The Visitor by K. A. Applegate Read Free Book Online
Authors: K. A. Applegate
and get it over with, okay?> I said. That was the understatement of all time. I could still smell death and hear the thousands of feasting maggots. And to me those things still meant dinner. I was horribly hungry.
“Are you sure you’re going to be able to maintain down there?” Marco asked. I saw him peering down at me from a million miles up. “You still look a littlenervous. Your tail is twitching and your little nose is sniffing like crazy.”
Before I could object, Marco reached down and scooped me into his hands. He held me up and looked into my eyes. “I’ve never seen you look lovelier, Rachel. Very cover girl.”
We walked down the block. Marco set me down at the bottom of the tree where Fluffer was still hiding out on a high branch.
I said.
“Not
too
far,” Jake said. “We have to be able to get between you and Fluffer fast.”
I said, joking. I guess I felt a little embarrassed about having let the shrew take control of me.
“Uh-huh,” Marco said dryly. “Cat versus mouse. Who would you bet on?”
“Haven’t you ever seen
Itchy and Scratchy?”
Cassie asked. “Mouse, definitely. Besides, she’s not a mouse.”
Let me tell you something: It is no fun sitting around in a shrew’s tiny body, waiting to see whether a huge cat is going to decide to climb down and kill you. It is one of the least fun things I’ve ever done.I had the shrew brain under control, but that didn’t change the fact that the shrew was about as scared as a shrew can be. Between being snatched up by a hawk and now waiting to see if the shrew’s other deadly enemy was going to attack … I mean, the shrew was definitely in a state of panic.
She was not a happy shrew.
I was so preoccupied thinking about the shrew’s hunger that I missed what happened next. I didn’t even notice until I heard the sound of scraping tree bark just an inch over my head. Fluffer was dropping through the air right on top of me!
I froze!
Jake and Marco did not freeze.
Marco grabbed Fluffer in mid-pounce. Fluffer rewarded him with a nasty slash of his claws. Marco yelled and almost dropped the cat. Jake grabbed Fluffer by the nape of the neck and Cassie ran up with the animal carrier.
The three of them managed to stuff the squalling, hissing, slashing Fluffer into the carrier and close the door.
I was already morphing out of the shrew body as fast as I could.
“I’m bleeding!” Marco cried.
“We’re all bleeding,” Cassie said matter-of-factly.“I told you guys: Kitties can be nasty when you get on their nerves.”
I was shooting up from the ground, regaining my normal body.
“Ugh! Ugh! I’m never doing that morph again,” I said, as soon as I had a normal tongue and lips. I looked over my shoulder to make sure I didn’t still have that creepy tail. Nothing. I was me again. I was in my morphing outfit and with no shoes on, but I was human again.
I shuddered. The memory of the shrew’s brain and its fear and hunger made my flesh creep. I was fighting a powerful urge to throw up. I felt sick in a way that is mostly in your head.
Jake looked at me and shook his head. “I should have done it. I should have used my lizard morph to lure the cat down from the tree.”
I shook my head. “No. That freaked you out.”
“And now you’re the one who’s freaked out,” Jake said. “But don’t worry, you’ll get over it. Mostly. At least
you
didn’t eat a spider.”
“Yeah. Look, I’m just tired, okay? Let me acquire this pain-in-the-butt cat and get on with this.”
“Are you still up for it?” Cassie asked. “Acquiring two new morphs in one night?”
“I shouldn’t have let you do the mouse. Shrew. Whatever,” Jake said. He was still
“Are you sure you’re going to be able to maintain down there?” Marco asked. I saw him peering down at me from a million miles up. “You still look a littlenervous. Your tail is twitching and your little nose is sniffing like crazy.”
Before I could object, Marco reached down and scooped me into his hands. He held me up and looked into my eyes. “I’ve never seen you look lovelier, Rachel. Very cover girl.”
We walked down the block. Marco set me down at the bottom of the tree where Fluffer was still hiding out on a high branch.
“Not
too
far,” Jake said. “We have to be able to get between you and Fluffer fast.”
“Uh-huh,” Marco said dryly. “Cat versus mouse. Who would you bet on?”
“Haven’t you ever seen
Itchy and Scratchy?”
Cassie asked. “Mouse, definitely. Besides, she’s not a mouse.”
Let me tell you something: It is no fun sitting around in a shrew’s tiny body, waiting to see whether a huge cat is going to decide to climb down and kill you. It is one of the least fun things I’ve ever done.I had the shrew brain under control, but that didn’t change the fact that the shrew was about as scared as a shrew can be. Between being snatched up by a hawk and now waiting to see if the shrew’s other deadly enemy was going to attack … I mean, the shrew was definitely in a state of panic.
She was not a happy shrew.
I was so preoccupied thinking about the shrew’s hunger that I missed what happened next. I didn’t even notice until I heard the sound of scraping tree bark just an inch over my head. Fluffer was dropping through the air right on top of me!
I froze!
Jake and Marco did not freeze.
Marco grabbed Fluffer in mid-pounce. Fluffer rewarded him with a nasty slash of his claws. Marco yelled and almost dropped the cat. Jake grabbed Fluffer by the nape of the neck and Cassie ran up with the animal carrier.
The three of them managed to stuff the squalling, hissing, slashing Fluffer into the carrier and close the door.
I was already morphing out of the shrew body as fast as I could.
“I’m bleeding!” Marco cried.
“We’re all bleeding,” Cassie said matter-of-factly.“I told you guys: Kitties can be nasty when you get on their nerves.”
I was shooting up from the ground, regaining my normal body.
“Ugh! Ugh! I’m never doing that morph again,” I said, as soon as I had a normal tongue and lips. I looked over my shoulder to make sure I didn’t still have that creepy tail. Nothing. I was me again. I was in my morphing outfit and with no shoes on, but I was human again.
I shuddered. The memory of the shrew’s brain and its fear and hunger made my flesh creep. I was fighting a powerful urge to throw up. I felt sick in a way that is mostly in your head.
Jake looked at me and shook his head. “I should have done it. I should have used my lizard morph to lure the cat down from the tree.”
I shook my head. “No. That freaked you out.”
“And now you’re the one who’s freaked out,” Jake said. “But don’t worry, you’ll get over it. Mostly. At least
you
didn’t eat a spider.”
“Yeah. Look, I’m just tired, okay? Let me acquire this pain-in-the-butt cat and get on with this.”
“Are you still up for it?” Cassie asked. “Acquiring two new morphs in one night?”
“I shouldn’t have let you do the mouse. Shrew. Whatever,” Jake said. He was still
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