thing would go pear-shaped.
Hilda took pity on William. "Just you keep the cargo quiet," she said, patting him on the arm. "I'll think of something. Quickly too."
William hoped it was a good thing she would think of.
Hilda walked ahead a few steps and saw a side-street. "In here," she ordered.
As they walked down that street, William asked if Hilda couldn't just shrink the cargo, the way she had done with his luggage.
"Nope, sorry, that only works with things," Hilda shattered his hope. "But I have the next best solution here."
William stared at her. She stood next to a horse that was waiting in front of a cart. "So we'll just..."
"...borrow it," the wicked witch completed his words. "Now throw that guy in the back, keep him quiet and let's go."
William unloaded the man into the cart and climbed in the back also, while Hilda got up on the front and took the reins.
"Do you know how to handle that?", William asked as he watched Hilda go about all that.
"Just you mind the cook and hold on. I'll take care of this." She sounded very confident, and that was worrying William. But it was the best option.
Hilda slapped the horse with the reins and it started pulling the cart. They moved out of the street. Hilda seemed in full control of the horse as well as their location, because without hesitation or faltering she maneuvered the horse and the cart through the city, also through the more busy parts.
It took almost an hour, but finally they left the city and the crowds. Still relaxed, Hilda let the horse go along, making sure they would get to the spot where they had left the brooms.
The sun was getting into setting as they arrived where they wanted to go. William unloaded the man who was still unconscious. He worried a bit about that, because he was sure that his punch had not been a hard one, but Hilda reassured him.
"These people can't take much. Too much of the soft life, you know. Pretty convenient also, it is nice and quiet that way. So, sweet man, have you thought of a way to take our man along yet?"
William had, and he thought the idea was pretty spiffy too. "Yes, I'm afraid we'll need some boards from the cart though..."
He started to work on his plan, as Hilda watched what he was putting together. First he lay the two brooms next to each other. At the front and back he attached two boards, so the brooms and boards made a square. Then he attached one board in the middle, in the length of the brooms, so the whole construction looked somewhat like acatamaran.
"Now, if we put our man on the centre board, and tie him to it, with ropes under his arms and over his legs, we should be able to airlift him out of here."
Hilda stared at the contraption. Walked around it, pulling and jarring it. "You know... this might actually work. Provided our passenger remains calm."
William smiled. "If we inform him that he will be offloaded immediately once he starts making trouble, I am sure he will cooperate. Unless these people who are trained by Lamador know how to fly without a broom."
Hilda shook her head. "Without a broom they only fly straight down." She stood with William and put her arms around him. Looking up to his face she smiled. "You know, I never doubted that your plan would work."
William pulled her close. "You, miss Jones, are a terrible liar."
"And you, miss Smith, are the best friend I have ever had."
Although it was late already, they decided it was best to tie up their prisoner and fly off as far as they could, away from Heraldion. It was a bit tricky to lift off, but once they were in the air it went quite well. They found that they had an advantage as they had been flying along together so much.
As they were going along, the cook woke up. "Where am I? And who are you?"
"At the moment you are with us, about one hundred yards over the ground, so you'd better lie still," Hilda informed him. "As to who we are: we are the people who are taking you away."
"But you can't take me away!", the cook yelled, trying to get loose by yanking the ropes.
"Hey, friend," said William, "did you hear what the witch said? We are high up. One hundred yards is far down, and you might regret the touching down part of the fall, so you will just lie still. And you are mistaken: we -can- take you away. The fact that we are doing it right now should be proof enough."
"I learnt my magic from the Great Lamador," the cook tried. "I can take you on, both."
"Yeah, sure, that is why you work in a kitchen, spinning spoons," said Hilda. "Go ahead and try if you want. Two against one. I like odds like that."
The cook understood that he was massively outnumbered. "I object to this treatment. If Lamador hears of this-"
"But that is just the plan," William interrupted the man, "he has to know about this."
"You people are insane," said the cook.
"He is," Hilda confirmed, "I'm local."
