Meanwhile, in south-central Koalatown...'Rolly, are you ready? I want to get over to the Tree of Justice and give that delinquent his trial before noon.' Mayor Koala was getting impatient.
'Yeah, Mayor, let's climb down and go on over.' Rolly and the Mayor made their way down the Mayoral Tree and headed eastwards towards the tree to which Chigow was chained.
'Of course, he's going to deny everything. They always do. Not that that will keep us from giving him his just punishment,' Judge Rolly said.
'Rolly, we have to give this case a bit of thought. True, we could throw the book at him, and aim at his head. That would really hurt!' The Mayor laughed at his own joke, and then continued, 'Or, we could sentence him to a few years of hard labor, for example. Yet I think that there is something greater at stake here, something that might require a bit more flexibility on our part.'
'Huh?' Rolly was surprised. 'Since when are we flexible with criminals?'
'Look, Rolly. This Chigow, though he's from Koalaville, is a common thief, of the type that we have loads of here in Koalatown. The way I see it, the real danger is that accomplice of his, Bumpy, the one that knows how to open the shackles on the leg irons. Imagine if he teaches that trick to all the scoundrels creeping around Koalaland. Why, we wouldn't be able to keep any of them chained up for even an hour. We'd be powerless to control crime!'
'Hmm, good point. So do you have any suggestions?' Rolly was curious now.
'As a matter of fact, I do indeed. We have to use Chigow to get to Bumpy, then arrest him, put him under guard, and find out what he used to open the shackles. In a word, we have to stop Bumpy before he shares his technology with other criminals.'
'Interesting idea, no doubt,' Rolly muttered. 'How about if I'm the hard-liner, and you're Mr. Compassion?'
'Great! He'll be talking in no time – just you wait!' Mayor Koala laughed.
Chigow saw the Judge and the Mayor approaching the Tree of Justice. 'Hey, lamebrain,' he said to his guard, 'I see a couple of thugs comin' this way. If you let 'em lynch me, I swear I'll come back as a ghost and scare the devil outta ya!'
'Shut your trap, before I shut it for you,' the guard menaced. 'One more word, and I'll tell 'em to add a couple of months to your sentence.'
'Oh, I see. You've already all decided I'm guilty, even before my trial. Fine system of justice this is!'
'Chigow, I am Mayor Koala, and this is our Judge, Rolly.'
'Greetings, Your Majesties. I declare that I'm innocent on all charges, whatever they may be, so you can let me go home now,' Chigow remarked sarcastically.
'First of all, don't call us 'Your Majesties'. We don't have a monarchy here in Koalatown.
We have democracy,' Judge Rolly sternly informed him.
'Democr… what? Hey! Get away from me, it might be contagious!' Chigow mocked.
'Democracy is not a sickness; it's a superior form of government,' Mayor Koala explained. 'But enough of this nonsense, it's time for your trial. Rolly, what are the specific charges?'
'Burglary in the first degree; breaking and entering into the shack of Tama, and trying to make off with a large number of bottles of eucalyptus liquor. In addition, an almost successful attempt to escape in order to evade justice.'
'And what punishment do you recommend?' the Mayor asked.
'Hmm... I'd say that twenty years of hard labor ought to do it. We can have him break rocks.'
'Twenty years!' Chigow was startled. 'All I did was try to steal a little booze, and I didn't even get away with it! Twenty days would be more like it!'
'Hmm, that'll be one more year for contempt of court,' Rolly jotted down in a little notebook.
Chigow was mortified, and started to beg. 'Oh, please, I don't deserve such a sentence. Couldn't you forgive me just this one time? I promise I won't ever try to steal anything again. Give me one more chance!'
'Hah!' Rolly scoffed. 'They're always sorry once sentence is passed! But you're not fooling anybody. You will never change. So it is the ruling of this court that you be put to work building roads here in Koalatown, that is, after you've spent the first ten years breaking up the rocks needed to pave them. See that big iron ball over there?' the Judge asked him, pointing to a black metal ball, about eight inches in diameter, that was lying off to the left of the tree. It was connected to a two-foot chain that ended in an ankle shackle.
'Yeah,' Chigow replied. 'What's that for?'
'We'll chain you to that so you can't get away, and then take you up to the place where you're going to be working. There are a bunch of rocks up there that you'll be breaking up with a big hammer. Since you're still young, you should be able to finish the road in about twenty years, more or less,' the Judge explained.
'Oh, look Judge, Your Excellency, sir… Gimme a break! I'm no good at breakin' rocks!'
'You will be once you've got a few years experience,' the Judge snickered.
'But I've got my life ahead of me! I want to go back to my grove, be with my friends! And anyway, what's the sense of breakin' rocks? Can't you make roads without rocks?'
'Yeah, we could, but then you wouldn't suffer as much. And as far as your future is concerned, you should have thought of that before you turned to crime.' The Judge was firm.
Chigow now had tears in his eyes, for he realized that there would be no more joy in life for him.
'Hmmm… Chigow, maybe there is some other way,' Mayor Koala feigned compassion.
'Oh, please, sir, yes, I'll do whatever you ask. Just let me go!' Chigow pleaded.
'Well, there is something you could do for us, but … No, I could never ask that of you,' the Mayor hesitated.
'Tell me what it is! Anything!'
'Well, the koala we'd really like to punish is that Bumpy, the one that freed himself, Blimpy and you, enabling all of you to escape. We don't know how he did it, but we'd sure like to find out. But, oh, no, we'd never ask you to rat on a friend. We could never expect you to do that.'
