The Invisible Tower Read Online Free Page B

whispered into the darkness, “Kynder?”
    â€œMmmm?”
    â€œYou awake?”
    â€œA little, Arthur.” Kynder turned over and rubbed his face hard. “What’s up?”
    Artie said quietly, “I heard you talking to her yesterday.”
    Kynder paused. Finally he breathed, “You … did?”
    â€œYeah. Don’t worry, I didn’t tell Kay.”
    Kynder sounded sad when he said, “Me either.”
    â€œIt’s okay. It’s better that way. But that’s not what I want to talk about. It just got me thinking. You know, about how you got me. Can you tell me how you got me? Please?”
    Kynder sighed and said, “I adopted you, Arthur, you know that. Kay’s mom and I adopted you, and awhile later Kay’s mom left us. That’s all.”
    Artie took a deep breath and then he said, “Yeah, but the thing is, I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately and I really want to know more. Look, don’t ask me how, but I’ve heard a little about Mr. Thumb. Please, can you tell me the rest?”
    Of course Artie knew nothing about Mr. Thumb, but he had to take a chance.
    And it worked. After a few moments Kynder propped himself up and began talking. This was more or less how it went:
    On a clear September night Kynder and his ex-wife were woken by a horrible sound coming from Kay’s baby monitor: a sudden and horrendous coughing fit.
    Kynder jumped out of bed and ran to Kay’s room, his ex-wife not far behind. Kay’s door was half open and they could see the warm glow of her night-light coming from inside. She coughed and gasped desperately.
    But then she stopped, and the light from her room got much brighter. This, along with Kay’s silence, made Kynder and his ex-wife freeze in astonishment.
    Kynder took a deep breath and continued. He said, “Then Kay laughed, and the light went off and we went into the room. Kay was in her crib, her hair standing on end. And next to her, out of nowhere, was you. The two of you were staring at each other. It was—well, it was disorienting to say the least.”
    â€œWhere did I come from?”
    â€œHonestly, Artie, I still have no idea.”
    Kay turned and grunted in her bed.
    Artie and Kynder quietly looked in her direction. Satisfied that she was still asleep, Kynder continued in a low whisper, “My ex-wife was totally confused and scared, but for some reason I wasn’t. I checked you out and cleaned you up and gave you a bottle. You were a plump, healthy little boy. You and Kay seemed happy together, which helped calm me even more, but not Kay’s mom. The things that happened that night—and the next day—changed her forever, and not in a good way.”
    Artie’s heart sank a little at what this meant: Kay’s mom left because of him.
    Kynder went on, “For the rest of that night we were in shock. You guys drifted off peacefully, but my ex-wife and I couldn’t possibly go back to sleep. We went to the kitchen, made coffee, and decided that in the morning we’d call the police. I still have no idea why we didn’t call them right away, but we didn’t.
    â€œWhich brings me to your Mr. Thumb. As the coffee brewed the phone rang, and on the other end was a man that went by that name. He had a British accent. He wanted to talk about you. What could I say but ‘Go ahead.’
    â€œImmediately he referred to you as Arthur Kingfisher, as if you were already a part of the family. He said that it was no coincidence that you had come to us—to me and Kay, actually—that the three of us were meant for one another—and that by three that afternoon we’d get a FedEx package with a bunch of paperwork that would facilitate our legally adopting you into our family. I tried to ask him questions, but he kept interrupting me, and when he was done telling me what was going to happen, he just hung up. I had no way to call him