The Invisible Tower (19 page)

“Yes, you're right,” said Bedevere a little hollowly.

“Fine, very fine,” Lavery said. “I'll return in a bit and we'll see if we can get you your map.” Then he stepped backward into the hall and said good-bye, making sure to close and lock the door behind him.

None of them thought this was strange at all.

Except for Kay. As soon as the elf was gone Kay returned to the table and asked, “Is he gone?”

The others looked at her curiously and answered yes.

“Good,” said Kay.

No one thought to ask what was wrong, because none of them felt like anything was wrong at all.

They continued to eat their delicious meal. When they were done, they decided to take a nap.

It was hard to say how many hours they slept. When they woke, they quietly went about cleaning their weapons and making their beds. Bedevere found a deck of playing cards and he taught Artie and Thumb how to play cribbage. Kay spent the whole time sitting on her cot or pacing the floor.

Something was not right, and only she seemed to notice it.

Finally Lavery opened the door and stepped in. Behind him in the hall sat Schrödinger the saber-toothed tiger.

“Well, my friends, are we ready to see the maps?”

“Sure, Lavery. Just give us a few minutes to get our stuff together,” Artie said, moving toward the weapon rack.

“No need, my friends. It is only a house full of dusty old maps. You can leave your belongings here.”

Thumb laughed as if to agree, and Artie and Bedevere moved toward Lavery unarmed, ready to go.

But Kay wasn't so game. Being careful to avoid the elf's gaze, she said, “I think we should take our stuff, guys. We were going to leave from there anyway, right? I mean, we're not spending another night here, are we?”

Thumb's body shook as Artie and Bedevere turned to him for advice. Thumb looked hard at Kay, and she could see that his wheels were turning. Kay thought this was both bad and good. Bad because it confirmed to her that they were definitely all under some kind of spell; good because if Thumb was thinking, then maybe he was breaking free of it.

Kay moved to the rack and grabbed Cleomede and belted it on. She grabbed the rest of her equipment and then took up the Welsh
wakizashi
and placed it in Thumb's rugged little hand. Fighting back a wave of nausea, Kay looked directly at Thumb and said, “Here, Tommy, take this. We have to leave after we visit this map house, okay?”

Thumb's pupils widened to the size of dimes, and the color drained from his face. Kay thought Thumb was gone. But then the little man nodded and slipped his sword under his belt. He turned to Artie and Bedevere and said, “Sir Kay is right, lads, we must get going. Take your swords.”

Artie and Bedevere shrugged and absently took these and the rest of their weapons and bags. They lined up at the door, Thumb in front and Kay at the rear.

Thumb said very forcefully, “We're ready, Master Lavery.”

“Yes, I can see that,” he hissed, no longer smiling. But since he was still dressed in his blue jeans and the stupid D&D T-shirt and was completely unarmed, he didn't look too dangerous.

Every inch of the cat, however, looked mortally dangerous. Lavery stepped backward into the hallway and scratched it under its chin. Schrödinger made a sound half-way between a growl and a purr. Kay's nerves rattled her every bone.

Lavery said with a fake smile, “Right, then. Shall we?”

With a tone of assuredness that comforted Kay greatly, Thumb said, “We shall.” And they filed out.

They walked down the hall away from the main entrance for a long time. Lavery led the way and Schrödinger came last, padding silently behind Kay. Kay continually fought the urge to look over her shoulder at the cat, afraid that if she did, it would pop her head off with its ridiculous teeth.

Finally they reached the end of the hall, which terminated with a normalsized door. Lavery unlocked it with a large silver key. It creaked open. A dark tuft of thick grass revealed itself on the other side.

Lavery held out his hand, and they passed through the doorway.

The library's backyard was as big as a football field. The boughs of the giant elm that was the library arched over the expanse of grass, obscuring the sky above. They were so dense with leaves that it was hard to tell if it was night or day, dusk or dawn.

A knee-high wooden fence marked the perimeter of the yard. The elf moved to the front and said, “This way, please.” He started walking toward a low, windowless house with a thatched roof at rear of the yard. Next to the house sat the other cat, Mrs. Tibbins. Kay was not at all psyched to see her there.

