Well, wasn't this just dandy?  What more could go wrong?

"Aw... heck," Kyer muttered to herself as she felt her cold fingers
start to lose their grip on the fire escape.

Darn this Canuck coldness!  Why couldn't Toronto be having a 115F
degree heat wave so a person could feel more at home?

Fortunately for the frustrated Squirette, her numb hands lost their
hold on the metal rung just as Uppity came galloping around the corner, making
what would have been one picturesque leap over the fallen LaCountess if the
sudden addition of about 145lbs of Knightie had not suddenly dropped unto
her backbone and ruined the otherwise Kodak<tm> moment.

Also fortunate was that Uppity's rear hooves managed to miss the
other Knightie as the mare's rear end came into contact with the ground sooner than
expected.

Rather more unfortunate were the horse's would-be waylayers of
yelling CotK members as they stumbled along at full speed while lugging their
assorted 'Operation Distraction' gear.  First Diane tripped over LaCountess'
prone form, and then Kezia fell over Diane's, and so and so on like dominoes.  Or
an old black & white comedy scene.  Kyer might have thought it hilarious
iffen it wasn't for the fact that she was currently clinging onto the back of
a highly nervous thoroughbred type racehorse intent on killing her.

Darn it!  How did you steer one of these things?!  She hadn't been on
top of a horse since that pony ride at the carnival when she was eight!  Well,
there was that time several years ago when she'd ridden the camel at the
medieval faire, but somehow this beast was proving even more ornery than that one.
Though definitely less 'humpy'.

Okay, Kyer thought when her teeth clacked together for what must have
been the umpteenth time as the horse moved under her to execute what felt like
a near perfect 180, maybe it was just as bouncy.

It's amazing how being flounced around on a four-legged maniac can
get your brain cells a'going.  Especially when said maniac is aiming straight
for a tangled mass of fellow humanity and assorted sousaphones and such.

Reaching around to her backpack, Kyer pulled forth her trusty llama
puppet and sat it in front of her.

"Well? Don't just sit there like a sack of potatoes, Mr. Spitz!" Kyer
snapped in irritation at the puppet when it didn't move--- by anything more
than Uppity's muscular persuasions, anyway.  "You're a royal part of the
ungulate bestiary--- command her to stop!"

And amazingly enough, Uppity did stop.

Rather suddenly.

And Kyer rather belatedly realized her wish to fly.

"WAAAAAAAAA!!!!AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!OW-Ow-WOw-Wow-wow"

"Ca-an somebody-ody get-et thi-is stupid-id thing-ing offa-ah my-y
head-ed?" Kyer wailed.  "And-nd to-oo think-nk I-I used-usd to-oo like-ike Mr.-
er Sousa-ah."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the Comfy Cottage...

"I tell you guys, it was a Ratpacker!"

"Oh, c'mon, Kyer, you said yourself that all you saw was a moving
blotch." Lisa tried to sound reasonable which was hard to do when your hair was
tri-toned from having had intimate contact with a paint from a
banner.  In fact, if you looked closely, you could just make out the letters MED
across the back of her scalp.

"Yeah, but who else would be scurrying about the alleys of Toronto in
the wee hours of the morning?"

Jenieve held the compress to her aching head that Nicole had
thoughtfully brought to her from the freezer, "Well a certain Knightly/Cousinly
faction comes to mind.  One that now consists of females with multi-bruises
and assorted contusions."

"And a horse that's going to need extensive pschological therapy,"
Diane added as she plopped another aspirin into her drink..

Kezia finished putting the Band-Aid on her pinkie finger.  "Which
reminds me... how'z  LaCountess doing?"

"Oooo" came a voice from the couch from which two stilletoed heels
could be seen pointing out from one end "Nick... yeeesss... a little higher...
oh, that feels wonderfuuuull..."

"Still out of it, but apparently doing better than the rest of us put
together," Desiree opined with a twinge of jealousy."

Kyer bowed her head and rubbed her aching temples as she considered a
way out of the mess she was in.  Her Milord was going to ship her overseas
for all the starving fledglings over in Africa if she didn't find that surcoat
and fast! Of course, there was the possibility that Nick would simply never
miss it.  Or that the Knighties wouldn't realize it was gone.

Ha!  Fat chance!

"Well, I've got to get that package back and its obvious that we're
in no shape to go it alone."  She sighed heavily as she picked up the
phone.  "Looks like I'm going to have to call for reinforcements."

End