"Upiddy!  BE QUIET" Diane screamed loudly.  "I'm trying to figure out
where the heck I am..."  The large brown horse in the back trailer was going
bonkers, kicking, whinnying.  Diane winced slightly as she heard a crash.
Luckily, the poor horse was practically encased in travel gear -- big,
fluffy, padded blankets and ankle guards.

If the horse didn't stop in the next few minutes, Diane decided she would
have to stop and let the horse out for a walk.  Shrugging, Diane glanced
back at the map.  "Well, at least I know I'm in the right hemisphere...  OH
GOD.  What if I'm NOT?"

She paused and stared out the window as the Welcome to New York sign
flashed by.  "Phew..."  Diane took a deep breath and continued driving.
"I'm so lucky that Jim let me take not only his horse, but his trailer...
I'm sure Upiddy has always wanted to see Toronto.  It really is a lovely
city.  Oooh... I wonder if that big record store is still there?  Sam's I
think it was... I'm gonna have to stock up on import cds while I'm there..."

Roads passed by into oblivion, and luckily, Upiddy had calmed down
enough that Diane didn't have to stop to let her out.  She doubted the
three-year-old thoroughbred had ever had much traveling experience.
The fact that she was already as bonkers as any bred to race thoroughbred,
well, that wasn't helping.

More roads....  And roads....  It got pretty darn boring.

Diane let her eyes flick to her left, staring at her small suitcase,
computer, extra clothes, passport (just in case evacuation to France was
necessary), and various other piles of junk that were crammed into the seat
next to her and again wished she hadn't turned left and done in her station
wagon a few weeks earlier.

Poor car.  It had been sad to see it go...  At least the Buick that tried to
kill it died right along with it...

About ready to go crazy with boredom, Diane blinked.  "I REALLY WISH I WAS
IN TORONTO!" she yelled.  "AND I REALLY HOPE CUSTOMS DOESN'T NOTICE I'M
BRINGING A HORSE.  AND I WISH THERE WAS A DARNED CLASSIC ROCK STATION
SOMEWHERE IN THIS STUPID STATE!  GRRR!"

After hours, and hours, and hours, with multiple stops to keep Upiddy
from going more insane than she already was...  Diane lied her way through
customs, saying, "No.  Animals?  I'm not bringing anything over the
border...  Heck no.  That's just an automated rocking horse for my niece.
Yup.  I swear...  Honest..."

Finally, the CN tower was looming above, and all was good.  Except...

"Crap!  I forgot to ask where the Comfy Cottage was!  Hmmm...  I'll just
have to find it with my awesome sense of direction..."

Twenty hours, three minutes, and forty-two seconds later... A very tired,
very annoyed Diane was knocking on the door of the Cousins of the Knight
headquarters, with an equally peeved horse trailing along behind on a lead
rope.

--------------

Kezia follows the sun:  Friday am  As the coach would leave the town centre
at 7.10am, she'd set her alarm for 6.00am.  Grumpy at only having had five
hours sleep, she crawled out of bed, heading first for the kitchen to feed
the world's most starving kitties (or so Aaron and Jeffrey were
claiming...), before putting on the kettle for that all-important first cup
of coffee.  The hour's journey to Heathrow and the subsequent inevitable
waiting for her flight to be called was a worrying time - had she packed
everything she needed, what had she forgotten now, as it seemed to be a
universal law that Kez had to forget something when she packed.

She decided to do try and use the time, and having drawn cash from the ATM
and got in some Canadian money, she noticed a branch of  Thornton's....
'Hmm... useful War currency they sell here,' she thought, as she stocked up.

Finally onboard the plane, she firmly told herself she might as well relax,
as there was nothing she could do now till she reached the Comfy Cottage. As
she settled into her seat, she thanked past experiences for teaching her to
sit right in front of the tourist class' big video screen - it meant twice
as much leg room! Adjusting her watch to Toronto time, she noted that
despite an eight-hour flight, she'd arrive less than three hours after she
left.  'That's what comes of following the sun around the planet  - most
un-vampire-like' she chuckled to herself. Now, where had she packed that
novel?...

-----------

It was 8.35am.  Correction, it was 11.35am.  With a yawn, Jenieve, tired and
hungry, stepped off the plane at Pearson Airport, half an hour later than
scheduled due to tail winds.  Fourteen hours before, she'd started her
four-hour drive to Seattle, and just after midnight caught the first of two
planes to get to Toronto.

On checking the arrivals board, she realised fellow CotKer Kezia's plane had
arrived an hour earlier than it should ("How come she got the head winds,
and I got the tail winds?" Jenieve grumbled to herself), and she'd be
cleared customs and immigration in about 20 minutes.  After a bagel and a
cup of hot chocolate disappeared, she glanced at her watch.  The hands read
11.55am.   It was time to get back to the terminal to meet Kezia.

Pulling out a piece of paper - a hastily printed off email - she scanned for
the description Kezia had given.  Quickly reading through the paragraph, she
started looking through the crowd coming out of the gate. Her eyes caught on
one of the passengers and her cornflower blue jacket.  Glancing down at the
paper, she compared Kezia's description with the  passenger.  5'1",
silver-brown hair, glasses; wearing a cornflower blue jacket with a
bluish-green set of luggage.  Smiling, Jenieve waved, trying to catch the
other's attention.

Approaching, Kezia took in the appearance of the young woman before her;
tall, wearing jeans and an oversized black shirt-jacket, a laptop hanging
from one shoulder.  "Jenieve?" she asked, her voice certain.

Jenieve nodded.  "That's me.  You must be Kezia?"

With a nod, the two decided they would head down to pick up the rental car
in order to arrive at the Comfy Cottage as soon as possible.  After making a
wrong turn coming out of the airport and turning around at a gas
station, they were on their way to the Comfy Cottage.  Thankfully, there
were no more wrong turns and finding the cottage itself was relatively
simple.  At the given address was a large two story cottage, a garden of
cacti growing just outside the entrance.

This was undoubtably the right place.  Parking, they each grabbed their
luggage and slowly walked up to the entrance.  Ringing the doorbell, it was
only a matter of seconds before the door opened, revealing.... a llama glove
puppet?  This war was off to a *very* wierd start for the two war newcomers.