Hilda and Zelda (11 page)

"Are you done now?", William asked.

"Yes. I am. And you know what I am talking
about."

William indeed knew...

They left their newfound homeshed and walked
out the long alley that obscured the shed from view. William had to
look around a bit, now they were on the ground. From a broom things
looked so much easier. He found his bearings quickly though.
Together they circled the immense warehouse.

"What's in there?", Hilda asked as they went
round the huge building.

"All kinds of metal goods," William
remembered. "I've accidentally gone in there once; I was looking
for where I could pick up a load of books."

"Oh. Right. No clothes." Hilda nodded as she
kept looking around at the strange place they had arrived at.

After passing through a few streets, William
found what he had been looking for. It was an outlet store for all
kinds of items, including clothes. The store, as he had hoped, was
closed. A pop of the wand later the door was open, the alarm was
off and the couple were inside only a sigh after that.

"Right then. Let's see what goodies we can
find here."

The outlet store bathed in the cold light of
the white fluorescent tubes overhead. The place was large and gave
the impression of being organised. Everywhere there were large,
high racks loaded with things. Each rack carried a professional,
handwritten cardboard sign describing what was on the rack. The
fact that the signs were there gave reason to believe that the
contents of some of the racks were doubtful.

"So... clothes..." William started walking
through the store. He used the system called pot luck for that, as
there seemed to be not much reason behind the way things were
stored in the large hall.

They did manage to find the clothes
section.

Hilda wiggled her nose. "That smells like the
grave of my great grandmother, William. And you think I am going to
wear something that comes from that?"

"Yes. Because we can make the smell go
away."

"Hmpff." Hilda quickly browsed through the
racks of clothes. "Nothing here that a self respecting witch would
wear, you know..."

William sighed.

"Don't sigh. You know what I mean. This is
all so... ordinary."

"That, sweetwitch, was the plan,
remember?"

"I know. But I never said I like it. Oh! Look
here! I think we could both fit inside this thing!" Hilda held up a
pair of pants that were amazing. Super-size and then some. She
flipped up her wand and swooshed it over the giant garment. It then
looked like something that would fit her. It was purple.

They rummaged through the racks a while
longer and ended up with a couple sets of clothes each. William
thought of shoes, but they would be able to adjust their normal
footwear easily, without ill aftereffects.

The magical couple left the store. After
William had locked it up again, they headed back towards their new
homestead.

"You know what's crappedy crap now?", Hilda
asked as they changed into some of their new clothes. "We can't fly
around. It would cause suspicion when we look like this."

"It would help if we only fly in the areas
where we won't be seen. Or take routes where no people live. As
long as you can do the shrinking trick, we can take the brooms
anywhere."

"Yes," Hilda nodded, "that's what I
said."

William snickered and got slapped.

Back in their shed they stored the new
clothes they did not need, as well as their normal attire. Then
they headed out again, looking for locations where Zelda could have
taken up residence after the destruction of her place at town
hall.

The brooms could take them quite a stretch
into town, as the hour of curfew had come into view. Most people of
the town were determined to stay out of the harmful witch's way,
and many soldiers were patrolling the streets to keep order. They
did not have a difficult job. Yet.

Hilda and William dismounted their brooms.
William tucked the shrunken brooms in his inside pocket and then
pointed to where they should start climbing.

They had ended up on a very dishevelled
street, where the entire layer of asphalt had been ripped out and
smashed back on the ground on its side. Metal scraps of what had
been cars stuck out everywhere, making progress very
cumbersome.

The magical couple reached the end of the
street and looked at a split in the road.

"Cinema is over on the left," William said
and pointed to a large building. It was entirely dark on the
outside. The bulk of it loomed high over the other buildings in the
street, which were also darkened, probably with curtains, cardboard
or stronger means. The whole street breathed a grim atmosphere.

"Do you think it is a good thing that I come
along?", Hilda asked William. "If she's there and she senses
me..."

"She knows you're out here looking for her. I
don't think it will make a big difference. When she knows you are
here, she'll make a move, and that's good. Saves us locating her
the hard way."

Hilda nodded, and then clambered after the
wizard who started making his way along the line of houses they
were close to.

They had gone but fifty feet when a loud
command was directed at them. "Halt. Who goes there?"

"Suck an elf," Hilda said. "Hey, are you one
of those police folk?"

"No. I am- I am the one who's asking the
questions here." The voice of the man behind the megaphone did not
sound as convinced as he'd meant to.

"Good. Go find people who want to answer them
and keep your voice down, man," Hilda threw at him before William
could intervene.

The soldier lowered the megaphone and raised
his weapon. The magical couple noticed that he was very good at
raising it and William signalled Hilda that she should be careful
now. "I demand to know who you are. You are trespassing. Curfew is
about to begin, you should be inside."

William raised his hand to draw the soldier's
attention. "Why are you out here then? Are you one of the poor
souls who still believe this all is the work of terrorists, even
when so many people already know there's a witch on the loose here?
Or are you hunting the witch, like we are?"

"The witch-talk is a lot of nonsense," the
soldier told them, and William sensed how Hilda started fuming. "We
are here to keep order and protect people against the gas."

"Oh. Right. That is why they send you guys
out on the street without gas masks, right? As examples what the
gas will do to everyone. That makes sense."

"Can't I just whop him?", Hilda asked. "This
takes so much time."

"Let's try and convince him, sweetwitch. If
he knows and talks to his partners-"

"Hey, no talking among yourselves! Tell me
your names!" The soldier hid behind his set of prescribed
questions.

"We are Hilda and William," said the wizard,
"we're unarmed and you are delaying us. Curfew is coming up."

"I know. I said so." The soldier became
restless as these two people were getting to him.

