Hilda - Lycadea Read Online Free PDF Page B

Maurizio's hand. "Bye!" And then they were
gone.
    "Suck an elf!" Hilda stared at the empty
spot. All eyes that had been on the two people witnessed the same
emptiness. "Where did they go?" She shot up on her broom to scan
the area, but there was no sign of Rebel or Maurizio.
    William joined her in the air. "I don't think
we will find them here, sweetwitch. I have the impression that
Rebel has some kind of telekinetic ability from her future. Let's
go to that ship and have a look."
    Hilda muttered something about unintelligible
talking and then they set course for the Green Lake and the
Mimosa.
    -=-=-
    They landed on the ship. On deck the crew
were busy setting up a large table with chairs, under the
all-seeing eye of Maurizio. Rebel was nowhere to be seen.
    "Ah, there you are," the captain smiled. He
had his eye patch on his forehead again. The spot over his eye
where it had been was still red. "Rebel will be joining us soon,
she's getting dressed for dinner. Which reminds me that I should do
something similar. If you will excuse me, please, my men will see
to it that you are made comfortable." He bowed and then hurried
off, disappearing through one of the doors in the stern.
    The man they knew as Xander walked up to
them. "Mr. and Mrs. Witch, would you please follow me?"
    Hilda and William stared at the man. As all
the others, he was not in the striped sailor shirt and plain dark
pants, but he wore something that came quite close to a tuxedo. It
just looked a lot more comfortable. They followed Xander to an area
on deck.
    "William. Pinch me. Am I drea- ouch, not so
hard!" She slapped.
    Six things hovered around an also hovering
table that had glasses on it. The things looked like hollow pears
that were cut open from top to bottom. Pears that looked like
chairs. With cushions. In the glasses on the hovering table they
saw black, purple and yellow liquids.
    "Have a seat," Xander invited them, "and do
have a glass before dinner. The yellow is wine, the purple is
liqueur and the black is fruit juice."
    "What kind of witch is Rebel?" Hilda demanded
to know as she poked one of the floating chairs.
    "She's not witch, madam."
    "Then what makes these things fly?" the witch
wanted to know.
    "I am not sure," said Xander. "We picked
these chairs up somewhere in the future and they appear to function
on an internal anti-gravity field that does not affect anything but
the chair itself."
    "All that newfangled crap no one understands,
and then they worry if a broom is safe," Hilda muttered.
    William already sat in one of the chairs, and
he looked quite happy with it. He had picked up a glass of the
yellow wine.
    Hilda stared at him after sitting down. "I
want something purple," she said, pointing at the glasses. "But not
that."
    Xander was not able to help.
    William suppressed a grin. He took a glass of
black fruit juice, cast a small spell and handed the glass over to
his witch. It now contained purple fruit juice.
    Xander disappeared quietly, only to come back
a few minutes later. "Would you please follow me to the table? Moro
and Rebel are on their way also."
    Maurizio and Rebel were already standing near
the candlelit table, a drink in their hands. Rebel wore a
skin-tight yellow dress that left a lot of shoulder uncovered. One
false move, or so it looked, and she would treat everyone to a
breastigious view. Maurizio looked amazing in his white suit, black
shirt and silk white tie. His eye patch had gone and his wooden leg
did not show. Polly the parrot did look a bit odd in this
situation, though.
    The whole group, also the sailors, sat down
for dinner. There were plates and trays with all kinds of food.
Some was even recognisable as such. Hilda and William kept an eye
on what Maurizio would eat. He seemed most like them, so what he
took should be safe. The conversation was light, the food good and
the wine (and fruit juice) were excellent. Hilda did not dare to
try the wine, not even watered down.
    "Maurizio, do you mind telling me