“Please sir! I wanna go Home! I wanna see my Mommy!” Alexandra, still stuck in the holding pen, still with a stretched sweater over her pleaded desperately, two others joining in.
“QUIET!” The Coachman cracked his whip in their direction, the three silenced immediately. “You girls have had your Fun! Now PAY FOR IT!”
Satisfied that they’d keep their voices down - at least for the moment - the Coachman turned his attention back to sorting the girls-turned-donkeys. Near the waiting Ferry, crates, some filled, others empty. Salt mines, Circus, Farms labelled as destinations for the disobedient children.
Six of the Baker’s Dozen brought in for his latest batch, already forty-one were ready to be sold on, another fifteen were waiting to be sorted, and the three who could speak. That left just nineteen who hadn’t been changed yet.
That it was just those three who he had to keep aside was more pleasing news to him. Usually there’d ten or more he’d have to keep behind until they lost their human voices, if at all. At this rate, he was now expecting five or less once they were all, Jennies. Much cheaper to keep them this time round.
Before this night ended, they‘d all be Donkeys, was the thought on the Coachman’s mind as he commanded his silent henchmen to bring him another to check.
[+]
Utterly oblivious to what the Coachman had in store for them, Anna and Laura continued to have their fun on the Rollercoaster, the long drop followed by a hard right and shorter climb, then a series of dips and rises that caused them - and the few others with them - to bounce off their seat benches.
This had the effect of allowing Laura’s furry, tasselled tail to slide out from under her dress and settle at her side. Not that that was a detail she was paying even the slightest attention to, even if she weren’t enjoying herself so much.
“Yeeee-HHAAAWWW!” The same applied to Anna whose donkey ears were now being joined by her face pushing out into an equine muzzle with her latest braying cheer. Hair darkening to donkey-black as they passed through a tunnel.
Several more twists came and went before the next long climb began.
“Ain’t this the life?” The Donkey-Headed Anna asked about halfway up, brownish fur spreading unseen down her torso.
“Sure is!” Laura agreed wholeheartedly, leg grey with donkey hair, numbness in her feet dismissed.
“And I see you’re okay with missing the underwear now.” Anna added teasingly - though in good humour - referring to Laura’s dress having ridden up above her waist thanks to the bouncing around and her tail.
“It’s just us who can see it here, so I don’t need to worry about it so much.” Laura reasoned, even as she pushed the bottom of her dress back down.
“See? Everything’s just fine!” Anna pointed out, large donkey teeth in view with her broad smile. “And here we go agaaAAIIIAAAWW!” Her excited braying cry as they were pulled back down, wind cutting into the carts, racing up the girls even as they raced down.
This time they were pulled straight into a dark tunnel, a few lamps flickering to allow just enough light for them to make out the walls, and sometimes themselves.
“HAAAWW! HAAAAAWW!!” Anna brayed, a bulge forming in the base of her boyish pants before they tore to let out a brown tasselled tail much like Laura’s.
The few ahead of them, however, weren’t having nearly as much fun. Completely changed, bits of clothing that couldn’t hold on around them, crying and braying in blind panic having finally realised what had happened to them.
“WhaAAWWt’s up with them?” Laura wondered, braying herself when her own face pushed out to become a grey muzzle.
“Maybe the dark gAAWt to them?” Anna guessed, before something took her sight from her for a moment. “Freaked them outta their clothes too!” She laughed as she held up a brown jacket, a laugh that kept being interlaced with loud brays.
“Really!?” Laura joined in the braying laugh, ignorant of having already kicked off her own shoes, hard hooves joined to her grey-furred donkey legs clacking the wooden floor of the cart.
Further talk was halted by a loop-the-loop which sent said lost shoes flying away, and a long right slowed them down enough to coast along a long straight and finally come to a halt close to where the ride had begun.
“Wonder where the others went…” Laura couldn’t help but muse, noticing the lack of passengers in the forward carts.
“Maawwby they couldn’t handle it.” Anna was more dismissive of the news, helping herself to the discarded jacket and bowler hat from the ride as they hopped off. “In any case, there’s plenty of places left to check out, so let’s be off.”
[+]
The missing passengers Laura had mentioned were now corralled into the sorting pen, the crates almost full now, only two quietly sobbing jennies left in the holding pen.
“Listen up, there’s only two left, I want them here before the night is over, got it?” The Coachman instructed some of his minions who left to follow his orders without a word, a few remaining to help him sort the few that had yet to be assessed.
The only thing that truly worried him, was if they managed to escape before the Curse was complete. Actually, that was something that made him sweat with fear. Even just one half-transformed girl could be enough to wreck his entire scheme! No matter, he had guards around the island to insure himself against such an occurrence, and besides, with Monstro, the Whale, sleeping beneath the waves, he was certain of his security regarding his operations in this place.
[+]
With no way to know that they were the only two left, Anna and Laura had helped themselves to some more Cigars, though with just three fingers a hand, and a little unsteady on what were now hind legs, Laura needed Anna to light hers for her.
“So where you WAAWWnna go?” Anna pondered, another bray coming out.
“SAAWrry?” Laura asked, missing a bit when she’d stumbled.
“You wanna go to the Fun House? Or maybe the Ferris Wheel? Back to the House for some wreckAAWWge? Perhaps the Pool Hall? Or maybe you wanna try the Rollercoaster again?” Anna expanded, a long stretch with her Cigar still in her fat lips causing several buttons on her own clothes to pop off. “C-mon, you can choose this time.”