Hilda - Lycadea Read Free

the
goings-on.
    "I see," said Maurizio. "Carry on anyway." He
shrugged as he turned back to Hilda and William.
    The parrot was not pleased with that. "Watch
it!" it screamed, regaining its balance.
    "Shut up, Polly," Maurizio snapped. William
collapsed with laughter as he heard the name. Hilda frowned at him,
not getting the fun of it.
    "Shut up, shut up!" The colourful bird
retorted to the man on whose shoulder it was perched.
    "Perdone," Maurizio said, "the bird is like
that sometimes." He lifted the eye patch, rubbed the eye beneath it
and then moved the patch to the other eye. Polly started gnawing
the strap that held the patch in place and snapped at fingers as
the make-belief pirate captain slapped at her.
    "Hey," said Hilda, "aren't you forgetting
something? I asked you questions and all you did was get bird poop
on the back of your coat."
    Hilda was not about to get her answers. The
new interruption came in the shape of a female voice that yelled
out "Moro!"
    Polly flew up from the man's shoulder and
screamed: "Rebel! Rebel!" It found a new place to sit on the head
of one of the sailors, who seemed to be used to that. Maurizio
looked at the magicals in despair. He raised his arms and let them
fall down his sides. "You hear... Rebel." Over his shoulder he
yelled: "On the deck!"
    "Easy, Hilda," said William. Through their
bond he sensed that she was quickly getting to boiling point as she
was definitely not in control of the situation. He took her hand
and squeezed it.
    "Don't you easy me," she grumbled as she
pulled her hand free. "I'm the witch here and he is trespassing."
Before the wizard could do something she was pacing towards the man
with the eye patch. "Now listen..."
    As one, the group of sailors started moving.
At an astounding speed they appeared between Hilda and their
captain, effectively blocking her from getting to him. For the
moment, anyway. She swung her wand, muttered something and the
large men were throw left and right, as if a magical bowling ball
had hit them. The men did not need more encouragement to move away
as far as they could.
    Maurizio's neck muscles worked overtime as he
looked left and right, trying to keep an eye on whoever had shouted
at him inside the ship and on Hilda who was still charging at him.
"Madonna," he moaned, looking at William for help that did not
come. William was a wizard, and no fool.
    As Hilda approached the man, William noticed
someone else coming from the dark hole who also paced towards the
captain. It had to be the woman whose voice they had heard. She had
short brown hair that stood out as if it was electrically charged.
Sunlight bounced from the many copper-coloured ornaments that were
all over her clothes.
    "Now listen," said the witch, who had reached
the captain. "Why are you here and how did you get here? And while
we're at it, when are you leaving again?"
    "Mi dispiace, madam Witch," Maurizio said as
he tried to keep looking at the witch, "I am very sorry, but this
was the closest place to land."
    "Land? Hello, this is a ship, right?" Hilda
asked.
    Before the redcoat could reply, the
copper-covered woman arrived. "Moro, who are these folks, and where
are we?" she demanded to know.
    "He's called Maurizio, not Moron," Hilda
announced to the new arrival, "and I was talking to him."
    "And who might you be?" the woman, who was
clad in leather underneath all the small copper shields
inquired.
    "I am Grimhilda the witch." Hilda stared at
the woman.
    As Maurizio tried to step away, both women
grabbed his coat. "Stay," two voices said.
    "So you're a witch? Wow. I am impressed." The
voice of the woman in leather made it clear that she thought
something else. "Witches don't exist."
    "Oh? And what's this?" Hilda waved her
wand.
    "It's a stick. It's just a small wooden
stick."
    "Hilda, perhaps we can-" William had come
closer as he saw doom crawling onto the ship. His attempt to rein
in Hilda however was cut short as the witch had already cast a
spell onto the women in