Hilda - The Challenge

she leaned towards the book, her wand hovering over it. She murmured a few spells, ordering the book to reveal the magical signature of the person who had undone the shrinking.

  William stroked her head. "I'm going to fix a simple lunch," he said.

 

  "Oh... right... No, let me," said Hilda. The wand flashed over the table. The wine disappeared and lunch was served. It was hardly a simple lunch. "Enjoy," she added as she kept working on the book that was not easily convinced to give up the secret.

  William stared at the table in much the same manner as Hilda was staring at the book. He had thought he had gotten used to her use of magic, but the radical rapid replacement that happened in the blink of an eye put him back in his place. He was not sure if he would ever get used to it.

  "Uhm... thank you," he said and started to eat. After a few minutes he peered under Hilda's hair. "Dear little witch, don't forget to eat, okay?"

  "What? Oh. I guess you're right. The book isn't helping much..." She made it float back to the others, then got some food herself.

  "Did you get anything from it?", William wondered.

  "Yes, there was something. Very faint, hard to pick up. It also was very strange. I never encountered that before."

  After a while, William asked: "Perhaps it was a powerful wizard or so that came flying over."

  Hilda looked at him, a fork of food coming to a full stop halfway from the plate. She smiled. "See, that is so sweet about you. You really don't know about these things."

  "Oh. Well, I just thought..." William blushed. He had been called many things in his life, but sweet was one of the things that was very very low on that list.

  "Thank you for trying to help, William. You're really a wonderful friend. And.." She did not open up more; instead she quickly returned to finishing her lunch.

  With the mystery of the books unsolved, they sat together and went over the pro's and cons of the challenge once more.

  "So no outside help from magicians and the likes," William remembered.

  "True. Unless they are invited, but who'd do that?"

  He nodded. It made perfect sense. "And anyone can send a challenge to another."

  "As long as both contestants are equal. So you could for instance challenge Johan the mirror-maker, or the man who sells fruit. Those are ordin- I mean, non magical people. Magical people challenge other magical people."

  "Right, that makes sense also. And I don't mind if you call me an ordinary. If that is what I am."

  Hilda then did something William would never have expected. She got up and pushed his arm to the side, after which she sat in his lap. "And that is why I am having a problem calling you that. You are not ordinary to me, William. You are very special."

  Stumped about her action, he had put an arm around her without consciously noticing.

  "Remember when I told you that no one can live with me, and that I can't have anyone around me in my house?"

  "Oh, very clearly," he nodded.

  "Well, it seems that I was wrong. Because I really like having you here. And if you would tell me that you were leaving, that would be terrible." She raised a hand and gently touched his cheek. "I don't know how you feel about it, William. But when I was gone this morning, I missed you."

  He smiled. "You missed me so much that you forgot to contact me over the crystal ball."

  "Oh, shush, you," she grinned, softly patting him on the cheek. "You just want to play with the crystal ball."

  William then slipped both his arms around her and pulled her more tightly against him. "If you want to know how I feel about it, Hilda... I missed you too. It hurt me to see you fly off alone this morning, in my heart. Even though it was necessary."

  The witch put her head on his shoulder, brushing her long hair back. "I'd rather have taken you along." After a few silent moments, she said: "This feels good." A flushing red travelled over her cheeks, but she was not going to take back her words, since they were the truth. "William?"

  "Yes, Hilda?"

  "Could you pretend I'm drunk?"

  He didn't answer. Instead he scooped her up, got up from the chair and went up the stairs.

  The house, very considerate, closed the bedroom door.

  20. Wake-up call

  It was evening and dark already when two pairs of feet slowly made their way down the stairs. The owners of the feet both carried a candle, to light their way.

  Once in the living room, the witch in her long red housecoat quickly made a few additional candles burn. Then she turned to William, who was wearing the blue robe, and wrapped her arms around him. "Just tell me when you want to pretend I am drunk again. My love." She looked at him and smiled, her face relaxed, calm, beaming.

  William looked at her face, feeling happy deep down in his heart that the worried tension had gone from her, if only temporary, and falling in love with that relaxed and happy face. He bent down the few inches that separated their faces and gently kissed her.

