Read Stork Naked for Free Online Page A

ordinary.”
    “Still, this perhaps provides a clue. There are foreign Demons in your background. They are of course forbidden to interfere in the Demon Xanth's dominion, but since Demons have no souls of their own, they lack conscience and will cheat if they discover opportunity. They could legitimately take your two half-souls if they chose.”
    “Actually, we have whole souls now,” she said. “Souls regenerate in living creatures of human derivation.”
    “True.” He thought for most of a moment. “So if they took back their half-shares now, it would not really affect you and your husband. But suppose the Surprise and Umlaut in the other reality did not get those half-souls?”
    “Making them just like us, except for no consciences or decency,” she said.
    “They might not have cared to go to the trouble of signaling the stork themselves, but found it easier to steal your baby.”
    Surprise stared at him. “A couple—just like us—but completely unscrupulous.”
    “Who fooled the stork into delivering to them.”
    Surprise was appalled. “I find that hard to believe.” But it was getting easier the more she considered it.
    “Of course this is far-fetched,” Che said. “It would be an amazingly complicated way to get a baby, when I understand most couples don't really mind signaling the stork. So probably that isn't the explanation.”
    “Probably not,” she agreed. But the chill was taking root in her bones. Magician Humfrey had urged her not to undertake this quest; his reasons might be starting to show. “But about these many realities—are there Demons associated with each too, as with ours?”
    “My understanding is that Demons are infinite too, so that there is a thin slice of each in each reality. Thus a Demon has only to focus on a particular slice to be there, when it chooses. But it is probably best not to invoke any Demons if we can avoid it.”
    “I agree,” Surprise said, shuddering. The Demons had virtually infinite powers, and considered the residents of Xanth as little better than inconsequential bugs, as a general rule. The Demon Xanth had married one such bug, as it were, but that was probably more like a game for him.
    “We are approaching the Stork Works,” Che said. “This is strictly off-limits territory; only the fact that the Good Magician arranged for passes for us makes it possible for us to visit. They surely won't let us know any of their secrets. Fortunately we don't need their secrets; we simply need the stork who misdelivered your baby.”
    Surprise gazed down at the complex. It looked like a giant clump of mushrooms with tops of many pastel colors. As they drew closer she realized that each mushroom was the size of a house. In fact they were buildings, with storks flying busily between them. There were no sharp edges or corners; everything was rounded and looked soft enough not to hurt a baby. The largest was in the center, with a line of storks entering one side and emerging the other side, carrying bundles. That had to be where the babies originated.
    They came to a landing at an outbuilding labeled information office. A stork with an officious hat emerged immediately to challenge them. “I am Stifle Stork, Officer of the Day. What are you doing here? No visitors are allowed. Especially not children. Go away.”
    Ted, Monica, Woe, and the peeve opened their mouths. “Silence!” Surprise snapped warningly before they could get them all kicked out. She retained her centaur form because once she reverted to her human form, she would not be able to make that particular transformation again. She would have to become something else that was capable of carrying the children. It was better this way.
    Che showed their passes. The stork eyed them. “Well, it seems you are entitled to information, but you can't go beyond this spot,” he said grudgingly. “What do you want here, before you go away? Remember, we will not vouchsafe the secret of the origin of our