“Boy, this stuff is sticky,” Alexis said as she pulled the feather pillows out from under the dining-room table. “The tar, I mean, not the pillows.”

“We knew what you meant, dear,” Myra said as she fit the plug to the hair dryer into the electrical outlet.

Holding two feather pillows by the corners, Annie, a devilish grin on her face, said, “One has to take one’s fun wherever one can find it. Do you agree, girls?”

The Sisters nodded solemnly.

“Okay, Myra, on the count of three, let’s rumble. Turn that baby on, and let’s watch the feathers fly!”

Suddenly the room was a sea of white as feathers flew in all directions, most of them landing on the two tar-covered forms of Baron Bell and Adel Newsom. The Sisters swatted at the flying feathers as they settled in their hair and on every inch of their bodies.

“Spectacular!” Yoko chortled.

“You need to come up with a better word, dear,” Annie shouted to be heard over the high-speed drone of the super-duper deluxe hair dryer, which, according to the box, promised to dry a full head of hair in forty-five seconds.

“We should have kept our raincoats on. We’ll be picking feathers out of our ears for days,” Kathryn grumbled.

“Oh, who cares? This is fun!” Alexis giggled. “Even the dogs are having fun!”

The Sisters turned to look at the two canines, who were jumping in all directions to catch the elusive feathers. They turned to view their handiwork the moment Myra turned off the high-speed hair dryer.

“They look like mummies! Very artful, if you like this kind of art.” Myra turned to the door, knowing that Charles was there even without seeing him. “Not yet, dear, but soon.”

Nikki and Isabelle helped the others drag Baron Bell into the bathroom. “How long before it all hardens up?” Nikki asked curiously. “Do you think the feathers will speed up the process?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s hardening up as we speak.” Kathryn cackled. “I sure hope that rod holds their weight. How about this? Since he’s the heavier of the two, let’s dangle Bell from the showerhead we rigged up to carry the weight of the two surrogates. Then Newsom can go on the rod all by herself. What’ya say?” She spit out a feather and laughed uproariously.

“That sounds awesome,” Isabelle said. “Yoko is right. They do look spectacular.”

“That means we have to loop a belt under his arms so we have something to hook onto the showerhead,” Kathryn said.

“One belt coming up,” Alexis said, running out to the dining room to return with Baron Bell’s own belt. “Hoisted by his own petard. I love it, girls! Just love, love, love it!”

“Wow, it works! Look! If you touch him, you can make him swing around. This is way beyond clever. Next!” Kathryn shouted.