"Where’s Rider?" the captain of the guards barked. "Where is he? I know he’s in here somewhere." The captain surveyed the mangy crowd in the tavern¹. "Find him," he said to the other guards. "Turn this place upside down if you have to!"

 

Flynn grabbed Rapunzel, with Pascal still clinging to her hair, and ducked behind the counter. Peeking² over the top, Flynn saw the palace guards bring in the Stabbington brothers. Their hands were in shackles³. Then he saw Maximus clomp into the tavern and begin sniffing⁴ around. That horse! How does that horse keep finding me? Flynn wondered.

 

Someone reached down and grabbed Flynn and Rapunzel. Flynn cringed, thinking he was done for. But the thug lifted a hidden door in the floor, revealing a secret passageway.

 

"Go live your dream," the thug said sweetly.

 

"I will," Flynn told him, finding this turn of events bizarre but good. Really good!

 

"Your dream stinks," the thug bluntly told Flynn. Then he nodded at Rapunzel. "I was talking to her." Rapunzel smiled at the thug as Flynn entered the secret passageway.

 

"Are you coming, Blondie?" Flynn asked her.

 

Rapunzel looked into the dank tunnel and, after an encouraging smile from Pascal, followed Flynn. The door closed behind them, and Flynn and Rapunzel were suddenly gazing into a long, dimly lit passageway.

 

Inside the tavern, the royal guards continued their search.

 

Nobody paid attention to Maximus. The horse was used to it. But Maximus had picked up that scoundrel’s scent⁵, and he followed it until he saw a slight irregularity in the floorboards. He also saw Flynn’s puny⁶ footprint. Maximus knocked his hoof⁷ against the floor, and a door swung open. Aha!

 

"A passage?" the captain said, coming up behind Maximus. "Come on, men. Let’s go!" The horse charged into the passage, followed by the palace guards.

 

Before the captain entered the tunnel, he turned toward the Stabbington brothers.

 

"Conli, make sure those boys don’t get away," the captain said to one of his guards. The guard nodded, and the captain disappeared into the tunnel.

 

"Does that hurt?" one of the Stabbingtons asked the man guarding them. The brothers were a full foot taller than he was. And they looked mean — meaner than any other prisoner that guard had seen.

 

"Does what hurt?" the guard replied nervously⁸.

 

BAM! The brothers head-butted the guard so hard that he was slammed to the floor, unconscious. Grabbing a spear, the brothers used their brute⁹ strength to break their shackles.

 

"Play it safe?" one brother asked, pointing to the tavern door. "Or go get the crown?" Smiling evilly, they headed toward the tunnel.

 

They didn’t care about safety. They wanted the precious crown.

 

Outside the tavern, Mother Gothel was still watching. If there was one thing Mother Gothel did well, it was watch. She knew that patience would always bring her the greatest reward. So she watched ... and waited.

 

When she finally saw a thug stumble out the door of the Snuggly Duckling alone, Mother Gothel stepped from the shadows. "Excuse me, sir," she said, using her most caring voice. "I am desperately¹⁰ trying to find my daughter. Where does that tunnel let out?"

 

Inside the tunnel and happy to be making his escape, Flynn led the way. "You know," he said to Rapunzel awkwardly, embarrassed to have been rescued by a girl, "for the record, I had everything very under control."

 

"Oh." Rapunzel felt confused. "Okay."

 

"It was good of you to step in. So ... thank you for that."

 

The tunnel was dark and cool. Flynn found a lantern that cast a warm globe of light around them. They were moving swiftly now, but they still had a long way to go together.

 

"So, Flynn, where are you from?" Rapunzel asked.

 

But Flynn balked¹¹ at the subject. After his humiliation¹² in the tavern, he refused to reveal any personal information.

 

"So here is my question," he said. "If you want to see the lanterns so badly, why haven’t you gone before?"

 

Rapunzel’s eyes grew wide with fear. She faltered¹³, "Uh ... heh. Well ..."

 

"No," Flynn insisted. "Seriously."

 

But even as he spoke¹⁴, the cavern¹⁵ began to shake. Debris¹⁶ sifted¹⁷ down on their heads.

 

Rapunzel turned and saw Maximus charging down the tunnel toward them. The guardsmen were right behind him.

 

"Flynn!" she cried out.

 

One of the guards spotted¹⁸ them and shouted, "Rider!"

 

Flynn chose to respond to Rapunzel: "Run!"

