(Yeah. Everyone, start demorphing,) Jake said. (We should be far enough from their perimeter defenses to be safe.)
All of the Animorphs started their individual demorphs, they stopped walking only when their shifting legs couldn't hold their weight anymore, and Ax didn't stop at all. They all started walking again once their legs and arms had reformed.
"All right everyone," Jake said. "Start morphing birds. We don't want those guys back there, if they do decide to come back, finding a bunch of kids out in the scrub."
"Four of whom they're going to recognize right off the bat," Marco commented sardonically.
"Yeah," Jake said, just as he started to morph into his owl form.
Owls were better suited to flying at night, so that was what most of the Animorphs chose to morph into. Slade, however, didn't have an owl morph right then, so he just used his raven morph to follow Cassie back to the barn. The Animorphs flew together until they were back over the suburbs, and then the time came for them to split up and go to their various destinations.
(Come on, Slade. I'll lead you home,) Cassie said kindly.
(I know you will. I don't think I'd have it any other way,) Slade said, thinking kind thoughts about the girl flying just up ahead of him.
(By the way, thanks for helping me out back there. It might not have gone so well with that Hork-Bajir if you hadn't been there.)
(Well, I couldn't let you face that monster alone. You're… you're a very important person, Cassie.)
(Thanks, Slade.)
After that, the two of them fell silent. Once they had arrived back at the barn, both Cassie and Slade flew inside it. Slade because it was the only home he had right now, and Cassie because she wanted to see how he was doing before she left him for the night. Landing, they both demorphed at the same time.
"How have you been up here, Slade?"
"I've been getting by all right," he said. "Why the sudden interest, Cassie?"
"I've been thinking about it for awhile," Cassie shrugged. "This was just the first time I decided to bring it up."
Slade sat down, beginning to arrange his blankets and pillows the way he always did when he was preparing to go to sleep. Cassie just stood back and watched him, wondering how he could ever get comfortable on that hard wooden floor. But, then again, I don't know how he'd ever manage to get comfortable on all that itchy hay, either, Cassie thought with a smile.
"Well, have a good night, Slade," Cassie said, turning around and walking out to the edge of the hayloft.
(Good night, Cassie.)
Cassie climbed back down the ladder, hoping that her parents would be in bed by now, or at least in bed, since it was so late now. She didn't feel up to morphing again right now, so Cassie just walked into the back door as she was. Heading through the kitchen, Cassie didn't see her parents in the living room until she was in the living room herself. Rubbing her tired eyes, Cassie stopped in mid-yawn when she finally noticed that someone else was in the living room.
Aisha was not happy. In fact, she was so far from it that "happy" was a nearly invisible dot on her emotional horizon. How could Cassie have done this to us? Doesn't she know how much we worry about her? Looking into the eyes of her only child, Aisha saw that Cassie looked both tired and surprised, though she was more the latter than the former at the moment.
Cassie stepped into the living room, and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight that confronted her: both of her parents had apparently been waiting for her to walk in. Judging by the expressions on their faces, they were not very happy with her at the moment. Not that Cassie could really blame them right now, but she really wasn't in the mood for a lecture right now.
All that Cassie was in the mood to do right now was go up to her room, change into her pajamas, and fall into bed. Apparently, someone else had other ideas.
Cassie's mother started off the conversation. "Where on God's green Earth have you been?!" she demanded, staring angrily down at Cassie.
Cassie had always felt that her mother possessed the uncanny ability to actually grow taller when she was really angry. She started out at her normal height, only two inches taller than Cassie, but over the course of whatever speech she was making she seemed to grow ever taller, until it was as if she towered over Cassie with her mere presence.
"I was out with Rachel," Cassie said, being as truthful as she dared, hoping that that would pacify her mother at least enough that she could go up to her room to sleep.
"Out with Rachel doing what?" Aisha hissed, shattering Cassie's hopes of getting to bed any time soon. "You already missed dinner, it's gotten dark out, and you didn't even tell us where you were going!"
"We were very worried about you, Cassie," Walter said quietly.
Now Cassie felt guilty. She knew what it was to worry now. She worried about the other Animorphs, her friends, about the consequences to her soul if she continued to fight the Yeerks, about the consequences to the world if she ever stopped, and now there was the additional worries about Slade. Cassie wondered if he was really as fine as he said he was, up in the barn by himself all day. If he got enough food, despite the fact that she fed him three times a day.
"I'm really, really sorry I made you worry about me. I won't do it again."
"Where. Were. You. Young. Lady?" Aisha demanded again, this time speaking extremely slowly in her I-want-an-answer-right-this-second voice.
"I was just out with Rachel. And Jake," Cassie said, again being as truthful as she could while still having to keep the Animorphs a secret.
Cassie was prepared for a lot of things, or so she told herself. But, when her mom and dad shared a look for just the two of them, one that clearly meant something important, Cassie had to admit to herself that she didn't know what was going on.
"You know, we've already discussed your dating," Aisha said, a hand on her hip, but obviously trying to hold back a laugh. "I thought we had both decided that you're too young for that king of thing right now."
Cassie was mortified. "Dating?" she squeaked.
"Maybe it's time we had another talk about the birds and the bees," Aisha said, sighing and shaking her head.
Cassie could just feel the blood draining out of her whole head at the thought of being subjected to a grown-up talk about boys. The blood came rushing right back into her cheeks and neck as Cassie thought about it more. Talking about her, admittedly strange, relationship with Jake with her mother and father was very close to the last thing Cassie wanted to do right now.
"Um… I'm not, really… dating. It's… nothing like that," Cassie stammered.
"It's… nothing to be ashamed of, Cassie," Walter said haltingly, now more than ever seeing the need for tact and subtlety. "You're becoming a young woman now, it's only natural that you'd have certain… interests. You have a lot of natural… curiosity."
What Cassie wanted now, more than anything in the world, was to dig a hole in the middle of the floor, hide herself in it, and pull the carpet up over her. Or, failing that, run out into the barn, morph to wolf, and see if Slade knew of any good hiding places.
"All we're asking is for you to be honest with us," Aisha said sternly. "Do not make us worry about you."
"Absolutely!" Cassie agreed, with a little more force than was strictly necessary. "I swear I'll never make you worry about me again! Can I go now?"
"Yes, Cassie," Aisha sighed indulgently. "You can go now."
Cassie all but ran out of the living room, only stopping once she was back in the kitchen. Cassie pulled open the refrigerator and started rummaging around. What Cassie most wanted to do right now was to make herself a nice big sandwich, take it up to her room, and try to get at least some of her homework done. She'd been falling a little behind lately, owing to her rather odd extracurricular activities.
