Hilda - Cats by Paul Kater Read Free Book Online

though."
    William stared at Babs. "How do you know
that?"
    The ugly witch turned her head towards the
wizard, almost shoving the cat hair in his face. "How is it that
you don't?"
    "There is only one Baba Yaga," William
grinned.
    "Bollocks," Babs stated.
    "So whoever or whatever it was has been here
more than once," Hilda concluded. "Looks like we did not get up
early enough then, William."
    The wizard nodded. "I foresee a long day. One
that will last until next morning." Hilda nodded.
    "Good," said Baba Yaga. "If you young folk
stay up, I'll go to sleep. You can wake me up when something
interesting happens."
    William muttered something about old and
young as he and Hilda gathered their cats and went back inside,
looking for Snow White. They had something to report now.
    The trio walked along the corridors and got
lost. A servant who responded very well to "hey you" was recruited
to take them to the chambers of Princess Snow-White and Prince
Jordan.
    "I'd almost think that this place was
designed by Gurthreyn," Hilda mumbled.
    ''Meow,' Grimalkin agreed, making Hilda
wonder how her cat knew about that sorcerer.
    "I have not seen moving walls yet," William
remarked.
    "Not yet. Just wait," was her answer.
    The servant knocked on a door. There was
screaming behind it. "Sounds like they're in," Hilda said as the
servant knocked again. "Hey you, are you new here?"
    The servant scowled. "No, honourable witch,
why?"
    "To get over those sirens you'll need to
whack the door a lot harder," she clarified. She pushed the man out
of the way and went inside, William and Baba Yaga right behind her.
"Suck an elf..."
    Esmee was under the siege of two children,
boys that Hilda and William had not seen before. These had to be
Billy and Dicky. The pink witch stood on a chair, clenching her
skirt between her knees, swatting at the boys with a diaper and
holding on to a curtain to keep her balance. Snow White was holding
back Dinna, who seemed game to join Esmee's tormentors, and a maid
had a hand over Roderick's eyes whilst holding the baby in an
arm.
    "Oh, Grimhilda..." Snow White's cheeks were
red. "How nice to see you."
    "Are you coping?" Hilda asked.
    Before Snow White could answer, Dinna
shrieked. "An ugly witch!"
    Roderick tried to fight the maid's hand off,
even attempted to use his teeth for that. Dicky and Billy turned
around and jumped as they beheld Baba Yaga. The two boys, as one,
fled behind the chair that Esmee was standing on, to hide from
Babs. One of them could not resist another attempt to peek under
Esmee's skirt, despite his fright.
    The pink witch quickly got down from the
chair and successfully slapped the diaper over one of the
heads.
    "Oh, fine, it's nothing special," Snow White
said. Dinna had by then adopted the tactics of her brothers and now
was hiding behind her mother. Baba Yaga's appearance had made quite
an impact.
    Babs pointed at Esmee. "Come over here."
Esmee did it because she had to. "You really need a few lessons if
you want to be the witch around here."
    "But I am the witch around here!" Esmee
looked at Baba Yaga with a mix of fright and the desire to
flee.
    "You are not. A witch does not jump on a
chair when two halfling mice are trying to peek under her skirts. A
witch does this." The speed with which the wand appeared, the
movement happened, the two boys got stuck with their faces to the
wall and the wand was gone again made Esmee stagger backwards. The
two boys were silent, too gobsmacked to understand what had
happened.
    "You can't use magic against children," Esmee
said, doubt and satisfaction battling in her voice.
    "Sure I can. There hangs your proof."
    By then the two boys had started whining that
Mummy should get them off the wall. The astonished maid had let go
of Roderick, who walked over to his brothers and started yanking an
arm. Arm nor brother came off.
    "See, that is how we make things calm." A
part of Baba Yaga's face moved, it tried a smile.
    In the short silence that fell, Hilda picked
up