11. William Connoley

"Bert? Are you there? It took you long enough, dear friend!"

Hilda stared at the demon device and wanted to damage the quill. Magic is not allowed my ass, she thought. "Who are you, demon?", she said, making the wand appear and pointing it at the telephone.

"Hello? Who is that? Is Bert there?", the device spoke.

Hilda glanced at the body, whose mind was still unavailable. "Bert is... indisposed."

"What? You mean he is sick? Too bad for him. I assume you are watching the shop for him then. I am William Connoley. Bert's friend."

Hilda poked the demon device with her wand. "You are his friend?" She tried to connect two dots that were just too far apart. She had been convinced that William Connoley was an ordinary, a human, not a small demonic device that flashed lights and spoke with a feeble voice. "I don't understand. He talked like you were far away, and you are lying here on the table."

William needed some time to let this sink in. First there was the surprise of hearing a woman answering the telephone. A woman! In Bert's shop! And then there was the added sensation of hearing her speak as if she was skyhigh, on some drug. Bert should get rid of his habit to attract weirdos, but for now he'd have to do with this person. He decided to play along.

"Okay, listen," the device said. "I am not inside this telephone. I am far away, and I am using the telephone to talk to Bert. Well, to you at the moment."

"You are using magic," Hilda stated, feeling more and more inclined to retire the quill indefinitely.

William decided not to go into that discussion. "Listen. There is a book I need. Someone wants to buy it, and I know that Bert has it. I am sure that he's fine with it, that I sell it for him. And we'll split the profits."

Hilda's eyes grew almost saucer-like. She knew that she was far from being a good person, but taking prophets apart was something even she would not dream of doing.

"The book," the demon device said to her before she could respond, "is either on the table to the left of the sofa, or on the shelf to the right of it." The voice went on describing the book to her, and then asked if she could find it.

Hilda slowly moved away from the device, her wand not wavering from it, her eyes on it as long as she could see it. Then she stepped over Bert and found the book on the table, as the demon had said. She picked it up and carried it to the device, holding it up so the demon could see it. "I have it here," she said, to make sure she was in the clear with the voice.

"Fabulous. Now, I guess it is rather quiet in the store, so if you flip the sign on the door and bring it to me, we're in business. I am at 349 Granby Drive, near the Pinewood Turnpike. Do you know where that is? Bert's car usually is round the back, the keys should either stick or else you find them in the glove compartment."

Hilda reached for the crystal ball and placed it next to the demon. Slowly she said: "349 Granby Drive, near the Pinewood Turnpike", waving the wand over the ball in a complex pattern.

"Ah, good. You're writing it down."

A small light happily danced inside the crystal ball. It would be able to guide Hilda to the place that the demon voice had dictated. "Yes. I can find it," she confirmed.

"Good. I suggest you take the phone with you, so you can call me in case you get lost. I'll be waiting for you in the coffeeshop across the street." The voice stopped, and the light left the demon device.

Hilda looked at the thing, now dead as a stone. She picked it up and shook it. Nothing happened. Hilda shrugged, dropping it in her bag. The voice had said to take the demon device along, so why not.

She looked at the book the demon device wanted her to bring. It was large and heavy, too awkward to take along on the broom. Shaking her head at Bert and seeing where not using magic had gotten him, she shrunk the book and tucked that in the shoulderbag as well. If the demon device used magic, she was at liberty to do that also.

Then the wicked witch walked through the store, the crystal ball in hand, to collect her broom. As she was going there, she noticed the big book that she had dropped after whacking Bert senseless with it. She picked it up and checked it, to make sure it was not damaged. Carefully she put it on the table, picked up her broom and left the store.

Hilda stepped into the alleyway, cast her spell of invisibility and rose up into the sky. Once she was at an altitude she thought safe, she dropped the spell and consulted the crystal ball. The little dancing light pointed where she should go, so she turned the broom and followed the indications of the small guide in her hand.

The flight was not fast, as she had only one hand to steer the broom, but after about fifteen minutes the sphere already indicated that she should start her descent. Approaching the ground, Hilda saw many places to touch down unnoticed, so there was no need to hide her presence. She dropped down like a brick, between two high buildings with no windows. Things were going well for a change!

Hilda swooped the broom up just before the bristles would brush the ground, a maneuver that she was good at and enjoyed. Then the door was thrown open, some three feet in front of her.

After the crash, the wicked witch found herself sitting on the ground, staring at the door that slowly swung back into its opening, as the little stars slowly dissipated from before her eyes. Her face hurt, her knees hurt, but she did not care about that. Her gaze dropped to the ground next to her and she got a shock. Her broom had broken in two parts. The brush was cracked, most bristles had fallen out. The plastic stick was flattened most of the way.

"No," she whispered. "NO!"

