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

they would find any tracks or prints that
could help them onwards. First they chased everyone away and that
proved to be a good thing. One of the people who had stomped around
the area suddenly yelled out that he had found something.
    Hilda was with the man first. He pointed at
the ground, his eyes and mouth wide open. Hilda called out for Baba
Yaga; William had already joined her as he had sensed Hilda's
excitement and surprise through their bond. The thing that made
their surprise was the shape of a cat's paw in the soil. That at
least fit the picture they had of the creature they intended to
catch. The worrying part was the size of the print: it was almost
as long as William's foot, and as twice as wide as Hilda's foot.
"Holy Bejeebus. These paws are almost as large as those of a lion,"
William mumbled.
    Baba Yaga silently nodded, and Hilda sized
the paw-print with her hand, to be certain it was as large as it
looked. William and Babs saw magic sparkle around Hilda's fingers
as the witch was touching the earth.
    Hilda got up again. She looked confused.
"It's a cat. But not just a cat. It is a woman. And a cat." She
looked at William. "Why are Grim and Obsi not with us?"
    William didn't know. The two always were
there, so he had not really paid attention to them. Nor had Hilda.
"Now can you be more specific about the cat and woman?" the wizard
asked.
    Babs hoisted herself up again. "No, she
can't. Nor can I. It is confusing, wizard, feel for yourself." The
wizard felt, then joined the confusion club.
    Marshal Bender had kept the ordinaries away
for as long as he could, but a few had managed to slip past him.
The two men and a woman stared at the large paw-print. The woman
pressed a hand against her mouth and staggered backwards into one
of the men.
    "Now, folks," Baba Yaga took control of the
situation, "we know that this is a bit of a strange size cat, but
it's nothing to worry about, really." Her wand appeared. "Now you
lot, look at the little stick, will you?" She waved her wand,
attracting the attention of all people with it. A small red blip
popped from it and disappeared again. "Now all of you are not going
to talk about this thing. If you do, we will know about it and we
will not hesitate to make you suck elves. Trust me, there are nicer
things to suck."
    William wondered how far Baba Yaga's
knowledge of that reached. Regardless of that, Babs' message
reached the people and they slowly walked away, suddenly interested
in the number of sheep in the magical pen, and exchanging mutton
recipes.
    "Right. That takes care of that. The king
might lose a few sheep today, though." Baba Yaga grinned. Hilda and
William laughed about the creative way Babs had handled the
situation.
    "But we still have to find the woman-cat,"
Hilda then said. "I'd think someone like that should not be hard to
find. With paws like that and covered in the hair we found, you
would not go unnoticed for long."
    William agreed. "I'll look around and see if
there are more prints like this one. If we know where the woman-cat
went, we stand a chance of finding her." Hilda and Baba Yaga also
helped looking, and they found four more prints before the trail
ended on a rough stone path that would eventually lead to the
village near the castle. William flew his broom along the path for
some time, but he came back with no new insights.
    They returned to the castle, after thanking
Marshal Bender for his help in coming to warn them. The man was
still talking recipes when they left.
    Back near the castle the three found a nice
spot in the sunshine and sat down on a large couch that they made
appear. They considered their options and the findings so far.
There was not much to go on. Two plucks of hair, five paw prints of
considerable size and heaps of bones. And of course the confusing
bit about the creature being a cat as well as a woman. As they were
talking, Esmee came outside and walked over to the three.
    "Good morning," the blond witch said. There
was some