Chapter 12
The night was now. The first chapter of our next ordeal. The light was gone but the moon was out. There was clouds randomly blotting out the sky. It was an eerie scene. Sam wasn't there, we had decided it was too risky for him to be with us in one spot for too long. I could understand this, and I was glad Sam could too.
It was Jake, Rachel, Marco, Tobias, Cassie, Whitney, and me. We were hiding a few blocks down from Melissa's house.
{Okay, I see him!} Tobias said as he swooped down above our heads. {he is not far from here, over chasing some old cat way from his territory or something.}
Jake rubbed his hands together. "Okay, let's get this show on the road."
"We need to lure him to us." Cassie said, "Rachel, will you do the honours?"
"Why me?" Rachel asked, "You are the one who's good with animals."
Cassie laughed. "Well, I don't want to be the first one to interrupt a tomcat's way of life, I know how vicious they can get. Besides, you know the cat better than any of us."
I started laughing. "Weere GON-NA, Drink and fight and drink and fight and drink and fight some more. I'll get kicked right out the door, I'll drink and fight some more. So grab your friends and neighbours, and punch them in the eye, and raise another glass and sing a drunken lullaby." I sung, to get the mood a little more relaxed.
"What the hell was that?" Marco asked.
"It is an Irish drinking song done by the Mudmen. Really good band." I told them.
Rachel Rolled her eyes. "Good for them." She said. "Now let's get to work."
{Hmph.} Tobias laughed.
Rachel and Cassie both went out to get the cat. I went with them. Thought I would use my expert climbing skills to go after it if it decided to climb a tree again.
They never really said anything, just kind of walked in the general direction that the cat was in. When they saw the illustrious Fluffer McKitty, the cat simply looked up, sniffed, and went back to it's job doing whatever it was that it was doing.
Rachel leaned over and made little cooing noises and brought her hand down to the cat. The cat came over and sniffed her fingers. When Rachel tried to grab Fluffer, the cat hissed, struck at Rachel's fingers and, you guessed it, climbed up the nearest tree. Different tree than before, but the same type. Nice and big and thick.
"You know, I know how to get it down." I told them.
"Okay, what's your idea?" Cassie asked.
"I could climb the tree and acquire it. It will become docile and I could bring it down for you." I told her.
Rachel shrugged. "No, I think I can do it." She said. She waved Tobias down. "You think you could bring us a mouse or something. I want to lure down the cat from the tree."
{Umm, okay, I guess. You know how hard it is to pick up a mouse that is alive?} Tobias said. With that he flew away.
"What exactly are you planning?" Cassie asked.
"I am going to morph to a mouse and lure it down. I have seen cats act, he will not turn down the chance to hunt." Rachel said with confidence.
"You know, this has a lot of dangers. Sometimes a cat will play around with it's prey for a while, but sometimes they just go for the kill with a bite to the neck. Be careful." Cassie warned.
"Yeah, look out." I told her. I was sincere. "I will do what I can to catch the cat, but I can't guarantee anything. Cats are slippery, elusive beasts."
She nodded her head as Tobias flew down and hovered a few feet above Rachel. Rachel opened her hand and Tobias dropped the mouse in her hand. {Thing wasn't too hard to find, except it is dark out and I can't see too well at night.}
Rachel looked down at her hand. "This is kind of small, don't you think?" Rachel asked.
{Maybe it's a baby?} Tobias inquired.
Cassie looked over. "No, it's a full-grown shrew. The eyes and head are too small."
Rachel gave her a surprised look. "Is there a difference?"
"Not for your purposes."
"How are you guys making out?" I heard Whitney ask as she came to us. Marco and Jake were behind her. Kind of funny considering Whitney was by far the shortest of the three. Jake and Marco were talking, but stopped.
"We were about to lure down Fluffer." Rachel answered, then added. "By means of shrew."
"Well, we were thinking, we should maybe just acquire the damn thing then go home. It feels like it is going to rain." Jake said.
"Yeah, and I have to do some homework. That damn english teacher has been riding me all semester." Marco said. "I can't afford to miss another assignment."
"Well, maybe if you weren't so busy oogling that new foreign girl, you could actually get something done rather than trying to score a date with her." Rachel said.
"Come on, I showed her around the school, she has the hots for me." Marco said with a grin.
"Really, we all know Tobias would probably have a better chance with her than you would." Jake teased. "I mean come on, what kind of pickup line is, 'Want me to buy you a Porsche'? At least Tobias can fly." I am sure if Tobias was human, he would have blushed. But then again, there wouldn't be the bird jokes. I looked over to Tobias, who had his usual hawk stare on. That look scared me.
"I told her I would be a superstar someday, and that was after I had got to know her."
