Hilda - Lycadea by Paul Kater Read Free Book Online

arms and pulled her against his chest, there was a sickening
feeling all around him.
    A flare like a lightning bolt seemed to jump
over the ship, making it shudder and jump- Jump?
    A storm swiped over the deck of the Mimosa,
as lights in many colours and darkness switched places at a
tremendous speed. The storm was accompanied by a low rolling
thundery sound that kept a constant pressure on William's eardrums
while the wind tugged at his cloak. He didn't care, as long as he
had Hilda in as much safety he could give her.
    As the tremors slowly left the ship, the
wizard sensed a wriggling between his legs and he heard a moaning
set of meows. So the cats were safe as well. At least as safe as
Hilda and he were.
    Then, as sudden as the havoc had started, it
ended. Silence fell over the Mimosa as if the ship was shoved into
a muffler. William said Hilda's name, but she did not respond.
Magically he probed her; she was alive, breathing, she was just
knocked out. The wizard picked Hilda up and then rose. He looked
over the deck where most of the sailors lay sprawled. Maurizio was
holding on to the crank, and Rebel was nowhere to be seen.
    "What happened?" William asked.
    Maurizio let go of the handle, got up and
patted his sleeves. "Looks like we jumped." He looked back and
shouted: "Is everyone well? And is everyone there?"
    William lost interest in the sailors as Hilda
started stirring.
    She opened her eyes and looked at him. She
smiled. "I am happy to see you, William."
    He put her on her legs again.
    "William? Where are we? And where are
you?"

7. So, where are
we?

    William stared at the witch. Where are you,
she had asked. "What do you mean 'where are you'?" he asked, more
to stall for time than for not understanding. Before he had to say
something else, Maurizio scrambled to his feet, a shocked
expression on his face.
    "Madonna," he said, "you are here also." The
captain looked back and up. "Rebel, come down." Hilda and William
looked where Maurizio had directed his eyes. In the mast hung
Rebel. "She always does that when we jump," the captain offered as
an explanation.

    Rebel let go of the mast and slowly floated
down to the deck. As she was approaching it, she said: "Looks like
we're in space again, Moro." It was undecided if this was good new
or not.
    Hilda leaned towards not. "I don't really
care about that. Just get us home and then you can do all you want.
We have things to do." She pointed over her shoulder, roughly
towards the crystal. "Switch it on again, will you?" She felt hands
on her shoulder and quickly turned around. "Oh, it's you," she
said, relieved to see that it was William. "I'm... I'll tell you
later."
    Maurizio was yelling all kinds of things
already as he paced along the deck. All along the railing on both
sides small lights had come on, and the large sails seemed to shine
also, in a very strange way. Rebel popped from one side of the ship
to the other as she was looking at all kinds of things.
    Hilda turned to William. "I can't sense you,
William." She looked worried all of a sudden.
    William wrapped his arms around her. "It must
be something with that crystal, sweetwitch. I can't sense you
either. Damn, it feels good to hold you."
    "Feels good to be held," Hilda's muffled
voice came from inside his wide sleeves. It also felt good to her
that she was not the only one who seemed to have lost the link. She
basked a while in William's presence. Then she looked up. "Come,
let's go see where the cats are, and where we are now. It doesn't
look like they're working very hard to get us home."
    Hilda freed herself from the embrace and
walked out onto the deck. William watched her go and wondered if
perhaps there was something going on with her that she wasn't
telling him. He missed the link; through that he would have known
without asking. There was something-
    "Hey wizard, are you coming?" Hilda yelled
out, dragging him back to the reality of a black ship. She was
carrying two black cats and walked to a side