'They've locked themselves in the keep, mistress,' said a voice in the doorway. It was Shawn Ogg, with the rest of the mob behind him. He advanced awkwardly, one hand held in front of him.
'That's a blessing, then,' said Granny.
'But we can't get in, mistress,' said Shawn.
'So? Can they get out?'
'Well... no, not really. But the armoury's in there. All our weaponsl And they're boozing!'
'What's that you're holding?'.
Shawn looked down. 'It's the Lancrastian Army Knife,' he said. 'Er... I left my sword in the armoury, too.'
'Has it got a tool for extracting soldiers from castles?'
'Er... no.'
Granny peered closer. 'What's the curly thing?' she said.
'Oh, that's the Adjustable Device for Winning Ontological Arguments,' said Shawn. 'The King asked for it.'
'Works, does it?'
'Er... if you twiddle it properly.'
'And this?'
'That's the Tool for Extracting the Essential Truth from a Given Statement,' said Shawn.
'Verence asked for that one too, did he?'
'Yes, Granny.'
'Useful to a soldier, is it?' said Oats. He glanced at Granny. She'd changed as soon as the others had entered. Before, she'd been bowed and tired. Now she was standing tall and haughty, supported by a scaffolding of pride.
'Oh, yes, sir, 'cos of when the other side are yelling, "We're gonna cut yer tonk- yer tongue off,"' Shawn blushed and corrected himself, 'and things like that...'
'Yes?'
'Well, you can tell if they're going to be right,' said Shawn.
'I need a horse,' said Granny.
'There's old Poorchick's plough horse-' Shawn began.
'Too slow.'
'I... er..., I've got a mule,' said Oats. 'The King was kind enough to let me put it in the stables.'
'Neither one thing nor t'other, eh?' said Granny. 'It suits you. That'll do for me, then. Fetch it up here and I'll be off to get the girls back.'
'What? I thought you wanted it to take you up to your cottagel Into Uberwald? Alone? I couldn't let you do that!'
'I ain't asking you to let me do anything. Now off you go and fetch it, otherwise Om will be angry, I expect.'
'But you can hardly stand up!'
'Certainly I can! Off you go.'