"Oh, guys, just drop it." Rachel said. I need to morph. Go away, so you don't scare the cat. Everyone but Cassie and I left. At least to the opposite corner.
Rachel hopped over the fence and began to morph. Her skin sprouted fur all over like grass on a very quick time movie. Mostly white, a bit of brown. Her arms shrank into nothingness and her shirt sleeves flopped down.
The rest of her body shrunk, even though she still looked mostly human. Her face started to push out right before she disappeared into the tent of her outer clothing.
A couple of seconds later, I could see a little lump running around in the pile.
"Hey Rachel." I said. "What's it like down there?" I waited. No response.
"Rachel, if you can hear us, please respond." Cassie urged. Sill no answer.
"Tobias, you talk to her." I said.
{Rachel, it's me, Tobias. I know you can hear me, so answer.} we waited.
"She must have lost the instinct battle to the shrew. They are small and very weak. They probably have strong hiding instincts." Cassie said.
{Rachel, you are a human girl. We are the Animorphs. You are one of us. Concentrate on who you are.}
I was looking down at the pile of clothes. Out of nowhere, a little rodent scurried out and started running across the yard. I heard a scratching above me, and I had to act fast. I was closer to the tree.
I turned around and saw the black and white cat fall from a low branch, I tried to catch it, but it slipped away. I dived and grabbed for it's feet. I caught it, but the cat turned around and slashed the tops of my hands repeatedly. I didn't let go. I knew Rachel could get hurt. So I grinned ane bared it.
"Pick that cat up!" Cassie said.
Yeah, right. I thought. Good luck.
I picked the cat up and held it under my arm. I started petting it. After only a few seconds, I was able to partially let it go. Believe it or not, the cat was purring and half asleep. Odd for a cat at night. Oh well.
I saw cassie with Rachel, but Rachel was still a shrew.
{Rachel, morph out!} Tobias said. {NOW!} his words were utterly demanding.
"I can't get her to talk to us." Cassie said. She had Rachel in a piece of clothing, so Rachel wouldn't bite her.
Jake, Marco, and Whitney came over.
"What's wrong?" Jake asked.
"We can't get a hold of Rachel. She isn't responding." Cassie said. I was starting to get impatient.
{Rachel, you are a human girl. Remember Xena? I am Tobias. Do you remember me?} Tobias was desperately trying to get Rachel's attention.
{Tobias?} I heard Rachel ask.
The night was now. The first chapter of our next ordeal. The light was gone but the moon was out. There was clouds randomly blotting out the sky. It was an eerie scene. Sam wasn't there, we had decided it was too risky for him to be with us in one spot for too long. I could understand this, and I was glad Sam could too.
It was Jake, Rachel, Marco, Tobias, Cassie, Whitney, and me. We were hiding a few blocks down from Melissa's house.
{Okay, I see him!} Tobias said as he swooped down above our heads. {he is not far from here, over chasing some old cat way from his territory or something.}
Jake rubbed his hands together. "Okay, let's get this show on the road."
"We need to lure him to us." Cassie said, "Rachel, will you do the honours?"
"Why me?" Rachel asked, "You are the one who's good with animals."
Cassie laughed. "Well, I don't want to be the first one to interrupt a tomcat's way of life, I know how vicious they can get. Besides, you know the cat better than any of us."
I started laughing. "Weere GON-NA, Drink and fight and drink and fight and drink and fight some more. I'll get kicked right out the door, I'll drink and fight some more. So grab your friends and neighbours, and punch them in the eye, and raise another glass and sing a drunken lullaby." I sung, to get the mood a little more relaxed.
"What the hell was that?" Marco asked.
"It is an Irish drinking song done by the Mudmen. Really good band." I told them.
Rachel Rolled her eyes. "Good for them." She said. "Now let's get to work."
{Hmph.} Tobias laughed.
Rachel and Cassie both went out to get the cat. I went with them. Thought I would use my expert climbing skills to go after it if it decided to climb a tree again.
They never really said anything, just kind of walked in the general direction that the cat was in. When they saw the illustrious Fluffer McKitty, the cat simply looked up, sniffed, and went back to it's job doing whatever it was that it was doing.
Rachel leaned over and made little cooing noises and brought her hand down to the cat. The cat came over and sniffed her fingers. When Rachel tried to grab Fluffer, the cat hissed, struck at Rachel's fingers and, you guessed it, climbed up the nearest tree. Different tree than before, but the same type. Nice and big and thick.
"You know, I know how to get it down." I told them.
"Okay, what's your idea?" Cassie asked.
"I could climb the tree and acquire it. It will become docile and I could bring it down for you." I told her.
Rachel shrugged. "No, I think I can do it." She said. She waved Tobias down. "You think you could bring us a mouse or something. I want to lure down the cat from the tree."