 

“雷德在哪儿？”卫兵队长厉声问道，“他在哪儿？我知道他在这儿的某个地方。”队长环视了一圈酒馆里脏兮兮的众人。“把他找出来，”他向卫兵们命令道，“有必要的话，把这个地方翻个底朝天！”

 

费林抓着乐佩矮身躲到吧台后面，帕斯考依然趴在她的头发上。费林从吧台台面上偷偷往外瞧，他见到宫廷卫兵把钉刺兄弟也带了进来。他们手上戴着手铐。他见到捍马重重地踏进酒馆，开始到处嗅。那匹马！那匹马怎么总是找我？费林感到疑惑。

 

有人俯下身抓住了费林和乐佩。费林畏畏缩缩，想着自己完了。但是这个恶棍一把拎起地板上的一道暗门，打开了一条秘密地道。

 

“去实现你的梦想吧。”恶棍亲切地说。

 

“我会的。”费林对他说，他觉得事件的转折很诡异，但挺好。相当好！

 

“你的梦想糟透了。”恶棍直率地对他说。然后他对乐佩点点头，说道：“我是对她说的。”乐佩对着恶棍微笑，费林钻进了秘密地道。

 

“你来吗，金发美女？”费林问她。

 

乐佩看着潮湿的地道，帕斯考对她露出一个鼓励的微笑，于是，她跟上了费林。门在他们身后关上。费林和乐佩面前突然出现一条长长的、灯光昏暗的地道。

 

酒馆里，皇家卫队继续搜寻着。

 

没人注意到捍马。这匹马早就对此习以为常。但是捍马嗅到了那个坏蛋的气味。他跟踪着味道，看到一处地板略微有点不太规整。他也看到了费林浅浅的脚印。捍马用蹄子敲打地板，门开了。啊哈！

 

“一条地道？”卫兵队长说着，来到了捍马身后，“来吧，弟兄们，我们走！”马儿冲进地道，后面跟着宫廷卫兵队。

 

队长进入地道前，转向钉刺兄弟。

 

“康利，别让他们跑了。”队长对一个卫兵说。那名卫兵点点头，队长随后消失在地道里。

 

“痛吗？”钉刺兄弟中的一个问看守着他们的卫兵。钉刺兄弟比他足足高了一英尺。他们看起来很坏，比卫兵见过的所有罪犯都要坏。

 

“什么痛？”卫兵紧张地反问道。

 

??！钉刺兄弟用头狠撞卫兵，力量很大，卫兵被撞倒在地，失去了意识。钉刺兄弟抓过一把长矛，用蛮力挣脱了手铐。

 

“安全起见？”其中的一个指着酒馆的门问，“还是去拿皇冠？”他们邪恶地笑着，向地道奔去。

 

他们可不在乎安全。他们要的是珍贵的皇冠。

 

酒馆外面，高瑟妈妈还在观望。要说高瑟妈妈擅长的事，那就是观望。她知道耐心总能带来最大的回报。所以她观望着……等待着。

 

高瑟妈妈终于看到一个恶棍从舒适小鸭酒馆独自跌跌撞撞走了出来，她便从阴影处走了出来。“请问，先生，”她用最关切的声音问道，“我迫切想找到我的女儿。那条地道通向 哪儿？”

 

地道里，费林很高兴得以脱身，他走在前面开路。“你知道，”他有点尴尬地对乐佩说，被一个女孩救了，他有点不好意思，“我得申明一下，一切都在我的掌控中。”

 

“哦，”乐佩有点疑惑，“好吧。”

 

“你插手进来，这很好。所以……谢谢你那样做。”

 

地道里黑漆漆、凉飕飕的。费林找到了一盏灯笼，灯笼在他们身边投射出一个温暖的光圈。现在他们走得很快，但还有很长一段路要一起走。

 

“那么，费林，你是哪里人？”乐佩问。

 

但是费林却故意回避这个话题。他在酒馆丢尽脸面之后，就拒绝透露一切个人信息。

 

“那么，我的问题是，”他说，“如果你这么想去看天灯，你以前怎么不去？”

 

乐佩的眼睛因为害怕睁得老大。她支支吾吾道：“呃……嗯。这个……”

 

“不，”费林坚持问，“说真的。”

 

但就在他说话的时候，地道的洞穴开始震动。碎石落在他们头上。

 

乐佩转身见到捍马正朝着他们冲过来。卫兵队就跟在它后面。

 

“费林！”她大叫。

 

一个卫兵发现了他们，大喊：“雷德！”

 

费林选择回应乐佩：“快跑！”

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