"Crappedy crap," Hilda said, and through the
link William knew what she was referring to. They jumped and landed
in the pit in front of them, where once a proper road had been.
Before they hit the bottom, Hilda had her wand in hand and sent a
blast to the soldier that made him topple over.

The shriek of a mad broom-flying woman hit
their ears and a bolt of fire hit the spot where Hilda and William
had been standing a few seconds before, setting bits of pavement
aglow and charring the wooden panels of a front door.

"Brooms."

The word was enough for William. Three
seconds later they shot up from their pit and saw Zelda flying. She
was just pulling her broom in a steep climb to start a quick turn
for another round through the street. This time the soldier was her
target. The man was fumbling with the safety of his weapon, and his
shattered nerves did not help in getting the gun closer to
firing.

Zelda aimed her wand at the man in green who
was so engaged in messing with the gun that he did not see her
coming. Just before she cast the magic, a shockwave hit her, making
her broom shudder and the spell she was mumbling go unfinished.
Another shriek escaped her lips.

Hilda and William came at Zelda from two
sides, blasting streams of magic at the deranged woman on the
broom. It all bounced off her, as she had her protection around her
on full force, but the constant attack of the two magical people
made it impossible for her to take any action herself.

"Damn you, Grimhilda!", Zelda screamed, her
voice smashing into the buildings in the street and shattering
windows. "You will not get me! And I will crush you and that wizard
you have with you, I promise that!"

Zelda shot upwards, forcing her broom to its
limits. Hilda and William followed her; they were not going to give
up the pursuit they had going. Their prey was in sight and they
wanted magical blood.

In the street, the soldier stared at the view
that was unfolding in front of his eyes, as the last embers of
dispersing magic crackled out of existence around him.

Hilda and William, with the benefit of their
link, manoeuvered themselves in a plier-like position as they were
racing upwards to Zelda.

Zelda suddenly stopped her crazy ascent and
looked at the two that came up to her. A smile came on her lips.
"Yes, sweeties, come to momma..." She pointed her wand straight
down and threw a spell. After that she simply reinforced her
protection and waited.

"She's up to something, William," Hilda
warned her wizard. "Be careful. She's crazy, she can do anything
now."

It would take them only fifteen more seconds
to reach the witch that hovered high over the city, waiting for
them in very much a mocking gesture. Zelda's black dress waved
around her, as her magic spun around her. Blue crackles danced over
her fingertips and her smile turned into a full laugh. Another
blast of energy went downwards and then she simply let herself fall
downwards, dropping towards the earth like a brick of considerable
proportions.

During the time that the magical couple was
climbing up to Zelda, the first magical blast of the witch gone mad
had summoned an immense lump of street to rise up. Faster and
faster the block of concrete came upwards. The second blast of
Zelda's magic had split the block into several smaller, but still
considerable lumps that were now spiraling upwards along the paths
where Hilda and William were approaching her.

As Zelda plummeted downwards past them, Hilda
heard her shrieking laughter as she brought her broom to a halt.
William also came to a stop. First he looked at Hilda, then at the
dot that was Zelda. Then they saw the blocks of concrete that were
almost upon them.

"William! Flee!" Hilda forced her broom away
from the projectiles that were coming at her.

William reacted quickly, but not fast enough.
Six massive blocks formed a tight hull around him, closing him in.
As soon as the lumps were around him, the magic left the concrete
and gravity took its part in the play.

Hilda saw it happen and that was the reason
one of the blocks that was after her hit her in the back as she was
flying off as fast as she could. That little slip of attention
brought her pain, as well as amazement how the block could have
penetrated her protective shield. The impact threw her forward, so
she had to throw both arms around the broom to prevent herself from
falling off...

William, inside his stone prison, needed
precious seconds to realise what had happened. Zelda had played a
lousy trick on them. He was aware that he was falling down inside
the concrete cell Zelda had conjured around him. Through the link
he sensed that Hilda was in trouble and in pain, which angered him
even more.

In a burst of emotion, he blasted the
concrete away from him. Parts of it would hit the ground many miles
away from him. After setting himself free, he had to give it all he
had to break his fall to the ground. After that he worked the broom
to its extremes to get to Hilda who was still holding on to the
broom for dear life.

It took William ages, or so it felt to him,
before his broom was next to Hilda's. He wrapped magic around the
both of them and then helped Hilda sit up. She cried out in pain as
he touched her shoulder. "Holy Bejeebus, Hilda, I'm sorry. What the
hell did she do to you..." He held her upright with one arm, while
using his wand to patch her up.

"I don't know, William, I really don't know."
Hilda moaned as she sat swaying on her broom. She was not used to
getting hurt. This had not only damaged her body, but also her
pride.

Blood seeped from her shoulder.

"William, we can't stay up here too long,"
Hilda said, clenching her teeth together as he was still healing
her, first making the bleeding stop. "No telling what she's getting
up to down there, while we're here lingering."

"Quiet, witch," William snapped at her,
"you're no good for taking her on while you're in this state."

"Shush, you," she retorted, "I'm fine." She
lifted her arm and winced. "See?"

"Sure. Stubborn witch," William said. He
tightened his grip on her and worked as fast as he could.

Alarm whistles and sirens from below faintly
reached their ears.

"Crappedy crap, William, we have to go down
there."

"Are you sure you can manage that?
Hilda?"

She stared at him for a moment. "I'm so glad
you care about me." A quick smile swam over her face, then she
looked stern again. "I have to manage." Not wanting to waste more
words, she gritted her teeth as she gripped her broom and started
her flight down. William was right beside her.

The sound of the warning systems became
louder and louder as they approached terra firma. In several places
fires were burning, and from one spot a fountain of water tried to
touch the clouds. The magical couple hovered in the street where
the problems had begun.