Hilda - The Challenge Read Online Free PDF Page A

you are."
    "You're welcome."
    William then recognised the voice of the
house. "Well, well, a talking house. Nice meeting you."
    "Perhaps," the house said. Conservative as it
was, it did keep its distance in the beginning.
    William entered the bathroom.
    White tiles with an occasional goldfish on
them. A large white bathtub with two small golden plaques on it.
One said "Full", one said "Empty".
    Curious, he touched the Full plaque.
Instantly the tub was filled with hot water, a nice scent rising up
from the bubbles. "Jeebes," the book salesman took a shortcut. He
dropped his clothes and got into the tub, enjoying the soak for a
few minutes, and cleaning himself up so he felt decent again.
    Then he climbed out of the tub and looked
round for a towel. "Towel... towel..."
    "I assume one is enough?", the house asked,
as a thick dark blue towel materialised in William's hand.
    "Oh, yes, by all means," William replied,
drying himself as he wondered if the house could actually see him.
With a grin he tapped the plaque with 'Empty' on it and the bath
was not only empty but also clean and ready for the next
customer.
    A slight unease came over the traveller when
he could not locate his clothes. "Hello, house? Where are my
clothes?"
    "In your room. Cleaned. Wear the others."
    "Others?" William asked out loud but got no
clarification, so he did his last bits of making himself
presentable and then, with the dark blue towel wrapped around him,
he quickly scooted into his guestroom.

6.
Wine and dine

    On the bed lay two stacks with clothes. One
of them were his own, William quickly saw, and they were indeed
clean. And repaired in some places where they had needed that since
a while too. With fascination he looked at the garments on the
other stack.
    The thing that attracted most of his
attention was a leather jerkin with pompous thicks shoulderpieces
along the side. It was an amazing piece of work to see and hold.
The stitchwork was unbelievably precise, the garment itself was
made of the finest leather in two shades of dark brown leather, one
a bit lighter, the other darker and leaning towards blood red.
    Next item was a beige shirt. It had long
sleeves and an wide neck that could be tied up with a thin leather
strap.
    Then there was a pair of grey-ish velvet
pants, with a brown leather belt to keep it in place.
    Next to the bed were his shoes and a pair of
ankle-high brown boots, with fringes.
    "Right. So that is 'wear the others',"
William understood. "Probably more geared towards local fashion."
With a grin he started putting on the exotic-looking attire, after
putting on his own underwear. That was very much missing from 'the
other' clothes, and he was used to that.
    After he had finished dressing up, he looked
around for a mirror. Alas. There was none. As his eyes went around
the room for the second time, a soft singing sound reached his
ears. He identified it as the sound of the crystal ball. Somehow
that little gem had found its way to the table, the light in it
dancing frantically.
    William bent over to the shiny object and to
his amazement he saw himself reflected in it. Despite the limited
size of the ball he saw himself clearly. "Holy Bejeebus, you can do
more than relay calls between worlds, can't you?", he grinned.
Satisfied with his looks, he opened the door and found his way down
the stairs.
    Again the pictures looked at him as he went
by. This time he looked back at them.

    "Oh. There you are." Hilda looked at William
as he came into the room. "Dinner's busy."
    She had done something to her hair of which
she hoped it was good, and wore one of her better burgundy red
dresses, made of heavy velvet, with a nice round neck. The dress
fell down to her ankles in long flowing lines. A slight touch of
magic made it flow just a bit slower than usual, adding a wonderful
dramatic effect to the fabric. The dress itself had a fascinating
pattern of deep coppery red brocade on it, that appeared to be
changing all the time, like a mosaic.