Once again huge thanks for the reviews. I really do appreciate them. If things go according to plan this weekend I should have the next part up on Sunday or Monday at the latest. Meanwhile... back to Mildred and co...
"I don't think we should be doing this." Maud warned Mildred for the umpteenth time as they made their way along the corridors towards the dungeons.
"It's not spying on anyone." Mildred tried to reassure her friend again. "This is our school and we're allowed to go where we like."
"That's not strictly true." Maud pointed out, thinking immediately of a long list of places that were designated as off limits. She then thought of the number of times that one of Mildred's schemes had resulted in her entering those forbidden areas and getting herself in trouble.
"Sshh." Mildred stopped short and grabbed hold of her friend's arm. "There's someone coming."
Maud strained her ears and made out the sound of approaching footsteps. She glanced around, looking for somewhere to hide.
"Over here." She hissed at her friend and pulled her into the deep shadows of an archway. Both girls pressed their backs up against the walls and held their breath. Moments later Miss Hardbroom stalked past them carrying a bag.
"Where is she going?" Mildred hissed in Maud's ear.
"I don't know." Maud confessed.
"Should we follow her?"
Maud shook her head.
"Just how long do you think it would take for her to spot us?"
Mildred considered the question for a moment before conceding that Maud had a point. They would probably only last a couple of minutes before HB realised that they were there.
Mildred's attention was diverted as she heard the sound of a door being slammed.
"What is she doing?"
Maud shrugged her shoulders.
"Perhaps she just wants a word with Haldane."
Mildred shook her head.
"I can't imagine that she'd waste her time talking to him."
There was the sound of the door opening again and the two girls pressed themselves against the wall. Miss Hardbroom stalked past them once more. This time the bag she was carrying was definitely heavier than it had been earlier and she was wearing her cloak.
"She can't be leaving the school surely?" Maud's voice was full of disbelief.
"Maybe she's got a date?" Mildred suggested with a laugh.
Maud slapped her on the arm.
"Don't be daft." She scolded her friend and Mildred smiled at her apologetically.
"Don't know what I was thinking." She confessed and the two friends smiled at each other as they both tried to imagine Miss Hardbroom going out on a date with anyone.
"HB never leaves the school in the evening." Maud shook her head. "I wonder what she's up to and what has she got in that bag?"
"Perhaps she sells the stuff that she makes disappear." Mildred suggested. She looked at the confused expression on her friend's face. "All the stereos and the consoles, they have to end up somewhere." She explained. "We never see any of it again. Perhaps she zaps it all to a room down here and then once a month sells it on Ebay."
Maud shook her head, a broad smile on her face.
"I somehow doubt that HB would approve of Ebay, let alone sell anything on it."
"But our stuff has to end up somewhere." Mildred protested.
"You've been worrying about this for sometime haven't you?" Maud questioned and Mildred nodded.
"Things don't just disappear. That's what my mum always says and if the sayings true then all our stuff has to end up somewhere."
"Let's just get on with it." Maud urged her friend. Mildred nodded in agreement and led the way down the corridor again.
"Sshh." Mildred stopped short and Maud walked into the back of her.
"What is it now?" Maud was beginning to get a little impatient with her friend.
"I heard something." Mildred told her.
Maud stared into the darkness and tried to work out what it was that Mildred had heard.
"There's nothing there." She finally said.
"But I heard something." Mildred insisted. "There was a voice. I'm sure there was."
Maud shook her head.
"You're just hearing things now."
"I'm not." Mildred insisted. "There was something."
"But you can't hear it now can you?"
Reluctantly Mildred shook her head
"No."
"Then let's get out of here." Maud pleaded. She hadn't really wanted to come down to the dungeons in the first place and the longer they stayed the more nervous she felt.
Mildred reluctantly agreed to Maud's request and the two friends turned and prepared to leave.
"Help!" A voice echoed down the dark corridor and Mildred grabbed hold of Maud's arm.
"You heard it that time, didn't you?"
