Hilda - Lycadea (32 page)

"Where did they get the water?" Hilda
wondered.

"The kitchen of course," Rebel enlightened
the witch.

Hilda grinned and stopped walking. "I think
this is as close as I want to get to the thing of doom," she said,
eyeing the crystal.

It's circumference softly glowed in the
lights of the ship and some of the nearby stars. The crystal looked
innocent, dead and large.

"So that is a crystal. Just a crystal?" the
witch asked.

"As far as we know it's just a crystal. Well,
a big one that can do astonishing things, but it's a crystal,"
Rebel confirmed. "I checked its structure and that's definitely
crystalline."

"Maybe we can use that as a crystal ball,"
Hilda thought out loud.

"And then? Who would you call with it?"
William asked. He didn't understand Hilda's plan.

"That blasted thing got us into this mess, so
it'd better be useful in getting us out of it," Hilda displayed her
feelings towards the crystal. "If we can turn it into a crystal
ball, I could make it connect to the crystal ball at home. At least
I think."

"And how do you turn such a thing into a
crystal ball?" William asked. He recalled the amount of work and
energy Hilda had put in Esmee's ball, at Snow-White's place, and
that was a small ball.

The witch said: "Power. Hit it with a lot of
power. And then add some magic of the proper kind."

Magic, the magicals knew, would not be the
problem. But where would they get sufficient power?

"The engine," Rebel decided. "That delivers
tremendous power."

"But we have to get that power to the
crystal," Maurizio tried to dampen the enthusiasm.

"So let's see if there are pipes going to
it," William suggested, coming back to the idea.

"And then convince the engine to work."
Maurizio sounded doubtful.

"We'll see about that." William popped up his
wand. "This can be very convincing."

Maurizio frowned for a moment. Then he called
out for help and a few sailors came over, curious what their
captain wanted. He asked them to check if there were pipes or tubes
running from the engine to the crystal. "And if there is nothing of
the kind, see if there is a way to put something in place."

The sailors were actually pleased with this
assignment. They had been sitting around and do nothing for too
long. The men almost ran off to the engine room.

Soon there were sounds everywhere, as more
and more sailors scurried beneath the deck searching for any kind
of conduit to the crystal. Occasionally a cry of success was heard
but most of them ended in a whine as the pipe disappeared
somewhere, or a thump when a sailor hit a wall.

But there was some good news. One of the
sailors found a line that went from the engine room all the way up
to the crystal. It even connected to the pedestal the crystal
rested on. There was just a small problem in two parts: the line
was thinner than a little finger, and from what the sailor could
tell, the line was meant to forward energy -from- the crystal -to-
the engine.

"How do you know that? A pipe is a pipe,
right?" Hilda wondered.

"There are signs with arrows near it, and
they point in the direction of the engine room," the sailor told
her. "If you care to take a look, I can show you."

Hilda observed the man in silence, her eyes
pointing out the massive amounts of dust all over him. She made her
feelings about the invitation very clear. "I only care about arrows
when there's an archer with them who's pointing them at me. I say
we use that pipe-thing."

Maurizio wasn't so sure if that was a good
idea, but he had no alternatives to offer.

"We could see if we can make the engine run
and divert some power to the crystal," William offered. "A simple
test, and stop when things threaten to go wrong."

"But if they go wrong immediately? Then we're
stranded here!"

"I have the distinct feeling that situation
is already there, Maurizio."

The captain grumbled. Since their return to
the ship he had become very protective of it. "We could wait for
something to happen."

"I am not one for waiting. I make things
happen."

Maurizio knew that. Hilda was always on the
frontline. He gave in. "Let's try it."

"Let's just do it," Hilda corrected him. Then
she ordered a few of the sailors around, who ran for her.

"William dear, can you go to that shiny metal
room and see if you can make that beast work? I'll stay here and
see what happens with the crystal. We can inform each other if
something goes awry."

