house, and you're the guest."
"And I'm the one who sees you slept terrible, so I'm making breakfast."
Argueing like an old couple they went to the kitchen. Hilda tried to block the entrance by putting herself in it, but William simply picked her up and sat her down on a sideboard after which he marched into the kitchen.
"Hey, you... you..." Hilda's flaring-up anger prevented her from finding the proper word. She jumped from the sideboard and ran after him, snatching the apron from his hands and holding it behind her back. "How dare you!"
"Easy," the guest in the house said as he tried to grab the apron from her. For that he reached behind her with both hands, catching her in his arms. As he did so, her arms were pressed against her sides, virtually immobilising her.
"You are NOT making breakfast!", she exclaimed. In a reflex she changed the apron into a rope as he took it. The rope flung itself around his wrists. "Ha, gotcha!", she gloated, knowing he was tied up.
It took William a few seconds to understand that his arms were indeed tied together. Then he grinned. "Looks like we got eachother, miss Witch."
"Crap," Hilda admitted. She was still caught in his arms, and because of the rope he could not let go of her.
"Like this we are not getting any closer to breakfast, Hilda, so if you just untie my hands," William offered.
"Oh, right, and then all this starts again, right? I don't think so." Hilda exhaled, making herself as thin as she could and dropped herself to her knees. Quickly she got up, her wand already in her hand. "Now you go sit down at the table, or I'll make you."
William, hands tied, grinned, watching her rather thin frame. "You'll make me?"
Her eyes became slits. Her wand pointed at his legs. "You will walk to the table and sit down."
"Oh, sure," William said. A few seconds later the grey velvet pants made him walk to the table and sit down. "Hey, you witch!", he yelled at her as he was on the way.
"And you'd friggin' better know it!", she called after him, a big fat grin on her face. This little victory had made her day. And the night too.
"I won," said Hilda as the plates with food floated towards the table. She gloated as she sat down, her face showing her winning.
"What are you waiting for?", she then asked as she was digging in.
William held up his tied hands, his face the questionmark that ... his silent request.
"Oh. Of course. Sorry."
The rope changed into an apron again and fell in William's arms. "Thank you ever so much," he said as he picked up his fork.
"You are most welcome," the witch grinned.
"Am I allowed to pour you some more tea, miss Witch?"
Miss Witch frowned as she looked at her cup. "Stupid fish," she muttered, then said: "Yes, please."
As William filled her cup again, he asked about her remark concerning stupid fish.
Hilda grinned and pointed at the two goldfish. "It's them. I suspect that they drink my tea at times. They're magical, you see."
William, who'd been worrying about his eyes, relaxed. "Oh, right. I thought it was me, thinking they moved about."
"Actually it is you," Hilda nodded. "They're curious about you, that's why they move about so much."
William stared at a goldfish that stared back just as much.
After breakfast Hilda said she'd have to go make the rounds again and invited William to come along. "That way I can keep an eye on you and make sure you don't get hurt," was her reasoning.
William wondered slightly about that. After all, being inside a house felt more safe than riding a broom. He forgot to include in that thought that he would be in a witch's house. A wicked witch's house.
As they were ready to kick off, she asked if there was somewhere special he'd like to go. "We're not doing the shepherds today, I don't want to be predictable," she elaborated.
"Not sure if it is too much of a detour, but I really would like to get some more things from the truck."
"Okay, I can do that. You're better at flying now, so we can go faster than the first time. What do you want to get there?"
"My books." William smiled.
"I see. Book seller. Can't be without your books. Not that anyone here would buy them, but you've got to have your books." She giggled a bit, then straightened her face and they left the ground.
"So, you think she's hitting on him?", one of the goldfish asked the house. "he's definitely getting to her."
"Hmmm," replied the house, "it does seem so, but the way they went about fighting this morning, I am not sure. He is really sweet on her though, I can tell."
"The silly witch just is out of practice too long and doesn't recognise the feeling anymore. Hah, she even thought he has magic!" The goldfish chased each other around the cup. "Bummer that she found out about the tea though..."
