but the only morph I can do is a horse. They would notice a horse.”
I checked to see that no one could see us. I waved over my head. A few seconds later, Tobias came swooping silently out of the starlit sky. He landed on the lifeguard stand.
What’s up?
“The full members are off in some private get-together,” I told him. “Do you know where they are?”
Of course. With these eyes I can see the mice scampering through the dune grass. Nice, plump, tasty-looking things.
“Tobias! Get a grip. Don’t start eating mice just because you’re in a hawk’s body. What’s next? Roadkill?”
He didn’t say anything. Maybe he was offended at my suggestion that he would ever eat roadkill. Or, worse, maybe he
wasn’t
offended.
“Where are the full members?” I asked.
About a hundred yards down the beach. There’s a little bowl-like area formed by the dunes. There are people posted all around, though, like guards.
I nodded. “Good job. Tobias, you’ve been in that body for more than an hour. You need to morph back.”
No, I’ll keep watch from above for a while longer,he said.
“No, Tobias,” I said sharply. “You need to morph back. You’ve done what we needed you to do.”
Um, there is that little problem … I don’t exactly have any clothes on.
“Marco has your clothes in a bag. Rachel and Cassie will turn away while you morph.”
Cassie grinned. “I am going to have to teach you boys how to morph clothing.”
Still Tobias hesitated.I hate changing back. It’s like going back into a prison or something. I hate it when I don’t have wings.
“Tobias, you can always return to your hawk morph later,” Rachel reassured him. “Now, come on, both of you. I’ll look the other way so your delicate boy modesty isn’t offended.”
I took a deep breath. It was only my second morph. It still seemed totally ridiculous that I was even thinking about
becoming
a dog. But as I concentrated, I could begin to feel the itchiness and the squirmy feeling as Homer’s DNA combined with the Andalite’s technology and began to change me.
At the same time, I could see fingers growing from the ends of Tobias’s wings.
“Keep a grip on your human side,” Cassie warned me. “We can’t have you off chasing cats or whatever. You need to focus hard on staying in control.”
I started to say, “Yes, I know,” but it came out “Rowr, rowwr, ruff!” I was already too changed to make normal human speech.
I thought my answer instead.Yes, I know, Cassie. Don’t worry.
“But I
do
worry,” she said softly.
I nuzzled her hand with my cold nose and she patted my head. I set off across the sand.
Cassie had been right to warn me. The dunes, the surf, the low chirping of seabirds in their hidden nests—all of it was so perfect for distracting my dog mind.
I heard something breathing in the sea grass, and then it broke and ran! I was off after it before I could even think. It ran and I chased. I think it may have been a chipmunk or something. I never could be sure, because it found a hole and went diving in.
I dug frantically in the sand for a while before my human brain realized,
Whoa, Jake, this is not what you’re supposed to be doing. Stop it!
I made myself walk toward the meeting. I could hear the murmur of voices. I started to creep closer, then I realized that was dumb. Dogs don’t creep around. They just walk or run. If I went around acting like “spy dog,”
that
would make people pay attention.
So I wandered along, like any dog out for an evening stroll along the beach. My tongue lolled out of my mouth. My tail wagged occasionally. The only thing I had to be careful of was not to let Tom see me too clearly. After all, I looked exactly like Homer.
Basically, I
was
Homer.
I approached the edge of the area. There were high dunes all around. About twenty or thirty people were standing together. Unfortunately, with my weak dog eyes I couldn’t see them very well in the darkness.
But I could hear