Ironhollow 20

After Poppy and Victoria's explanation, Arden and Paisley were prepared to hand them over to the authorities. They were, however, slightly hindered by the Norshiren soldiers on their porch.
Arden peeked out the window. The Norshiren soldiers were obviously on the verge of kicking down the door. "Were are the soldiers?!" Victoria gasped, wringing her hands.
Poppy scrunched her brow. "If they were coming, they would be here by now." She  said, clearly resigned to their fate.
"Looks like we're about to become hostages." Victoria said gloomily.
Paisley's mind raced. "No. There's an old service door in the back, I think it was used for servants. It leads to the old carriage house. We would have maybe a forty foot dash ahead of us to the carriage house, which lead to a cellar where we could hide. Are you guys up to it?"
Surprised at her sister's canny at escapism, Arden now wondered how many times Paisley had used this unusual and surprising skill.
"I think we all are. But first we need a distraction for the soldiers," Poppy said thoughtfully, "I have some firecrackers in my room! I'll set them up around the door, and they should go off right around the time they open the door!" She raced off, up to her room.