Behind the house was an oak forest so thick and so dark it put everything they'd trudged through the week before to shame. Its great trees were draped with Spanish moss and, as they drew closer, it gave Kay a sinking feeling, as if something was in there, waiting.

Finally they reached the building. Schrödinger walked past them and sat down opposite Mrs. Tibbins.

Lavery said, “Well, here we are. The map you require has been pulled and laid out for you. I will take my leave now, but the kitties will stay here. If you need anything, just tell them and one will come and find me.” And before anyone could respond, Lavery was off in the direction from which they'd come.

Kay looked sidelong at the cats. Artie and Bedevere still seemed to be out of it, but Thumb looked sharp. He nodded at Kay, turned the handle on the door, and pushed it open.

The map house appeared to be just a single room. Along the walls were dark wooden shelves loaded with rolled-up charts, and in the middle of the room was a large, waist-high table. A floodlight illuminated it and threw the corners of the room into total darkness. Spread out on the table was a huge, yellowing map.

They went to the table. Thumb clambered on top of it. He clapped his hands hard at Artie and Bedevere and asked loudly and deliberately, “Do you feel any different, lads?”

As if on cue, both Artie and Bedevere put their heads in their hands and groaned. Bedevere straightened and cracked his back. Artie looked from his hands into his sister's mismatched eyes—it was as if he was seeing them for the first time in ages.

“How long were we in there?” Artie demanded, sounding every bit like his old self.

“Were we really wasting time playing cards?” added Bedevere with an uncharacteristic twang of fear.

“Yes, we were wasting time playing cards,” Thumb confirmed, “and I have no idea how long we were there. Best case is we were really only there for a day. Worst case… I don't even want to consider the worst case.”

“Did any of you notice how similar that dorky elf and I look?” Kay asked. “Also, more than once he called me ‘Sister Kay.' That made my skin crawl.”

“Now that you mention it,” Artie said a little desperately, “I do remember that. What's going on? Why would anyone want to stall us?”

“I don't know,” answered Thumb. He looked hard at the map under his feet. “If I had to guess, it would be so that the Fenland witch could have enough time to get here. She may want to see you in person, Artie, before she tries to put a stop to you. Or maybe Numinae wanted to slow us down so he could have more time to make up his mind about our quest. Without knowing who's behind Lavery, we can't be sure.”

Bedevere studied the map and said, “I say we just grab it and get out of here on the double.”

They were about to agree when a noise suddenly came from one of the room's dark corners.

A robed figure emerged from the darkness. “No!” it squealed. “You will take nothing from this library. Nothing! The kitties! The sweet little kitties!”

The figure was hunched, about five feet tall, and looked to be very skinny under its baggy brown cloak. Aside from its creepy voice, it didn't seem to be all that threatening.

Still, they drew their swords.

“Pfaw!” the figure intoned. “I am old! Put away your weapons, put them away, put them away…”

“Show yourself !” barked Artie.

“Ah, the abomination speaks, eh?” The figure put its wrists to its hips and did a little mocking dance, laughing. Then it said in a singsong tone, “Stop, young knight in black! Put that parchment back! Nothing leaves! Nothing!”

“This map does, madman!” Bedevere said forcefully, pointing at the parchment on the table.

The cloaked person cocked its shrouded ear in his direction. “Ah! ‘Man,' you say? Ha!… He thinks me a man!”

“Elf, sprite, troll, sorcerer—I don't care!” Bedevere proclaimed bravely. “We need this map and we're taking it!”

The figure looked like it was about to yell back at Bedevere when its voice changed drastically. It stopped dancing and started to turn in circles, saying, “No! No! No! Not safe! Not safe for me—or you either! No! A trickster! A sneaky old trickster!”

All the menace of the voice had faded. In its place was the squealing, wounded voice of a woman.

It sounded very familiar to Artie.

He stepped forward and quietly asked, “What did you just say?”

“Not safe! Not safe for me—or you either!”

Artie sheathed Excalibur. He'd heard those exact words before.

“Do you have a phone?” he asked.