'Hey, he's no friend of mine. I'll tell you anything you wanna know!' Chigow now saw a ray of hope.
'Hmmm. First of all, how did he open those shackles?' the Mayor asked.
'He used a little metal rod, about four inches long. He keeps it in his pocket.'
'And where does this Bumpy live?' the Judge asked.
'He lives in Koalaville, in a tree in the north-central part, with his mangy friend Humpy, and that dimwit Dumpy.'
'Hmm. Very interesting. Judge, let's have a little private chat about this situation,' Mayor Koala suggested.
They walked over to a nearby tree. 'Rolly, with that information, we might be able to locate Bumpy.'
'Exactly. I'll write a letter to Judge Grandaddy, explaining the situation, and requesting that they arrest Bumpy and send him to us, so that we can try him here. Grandaddy would be glad to rid his grove of a delinquent, so I think he'll go along with it. But what should we do with Chigow?'
'I'd say one week of community service should do it,' the Mayor replied.
'One week of community service!' Rolly was shocked. 'That's a far cry from twenty-one years of hard labor!'
'Look, Rolly. If we give him a really lenient sentence, he'll be all the more grateful, and we won't have him as an enemy in the future. And besides, if we have him break rocks, he'll no doubt escape before long anyway, iron ball or not, and that'll just make us look dumb.'
'Good point. You really do think like a politician. But Tama will be furious when he hears you let Chigow off so easy. The lock on his shack was completely broken during the burglary, you know,' Rolly reminded him.
'Yeah, I know, but that Tama deserves it. You know those bottles of eucalyptus liquor he sent us last month to pay his taxes with?'
'Yeah, what about 'em?' Judge Rolly asked.
'Well, I opened one the other night and took a gulp, and could tell right away that he had watered it down. Thought he could cheat us! I didn't want to confront him directly, considering his wealth and influence here in the grove, but letting off Chigow real easy might be a way of subtly giving Tama the message that he can't fool with us like that.'
'Yeah, I like it,' the Judge responded. 'Tama needs to be put in his place. Watered-down liquor! Why, the nerve…'
'It's agreed, then. Let's go tell Chigow our decision.'
'Chigow Koala, please stand up to hear your sentence,' the Judge began.
'Oh, please, Your Greatness, please show some mercy!' Chigow begged nervously.
'Aw, calm down. We're going to let you off easy,' Mayor Koala consoled him.
'You are?' Chigow asked, not quite believing it.
'Your sentence will be one week of community service. Collecting berries and nuts in the forest, and then distributing them among the elderly here in Koalatown.'
'Really? Is that all I've gotta do?' Chigow rejoiced, not believing his luck.
'That, and promise not to ever try to steal anything again here in Koalatown,' the Judge replied.
'Oh, I promise, I do, I really do! Oh, but may I make a request?' Chigow asked a bit timidly.
'Hey, don't push your luck! What is it?' the Mayor wanted to know.
'Well, as you know, the migration is comin' up, and I'd like to be there to take part. I've gotta get my new tree in Eucalyptus Grove and move my stuff over there from Koalaville.
Could I start my sentence in two weeks, maybe?'
'Hmmm. You're asking a lot,' Mayor Koala seemed displeased at first, but then he smiled, 'but just to show you that we, Koalatown's leaders, are understanding as well as compassionate, we will grant you your wish, under one condition.'
'Yeah? What's the condition?' Chigow asked.
'We'd like you to speak with Judge Grandaddy, and confirm what I'm going to write to him in a letter. Tell him that Bumpy Koala masterminded your escape, and that he is a dangerous influence on the koala community in general,' the Mayor replied.
'Hey, no problem! Especially since it's true,' Chigow answered. 'I never did like that Bumpy. He thinks he's so smart!'
'Well, then, with a little bit of help from you, maybe we can see to it that Bumpy is the one who gets to break up those rocks,' Judge Rolly said.
'Fine, Judge, Your Honor, sir. I'll talk to Judge Grandaddy as soon as I get back to Koalaville. Uuuuh… when can I leave?'
'Guard, unlock that shackle, and set the prisoner free,' the Mayor ordered. 'And remember, Chigow, we've got a deal. You talk to Grandaddy, and in two weeks, we expect to see you back here to do your community service. If you don't show up, you'll never be able to come back to Koalatown without being arrested, and you know what that means: you'll be breaking rocks right next to Bumpy, and I don't think he would make life very easy for you in that situation.'
'Are you kiddin'? He'd kill me! Oh, sure, I'll do that community service, gladly I will! And thank you so much for lettin' me off so easy!'
'Just don't forget it, young koala. Oh, and if we ever need some other favor from you in the future, I suppose we will be able to count on you?' the Judge asked.
'Oh, yes, of course, sir. I'll always be glad to help you!'
'Okay, then,' the Judge said after the guard had unlocked the shackle, 'get on back to your grove. And stay out of trouble!'
'Sure, Judge, I will. Bye! Bye Mayor Koala!' Chigow said as he trotted off northeastwards, in order to take the forest path back to Koalaville.
'A 'favor from you in the future', Rolly?' Mayor Koala laughed. 'Now you are starting to sound like a politician!'
'I must have learned it from you,' Rolly responded. 'You never know when we could use a little favor, after all.'
'Indeed,' Mayor Koala agreed. 'Well, I'd say we dealt with that Chigow rather cleverly.
Now how about some lunch and a game of cards?'
'Just what I was thinking,' Rolly responded, and the two strolled back to the Mayoral Tree.