by Paul Kater
on her knees, Kerna and the cats next to her, trying to pry away a lump of wood that was stuck under what now was a row of 5 metallic bowling balls. Obsi's attempts to 'help' failed miserably.
"The witch will fix it," William announced, "everyone out of the way."
Hilda looked at her wizard and was about to comment the obvious, when she saw his eyes. She smiled and pointed at the piece of wood that somehow had wedged itself firmly behind the switch on the mega-tablet.
With a dramatically undramatic 'plunk' the small wooden cylinder fell on the ground. As Rebel and Kerna focussed on the group of bowling balls again, Hilda frowned and picked up the cylinder. "What do we have here?" Slowly, staring at the cylinder, she walked back to the couch and sat down. William followed her.
"What is it you see, Hilda?" he asked, but the witch seemed so absorbed in watching the cylinder that his words never made it to her brain. To him the wooden cylinder looked as... a wooden cylinder. A bit splintered, a bit funny in its colouring, but for the rest the wizard could not detect a fascination.
Hilda's eyes seemed to see something that was beyond the piece of wood in her hands. Something drew her whole attention away from the room, so she missed the triumphant outcry from Rebel, Maurizio and Kerna, who together had managed to do something to the large bowling balls to make the tablet come alive again. Probably with the help of the two cats.
As a soft yellow light from the super sized display lit up the room, Hilda focussed even more on the cylinder. The extra light started to make things clearer, even when she had no idea what she was looking at, or for. But there was something...
"Hilda?"
"Eh? What?" The witch shook her head and blinked her eyes a few times, to get back to the room. "Hey, who switched the light on?"
Rebel and Kerna were standing on the tablet. "Can you come and have a look at this?"
Hilda, with help of William, climbed on the tablet. "Look at what?"
"There. Where Obsidian sits," said Rebel.
"That is Grimalkin," Kerna corrected the woman from the future, evoking a sigh from Rebel. "Obsidian is over there."
"I'll never learn to tell them apart."
"Ksh, cat, go," Maurizio commanded, waving a hand. Grimalkin looked at the gesturing man and yawned, expressing her level of being impressed with his actions.
"Come here, sweetie," Hilda said. Grim trotted over to her and jumped up into waiting arms. "Now, let's see what you've been hiding."
"Mwow," Grim clarified. Where she had sat was a picture. It looked like a drawing.
"And how did that picture get on this thing?" Hilda asked. "When Kerna switched it on the first time all we saw were these crazy swirls."
Kerna explained that the first time she had activated the tablet in what she considered to be the normal way. "And now we pushed the balls on the side, which does something else."
"Yes, I can see that. It draws a strange picture..." Hilda walked over the tablet, staring at the lines that were everywhere beneath her feet. "A picture that does not make any sense to me."
"It didn't to us either," Maurizio said. "And here we are, thinking we found something and now we're staring at a giant broken screen."
Hilda stopped walking and turned. Thoughts flew behind her forehead as she looked the captain of the Mimosa in the eye. "Sometimes, Maurizio, you actually say something that's useful."
"I do?" the man asked, perplexed. "What was it? Broken?"
"No," the witch shook her head. "Everyone off this thing. Now."
The people and animals on the tablet evacuated it.
"William, can you shrink it back to how it was?"
William could, so William shrunk it, and then Hilda picked up the tablet and looked at it again. "I thought so. I know what this is. It's a map."
"That is the clumsiest map I ever saw," the captain said after examining the screen. Several voices agreed with him.
"You folks know nothing about real maps, " Hilda told them. "This map was drawn by hand."
William was impressed by his witch. She had lost her magic, but she had definitely not lost her wits. "I see it too, now. But why would someone draw such a crude map on a device like that?"
"Maybe because they were in a hurry and did not have quill and paper at hand."
"Okay, so whereabouts is this then, when it's a map?" Maurizio asked. "I can't make out where this is supposed to be. Not even what side's up. That would be magic!"
"Good thing then that nobody asked you," Hilda snapped, a sudden sharpness in her voice. "Now sit and let me think. After all, I am the one who is going to make things right again here, remember?"
William put a hand on Hilda's arm. "Easy, witch. He's only trying to help, in his own way."
