Chapter 14 (Marco)
On Saturday we flew for about an hour before getting to where we needed to be. This place was a long way away, still in state but a different town. So we flew along, landed round the back of one of the shops and demorphed.
I suppose it was a stroke of luck on our part that today was really, really hot, so the morphing outfits went mostly unnoticed. At least I hope they did. We aren't exactly what one would describe as fashionable.
We had to prowl the streets for a few minutes before finding the place we wanted. A little bookshop on one of the street corners. When we found it, we glanced at each other warily. How were we supposed to get in? Trust me, those Yeerks have a few nifty toys guarding entrances to important places. We'd almost been fried more than once. And even if it wasn't a Yeerk pool they'd still want this Joseph character guarded pretty well right? I mean, they thought he was an Andalite.
"Okay," I muttered, "We've found the place, there's no way in, we could turnaround and go home now."
"No," snapped Lee. "There's got to be a way in there. There's got to be."
She said it with slightly less conviction the second time round.
We stood in silence for a while. I presume we were thinking about how to get in. But my mind kept drifting away to the hotdog stand about halfway up the street. No, I'm kidding. But it was a problem that had us stuck for a while.
"Okay," I said, still thinking about the idea as I spoke. "Why don't we go in as moles? Burrow underneath the wall?"
"I can't do mole."
"I know, I know. But everyone else can. You can morph one of your birds and do surveillance."
"Marco, do you remember last time we did mole?" Rachel put her hands on her hips. "It took forever to actually get there. And some of us felt slightly claustrophobic if I remember rightly."
Slightly claustrophobic was a severe understatement. Very claustrophobic would be a better term. But I'd had the nightmares too. And I still thought this would be the best way in.
"Do you have any better ideas?" Nobody said anything.
Suddenly Jake took charge. "Where can we morph?"
Tobias opened his wings and flew up and up. He inscribed a swift, irregular circle in the sky, then came back to roost. I think I have a place.
The back yard of the bookstore was the perfect place. Apparently the owners of the place unpacked their books and left the boxes lying about. And had done since the time of the dinosaurs. Jake had a calculating look on his face. "Lee? Could you go pigeon? Kestrels sitting about in trees are a little conspicuous."
"I know that," muttered Lee defiantly before morphing pigeon and flying to a nearby tree. I can see you. She said mockingly. I smiled thinly at her.
"Not when I take your eyes out you won't."
The next task was actually getting into the backyard. These people that had been around since the time of the dinosaurs to unpack their books had pretty modern security. However, they had holes in their fence. I mean, what's the point in that? They have up to date locks that were impossible to pick and there's a hole in the fence! I suppose it made our job easier though.
We all eventually made it through, although Cassie managed to get caught and we spent about five minutes getting her free. We were standing barefoot in someone else's yard about to turn into moles. Try and tell me that that is not insane.
It was Rachel who buckled. She threw her hands up in disgust. "There has to be another way to do this. I refuse to go mole again."
"Look, Rachel," I countered, "Do you have a better idea?"
"Actually…" A sly grin began to spread across her face. I really shouldn't have asked.