Only then she heard the muffled sound from the other side of the door. The door itself slowly swung open again, and Hilda jumped to her feet, wand in her now free hand and ready to strike.

A big bald man, holding his nose, was uttering curses like a pirate. In short, the message that he wanted to relay was that he wanted to know what blubbering idiot had slammed the door into his face.

"It was you," said Hilda, her voice cold enough to make ice crackle. Her dismay about losing the broom was evident. "You opened the door."

"Yeah, I fucking well did, as I had to go through it, dumb broad. Did you smash into it? Good. I hope you hurt like fucking hell!" The bald man was not pleased.

"You broke my broom, you... you... ordinary!" Hilda was close to fuming.

"So? You broke my fucking nose, bitch," the man retorted, blood streaming from his fingers to make his take on this even clearer.

"Oh, poor man, are you hurting?" Hilda's voice changed to sugar-sweet. "Let me fix that for you, will you?" Her eyes in slits, her wand directed at the man's broken nose, she hissed: "Communtatus rana!"

The effect was instantaneous, and to Hilda's delight.

The workman's clothes fell on top of the frog. The animal croaked. It was not so delighted.

Hilda took a deep breath. Then she held out her hand. "Veni cristallum." The crystal ball jumped up and landed in her palm, after which she looked at it. She was not far from the man she had to see. Worrying about the broom would not help now, so she started walking.

Only several minutes later already she turned into a street and a memory hit her. She had seen this street in the ball, as she was asking it to show her where to go! The houses to the left and right were there, the horseless carts were there. And there, further down the road, was the cart that had the box with the answer! Hilda ran towards the cart, but its doors were closed. She peered through the windows, pressing her hands and nose against them, but there was no sign of the box.

"Calm down, Grimhilda," she told herself. "This place is getting to you, but you have come so close, don't lose your grip now. The man is in a house of coffee, he said. Find the house of coffee and you'll find the man." She slipped the crystal ball in her bag where it was safe. A passer-by looked at the woman who was talking to herself for a moment, shook his head and continued on his way without a word. Which was the best thing he could have done, and he didn't even know it.

As the voice from the demon device had said, there was a coffeeshop across the street. Hilda stepped on the asphalt, then stopped. She made sure none of the horseless carts were approaching before she hurried to the other side.

A few ordinary people that were walking there looked at her awkward behaviour but left her in peace, which was exactly perfect for Hilda. Without hesitation she walked upto the door of the coffeehouse and entered. As she did so, she inflated the book and held it in her hand. She was quite certain the bookman would recognise her through that.

William Connoley looked up as the woman with the long grey braids walked in. He blinked a few times as he did not trust his eyes. Had she really pulled that large book from her shoulderbag just now? He got up and walked over to her.

Hilda saw the broadshouldered man walk up to her. It had to be him. He had a friendly face.

"Hello, I am William Connoley. You are the person I talked to on the phone?", the man said.

Hilda liked his voice. It was the same as the one from demon device, only better sounding. Warm. She grabbed inside her bag and took out the demon device. "This. Yes. You were talking through it. Do you want it back?"

"Back?" William doubted if he should talk to her much longer. "It is Bert's phone. He's the one who will want it back. Just keep it with you until you see him again. Ehm, would you like some coffee?"

"Coffee. Yes, I need some coffee," Hilda said, pushing the large book in the salesman's hands.

It was the first sensible thing William had heard from her. Relieved, he led her to his table and ordered another round of coffee. As they were waiting for the order to arrive, William looked at the book. "You did not wrap it..."

Hilda looked at the man, fire in her eyes. "You wanted the book. I brought the book." What was he going on about? She was, after all, a powerful witch, not a shop's wench.

William nodded, hoping she'd calm down again. This woman obviously had a terribly short temper. "You got here remarkably quickly," he said, "Bert's car usually does not go that fast. Where is it anyway? The street's quite full."

Hilda shrugged and decided to wing this one. She was tired from being on the run, and her patience was slowly cracking up. "It broke when someone hit it with a door."

"It... broke?"

"Yes. In two pieces."

"Oh..." Something seemed to crawl down his spine for a split second.

The waitress brought the coffee and was treated to a nod from the witch.

William sat back and studied the strange woman who was sipping the hot coffee. She was a very remarkable person, he thought. Intriguing. Her behaviour, the haunted look in her eyes, the way she spoke. As if she did not belong here.

"How was Bert when you last saw him?", he asked Hilda, as the uncanny feeling that had gone through him lately reared its tail again.

"He did not say much. He was knocked out."

"Strange. Only a few days ago I saw him and he looked fine," William said.

Hilda shrugged and drained the last drops of coffee from the cup. She felt more empowered again, better and ready for anything. She turned towards William Connoley. "You have something I need."