was a lot of bartering, buying and selling going on. The people in the square were so engaged in their doing business that many of them did not even notice the witch and her faceless companion walk by.
At a certain point Hilda raised one hand just a tiny bit and she stood still.
William praised himself for paying such good attention that he caught her little gesture. They stopped walking almost simultaneously. He had no idea yet why they halted, but he was certain Hilda would clue him in soon. He was right.
"The boys with the cart... on the left," she slowly and calmly said.
He looked in the designated direction and saw five boys hanging around by a low cart on wooden wheels. The cart was still halfway filled with apples and what looked like vegetables. It was not clear if they belonged with the cart, or if the owner had walked off.
Then two of the boys, on some secret signal, walked over to a man who was selling fish while chatting with a couple of people, a man and a woman who both wore blue pants and ditto tunics. The two boys started chatting with the couple and the fish monger, diverting all attention to something on the fish cart. At the same time, the remaining trio of youths sauntered up to the apple cart and started filling their pockets and shirts with its contents.
"Let's have some fun," Hilda said, and the tone in her voice told William that the three and perhaps even all five boys were not going to forget this day easily. "Why don't you just walk over to the fish cart..."
William slowly walked to the fish cart and positioned himself in such a way that he could see the boys and the couple and also catch any cues from Hilda.
"Good William," she mumbled as she lifted an arm, hoping he would do the same. He did. Hilda prepared for dual action. She focussed and took a deep breath. She drew a lot of power from the memory of some great sex and then threw her magic.
At the fish cart two big fish jumped up and clung to the noses of the two boys playing distraction. The boys were quite amazed by this sudden vicious fish-attack and screamed as if they were being skinned alive. They tried to yank the fish from their face and screamed even louder as all they managed was to inflict more pain on themselves.
At the apple cart, two boys fell to the ground as each apple suddenly weighed more than seventy lbs, and the amount of apples they had stolen so far made it all too obvious that they were going nowhere.
The third boy had only stuffed his shirt with vegetables so far was spared the undignified downfall. He tried to run off. Hilda simply prevented that by shooting one of the brooms between his legs: the boy made a nose dive in the dirt of the market square and squealed like a pig, leaving some skin on the pebbles in the process. He was not the kind to give up that easily though, so he kicked at the broom and somehow managed to get upright again.
Hilda wished she had time to look at William, but this boy had to be dealt with first. Spraying magic with both hands, and slowly chanting spells, she walked up to the boy who had started to float. He was still kicking his feet around as if he wanted to run. As he saw the witch approach, he grabbed in his shirt and started throwing his loot at her. For the witch it was easy to make the vegetables float back up and run circles around the boy's head. The involuntarily airborne thief screamed obscenities at her while trying to hit away the food that was going around him, just out of his reach.
The action near the fruit cart had attracted a lot of attention, and Hilda decided it was time for a proper finale. Her hood had fallen off her head as she was looking up at the boy.
"You never learn, do you? That stubborn behaviour is very very sticky with you. Since you like that so much, why not let me add to that pleasure..."
A bucket materialised over the floundering boy and slowly tilted. Just before its contents was coming over the rim, Hilda stopped the bucket from moving and looked at William and his fish-bitten victims. What she saw made her almost lose her grip on the boy in the air.
William had waited for some support from Hilda, but had quickly noticed that she was very occupied with the threesome at the apple and veggie cart, so he had decided to take matters in his own hands. Literally. The two boys had staggered away from the fish cart, their fear turning into almost fullblown panic. They had stopped pulling at the fish by then, they just held on to the slippery smelly things.
The make-belief wizard had stepped up to the two boys as wizardly as he could and grabbed them by the collar of their shirts. With a deep voice he had whispered: "Hold still." The two stood as nailed to the ground. Wizard Connoley then prayed that his former boxing training had not gone to waste and that his muscles would hold. With a tremendous amount of willpower he lifted the two boys off the ground. Not far, but far enough to look impressive. The fact that he did not seem to touch them, the long sleeves of the robe falling far over his hands, added some more impact to the spectacle. A sudden surge of power came in him, Hilda's doing for certain, and he held the boys even higher.
