THURSDAY (PM)
Peter and Lauren were sitting dejectedly on the bed thinking about how they had accomplished essentially nothing that day, when the strange feeling came over them again. Lauren flattened her ears as she knew exactly what was happening.
"Oh no, Peter, I think we're changing again!"
It started between her ears as her hair blonde hair got shaggier and darkened into a deep brown, maybe even black. Then it started sprouting copiously from the back of her neck where it seemed to want to stick up. She reached back and started grabbing at her new mane! She wanted to pull it all out but it would hurt too much. She ran away to the mirror to look, but it was as invisible as her long donkey ears.
Peter felt his face warming up and feeling of magic subsided. He reached up and ran his hands over the thorough coating of short fur that had grown on his face. He wanted to see it, but just like Laura's mane, it was invisible. Laura could see it, though, since she was affected by the same curse. She said it looked like he was wearing a mask, with dark fur all over his forehead and cheeks but bright white around his nose and mouth. There were also little circles of white fur around his eyes. He flicked his tail in agitation.
"Lauren, what are we going to do? We tried all day to just find even some hint of where she might even be, but we're not even..."
"Come on, Peter, at least we know who they are now and--"
"--and you have a mane! We'll be donkeys before we even know where to go, much less get there."
"Well, I don't know. What if we hired a private investigator?"
"A what? Do you know have any idea how expensive that would be?"
"Well, unless you want a whole lot more fur, I'm not sure we can depend on just ourselves here, Peter. What are you going to spend your money on after you end up as some farm animal?"
"How do we even know a PI is going to find her for us in time?"
"We don't! We're going to have to keep researching on our own. But I'm willing to try enlist some professional help if you are."
Peter sighed. He scratched his facial fur again. He swished his long tail thinking about how much he wanted to be rid of that too. He knew she was right; it might be another waste of their money, but they might as well try. He hoped they wouldn't have to reveal to someone else that they were cured, though.
Peter and Lauren didn't sleep at all that night. They did more frantic research online. They didn't find out where the fair was or exactly who cursed them, but they did get the office location of a local private investigator who they could visit in the morning after their trip to the ticket booth.