{Umm, okay, I guess. You know how hard it is to pick up a mouse that is alive?} Tobias said. With that he flew away.
"What exactly are you planning?" Cassie asked.
"I am going to morph to a mouse and lure it down. I have seen cats act, he will not turn down the chance to hunt." Rachel said with confidence.
"You know, this has a lot of dangers. Sometimes a cat will play around with it's prey for a while, but sometimes they just go for the kill with a bite to the neck. Be careful." Cassie warned.
"Yeah, look out." I told her. I was sincere. "I will do what I can to catch the cat, but I can't guarantee anything. Cats are slippery, elusive beasts."
She nodded her head as Tobias flew down and hovered a few feet above Rachel. Rachel opened her hand and Tobias dropped the mouse in her hand. {Thing wasn't too hard to find, except it is dark out and I can't see too well at night.}
Rachel looked down at her hand. "This is kind of small, don't you think?" Rachel asked.
{Maybe it's a baby?} Tobias inquired.
Cassie looked over. "No, it's a full-grown shrew. The eyes and head are too small."
Rachel gave her a surprised look. "Is there a difference?"
"Not for your purposes."
"How are you guys making out?" I heard Whitney ask as she came to us. Marco and Jake were behind her. Kind of funny considering Whitney was by far the shortest of the three. Jake and Marco were talking, but stopped.
"We were about to lure down Fluffer." Rachel answered, then added. "By means of shrew."
"Well, we were thinking, we should maybe just acquire the damn thing then go home. It feels like it is going to rain." Jake said.
"Yeah, and I have to do some homework. That damn english teacher has been riding me all semester." Marco said. "I can't afford to miss another assignment."
"Well, maybe if you weren't so busy oogling that new foreign girl, you could actually get something done rather than trying to score a date with her." Rachel said.
"Come on, I showed her around the school, she has the hots for me." Marco said with a grin.
"Really, we all know Tobias would probably have a better chance with her than you would." Jake teased. "I mean come on, what kind of pickup line is, 'Want me to buy you a Porsche'? At least Tobias can fly." I am sure if Tobias was human, he would have blushed. But then again, there wouldn't be the bird jokes. I looked over to Tobias, who had his usual hawk stare on. That look scared me.
"I told her I would be a superstar someday, and that was after I had got to know her."
"Oh, guys, just drop it." Rachel said. I need to morph. Go away, so you don't scare the cat. Everyone but Cassie and I left. At least to the opposite corner.
Rachel hopped over the fence and began to morph. Her skin sprouted fur all over like grass on a very quick time movie. Mostly white, a bit of brown. Her arms shrank into nothingness and her shirt sleeves flopped down.
The rest of her body shrunk, even though she still looked mostly human. Her face started to push out right before she disappeared into the tent of her outer clothing.
A couple of seconds later, I could see a little lump running around in the pile.
"Hey Rachel." I said. "What's it like down there?" I waited. No response.
"Rachel, if you can hear us, please respond." Cassie urged. Sill no answer.
"Tobias, you talk to her." I said.
{Rachel, it's me, Tobias. I know you can hear me, so answer.} we waited.
"She must have lost the instinct battle to the shrew. They are small and very weak. They probably have strong hiding instincts." Cassie said.
{Rachel, you are a human girl. We are the Animorphs. You are one of us. Concentrate on who you are.}
I was looking down at the pile of clothes. Out of nowhere, a little rodent scurried out and started running across the yard. I heard a scratching above me, and I had to act fast. I was closer to the tree.
I turned around and saw the black and white cat fall from a low branch, I tried to catch it, but it slipped away. I dived and grabbed for it's feet. I caught it, but the cat turned around and slashed the tops of my hands repeatedly. I didn't let go. I knew Rachel could get hurt. So I grinned ane bared it.
"Pick that cat up!" Cassie said.
Yeah, right. I thought. Good luck.
I picked the cat up and held it under my arm. I started petting it. After only a few seconds, I was able to partially let it go. Believe it or not, the cat was purring and half asleep. Odd for a cat at night. Oh well.
I saw cassie with Rachel, but Rachel was still a shrew.
{Rachel, morph out!} Tobias said. {NOW!} his words were utterly demanding.
"I can't get her to talk to us." Cassie said. She had Rachel in a piece of clothing, so Rachel wouldn't bite her.
Jake, Marco, and Whitney came over.
"What's wrong?" Jake asked.
"We can't get a hold of Rachel. She isn't responding." Cassie said. I was starting to get impatient.
{Rachel, you are a human girl. Remember Xena? I am Tobias. Do you remember me?} Tobias was desperately trying to get Rachel's attention.
{Tobias?} I heard Rachel ask.