When shed watched Shara transform five times, with only the last two leaving behind even shreds of the ribbon that they had been working with, Cassie had been forced to admit that they wouldnt be making any more progress than that tonight. Shed left the snacks for the other girl, and theyd made plans to try again tomorrow night. Shed also seen that Shara was beginning to get annoyed by her apparent lack of concrete progress.

Which, considering the things that she and Slade had proven themselves capable of, probably wasnt a good thing.

So, shed suggested to Shara that she go to bed after the meal shed been eating. The other girl had readily agreed, seeming a bet sheepish about the whole thing now that it was over. Cassie had told her not to worry about it; theyd find a way to work out what she needed to do.

But, for the time being, it was better for the both of them to get some sleep.

Deciding to take that same advice herself, Cassie quickly left the barn and made her way back into the house, all the while pondering the excuse that she would give if she were questioned about what had kept her in the barn for so long. In the end, though, she wasnt required to answer for the extra time shed spent in the barn trying to help Shara get the hang of her powers. Instead of making her feel better, though, that only made Cassie feel worse.

Here her parents were willing to trust her to be responsible, and she was going behind their backs to keep people in the barn. It wasnt something that she liked to think about, but she couldnt tell them anything about Slade or Shara. Even they might be Controllers.

It was a thought she hated, but for all that it was still possible.

Settling back down in her bed, Cassie pulled the covers up to her neck, and quietly drifted off to sleep.

XXX

The next morning, a Friday, was pretty much like every other day. Especially considering the fact that the Animorphs didnt have a mission until tomorrow. Still, Cassie knew that meant that she would have to get to bed at a reasonable hour, if she was going to be awake enough to be of any use on the coming mission.

She didnt like to think about that kind of thing, but it was pretty likely that this next mission would end in a fight; she didnt want to jinx things, but most of their other missions had.

Once shed had breakfast, and brought the requisite food and drink to the two siblings who relied on her for their sustenance, Cassie said her farewells to her mother and went to join her father in the car. On the way to school, she was too preoccupied by the problem that Shara was having with her transformation to even notice the music that her father had put on for them to listen to on the way.

When they finally arrived at school, Cassie noticed that her dad was giving her kind of a strange look.

"Thinking deep thoughts, Cass?" he asked, a knowing look in his eye.

"What? Oh, I guess so," she said, trying not to seem startled.

"Well, its good to think about whats going on in your life, but just make sure you take the time out to live it, too," he said sagely.

"Thanks, Dad," she said, smiling briefly. "Ill make sure to keep that in mind."

Leaving the car and her father behind, Cassie made her way into the school building. She was still thinking about what she could do for Shara, aside from what she had already done, of course. Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, Cassie headed inside.

XXX

The school day passed like most of the others, with the Animorphs those who had remained in school, anyway acting as if they didnt know anything about each other, beyond what they had known before that fateful night. It was for the sake of their safety, and that of everyone else on the planet, that they took those precautions. Sometimes, though, Cassie just wanted to pretend to be normal for awhile.

When she went out to meet her father at the front of the school, Cassie was slightly disappointed to realize that she hadnt thought up anything else that might be able to help Shara get the hang of transforming while she was wearing clothes. Maybe there wasnt really anything she could do to help Shara get the hang of her transformation, aside from being there to provide snacks and moral support.

Climbing into the truck, she belted herself in and sighed under her breath. If there was really nothing she could do but keep Shara company, or bring her food if and when she needed it, then Cassie resolved to do just that. It wasnt long after she had made that silent vow that they arrived back at their house, funnily enough, but as Cassie turned to unlock her door she heard her Dad chuckle.

"You remember what I told you this morning, Cass?"

"Huh?" she realized quickly what he was talking about. "Oh, that. Yeah. Whyd you ask?"

"Well, you were pretty spacey on the ride back home," he said, giving her a look.

"Oh," she laughed, hoping it didnt sound quite as forced as it felt. "I was just thinking about how much I wanted to get home. Im kinda hungry."

As if on cue, her stomach growled and Cassie grinned a bit sheepishly, though she was more than a bit thankful for the timing. Her dad chuckled heartily.

"Well, thats different, then. Im pretty hungry, myself. I think Ill go fix myself a snack once we get back inside," he said with a smile. "How about I fix one for you, too?"

"Thanks, Dad," she said, genuinely grateful for the gesture while knowing that she would still have to make lunch for Slade and Shara on her own.

It would defeat the whole purpose of keeping them a secret from her parents if she revealed that she was preparing food enough for two extra people. Still, given the amount that those two could eat, it was possible that they would end up noticing something that way. She hope that that wouldnt end up being the case, but that was always a possibility.

Even in spite of the fact that she hated lying to her parents, she didnt want to expose Slade and Shara to anymore danger than she had to.

Once shed gotten inside and had some food, she sat back at the table and let herself digest her food. Her dad stood up soon after, and Cassie added one more half-truth to the pile that shed already had to tell; letting him know that she would take care of all the chores in the barn, and then stay for awhile to see how all of the animals were doing.

"I admire the dedication youve been showing these last two days, but I dont want you working yourself too hard. Tomorrow, I want you to take the day off, except for your regular check-ups on the animals. If anything needs handling in there, Ill take care of it," he said with a stern smile.

Cassie smiled back, trying not to feel guilty about how drastically she would be disobeying his advice that very day. "Ill remember that. Thanks, Dad."

She stood up, and her dad hugged her before he left for the main parts of the house. Clearing her dishes, Cassie gathered up the extra food that she would need to keep Slade and Shara healthy while they were staying in the barn. She also picked up some extra snacks for Shara, in case she got too hungry while she was trying to work out the problems with her transformation.

With the meal and the snacks both fully prepared, Cassie headed out to the barn to finish the first and last of her self-imposed chores. The ones that she doubted she would ever be able to tell her parents about.