13. Mirror Lake
After the visit to the castle, without the fountain race ("It's all about not being predictable") they swooped over the village again. Nothing remotely interesting was going on there, so they were soon on their way to the third point to inspect.
"We're now going to Mirror Lake, so hold on. This is going to be one wild ride." She laughed her laugh, so William braced himself, and not in vain. The terrain that they flew over was not rough or difficult, but Hilda was in a boisterous mood and made the flight rough and difficult. She made them race over the tops of trees, and they got so close by mountains that a sneeze could make them crash into them. They sped just inches over the ground. The wicked witch had to correct their lack of altitude constantly, or their feet would be left behind somewhere.
"Holy Bejeebus!", William screamed as they dove into a piece forest at astounding speed. More than once he closed his eyes as he was certain that impending doom in the shape of a massive tree was upon them. But each time Hilda managed to maneuver them around, over and under branches and bushes.
Then they shot out of the forest and over an immense grassland that lay around a lake. The brooms slowed down. "Mirror Lake," Hilda said, pointing at the vast silvery expanse in front of them.
"We are still alive," William said.
"Of course. Grump. Well, if you can't take serious flying..."
Screaming with laughter Hilda's broom shot up into the air while William's slowed down to nothing and landed him on his feet.
"Jeebus," he said as he picked up the broom.
Hilda was pulling her broom into a looping and she was enjoying it. Her laughter reached all the way down, to where her guest was. The wind hit her face, her hair waved behind her and tugged at her head. Pressure from the G-forces she worked up was pulling at her as she pushed her broom to the limit. Then she toppled backwards, into the downward part of the looping, her speed increasing to something insane. She loved what she was doing and only at the last moment she yanked the broom up so it would not land her six feet deep into the grass.
William saw her go and was scared and awed at the same time by the impressive aerial stunt that she pulled off.
The wicked witch landed her broom next to William and jumped off. Her face was radiating, she was breathing heavily, her eyes had the blue sparkling pentacle in them again. "This was so good... I needed this..."
"You're a flippin' breakneck stunt-pilot, that's what you are," William said, relieved that she was on the ground again, but also deeply impressed with the witch. "Damn, you are good." He simply dropped the broom and pulled her into a hug, rocking her.
Spontaneously Hilda threw her arms around him and laughed, as the thrill of the looping and the speed were slowly leveling out in her body.
After a while, William carrying both brooms in one hand and the other around Hilda, they walked to Mirror Lake. Again, Hilda was leaning into him, her head against his shoulder and an arm around his waist. She was babbling over all kinds of things she had done on a broom, flying artistry, daredevil acts, stupid things and also about the time when she was still learning and falling.
"William, I would really like to teach you how to
fly a broom," she said, "we could have so much fun together!" She looked up at him, her face still shining, the blue sparkle in her eyes again.
"I'd really like that too, Hilda." He meant it.
The witch lay her head against his shoulder again as she nodded.
The grassland ended. The large silver area started. Its surface was flat as a newly ironed sheet and reflected everything. It genuinely was Mirror Lake.
They stood at the shiny lake and looked out over it.
"This is brilliant," said William, his brain having difficulty coping with the view his eyes delivered.
Slowly, as if she was afraid to hurt him, Hilda crawled away from under his arm, bent down and scooped up some of the water. It lay in her hand as flat and solid as mercury. "Look, it is really like this, a mirror, every little bit." As she spoke, she elbowed her way under his arm again and raised her hand so he had a good view.
"And that is real water?"
"Uhuh, nothing more, nothing less, it's always been like this and nobody knows why. Isn't that shiny?" Hilda dropped the water on the ground and wiped her hand on her dress.
"And this is a regular part of the rounds?"
She grinned. "Not really. I just wanted to show it to you. Because it's so awesome. I wish I could make something like that."
"Something tells me that you tried, right?" William grinned as she punched him.
"Don't ask, okay? Just don't ask. Or you'll never fly again!" She dove downwards again, scooped up more water and flung that at William, after which the witch screamed for laughter and ran off as fast as she could. She had the benefit