Free Hilda and Zelda by Paul Kater Page B

leave though. "Do sit and eat, I am not bothered by
that."
    William had the strong impression that the
woman wasn't bothered with anything, the way she tried to take
control of the situation.
    "When did you move in?", Mrs. Winkler asked.
"I have not seen you arrive, and usually I see everything. Do you
know what the reason was for all that snow and cold all of a
sudden? Isn't that strange? And the rate at which it is thawing
now, it is incredible. Oh, you have a very nice view here, only too
bad about that big tree. Maybe you can get in touch with town hall
and ask them to take it down."
    The woman rattled on and on, while William
sat down and ate his last food.
    Suddenly Hilda shot up from her chair and
held out a hand. "Kid! Don't!"
    Sweet little Jeff was holding one of their
brooms in his hands.
    William turned, praying that Hilda would not
use magic. "Put that broom down, son. It's not yours."
    "Oh, isn't he sweet?", Mrs. Winkler cheered,
"he wants to help you clean the house. Good boy, Jeff, but maybe
not now?" She looked at Hilda, whose face predicted an unhappy
ending for Jeff if the kid would not put down the broom
quickly.
    "Put the broom back. Now." Hilda spoke
slowly.
    The boy put the broom back. Then he looked at
Hilda. "Ugly witch."
    "I am not ugly," Hilda said, her eyes
sparkling red, an undertone of threat in her voice.
    "MUM!", sweet little Jeff shouted and ran to
his mother. "Her eyes are red! She's a vampire!"
    "Jeff, she can't be. Vampires live in the
night, remember?"
    "Perhaps it is best that you leave now," said
William, who had gotten up again.
    "Maybe, yes," Mrs. Winkler agreed as she
dragged Jeff to the door.
    "Mum, that broom flies! Mum!"
    Jeff got a slap over the head.
    "Stop being a nuissance, Jeff. You and your
big mouth. I'm so sorry, folks, usually he doesn't do things like
that." Mrs. Winkler rapidly ushered her son out the door and so the
visitors left.
    William leaned against the door after locking
it. "Sheesh. Just what we need. A snooping neighbour. And that
kid."
    Hilda nodded and leaned against William.
"Does this mean we have to find another place to stay? It's a good
place here."
    "We can stay here for a while longer and see
what happens. If they get too nosey, we'll have to move. That's a
worry for later. Let's first see how we can handle-"
    There was knocking on the door. William
looked through the spy-glass and saw nobody. "Now what..." He
opened the door and found sweet little Jeff Winkler looking up at
him.
    "Your wife is a witch," he declared.
    "I know. And I am a wizard."
    Hilda stood next to William, wondering why he
was talking so openly to the child. "William?"
    "It's okay, Hilda," he assured her.
    Sweet little Jeff stared at them. "Do you
turn people into frogs?"
    "Sometimes. When they need it."
    "Can you turn me into a frog?"
    Hilda looked at the kid. "Yes. That's easy.
You're small." She held out her hand and made the wand appear.
    Sweet little Jeff stared at the hand and the
wand. "Cool!"
    "Do you want to be a frog?", Hilda asked the
boy.
    "Only if you turn me back into me again," he
said. Jeff had seen things on television about wishes and how these
got people into problems.
    "Better come in then," said William, "it
would look bad if someone sees us do that. We're here to catch the
witch that makes the town crazy."
    Jeff nodded and came in. "There is another
witch? The police say there are terrorists and gas and stuff."
    "That's all bogus," said William, "they don't
know what they are up against so they invent something that people
know, so there is no panic."
    "Stand there," said Hilda as she pointed to a
place in the room. "You're going to be a frog for a while."
    "Cool." Jeff stood where Hilda directed
him.
    Then she pointed at him. "Ranunculus."
    Jeff's clothes fell to the ground, and a smal
toad crawled from under it. It made a sad little sound and it
looked entirely lost and confused, as far as a toad can express
such emotions.
    Hilda and William watched it crawl