Still the self-styled King spoke of castles, what was needed here was a Knight, because a knight would know about horses and Caspa in her ignorance believed she was about to be devoured. The ornery animal nodded its head up and down, taking her with it still trapped inside her coat. She wrenched backwards again trying to pull free, just as the horse gave another upwards tug, and the combination of pulling and pushing hauled her coat clean off her back. She stumbled backwards, free, but horrified, as the leather garment disappeared over the half-door into the stable. The horse put its head down, and she heard a ripping, leathery noise. Her eyes became round pools of dismay as Denver reappeared near her side.
"No, I'm fine," she answered his inquiry, turning to him with desperation, "but he has taken my coat! Do you think we can get it back?" By his own admission, he didn't like horses either. But perhaps working together, they could manage. Either that, or she supposed she could abandon the jacket to its fate. She could always make another one, given enough time. Of course, horses didn't really eat meat, and she didn't know many creatures who would eat a tanned hide like her coat. So perhaps, they could go and find someone more expert, and then return to retrieve her only garment. Maybe in Denver's castle, there would be Knights. If there was a castle at all; she hadn't seen or heard of one. Caspa felt helpless and bemused, and winced as she heard another small tearing noise from the direction of the stable. Her jaw set. "If you distract it I could go in... or we could look for the castle, to get help... but if you will, I can try going in?" she heard herself asking, trying to muster up as much bravado as possible. She eyed up the latch on the stable door. It looked easy enough to open. How to stop the horse getting out, that would be another matter entirely. This was probably a job best left to the experts. She was caught by indecision.