44. The cook
The cook, whose name was Bilgar, remained calm as long as they were in the air. Plain common sense told him that he would remain more alive that way. William had offered to loosen the ropes, at the same time tilting the strange flying contraption slightly. The demonstration convinced Bilgar that the ropes weren't such a bad idea after all.
It became too dark to fly on with a good feeling, so Hilda took charge and landed the broomaran. They had flown quite far and had touched down on a desolate mountain meadow in Ringeholm. It took a bit of thinking how to keepBilgar safe, as it was obvious he would try to run off during the night with both Hilda and William asleep. Taking turns in sleeping was not the way to handle this, as they would have to be very awake the next day, flying their construction over the land that had arrows the size of trees flying at them.
William was making a small fire and fixing some food, while Hilda disarmed the cook by making him hand over his wand.
"William, look at this thing," she giggled as she held up the exaggerated big stickI'd almost think he is trying to make up for something."
Bilgar blushed, which was not visible in the dark, but still it made him feel vulnerable.
"Now, Bilgar," said William as a kind of stew was simmering in a black pot that floated over the fire. "Are you going to try and escape? It is a hell of a long walk back to Heraldion, you know that. Lots of nasty animals on the prowl also, out here, which would not invite me if I were a cook. I'd be using them for a meal, not becoming theirs."
"I am not listening to you, you are not a magical person," the cook retorted. "One magical person can sense the magic in another, and there is nothing around you. It's the witch that does all the work."
"Oh, really," William said. "Well, it looks as if you saw through our little ploy. Too bad in a way, but we got you anyway. " He turned to the fire with the floating pot again, shielding his front from Bilgar. He popped up his wand and whispered something. Hilda sensed what he was doing.
A shadowy shape of impressive size moved along the camp, just outside the reach of the light that the fire cast. A grumbling sound reached the three people that sat near the fire.
"What was that?" Bilgar asked, nervously looking at the disappearing shape, the grumble also fading.
"Oh, probably one of the beasts that roam around here. No problem as long as we keep the fire burning, they don't like fire," Hilda pitched in.
"Remarkable that this one even came so close," said William as he handed a plate of food to Bilgar and then one to Hilda.
The cook stared at the small mound on the plate. "What is this?"
William grinned. "Well, since it has no proper name, we'll call it food."
Hilda was already shovelling it inside her, and said she liked it.
Bilgar, clearly used to more refined dishes, ate it as if there were sharp sticks in it, but he did finish what he had been given.
William leaned back to the fire, to add some wood to it and made another shadow roam around their small circle. Bilgar stared at the shape. This time it was less big, William had made a lion, including the gro
wl.
Hilda and William lay down to rest.
"But what about the fire?", Bilgar asked. "What if it goes out? Won't the animals then come closer?"
"Yes, there's a chance of that," Hilda agreed, "maybe one of us wakes up and puts more wood on the fire. Can't promise that it's me, I am really tired." She snuggled up to William. "Oh, Bilgar? I put a nice little spell on the brooms for tonight. If you want to try and fly off, do warn me. I really want to see you try. Sleep well." The sound of a hyena-like animal came from afar.
Bilgar lay down, close to the fire and the stack of wood Hilda had inflated from the luggage they carried. The sound spooked him.
The next morning, Hilda woke up William by gently shaking him. As he came around, Hilda pointed to Bilgar who was still with them. The cook was sleeping, in a sitting position, a piece of wood in his hand. The fire was still burning, the stack of wood almost depleted.
"That last howl you made last night really frightened him," the wicked witch whispered in William's ear.
"That I made? I thought you did that," he whispered back, confusion on his brow.
"I didn't." Hilda sat up and looked around while worry wandered within her.
The environment however was peaceful, quiet, serene even. They had landed on a high mountain. The view was stunning: to the north there were giant forests, with enormous trees, brown and red. To the south lay a great plain with several settlements, dark brown blots in a sandy painting of many shades of yellow. To the west, where they had come from, the grass-covered mountains continued their rising