  Hilda got all weak in the knees again from the sensation of their lips touching, the closeness of his skin, the scent of their lovemaking still on both of them.

  "Don't worry, lovely woman, I'll remind you often enough," William said when they both had come up for air again.

  Hilda slid her hands over his chest and around his neck. "I must be crazy. Falling in love with... you."

  "An ordinary," he completed her sentence with a wink.

  "Shush, you. I did explain to you that you are not ordinary to me, so please remember that. No teasing the resident witch, okay?"

  He grinned. "Only a short while ago you did not seem to mind the teasing, resident witch."

  "Argh, that was different!" She shook him by his shoulders as well as she could, her face showing mock despair. "Why did I get involved with you..."

  Another kiss was more than enough answer for her. After finishing it, she said: "Are you hungry? I can get us something to eat."

  "Would be nice, Hilda. Do you want me to help?"

  "No. Just make yourself comfortable, I'll be fine. Witch, witch's kitchen, see the link?" She grinned and waited for him to let go of her. Then she slowly walked to the kitchen, from where she looked back at him and winked before disappearing from William's view.

  The salesman looked around. "Right. Comfortable. I'd say something's missing for that in this room." He sat down at the table and looked for a piece of paper, but there was only the quill and the inkpot. "Hmmm..." William got up and looked in the fireplace. From there he picked one of the notes that Hilda had thrown in, flattened it and then began to make a crude drawing, using the quill.

  "What are you doing?", Hilda asked as she arrived at the table carrying stuff that smelled incredible.

  "I am trying to draw something," William said, "a couch. Something comfortable."

  "Oh, nice, and what are you going to do with that?"

  "Well, I could hang it on the wall, but that wouldn't be the proper thing to do. I am not sure if the resident witch would appreciate that," he grinned, wrapping an arm around her waist and giving her a hug like that.

  Then Hilda sat down and as she started to eat, she made the paper slide over to her side of the table and looked at what William had been working on. "Looks nice. What would it be made of?"

  William, to the best of his knowledge, explained the innards of a couch. The part with springs seemed to make things quite complicated, so he left those out after a few attempts and just explained how the seating experience would be.

  "Leather? Would velvet work too?" Hilda looked at the drawing again.

  "Yes, velvet would work."

  Hilda looked at William, blue sparkles flashing in her eyes. William recognised the different pattern in them. They told of mischief. "Let me try something..." She whipped up her wand and pointed to a free space in the living room.

  In the relative darkness of the room, William saw a beam of faint light jump from the tip of the wand. It reached the open space, balled up and seem
ed to explode. The result was a couch. Velvet. And purple.

  "Something like that?"

  "Goodness..." Plate in hand, William walked over to the couch and touched it. The soft purple velvet was smooth, inviting to be touched and sat on. The filling of the couch was perhaps a bit hard, but that, he knew, would only present a minor detail to Hilda.

  Hilda joined him and watched him as he went around the couch and sat down.

  "You magnificent witch," he said, "you are good. You are really good. Come, sit here."

  She did. "Oh, yes. This is very nice. I'm glad you like it."

  "I do. It was also amazing to see how you made it," William said, thinking of the faint light from the wand.

  "Oh, thank you. Not that difficult when you know what you're going to do." Hilda sat back in the couch, rubbing her back against the soft, new piece of furniture.

  After finishing their meal, they went back to bed. And eventually they slept.

  The next morning. William had gotten up scarily early and wandered through the living room, while Hilda still lay sprawled over the bed, completely zonked out. He'd had wild and vivid dreams, woken up a few times and in the end had gone downstairs. He was afraid he'd wake up Hilda with his tossing and turning. "Perhaps the place is getting to me," he muttered, standing behind the purple couch, his hands resting on the fabric. "Really hope this witchcraft magic is not going to drive me mad." And he hoped he was wrong. After a short struggle with the kitchen he managed to get a glass of water and drinking that, he was feeling somewhat better and went back upstairs to join the witch.

  "You went away," Hilda mumbled as she