Rebel picked up the signal. Maurizio had touched Hilda's tender spot, and clearly at the wrong moment. "Come," she told her captain, "I think we have some things to discuss." As the two left, Rebel gently touched Hilda's hair for a moment. "Take it easy, okay?"
Kerna, with Obsi in her lap, asked: "Do you want me to go too?"
Hilda stared at the tablet, saying nothing.
William shook his head. "No, you can stay, Kerna. Maurizio just stepped on a sore spot. I'm sure he's sorry."
"He'd better," Hilda muttered, "or I'll kick him in the butt." She reached out and picked up the piece of wood. "And what in the name of all dragon eggs is this?"
Kerna bit her lip, so she would not state the obvious and bring the witch's anger over her. "Can I see it, please?"
Hilda handed her the object and watched how the woman turned it around in her hands. It seemed just a piece of wood, but the witch had a gut feeling there was something about it. That wood was not put there for no reason. Yes. It was put there, she was certain of that too.
William and Hilda watched how Kerna suddenly kneeled on the floor, put the cylinder in front of her and started to scratch the top part.
"What are you doing?" Hilda wanted to know. She was on her knees with Kerna mere moments later.
"I think something is in there," Kerna said as she tried to scrape some more wood away. "See this?" She pointed at a barely visible discoloured path on the side she was working on.
The old wood proved more resilient than it looked, though. William came to the rescue. All three were now kneeling around the wooden thing, while William slowly shaved layer after thin layer off it. Two black furry heads curiously peeked down from the table, as this was their project as well.
Suddenly the wooden cylinder fell apart.
"Holy Bejeebus," said the wizard, "I did not mean to destroy it."
"You didn't," Hilda reassured him as her hands went through the remains of the thing. "Kerna was right. There was something inside it." She held up something. It was small, square and blue.
24. Float, float, float your couch...
"What is this?" Hilda asked, staring at the small blue square. Then things started to become extraordinary.
Kerna yelped. Hilda uttered a 'crappedy crap', and William deployed instant magic to keep the three of them out of harm's way. In this case it was out of the way of the furniture that had started floating. He could not prevent the three of them going up in the air as well.
"Does this happen often?" Hilda asked Kerna, who tried to get to Obsi as Grimalkin collided with the witch.
"No. I have never seen this happen," Kerna replied, holding a rather surprised black cat in her arms as she started to rotate, on her way to hanging upside down.
"Can you get us down again, William?" Hilda wondered.
"I'm trying, but it's not working, sweetwitch," the wizard said as he did what he could to make things normal again and failing hopelessly.
By that time they heard sounds from outside the door. With considerable effort William moved himself along the wall and the ceiling to open the door, where he saw more people float around in rather undignified positions. They all looked dismayed and worried. And helpless.
"We're not alone," the wizard announced to Hilda and Ker
na. He made a rope appear and tossed one end to the witch. Another rope unfolded to Kerna. He tied the ends around himself and waited for the witch and the young woman to finish their ends, which was hard for them as they were holding the cats. And these animals were not very peaceful under these strange circumstances.
William reeled the two women and cats in as Rebel and Maurizio came floating from their room. Hand in hand.
"Oh, hi there," said Rebel, "what'd you do to make this happen? I mean, it's pretty cool, but your timing was a bit off."
"This is not of my doing. The furniture suddenly started floating, and so did we."
"Yes, he's innocent," said Hilda. "Of this anyway."
"So what are we going to do about this?" Maurizio asked, showing his good intent.
"Anyone have a good idea?" Hilda asked around, also at the Lycadeans who came floating by with puzzled faces. They had no good ideas.
Kerna, holding on to Obsi, scrambled along the rope to William. "Maybe we should try to get to the Palliza, to the High Council."
"Why, what's there?"
"That is where the planet is directed from," Kerna reminded him.
"Yes, William, I was thinking the same. You should pay attention," said the witch, working hard to keep from bumping into the ceiling.
"Pipe down, witch. I am trying to think of a way to get us away from here," said the wizard as he conjured up two more ropes so Maurizio and Rebel could tie up to him. Then he magicked two big handles with suction cups that he used to drag the four people behind him.
"William, do you want to take us to the Palliza?" Kerna asked. "If so, you should go the other way."
"Oh. Right.