"Giddyup Conall! Let's win this race!"

Careful not to smudge the starting line, Conall takes off at high speed. "Whoa!" I say. "A slow, steady pace will do. No need to tire yourself out at the start, boyo."

Conall slows to a steady pace and all is well, until his legs become tangled in my cape and he almost trips head-first into the pond. "Take off that cape woman!" Conall snorts at me and I comply, tossing it as far beyond the wet ground as I can. I plan to come back for it later as it's one of my favourites.

Then Conall tells me to hike my skirts so they don't get wet and weigh him down. "Good thinking lad!" I agree and tuck the hem of my leine and brat into my belt. Several male hoots and hollers bellow above the crowd and I turn several shades of red. Smiling to myself ~ for what woman doesn't like a little flattery ~ I kick Conalls' thighs and hurry him on.

"Ouch! I'm not a real horse, y'know," he laughs, then starts slipping and sliding and we almost topple over again ~ this time into the pond! Then he comes to a complete standstill.

"Why have we stopped?" I demand. "We're already behind the others because of the cape caper."

"I'm stuck in the mud and can't move an inch!" Conall groans.

"Stop wiggling so much or I'll fall off," I say and wrap my arms around his neck. This causes him to choke and splutter and he croaks a request to loosen my grip.

"Well quit struggling so hard, then. It will only make things worse. Stand still for a moment, take a deep breath and imagine you are a mudslider. Now gently glide your feet along the bottom. That's it."

We eventually make it across the pond and out the other side, but the other contestants are way ahead of us by now. We carry on anyway because you never know the mishaps that could befall the other teams.

OOC: Conall and I are officially signing up for the race. We saw your extended deadline and could not resist the fun ~ if it's not to late to sign up!