already. Been going around the books? Or practicing? I sensed you were busy and having fun, made me grin too."
Hilda sat with her eyes closed, enjoying the sunshine on her face, patting the armrests of the sunchair.
"You know, if the magic wouldn't work out after all, you could get into business with these chairs. I'm sure many people would love them."
Willaim sat down next to her. "I don't think, sweetwitch, that we have to worry about the magic." He told her about the things he had been reading about, in her books as well as his own. The special book with the silk scarf was now making more sense to him, as his magical insights were expanding. Even Hilda's books, and those had been extraordinary to him at first, now started to become legible and understandable.
Hilda reached out and took his hand in hers. "I am glad about that, sweet man. So are you going to provide lunch?"
William provided lunch, they did enjoy it inside. As they sat eating, he told her about some of the things he had done and learnt in the morning, and she shared her experiences of doing the rounds.
Hilda looked at William. "There is something that you are not telling me. And don't play innocent, because I know this. And you know that I know, and I know that." She frowned for a moment, tracing back her words and nodding to herself. It fit and made sense.
"There is something I have not told you yet, that is a fact. It is a surprise and I hope you like it because it took me a lot of talking and persuasion."
"Oh? What's that?" Hilda was curious and sat up straight, her face shining. "Come on, tell me!"
William said: "I'll show you after lunch."
Hilda got up and held out her hand. "I'm done. Now show me." Her plate wasn't even half finished. As William looked up at her, she added: "You're done too, so you can show me. Trust me."
He could not resist the blue sparkles and got up. He took her hand and guided her up the stairs. "Now, the surprise will be best if you close your eyes."
"Close my eyes? Then how am I able to see it?" Her face betrayed doubt but she also was eager to find out what he had in store for her.
"Now it is your turn to trust me, Hilda. You close your eyes, I guide you and then I tell you to open your eyes again."
She sighed and closed her eyes. "This'd better be good. I don't like walking around with my eyes closed."
William opened the door to the bedroom and led her inside. "Okay. Look."
Hilda peeked through one eye, through both eyes. She turned round, taking in her bedroom. Her survey ended as she looked at William. "It's purple!!!" She jumped up and made a serious attempt to take William's head off, pretending it to be a hug. "How did you manage that? The house never wants something other than white, black and red!"
"It was a trade, a purple bedroom for no more arrows in the wall. That is why I put up the pole," William managed to squeeze out, tapping her on the shoulder.
"This is so shiny!", Hilda tooted in his ear, then planting a big kiss on his lips. "I'm not sure what you and the house have been talking about or so, but this..." Her eyes were almost more blue than their usual black.
"You know, I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed of witchcraft, but I have certain abilities that come in handy now and again," William smiled.
Hilda got her feet back on the ground and looked at him as in a daze. "Now you're talking gibberish again. I don't have a shed here, and certainly not one with tools. I have a wand, you see, that's enough."
Now William laughed out loudly, shaking his head about the fantastic convoluted interpretations of normal expressions that he was used to.
"Hey, no laughing at the resident witch!" Hilda slapped him on the arm, in a futile attempt to stay serious, but her happiness over the purple room made it impossible for her to keep a straight face.
"I hope you're happy now," said the house, as William was not able to speak for a moment.
"Oh! I am! Isn't he sweet?" Hilda grinned, wrapping an arm around William.
"I shall refrain from commenting on that. I can only state that he drives a hard bargain."
"I don't care about that, as long as the room stays like this. Also next time I paint you, do you hear me?"
The house did not respond. It had already agreed to that; it was below its dignity to make that promise again. "Someone is approaching the door," it said instead.
Hilda and William walked to the window, seeing indeed someone come closer to the house. It was one of the villagers, obviously.
"He looks not happy," William noticed.
"None of them are when they have to come here. Usually means trouble." Hilda quickly made her way downstairs, so she could open the door just before the visitor could knock. That always made a great impression.
William, wondering whose trouble it might be, followed her down but kept away from the door.
