Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 "Maybe he can't find the key?" Pearl questioned from inside the locked birdcage on Dusty's back. The donkey remained tied to a hitching post outside a small house on the grounds of the Church of the Visitation. Ruben had run up to the church and not yet returned. "This would be a perfect time to make a run for it," Merle mused as he rattled the bars of the birdcage. "If we had some more time, I could grow my hair out and bend these bars apart like the squirrel version of Samson." "Now that would be a miracle," Pearle commented.

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Merle was quiet for a few seconds, then suddenly exclaimed, "Hold on! I have an actual idea!" "Uh-oh," Pearl responded. Usually when Merle had an idea, it was followed by some sort of trouble. "Maybe we can't escape— but Dusty can!" "I'm tied to a post and don't have opposable thumbs," Dusty pointed out. "No— but we do!" Merle said. "Actually, we don't," Pearl corrected. "Squirrels don't have thumbs." "Well, we can grab stuff, can't we? Same thing," Merle countered. Pearl shrugged. "So?" "We can reach through the cage and untie Dusty's reins," Merle said. "Merle— we're on his back, and your arms aren't that long."

This was obvious to Merle, but he had something else in mind. "Right, but all Dusty has to do is get us, in the cage, close enough to reach the rope." Compared to all the crazy ideas Pearl had heard from Merle over the years, this one actually didn't sound all that bad. "Hmm," she pondered, which for Merle was just as good as "Let's do it!" "Dusty, try getting down on your front knees, so the cage will slide forward toward the post," Merle instructed. "If we're going to try this, we've got to hurry," Pearl cautioned. "Ruben will be back any minute."

Dusty knelt down on his front legs, and the cage started forward, but stopped with a jolt. "Oh great." Merle slapped a paw to his forehead. "It's strapped down. Never mind." "Actually guys, this might work," Dusty said. "After our Good Samaritan deed on the Old Jericho Road, Ruben must not have tightened the straps all the way when he put your cage back up. I think I can shake you loose!" "How are you gonna do—?" Merle hadn't finished his sentence before Dusty started bucking his hind legs. It's a move donkeys are famous for, but it's seldom tried by kneeling donkeys. Not only did his bucks violently rattle the birdcage, but they sent his jaw pounding into the ground. "OOOF! OOOFFF!" Dusty grunted over the sound of the clattering cage.

"AHHHHH!" Merle yelled. "SHHHHH!" Pearl tried to shush as she bounced up and down. "He'll hear us!" "SORRY!" Merle yelled even louder. Suddenly, the strap broke loose, and the birdcage flew off Dusty's saddle and straight into the hitching post with a CLANG! Dusty then collapsed on the ground with a THUD. "SHHHHH!" Pearl repeated, dizzy from the ride. Merle wasted no time in reaching through the cage and unlooping Dusty's rein from the post.