Cassie put down the bucket of feed, and headed up the ladder that led to the hayloft. Slade was nowhere in sight, but at least two of the stacks of hay-bales were large enough to conceal him if he sat or crouched behind them. Cassie walked closer to the stack on her left, deciding to check behind it first.

However, as soon as Cassie was almost close enough to look behind the stack, something lashed out suddenly and grabbed her around the ankle. As she fell, Cassie thought she caught a glimpse of someone, just before she fell. But Cassie didn't hit the floor like she thought she would. Instead, Cassie found herself merely facing it. Someone had caught her before she could smack her face on the floor.

"I'm sorry," Slade said, gently setting Cassie on the ground.

"It's okay, Slade," Cassie said, sitting up and brushing herself off. "But, why did you try to trip me in the first place?"

Slade looked embarrassed. "I kinda fell asleep back there, after this big guy with dark skin came in. He was poking around for awhile and I didn't know who he was, so I hid. When you came up here, I thought you were him at first. I guess I panicked. Sorry about that again, Cassie."

"That's all right Slade," Cassie said with a friendly smile. "I guess that would be a bit unnerving for someone in your position. But the only adults that come in here are my mom and my dad, and mom doesn't come in here that often," Cassie paused, seeing that Slade was nodding in apparent understanding. "Anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to go flying with the rest of us."

"Who are 'the rest of us'?" Slade asked.

"Well, there's me, Rachel, and Tobias, and then there's Marco," Cassie counted off the names of the Animorphs that would be coming along on her fingers as she said them.

"That doesn't sound so bad," Slade said. "But, how would we be flying?" As he asked, Slade tried to shake off the feeling that he was asking a stupid question.

Cassie didn't seem to see it that way. "We'll just morph into the birds we've all acquired."

"Morph? Oh, right! You mean, you're going to teach me how to do that shape-shifting thing you guys did earlier." Slade looked confused for a moment, then excited.

"Yeah," Cassie smiled at Slade's unhidden enthusiasm. "I guess today's going to be your first time."

Slade grinned back. "I guess it is."

Slade stood up, helping Cassie to her feet and then brushing the hay off of his jeans. Following Cassie down the ladder, Slade took another look around the barn. Spotting Rachel, he tensed up for a minute, not knowing who the blonde girl was. Looking to Cassie, Slade saw that she seemed happy to see this new girl. Must be one of her other friends, Slade concluded.

"So this is Slade. He's kind of cute, I have to admit," Rachel said, looking Slade over. "I like the shirt, too."

"Thanks," Slade said. "I picked it out on a bit of a whim."

Cassie stifled a laugh, Rachel had just met Slade and already she had found something to like about him.

"So, does he have a morphing outfit yet?"

"A what?" Slade asked.

Cassie shook her head. Yet another thing that I didn't think of, Cassie thought ruefully.

Rachel sighed. "Well, we're either going to have to find a way to carry his clothes along with us, or we're going to have to find something for him to wear."

"Why's that?" Slade asked.

"We can't take bulky things like clothes or tools along with us when we morph," Cassie explained. "It gets kind of annoying sometimes, but that's just the way the technology works."

"That seems kind of stupid," Slade said. It wasn't anything he could have explained to the two girls, but Slade got the feeling that if he had wanted to, he could somehow carry his clothes – or anything else he had wanted to for that matter – along with him when he morphed. Slade didn't mention this to either of them, since even he wasn't sure it was true.

"Yeah, you have no idea how many times I've wanted to track down the Andalites who made this thing and give them a piece of my mind," Rachel said. "Wait here, we'll find something that you can wear."

Rachel and Cassie left, and Slade quickly scrambled back up the ladder to avoid being seen if Cassie's father or mother were to come in again.

Once they were outside, Rachel turned to Cassie. "So, how do we get up to your room without your dad delaying us?"

"We don't. I'll go back and tell him that there's something in my room that I want to show you." As much as Cassie hated lying to her father, she still had no way of knowing whether or not her father was a Controller. "I think that one of those aerobic outfits you bought me last week might fit him, if only just."

"Good idea," Rachel conceded. "And hey, at least those are fashionable and color-coordinated."

Cassie sighed, rolling her eyes. "You would be happy about that."