32. Missing
The man had walked all the way from the village, as fast as he could. His face was red, he felt warm and tired. But he had been appointed to go to the witch and tell her the bad news. As he finally saw the house, white and black and red, he was relieved to have made it. But also doubt crawled onto him. What if she took the news in a not so friendly way... He was not ready to leave this world and move on to the next one...
Thomas straightened his clothes, patted the green streaks from his dark pants as well as he could. Then he walked to the door, raised his hand and almost jumped back two feet as the door opened before he had touched it.
"Hi." The witch stood in the door opening, staring at him. "What's up?"
Thomas grabbed his cap from his head and, crumpling it between his hands, he stammered: "Honourable witch, my name is Thomas. I was sent here from the village, with a message."
"And that is?" Hilda, still jubilant over the new colour of her boudoir, was in a very good mood. "Just tell me, I'm not going to eat you."
Thomas wasn't all that certain, so he stepped back a bit more. "The sheriff of the village wants to inform you, honourable witch, that one of our young witches has disappeared. Her parents are very worried because nobody knows where she is. All her belongings are still in the house of her parents, there was no young man known that she would have eloped with, and we have tried to find her."
Hilda's cheerful mood dropped to something far below freezing. "A witch has gone missing?"
Thomas' cap was wrung out again. "Yes, honourable witch. So we hope you will help us find her."
"Go back to the village. We will be in the market square in an hour."
Thomas bowed and turned to head back.
"Hey. You look hot. Here is some water." Hilda held out a flask towards the villager, who cringed as he came close to the witch to accept the water.
"Thank you, honourable witch." Then he turned as if Baba Yaga was chasing him.
"Crappedy crap," said Hilda as she closed the door and looked at William. "Did you hear that?"
He nodded.
"We have to help them. The witches in the village are not dangerous, usually do herbs and love spells and that. Nothing big. But they are witches, and I feel bound by honour to help."
"I am with you, Hilda. Anything we have to prepare?" William did not waste time, and Hilda appreciated that.
"No, not really. Just make sure we look good, and wait for Thomas to get back and round up all the people who can tell us something."
The getting to look good was easy. The waiting was not.
They arrived on the market square. Thomas was there, as was the sherrif of the village, whose name was Alfred.
William flew behind Hilda, as she was the experienced one. They had agreed that he would follow in silence, and only talk to Hilda when she asked him something.
"And wiggle the link when you want to say something, I'll feel it," she had reminded him.
"Honourable witch, honourable wizard," Alfred said, bowing to them.
"Drop the titles for now," Hilda said, "let's get to the point."
 
; "Oh, certainly." Alfred pointed at two people, a man and a woman. "These are Victor and Tessa, they are the parents of the witch who has gone missing. The witch's name is Fidelma, by the way."
Victor and Tessa told them when they had seen Fidelma last. "It was two days ago, when she said she was going to visit with some friends."
"The poets and all those, I guess," Hilda nodded.
"Indeed. Sometimes she is staying the night with one of her girlfriends, and then comes back home the next day, so yesterday we were not alarmed yet. But when we asked around yesterday evening, nobody knew where she had gone. Fidelma had left for home the same evening, they all told us, but she never came home."
Tessa started crying, her husband taking her in his arms for comfort.
"Where did she stay? And I want to know what path she would have taken home," Hilda said.
William was impressed with the way this otherwise so silly and wicked witch was taking charge.
The villagers led them to a house in the more silent streets of the village. That was where Fidelma had been visiting. The occupants of the house, a mother and her daughter, both said that Fidelma had left around dusk.
Hilda muttered a few things only she understood and flipped out her wand. William waited, not having an idea what she was going to do. Hilda tried to locate if there remained even the faintest trace of magic that Fidelma the young witch would have left behind. Wherever young and untrained witches go, they leave a trail of their magic.
She found nothing. "Too long ago," she muttered, "to crapping long ago. William, can your wand pick up something of a magical trail here?" Hilda had little hope