Hilda - Cats Read Free Page A

those
things," the house commented. "A real softy, deep down inside."
    "I wouldn't go that far," William frowned. He
recalled large pieces of concrete flying at them. And big
Nobbleback dragons. And humongous plants trying to eat them. Not
really the work of a softy.
    "Now, house, you're going to open up for us.
You know Zelda's a goner, you know we had a hand in her going,
so..."
    "I am not sure if that is the way things go,
madam Witch," said the house. "Are you certain that all legal
implications have been considered- Oh..." The house was surprised
as William opened the door. From the inside, just like the first
time they had been there.
    "No protection on the roof and the chimney,
remember?" he said as he let Hilda and the cats in.
    The house fell silent. It had no defense
against this kind of intrusion. No offense either, which was a good
thing, as Zelda's house was littered with all kinds of objects.
Grim and Obsi carefully walked through the rooms, sniffing here and
there, avoiding some places as if there was ice of fire. Hilda and
William slowly walked around also, not certain what they were going
to do when they found what they were looking for. And that was
something they didn't know exactly either.
    "I've never done this before," Hilda said,
"so give me some time, okay?"
    "What is it we're supposed to be doing?"
William wondered as he picked up a small statue of what looked like
a tree nymph. "This is pretty."
    "Better put it down again quickly. They
bite," said Hilda.
    William was not quick enough: the statue
suddenly moved, quickly, and the small figure bit him in the
finger. "Holy Bejeebus!" He almost dropped the object. It took a
slap on the small head before the miniature nymph let go of
William's finger, after which she was quickly placed back on the
shelf she'd come from. She growled at him for a while as he rubbed
his finger. "Really something for a softy," he commented to no one
in particular.
    "William, I found it!" Hilda called out from
a small room that Zelda obviously had used as a storage room.
    "Good grief, what a mess," William precisely
defined it as he came in. The two cats had trailed along after him,
and sat down right outside the room, their tails neatly curled
around their paws. "And what did you find here?" He looked around
and saw nothing that would entice him to stay here long.
    "In here is her source of magic. Can't you
feel it?"
    William held out his hands. "No. Nothing. I
just think it smells very strange here. But that's not it,
right?"
    The witch glared at him. "You're not born
magical. It's in things like this that it shows, William."
    "And in the fact that witches and wizards
don't sense my magic," William confirmed. "I know. So please, what
is it that you sense here?"
    "Magic. Big fat magic. This is her
source."
    "Oh. I uhm... don't see."
    "I'll explain later. Now we have to absorb
her magic. It is rightfully ours, as we defeated her."
    "Right. And how do we go about that?" William
asked.
    "I'm not sure. I've never beaten a witch in
such a way before, so I am pretty new at this too," Hilda reminded
him. "I told you."
    Onyx Grimalkin and Obsidian Shadow tiptoed
into the room and jumped up, into the arms of their unsuspecting
magical humans.
    William stared at Hilda who was staring at
him. "Now what's that supposed to mean?" As they looked at each
other, the two cats meowed, then purred. The next thing William and
Hilda were aware of was that they both were on the ground. Without
their cats, but with a very tingling feeling all over. "Now what's
that supposed to mean?" Maybe this time he got an answer.
    Hilda pushed her hair from her face. "Wow."
She got up and waved a hand around. "It's gone."
    William got to his feet. "What's gone? The
magic?"
    "Yes. Here, nothing left!" Again the witch
waved her hand.
    "So where'd it go?" He knew that was a stupid
question.
    "Tell me how you feel."
    "I knew that was a stupid question." William
looked at the two black animals that were sitting just