Read Online Hilda - Cats by Paul Kater - Free Book Online

tremendous amount of hair. "So Morris, what were you doing
out here in the night?"
    Morris summoned all his courage. "I came out
to see what you were doing. We were all told to stay inside, so
something important had to be going on."
    "Hair colour doesn't match," Hilda said to
William, "he's not what we're looking for. I'm afraid he ruined our
chance to get what we're after."
    "Can you let me go then?" Morris asked
hopefully.
    "We can, sure," said Hilda. "But we won't.
You wanted to be out here, so we're not going to take that pleasure
away from you. Who knows, you could make a nice bait for the
monster we want to catch."
    "Monster?" Morris' confidence in a happy end
dropped several notches.
    "Of course," Hilda made the man feel a bit
more miserable, "do you think they call for two witches and a
wizard for a stray fox?"
    Morris was sweating from everywhere. "Let me
out? Please?"
    Hilda turned to William. "No way the whatever
we're looking for will show up after this. I suggest we leave
Morris here, to set an example," she whispered.
    William nodded. "You go to bed now, witch.
I'll take over, just to make sure."
    Hilda hugged William. They both ignored
Morris, who was pleading once again to be left out of the cage.
"I'm going to miss you there, all alone in that big bed," the witch
whispered.
    "I'll make it up to you," William promised.
It was no burden.
    "You'd better," Hilda said. She got on her
broom and disappeared into the darkness.
    "Morris, dear man, you will be silent now,"
William said to the caged man. "I am not going to stop you from
yelling and screaming. That would be too easy. I wonder what your
king will tell you if you wake him up with your moaning."
    Morris seemed to freeze. William did not want
to know what was going through the man's mind at that moment. "I'm
going to fly rounds now. You are allowed to shout if something
scary happens," the wizard said as he mounted his broom. "I'll
leave it up to you to decide what's scary."
    "But- but- but," Morris attempted. The wizard
ignored him as he flew up and vanished in the dark. Morris was very
remorseful about going outside.
    William made his rounds until the first light
of day appeared. Tired and stiff he got off his broom. "So much for
a lost night," he muttered as he went through the corridors. The
people who were already up and running to make sure the royal
family would be all taken care of did not dare to approach the
wizard. His mood was too obvious.
    The bed with Hilda in it was the best thing
he had seen in hours. He lay down next to her. Close eyes, just a
few moments, he thought.

9. Confusion

    "William..." Hilda whispered in her wizard's
ear. "Wake up, William. Wake up, wake up, wake up..."
    "I wasn't sleeping," William claimed. "I just
closed my eyes for a few moments."
    Hilda sat up. "You must possess awfully big
moments then. I've been awake for over an hour now and you haven't
moved a muscle. Not many anyway. Snow White and her critters are
awake already, maybe we should go see her and that fat prince of
hers and tell her about our catch."
    "Catch? Oh, right. He's probably eager to be
released," William chuckled as the memory returned.
    Hilda grinned. "I think we will leave that
honour to Babs. She likes things like that."
    The two got up and moved through the castle.
Soon they heard sounds that did not belong in a castle: Baba Yaga
was awake and around also. The sounds came from the dining room,
which was slightly remodeled by the witch. In a corner was an open
fire. There was a rough metal tripod over it, an iron cauldron
hanging down from it on a chain. The flames under the pot were
magically restricted in their space of movement: if they flickered
sideways they seemed to be chopped off.
    "Safety first," Baba Yaga told the two
servants who stood as nailed to the wall. "Hilly, Willy, good
morning! I am just about to make some decent food, care to join
me?"
    Hilda went to hug her friend. It took William
a little longer to take in the scene and