Mom offered to drive Feralae home, since her mother had taken the motorcycle and sidecar to work. Yes, you heard right, a motor cycle. While the family had a Cadillac Escalade and a Ford Explorer, both of her parents had a motorcycle, because they considered them faster. In addition, Feralae's mother, Kirin, had more work to do at the labs to prepare the lion's semen for artificial insemination.
Yup, it was almost funny. We were Animorphs, sitting in the car with a would be Animorph. She didn't know that we had the same power she did. She didn't know that she had the same power we did. Are you confused yet? I know I am. Marco is probably going to laugh about it later.
But what we found when we came home wasn't funny. Feralae's father had taken the sheep and horses out to the far pasture to graze. That was probably the only thing that saved him. There was no answer as we opened the door.
"They're not home." Feralae shrugged. "Dad's probably out in the fields. He said he was going to bring the sheep out to the far pasture to...day..." She broke off.
The door had been ripped off of its hinges. I saw claw marks on the wood, the marks of hork bajir. I turned to Jake.
He nodded, he'd seen them too.
"Oh my God..." Mom exclaimed.
We walked into the house to find it a wreck. The living room, the kitchen, the bathrooms, even the bedrooms were torn up. Still unpacked boxes in the attic had been ripped open and upended. The couch had been slashed, but close examination revealed more hork bajir marks.
Rachel bristled. I saw her teeth making a soft snarl. She had recognized the marks of hork bajir blades and claws as well. Marco shivered.
"I'm going to call the police. You children stay here."
I was probably the only one who heard... "THE BOX!" Feralae hissed. "They came for the box."
"You mean that box that your dad gave you?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah that one." Feralae said with a shrug. "I still had it in my backpack. My grandmother always said that you should keep your most valuable items on your person, and not leave them out."
Jake sighed in relief. "Jake." Marco whispered. "If they came once, they might come again."
Jake nodded. "We'll have Tobias keep a seven twenty four on the place for a couple of weeks. We need to if Ax is going to finish with the hork bajir up in the mountains."
"And who would be our messenger?" Marco hissed. "Cassie can't hold off a bunch of hork bajir on her own. It takes at least two of us. If Cassie and Tobias are engaged who goes for help?"
"One thing at a time." Jake answered.
My mom came back in. "Okay, Feralae, I called your mother, and the police. Your father was up in the mountains with the horses, llamas and sheep. He said that he's all right. Whoever it was didn't pursue him there. Your mother says to come with us for the night, just to be safe."
After about three minutes I heard sirens begin to wail. Feralae packed a bag went out to the barns. She came back with a Doberman, a Border Collie, and a Great Dane. A Harris Hawk stood on her gloved hand. "Okay, I'm ready. Dad took the other two falcons with him up to the mountains."
Jake and Marco, meanwhile made a quick assessment of the damage. None of the statues or swords that were in Feralae's father's shop had been damaged, although one of the tapestries had been ripped, and the loom had been shoved over. No problems there. The barn had been searched, but most of the stock was up top. Some of the Dane's Puppies had been roughed up, but they were all right.
The truck was crowded as we headed back. I heard Tobias mutter somewhere up top. Golden Eagle named Lexus, I'll Lexus his butt. A Golden Eagle for a pet. What kind of family keeps a Golden Eagle? A psycho family that's what.
I saw Marco smirk as he heard that. Jake rolled his eyes. Rachel chuckled softly. I looked over at Feralae. "Feralae, those marks on the porch and the door frame looked like animal marks, don't you think?"
"I wonder what kind of animal made them." Feralae said thoughtfully. "I mean, maybe it was a grizzly. Whatever it was stood upright, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to tear the door off of it's hinges."
"Yeah." Jake said, tired. "Maybe it was a grizzly bear."
"Weird though, all of our food was locked up…" Feralae said thoughtfully. "I know." She snapped her fingers. "Maybe it was a rabid grizzly bear."
"Yeah, maybe." Rachel shrugged. "Don't worry about it. If it was a grizzly bear they'll stop it. And if it really was a break in the police will find out who it was."
It was a lie of course. Controller cops were probably all over the place by now. They'd fix the damage and cover up the evidence and in a few days another attack would come. We had a few days to decide what to do with Feralae and her blue box, before the yeerks regrouped for another attack. I felt sick. I remembered David and his reaction to being in hiding.
I shivered. I led Feralae into the house to set down her things. Then we went to the barn to set up the dogs and the Harris Hawk in the barn. Feralae sat on a bale of hay, stroking her Harris Hawk thoughtfully. The hawk seemed to like her a lot. It's eyes closed in pleasure at being stroked. "Feralae," Dad said before he left. "I'll pay you to muck out the stalls and groom and exercise the horses."
"Great." Feralae said with a smile as she put her Harris Hawk in one of the cages. "How much are you paying?"
They negotiated a price for the work as they left. Jake looked at me before he left. "I think we should acquire some of her pets."
I nodded, whistling for the Border Collie. The dog didn't mind being acquired, nor did the Harris Hawk. "I think that does it." I told Jake. "Care to acquire the Harris Hawk?"
"I wouldn't mind at all. Tobias told me that they're superb flyers, almost as agile as a falcon, but with stronger wings." Jake said, as he aquired the hawk.
"Well then, let's just keep our eyes open." I said with a smile.
That night, Feralae borrowed a sleeping bag. "Cassie?" She asked. "Are you awake?"
"Yeah." I answered.
"Those people who broke in, they came for the box right? That's what they were after?"
"Why are you asking me?" I asked. Did she suspect.
"I don't know." She said with a sigh. "I'm just worried. Whatever came after that box was big, HUGE. I mean, if it came after me, I'd be dead really fast wouldn't I?"
"I don't know." I lied. "Just be careful okay?"
"Okay, I will."