Maud pulled Mildred's arm away from hers.
"There was something." She conceded.
"It was more than something." Mildred insisted. "That was Ruby."
"They're probably just rehearsing." Maud's voice was uncertain.
"Ruby sounded like she meant it." Mildred protested.
"Maybe she's just a better actor than we give her credit for."
"Maud!" Mildred began to lose her patience. "You know as well as I do that there's something going on here."
"What if there isn't?" Maud needed to make sure that Mildred understood her predicament. "What if it is just another rehearsal? Can you imagine the trouble we'd end up in if this is nothing at all?"
"But what if it is something?"
Maud was in two minds about what to do. She had been reluctant to come down to the dungeons in the first place and now she was worried that Mildred's overactive imagination was starting to affect her. They had no real proof that Haldane was up to anything and she could just imagine the reaction they'd get from the other girls if they did anything to upset Haldane. Accusing him of stealing someone's magic wasn't likely to endear them to him and if it was Miss Hardbroom who made the accusation then she was fairly sure that Haldane would just walk.
"You've got to be really certain that there is something going on." She warned her friend and Mildred shot her a determined look in return.
"There is something going on. I just know there is." She counted off the points on her fingers. "Since Haldane's arrival he's done nothing but talk to us about magic… " She paused as a thought struck her. "And what about when he was asking us all those questions about who we thought the most powerful was? I bet he was just sizing up the competition." Maud still looked less than convinced so Mildred ploughed on. "Let's not forget that HB doesn't trust him."
"HB doesn't trust anyone." Maud reminded her friend and Mildred had to grudging admit that that was probably true.
"But I know he's up to something." She looked imploringly at her friend. "Just five more minutes. I want to know for certain that Ruby's ok. Ok?"
Maud took a deep breath.
"Ok." She finally agreed. "But if we don't come up with something within five minutes then I'm heading back upstairs."
"Oh thanks Maud. I knew I could…" Mildred broke off her sentence as Maud pulled at her arm and dragged her into the shadows. "What are you doing?" She hissed at her friend.
"There's someone coming." Maud replied and Mildred rolled her eyes.
"Don't be daft." She told her friend. "No-one ever comes down here. I can't see that it's going to become the busiest place in the castle in one night."
Maud shushed her friend and indicated that she should listen out. Mildred decided to humour her friend and was surprised after a moment or two to make out the sound of people approaching. The amount of noise indicated that it was more than one person this time. Moments later she heard the distinguished tones of Haldane as he conversed with the person he was walking with.
"Everything is set for tomorrow. I trust that you have attended to your tasks?"
"Yes Haldane." A woman's voice dutifully replied. "Everything is as you requested."
"That's excellent news Francesca. This time tomorrow the witches in this school won't know what's hit them."
Hidden in the shadows, Maud and Mildred exchanged a look. Francesca was one of Haldane's team, Maud was certain of that. She strained her ears to try and hear what else they were saying.
"Can you be sure that it will all work?" Francesca asked nervously.
"What?" There was a trace of anger in Haldane's voice.
"These are different witches to the ones we met before. Can you be sure that the stuff will work on them in the same way?"
Haldane laughed softly.
"Trust me Francesca, everything will go to plan. I've taken the liberty of testing out the formula on a few of the pupils. It's working perfectly."
"What about the staff? Surely they'll pose more of a threat than the pupils?"
Haldane smiled.
"Don't you worry your pretty little head about that. It's all in hand."
"But what if they smell a rat?"
Haldane sighed heavily.
"Your lack of faith is a little wearing Francesca."
Francesca shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
"So why do we need to delay?"
"We need to delay because I said that the curtain would rise on the play tomorrow night." Haldane told her firmly. "And I am nothing if not a man of my words."
"Did you hear all that?" Mildred breathed softly as soon as she was sure that Haldane and Francesca were out of her hearing.
"Of course I heard it." Maud told her friend crossly. "I was standing next to you."
"We have to do something." Mildred insisted.