The wizard agreed, and accompanied by Rebel
and a few sailors who occasionally operated parts of the equipment
he made his way to below deck, to the large steam engine.

Valves were opened, gauges were checked
(despite the fact that their needle-fingers did not move), levers
were pushed and pulled. In all, it looked as if the sailors knew
what they were doing, and they did it well. The only drawback was
that they clearly did not manage the crucial part: fire up the
engine.

"How does it usually start?" William
asked.

"By itself," was the unhelpful answer.

"See," said one of the sailors, pointing at a
sign. It showed an arrow, pointing towards one of the large copper
barrels. "That is where it gets the power from. I think."

William nodded and looked at the large
monster of a machine. His wand in hand, he tried to envision how
this thing would look when it worked. He grinned as he sensed
impatience from his witch and then pushed the magic to the
metal.

"It needs heat," one of the sailors tried to
help.

William added heat. For a few moments nothing
happened. Then there was a shudder in the wooden floor. Invisible
gears crunched, unseen cogs rattled, and then, slowly, large metal
beams slowly started moving, pushing inertia wheels round. A soft
hiss emerged from one of the boilers as pressure built up.

The wizard drew back his magic. The machines
responded by stopping their motion. And the bond with the witch
showed him temporary excitement, that fell away as the boilers
hissed their last hiss.

"Now look at that," a sailor said, pointing
at the arrow on the sign. The direction of the arrow had
changed.

"I think we're on to something," William
said. "Hilda was quite happy for a moment."

"You and your magic stuff," Rebel muttered
with a grin, "you're scary. I'll pop over and ask what she saw."
She disappeared.

"And that's not scary," William commented, to
the amusement of some sailors.

Rebel reappeared. "Hilda was bouncing all
over. The power flow seems to work, so if you can get that going
again, she'll do her trick. And since I am curious and not needed,
I'm going to watch her do it!" Only thin air remained where Rebel
had stood.

The wizard shook his head and performed his
magic trick again. Once more the machinery came to life. The floor
trembled lightly as the huge metal hulks settled in their motion.
Steam escaped from places, but none of the sailors looked worried,
so it would be alright.

Meanwhile, on deck, the witch had her wand at
the ready as the huge crystal started pulsating. Spell after spell
came from her lips. Mixed with the power the wand gave her, energy
swirled around the crystal, blurring it and changing its
properties.

The crystal darkened, and suddenly Hilda saw
shimmers of her house. "That is where we want to go," she said,
loud and clear. "Take us there, thing."

The thing just kept showing her familiar
surroundings, while a roaring wind sounded.

"I need more power on this thing," Hilda
yelled.

Rebel nodded and popped away to William. She
saw the wizard entirely occupied with his magic, so she pushed her
powers towards him, linking like she'd done before. "Use this,
Hilda needs it."

William was, for a moment, shaken by the
sudden extra power. Then he attained a broke or bust disposition
and hit the engines with everything Rebel and he could muster.
Sailors ran around frantically, turning valves open and keeping
scared eyes on gauges that showed all kinds of warnings.

Suddenly William sensed resignation from his
witch. This could only mean that whatever she was attempting, it
was not going well. "Stop," he told Rebel, "stop."

They released their energy, making the engine
slow down.

"Take me to Hilda," William said.

Rebel nodded and popped them to where the
witch was standing, her wand-arm extended towards the still
pulsating crystal.

"What's wrong?" the wizard asked.

Hilda stood motionless. "It almost worked."
She looked at William. "I don't know why it did not work all the
way. I was so close."

The witch lowered her arm and slowly walked
to the wooden casing that the crystal rested on. "You are one
stupid crystal," she said, and kicked the box.

The resonance in the wood of the casing
transferred to the crystal, which stopped pulsating and started to
sing. The sound was gentle at first, but became louder and louder,
to the point where everyone had to cover their ears. A light then
came from the centre of the crystal, illuminating the entire
Mimosa. It became so bright that each and every person had to
squeeze their eyes shut, not to get blinded.

