Bugs chuckled. "Well, there's your map, Martin. Instead of bein' drawn on paper, it's written as a poem."

"Old wotsisname Skyfurrow was nearly as good a bard as me," Gonff said. "Bet he wasn't half as clever a thief, though, matey."

Martin shook his head. "I sure wish he'd explained it a little clearer. It's almost like he didn't want anybeast to find Salamandastron."

"Well, we can figure it out, Doc," Bugs said. "Olav Skyfurrow was describin' what he saw from up above as he flew over Mossflower. We just gotta imagine that we're boids, too."