"What do you suggest? If Haldane has the ability to knock out Miss Cackle and Miss Bat then I don't know what you expect us to do against him."
Mildred pulled a face as she realised that Maud had a point.
"We should report everything to Miss Cackle."
Maud shook her head.
"You heard Haldane. He says that he has everything in hand. What if that means that he's already got them under his control? What if that means that we get ourselves caught if we go to see Miss Cackle?"
"We'll have to find HB then." Mildred said decisively. "She's the only one that's not had anything to do with Haldane. I don't see that he'd have had the opportunity to do anything to her."
"But if she's left the school where would she go?"
Mildred thought about that for a few seconds until an idea struck her.
"I remember Fenny saying that HB goes into the woods to get away from us."
"This would be the same Fenny that told us in the first year that HB slept by hanging upside-down like a bat!"
"Yes but that was in the first year when we still thought that HB needed sleep like the rest of us."
Maud had to concede that her friend had a point.
"So do you have any idea exactly where in the woods she might be?"
Mildred pulled a face.
"They're not that big." She told her friend in the most reassuring tone she could manage. "But they are dark." Maud reminded her. "We're going to have to break out the torches."
"Let's do it." Mildred's voice was firm. "We have to do this for Cackles."
"For Cackles." Maud agreed, swallowing her own fear and following Mildred down the corridor.
Ruby finally gave up pounding on the door and rubbed at her bruised hand.
"I can't believe no-one heard me." She commented ruefully.
"Why should they?" Enid was sitting on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest. "There's no-one stupid enough to come down here but us."
"Jadu must be out there somewhere." Ruby reminded her but Enid shrugged her shoulders.
"Doesn't guarantee that she'll hear us."
"But we have to try."
"Do we?"
Ruby sighed impatiently as she heard Enid's defeatist tone.
"We can't give up now." She tried to convince her friend. Enid was about to reply when Ruby indicated that she should remain quiet. Ruby pressed her ear against the door and listened intently.
"There's someone out there." She finally whispered. "I can hear footsteps on the stone flags."
She stood away from the door as the footsteps drew closer.
"When the door opens we have to do something." She tried to motivate Enid but her friend shook her head.
"I can't see that there's anything we can do." Enid looked down at her hands. "We have nothing to fight with."
"We don't know that we've lost our magic." Ruby tried to reassure her friend but there was no conviction in her voice.
"Can you do anything then?" There was a strained tone in Enid's voice. "Can you even remember how to do the simplest of things?" She slammed a hand against one of the walls. "What has he done to us?"
"We don't know that he has done anything to us." Ruby countered. "We don't know that he's responsible for this."
"Hello!" Enid questioned her friend. "Where were you when he sprayed us with that… stuff? It has to be him." She argued. "It has to be. This has to be what happened to Fenny as well."
There was the sound of a bolt being drawn back and moments later a small hatch in the door was opened. Haldane's face appeared in the opening.
"Step away from the door ladies." He advised them. When Ruby showed no sign of moving he sighed heavily. "Do I have to harm one of your little friends to make you do as I ask?"
Reluctantly Ruby stepped away from the door and joined Enid against the far wall. She could hear the sound of bolts being drawn back and moments later the door creaked open on rusty hinges.
Haldane was framed in the doorway momentarily before he stepped aside. He beckoned two others in and they placed the burdens they were carrying down on the ground before leaving again.
Haldane stepped back into the doorway and nodded towards the girls before pulling the door shut and returning the room to a semi-dark state.
Ruby was first to her feet and she made her way over to the new arrivals. Kneeling down she managed to make out the girls' identity.
"Ethel…Drusilla." She gasped.
"Do you suppose Haldane's done something to them as well?" Enid's voice reached her from the other side of the room.
Ruby shrugged her shoulders.
"I guess they were knocked out the same way that we were. There's every reason to assume that the same thing has happened to them." Ruby thought about it for a second before adding. "You don't suppose that he's planning to take out the whole school, do you?"