Then there was a sickening feeling, as if the
deck tried to fall away from under Hilda's feet. "Crappedy crap!"
she hollered, and "William!" She could not reach out for her
wizard, as that would allow the shrill sound from the crystal to
burst her skull. She was convinced that would happen. At least the
bond told her he was still close to her.

The witch worried about the cats and what was
happening and how on earth were they going to get home and then
there was a heavy rolling of the ship, some shaking and falling
over, and then - nothing. No motion, no more screaming of the
crystal. The witch carefully released one finger from one ear.
There was relative silence. Another finger, and one more, and still
no sound of consequence.

Something scratched her nose. Hilda opened an
eye and saw Grimalkin's face very close by as the cat licked the
witch's nose once again.

"Hey, cat kid," she said as she sat up.

Around her, sailors lay sprawled over the
deck, holding ears and closing eyes. William was sitting up as
well, looking around and grinning at his witch.

"Seems that we got somewhere after all," he
said. "That light is sunshine."

"Suck an elf." Hilda scrambled to her feet
and managed to stay upright on the tilted deck. To the lower side
she saw... trees. Apparently the Mimosa leaned against them. "Do
you have any idea where we are?"

Hilda looked to the sky. It was blue, and
here and there was a lost white cloud. At least that was
reassuring. Blue skies and white clouds were familiar.

William had also managed to get to his feet.
"No, not really. Maybe when we can climb up to the side of this
ship."

"Hey sailor folk!" Hilda yelled, "we're
clear!"

As the sailors, Maurizio and Rebel found a
way to sit up again, a voice said: "Oh. You've returned. I was
almost certain it was you."

Hilda looked at William. "Crappedy crap...
don't tell me..."

Together they clambered up to the high side
of the ship.

The Mimosa lay about fifty feet from their
house, and it was the house that had spoken.

"We're home!" Hilda yelled.

"Yes. And had your ship not landed itself
further away, you would not have had a home," the house
complained.

"Who are you talking to?" Maurizio asked from
his sitting position.

"The house!" Hilda exclaimed.

"The... house..." The captain rummaged in his
pockets, found his eye patch and adjusted it over his head. "Of
course. I should have known. And where are we?"

"Home!"

Rebel and a few sailors had worked their way
up to where the magicals and their cats were, and stared at the
white and red house.

"That's your house? It's cute," said Rebel.
"Small but cute."

"I am not small," the house returned. "I am a
proper witch's house."

"It talks! Maurizio, the house talks!"

Not much later, Rebel had levitated everyone
off the ship and to the ground. The Mimosa rested rather
ungracefully against the trees opposite the house, just as any ship
would do with such a tremendous lack of water.

"Looks like your magic worked after all,
Hilda," William said as he hugged her. "A bit late, but it
did."

"Yes, I know now. I should have used Latin.
But damn, I hate Latin." Then the witch looked at the crew of the
Mimosa. "Are you people hungry or thirsty?"

The sailors were thirsty, so William and
Hilda arranged for benches and tables, and coffee, tea and wine
became available in copious quantities. After all, magic was
about.

As the party was going, Rebel and William
made the Mimosa sit straight up. Normally it would be unnerving to
see a ship float on nothing, but the people who were around had
seen their share, so nobody worried.

The party ended with a sumptuous dinner,
straight from the Mimosa's amazing kitchen, and also very late in
the night.

-=-=-

When finally the magicals were in bed, their
own bed, Hilda snuggled up to William.

"I'm glad we're home. I know I'm going to
miss Kerna for a while. And Rebel. And even Maurizio."

"So will I, sweetwitch. But you never know,
maybe we will see them again."

"Would be nice. But then in a more normal
way. Not with a ship with a crystal and all that. I hated to be
without magic for so long."

William knew what she meant. He had missed
the link with her as well, and that had only been the link. He
wanted to say something when a loud bang accompanied a bright red
flash from outside.