“Yes, yes of course!” she said desperately, pointing a shivering finger at one of the darkened corners. “Every night she calls me, every night she calls and frightens and reveals. Every night she portends the horrors the child will bring into our realm. Every night, every night…”

Artie asked, “Who calls? Can you call our world with it?”

“Yes! Yes!”

“Have you?”

“YES!”

“Who calls you?”

The stranger shook her hands and suddenly threw off her hood. With the sinister voice back in her throat she screamed a single spittle-filled word into Artie's face. “Morgaine!”

Artie recoiled and placed his hand back on Excalibur's grip, but he didn't draw. Thunder clapped outside. One of the kitties roared. The ground beneath them began to thump, as if it contained a great beating heart.

“Is she here?” Artie asked.

“Here? Here? Fool! No. Oh, but she has shown me! You have no chance, tinfoil king. No chance! She knows!” As she said this, she flicked a finger at Artie's chest, as if to prove his insignificance.

Artie took a couple steps back, and the crazy woman followed him, staying in his face. It was then that she stepped into the light. It was then that he saw them. The eyes!

Like any ranting, senseless person's, they were wide and watery and bloodshot, but unlike most other people's eyes, their irises were of two entirely different colors: one sky-blue, the other clover-green.

Artie breathed in sharply.

Kay took two shuffling steps forward, letting Cleomede fall to her side. Artie felt her heart racing, her voice searching for strength. She stammered meekly, “M-m-mom?”

There was no question. The woman's silken hair was mostly gray but was streaked here and there with bolts of red. Her cheekbones were high, her nose pointed, her eyebrows full. She was old—far, far older than Kynder—but it was obvious that she had once been as beautiful as Kay surely would be.

The old woman spat a primal hiss at Kay. And then, as if overcome by shame, she turned and hid her face.

Kay stepped next to Artie, grabbing his arm for strength. She said quietly, “Cassie.”

And that's how Artie and Kay found the woman who'd abandoned the Kingfishers so long ago.

“Cassie, Cassie, Cassie,” the old
woman lamented, as if she'd not heard her name in an age.

Kay released Artie's arm and moved closer to her estranged mother. “It's really you?”

“Yes,” whimpered Cassie, unable to look her daughter in the eyes.

“But how did you get here? Why are you so old?”

The woman shifted her shoulders and sighed. “I… I don't remember everything—it was something like when
he
came into your bedroom those many years ago…” She trailed off. “He” clearly meant Artie. And she clearly didn't like him.

Thumb said solemnly, “A dark magic has made her old, Kay; I can see it as plain as day.”

“Yes, yes,” Cassie confirmed. “So dark. So many false promises faded into that darkness. A new life, a new child, a new beginning…”

“A new child.” Kay shuddered at what she was about to ask. “Not Lavery?”

“Yes, Lavery,” Cassie said quietly.

“But how?” Kay wondered. “He's at least five years older than me.”

“Wood elves age very quickly in the beginning, and very slowly at the end, Kay,” Thumb explained.

“Yes,” Cassie hissed. “He's your half brother. And he's more your true brother than this, this … thing!”

Artie didn't like being called a thing, but since his parents were a finger bone and a lock of hair, he silently admitted that she had a point.

Then Cassie spun and raised her arms. Bizarro Cassie was back in full effect. She yelled, “Copy! Experiment! Puppet!”

“Now, wait one moment, Miss Cassie,” interrupted Thumb.

“Shh! Silver-tongued gnome, be quiet!”

With a crooked finger she pointed at Artie and said accusingly, “You think you have a destiny? Toadswill! Swallerwash! She is coming! She is sending her servants as we speak! If you escape her now, then she will use other means to draw you to her! Where is the one whose name begins with
Q
? Isn't she with you?” Spittle drained from the corner of her mouth as her radiant eyes darted around the room, desperately seeking someone who wasn't there.

Kay asked, “Who are you talking about?”

But Artie knew, and his heart fell into his shoes. “Qwon,” he simply said.

“Qwon! Yes! None of you are safe! None of you are safe from the fine wrath of the high lordess Lady Morgaine!”