'Hey, I think I got it,' Bumpy whispered to his brother Blimpy. 'Yeah, look! I've got the lock open!'
'You mean that little rod unlocked it?' Blimpy could hardly believe they were so lucky.
'Well, the little rod, plus my genius,' Bumpy replied. 'Here, now that I know how to do it, let me try to open that shackle on your ankle, too.' Bumpy set to work; in only a few minutes, the shackle opened with a click, and Blimpy removed it from his ankle.
'Now, set Chigow free, too,' Blimpy said.
'Hey, I don't see why I should. He deserves to be here. I'm sure it wasn't you who came up with the dumb idea of stealing that liquor, was it?' Bumpy asked his brother.
'Well, no, but Chigow's my friend. We can't leave him here!' Blimpy pleaded.
'Ooh, okay. Hey Chigow, wake up,' Bumpy shook the sleeping koala's shoulder.
'Huh, uh…' Chigow sluggishly opened his eyes. 'What is it? Hey, you two are free!'
'That's right, and if you shut up for a few minutes, you will be, too,' Bumpy worked deftly with the rod, and this time, it only took him a minute to open the lock.
'There! Now let's get outta here,' Bumpy suggested, 'before that moron Mabo shows his homely face again.'
The three looked around, and seeing that the coast was clear, began jogging off eastwards, stopping to hide every few trees to make sure nobody was following them. Before long, they had reached a tree on the very edge of Koalatown.
'Now we've just gotta cross this field, walk through Eucalyptus Grove, then cross the next field, and we'll be home!' Chigow rejoiced.
'Yeah, but maybe we should walk up to the forest first. I don't feel comfortable crossing open fields,' Blimpy seemed hesitant.
'Nonsense! There isn't a hawk in sight,' Chigow replied, looking up at the sky, 'and it's already almost dark, so none would see us, anyway.'
'No, Blimpy is right,' Bumpy said. 'It's not the hawks. Somebody might see us if we're out in the open like that, and then Mabo and his cronies will chase after us. We'll sneak up north, tree by tree, then enter the forest, and from there, get over to Koalaville as fast as we can.'
'Do whatever you want,' Chigow scoffed. 'I'm going straight across this field. It's the fastest way.' He then began to trot out into the field.
'Come on, Blimpy, we're goin' this way,' Bumpy grabbed his brother's arm before he could follow his chum.
Bumpy and Blimpy, cautiously moving from tree to tree in their flight northwards, had hardly gone fifty yards or so when they heard two emus squawking. Hiding behind a tree and looking back, they saw Mabo and a deputy, mounted on the emus, riding to the edge of the grove. Immediately spotting Chigow, who had not even gotten half way across the field, they speeded up.
Chigow, hearing them coming, looked back, then began to dash ahead as fast as he could, but to no avail. The speedy emus had soon reached him, well before he got to the western edge of Eucalyptus Grove. Mabo's emu got in front of Chigow, blocking his way. Chigow stopped, and before he could think of what to do, the deputy had jumped off his emu, tackling Chigow and wrestling him to the ground. Tying Chigow's paws behind his back, the two also fastened a long rope to his body. They then mounted the emus again, and slowly started back westwards towards Koalatown, leading Chigow, who had to walk, by the rope.
'That fool!' Bumpy exclaimed. 'He always wants to do it his way. Now he sees where that gets him!'
'Aren't we gonna help him?' Blimpy was sick with worry about the fate of his friend.
'Nothin' we can do for him now,' Bumpy replied. 'Come on, we'd better get up to the forest before they get wise and chase after us, too.'
They then continued their flight, and after reaching the edge of the forest, they entered it by squeezing through some bushes, being afraid that the main path connecting Koalatown to the woods might be guarded. Once in the forest, they had no trouble traveling eastwards.
Though walking slowly and even stopping occasionally to make sure they were safe from koala pursuers as well as from wild animals, they arrived in Koalaville in about an hour and fifteen minutes without a hitch.
Chigow, on the other hand, soon found himself chained to the same tree, but this time, a guard was posted nearby to assure that he could not escape again.