Stork Naked by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online Page B

curiously, did the mouths of the children.
    Surprise changed the subject. “Perhaps you can answer something I have wondered about. We know that some talents attach to the souls, and some to the bodies. Is there a reason for that?”
    “Not a good one,” Stymy said. “The delivery storks are supposed to pick up the assigned talents at the same time as the babies, and fasten the talents securely to the souls. Usually the talents are already anchored, but when they aren't, then the storks have to patch them up. But some are lazy and hook them to the bodies instead. They get away with it because it generally goes unnoticed, and it saves them time on the deliveries.”
    “It's a wonder you remain in a largely thankless job,” Che said.
    “Oh, it's a good job,” Stymy said. “I love babies, and it is wonderful to see how happy their families are to have them. It's just the stork authorities that are a pain in the tail feathers. Sometimes I wish I could transfer to Mundania.”
    “Mundania!” Surprise said, appalled. “But there's no magic there.”
    “Not much that's recognizable,” the stork agreed. “They do have rainbows, mirages, and things called cars that cause it to rain when they are washed. But some Mundane families still prefer to have their babies delivered the old fashioned way, storked, as Che noted, instead of the messy newfangled inconvenient do-it-all-yourself fad that others attempt. So there is business, and I understand that there are stork nests in cathedrals in Iberia, Mundania. I would like to operate out of a cathedral. That would have a lot of class.”
    “Perhaps you will, some day,” Surprise said. “That might be for the best.” She was satisfied to let the dialogue lapse.

Xanth 30 - Stork Naked
    3

Xanth 30 - Stork Naked
    Mountain Lion
    “We are approaching Lion Mountain,” Che announced. “Now it may become problematical.”
    Surprise did not like the sound of this. “Don't we just need to approach the fiery nymph you mentioned?”
    “We do, but the problem is the mountain. It doesn't necessarily appreciate visitors.”
    “Can't we simply fly over it until we come to the nymph's residence?”
    “Hardly. It would snap us out of the air and consume us in a fraction of one bite.”
    “Lion Mountain,” she said carefully. “Would that be literal?”
    “It would be,” he agreed. “Depending on its mood. If it is Lion Mountain, we should be able to pass. But if it is Mountain Lion, we would be foolish to risk it.”
    “How do we know which mood it is in?”
    “By whether it snaps us up, or doesn't.”
    Was he being difficult? “I may be mistaken,” she said even more carefully, “but I am not at all certain I care to gamble on its mood.”
    “I thought you might feel that way. So we'll have to land and see if we can walk up it without its noticing.”
    “Why wouldn't it notice?”
    “Well, an animal generally doesn't notice fleas until they bite, and we should try to avoid biting it.”
    “We walk,” she agreed, relieved. Her centaur form could readily do that as well as fly.
    “There is something you may not know about Lion Mountain,” Stymy said. “I have not made deliveries here, so can't be sure, but I have heard a rumor that it may be dangerous in other ways than leonine.”
    “What ways?” Che inquired.
    “I don't know, but my source was credible.”
    “A credible nonspecific rumor?”
    “Yes.” The stork seemed unconscious of any irony, perhaps because there were no ironwood trees growing nearby.
    “So how do you propose we investigate this rumor?” Che asked. It occurred to Surprise that his patience might be thinning, though that was just an impression.
    “We should land and inquire of a local resident. My stork sense tells me that one of my clients is in this vicinity.” He paused, startled. “In fact it is Azalea, the girl I told you about.”
    “A fifteen-year-old flower fairy?” Surprise asked dubiously.
    “She is not a fairy. She was