Hilda the witch blinked a few times as she saw the two fish-faces hang from William's hands and grinned. She got a great idea. The bucket turned and its contents, a delicate mixture of honey and fish entrails, drooped all over the floating thief.
The boy quickly stopped his screaming. Each time he opened his mouth he was treated to more fishy parts.
Some of the bystanders raised their fists to the floating youth, promising Hilda that they would take care of him in a very specific way.
Hilda finished the show off by dropping the bucket on the boys head. Then she let him tumble over his two partners in crime, spreading the joy, the honey and the fish. After this feat she looked at William and made the two brooms shoot over to him. She walked towards the fish cart and maneuvered the brooms so that they stuck under the shirts of the boys, releasing their weight from William's arms that would by now hurt like crazy. Hilda was convinced of that.
William, who saw the brooms coming, held his head pointed at them, making it look as if he was the one that directed their movement. The cooperation of the witch and the book salesman was excellent.
As Hilda joined him, he slowly lowered his arms. Hilda made the brooms slowly rise at the same time, creating a magnificent dramatic effect that made many a person gasp for air.
Whispers and secretly pointing hands and fingers were all around them.
William let his arms hang down his sides, grateful that the weight was gone. His muscles had indeed taken a beating.
Hilda turned towards him, he turned to her at almost the same time. She nodded. He nodded also. She held out a hand, and he copied her movement. The two boys with the fish still on their noses dropped to the ground and the brooms flew to their owners and gently settled into the extended hands.
The owners of the apple cart stared at the two robed figures. "Thank you! Thank you for saving our merchandise!"
"Don't mention it," Hilda said, holding her head in a near regal way. "Just be careful with your backs when you pick up the apples."
William bit his tongue. He should not laugh.
The two boys who had acted as distractions were already in the hands of six very capable men. "Honourable witch, honourable wizard... What about these two? What about the fish?"
Hilda looked at William, the magnificent blue sparkles in her eyes, as if the witch was silently communicating with the wizard. Then she turned to the men. "The fish will rot away in time. They'll be fine then. Just..." She waved her hand in front of her nose. "You understand?"
William bit even harder.
A large crowd of people had gathered around them, keeping a respectful distance. Hilda walked ahead, William right behind her, and the crowd opened up a corridor through which they could leave. Stately they passed through the human gateway and walked away from the market place, turning into one of the more silentside-streets.
"Up up, and hold on," Hilda said and mounted her broom. William followed, and then they shot upwards. They flew low over the market square, people ducking as the brooms approached. Hilda cackled her laughter over the crowd and then sh
e set course for home, pushing the brooms to an exhilarating speed, making sure the wind got hold of their clothes just enough to make the robes beat around their bodies.
23. Gurthreyn
They landed at the house.
"Ah. You are back," it aptly remarked.
"Yes, we are, and did we have fun!" Hilda hopped off her broom and almost pulled William off the other. She jumped up and hugged him wildly. "You were great there, sweet man! I am so proud of you!"
William held her close and twirled her round a few times until they both were dizzy. As he did so, he said: "I am proud of you, and grateful too. If you had not come to my rescue, I would have died, holding these guys up."
Hilda planted a big kiss on his lips. "You looked magical, William. Awesome." She let out a shriek and kicked back her legs, to express her excitement, holding back on the shriek so the man that held her would not be completely deaf for hours.
After another bear-hug, William put Hilda on her feet again.
"Come, let's go inside. This afternoon calls for a glass of wine!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him along, the brooms following them as usual. As they entered the door that already had opened for them, William took the by now two arrows that were sticking from the wood.
"Thank you, that is a relief," said the house.
"You're welc-" said William. That was all he had time for, as