Hilda - Lycadea Read Free Page A

leather. The woman flew towards the metal
hulk that Maurizio had climbed from and stuck to it. It was as if
the huge construction was a magnet that attracted the copper
plating on the woman's clothing.
    "Everything's under control, sweet wizard,"
Hilda smiled, "and now we have that out of the way I am sure this
man is ready to give us some answers."
    Maurizio stood staring at the squirming woman
who hung from the huge robot. "Mama mia, how did you do that?"
    "Crappedy crap, don't you ever listen? I told
you I am a witch!"
    "Hilda," said William.
    "Get me down!" screamed the woman.
    "Do that yourself, Rebel!" Maurizio
exclaimed.
    "Rebel?" Hilda asked.
    "Shut up," said Polly the parrot, who had
returned to Maurizio's shoulder.

3.
Introductions

    The air over the black ship could have been
frozen, were it not for the woman attached to the metal man. She
was flapping her arms and kicking her feet while promising death
and destruction to the world and its vicinity.
    "Mrs. Witch," Maurizio Blunt said, "could you
please bring Rebel down?"
    Hilda tapped her wand against her leg. "Who
is Rebel?"
    The captain pointed at the leather and copper
woman. "She's Rebel. Well, it is not her real name but Rebel fits
her."
    "You give me some answers when I let her
go?"
    "I promise," said the man.
    Hilda nodded. "Hey, Rebel, get ready to
fall," she said. Then she flicked her wand. "Suck an elf," was her
reaction when she saw the woman fall - slowly. The woman, Rebel,
landed on her feet so gently that she wouldn't have crushed the
shell of an egg. "How did she do that?"
    William also was very surprised about what he
had seen. He scooped Obsi up and stroked his head, to have
something to do. This, he had already decided, was not a normal
black ship. Normal black ships didn't just appear in lakes, they
didn't have man-carrying robots on board and they usually didn't
have crew that could float towards the deck like a leaf with
self-control.
    Maurizio frowned. "Which question, Mrs.
Witch, do you want me to answer first?"
    "What do you think?" Hilda did not make it
any easier on him. She kept her eye on Rebel, who had walked up to
Maurizio and stood next to him, hands akimbo.
    "I'm Donna Abrahams," the woman said, holding
out a hand. "People call me Rebel. Oh, cute, a cat."
    Rebel had noticed Obsi as William had come to
stand next to Hilda; this all was becoming too interesting to miss.
As Hilda ignored the hand offered, the wizard shook it for a
moment. "William the wizard," he said, "and this is Grimhilda the
witch. A real one, as you've noticed."
    "Yeah, she's quite a piece of work," said
Rebel.
    Hilda raised her eyebrows. "A witch is not 'a
piece of work'," she grumbled. "Now tell us where you came from and
when you're leaving again. You've done nothing but upset the people
in the village and our cats."
    As William wondered where the upset cats had
come in, Maurizio looked at his crew. "Go and do something," he
said. The request was partially successful; the men moved about a
bit, found places to sit and continued watching the scene. "Well,
where we came from... is a bit difficult to explain. It is a bit
strange."
    "We're used to strange," William tried to
boost the man's confidence.
    "Va bene. We just escaped from a meteor
shower." Maurizio's face showed doubt. He expected that the two
people would not believe him.
    "A what?" Hilda asked.
    "A meteor shower?" William asked at the same
time. "There's not been a meteor shower here in months." And to
Hilda he explained: "Shooting stars."
    Hilda nodded. "Yes, most people gave up
shooting them. These stars are either too fast or too far away,
really takes all fun out of the game."
    "Eh? Shooting them?" Rebel looked lost. "The
buggers almost took half the ship out. Good thing we came close to
a sun that was powerful enough to fling us away. Which is what took
us here. Wherever here is."
    The conversation was amazingly confusing.
Lots of questions were asked and answers were given but not
understood. The