A look passed between the two girls.
"We have to get out of here and warn them." Ruby insisted. Enid's shoulders sagged dejectedly.
"Unless Ethel or Drusilla thought to bring a skeleton key with them, I can't see how we're going to get out of here."
Maud slowed to a halt and gasped.
"Stitch." She complained and gasped for air.
"We've got to keep going." Mildred reminded her impatiently. "We've got to find HB."
"I know." Maud reassured her. "But can we even be sure that HB is out here?"
The thought wasn't one that Mildred appreciated.
"She has to be out here. There's nowhere else she can be."
"Unless Haldane already has her."
Mildred shook her head.
"She's out here somewhere I know she is." She looked around her and spotted a small copse ahead. "Let's try up there."
Maud groaned but still forced her body into a run.
As Mildred neared the copse she could make out the flickering shadows cast by a fire.
"She's got to be here." She managed to puff. "There's a fire."
Pushing through the branches Mildred entered the copse, closely followed by Maud. There was indeed a small fire burning in the centre of the clearing but as Mildred scanned the area ahead, she couldn't make out her potions teacher.
"There's no-one here." Maud's tone was full of disappointment. "Where else would she be?"
"Mildred Hubble, Maud Moonshine what on earth do you think you are doing here?" Constance's voice could have cut glass. Despite the urgency of the situation, Mildred's jaw dropped open. She looked up and saw that Miss Hardbroom was floating in midair. A book was floating in front of her and she was making it look as though it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Miss Hardbroom!"
"What have I done in this world to be constantly hounded by the pair of you?" She sighed heavily and with a flick of the wrist closed the book and gently lowered herself back down to the ground. "What is it that is so earth-shatteringly important that you feel the need to break school rules and come out here?"
"It's Haldane and his players…" Maud began but Miss Hardbroom cut her off.
"I don't want to hear one more word about Mr Harrington and his group of socially inept misfits. Contrary to popular belief, the entire world does not dance to the beat of Mr Harrington's drum."
"But Miss Hardbroom…"
She waved a hand in their direction and both girls found that they were unable to speak. Maud looked desperately at Mildred, trying to think of a way to make Miss Hardbroom understand the seriousness of the situation. Mildred looked wildly around as if searching for inspiration. After a few moments she grabbed hold of Maud's arms. Maud could feel her friend pulling at her arms. She didn't have a clue what Mille was up to. Mildred continued to pull her towards the ground. Maud finally shook herself free. She watched as her friend raised her arms and waggled her fingers at her. She suddenly realised what she was getting at. As Mildred continued to waggle her fingers, she fell to her knees and clasped her hands together pleadingly.
Miss Hardbroom frowned at the mime act that was being played out in front of her. If there was one thing she couldn't stand it was being interrupted during the few precious moments that she allocated to herself. It became abundantly clear though that there was something going on that was more important than self-imposed exile from the school.
"I know I'm going to regret this." She told herself and raised her left hand, two fingers extended as always. She released the pair from the spell and crossed her arms, waiting to hear what they had to say.
"It's Haldane Miss Hardbroom, we think he's the one behind Fenella Feverfew's loss of power."
"And what concrete piece of irrefutable evidence do you base this accusation on?" Constance narrowed her eyes. "I take it that there is some evidence?"
Mildred shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
"We heard Ruby calling for help."
"And what part is she playing in the upcoming theatrical extravaganza?"
Mildred shrugged her shoulders.
"They're not allowed to tell us." She confessed.
Miss Hardbroom raised an eyebrow.
"Isn't it just possible that they are rehearsing for this…extravaganza that everyone seems so excited about?"
"But she sounded really desperate." Mildred pleaded her hopes of getting Miss Hardbroom to help beginning to fade. "There really is something funny going on and Haldane said that he could take care of Miss Cackle and the others. I really think they need our help." She paused. "Only I don't think that most of them realise it yet. Please Miss Hardbroom; you've got to believe us."