Chapter Twenty-Six

Mildred tried her best to keep her spirits up, but she quickly found herself in a bad mood. Everything irritated her. She felt as if her brain was an animal shelter, her emotions were cats and dogs, and all of the cages were open and all of the feelings were running wild, yowling, and getting into fights with each other.

Miss Hardbroom noticed that Mildred was pouting during dinner. "Mildred, is something wrong?" Miss Hardbroom's tone was warning.

"No, I just—" Mildred let out a frustrated breath. She had no words to explain how she felt. "I'm just not hungry."

"Mildred," Miss Hardbroom said slowly. "It is important that you eat. For your recovery—"

"Hecate." Pippa held up her hand and cut her off. "Why don't I take Millie on a walk, hmm? Some fresh air could be good for the girl. She's been in bed for too long."

Miss Hardbroom's eyebrows raised and she stared down at her own plate, pursing her lips. "Fine," she said curtly.

"Come with me, dear," Pippa said, standing up.

Mildred found herself folding her arms across her chest protectively. Her irritation was turning to anxiety.

Pippa said nothing as they strolled through the castle halls. Mildred found the sound of their footsteps somewhat comforting. Pippa's heels clicking against stone, and her own boots, solid and sturdy against the ground.

Mildred shivered and shuddered when they were outside. The cold air felt good on her skin, but it also felt disgusting.

"Pippa?"

"Yes, dear."

"I feel all twisted up inside. I feel things that I don't know why I'm feeling. I'm losing control. Do you think my, do you think my magic is broken?"

Pippa laughed. "No, no! It's not broken dear. It's just rearranging itself. Resettling."

"What if the witches from Broomhead's coven come after me when I'm like this?"

"Mildred, there's something I've been meaning to explain to you. Something that it's best not to talk about with your—" Pippa sighed. "With our Hecate."

"What is it?"

"Well, if I tell you you have to promise to still take your lessons seriously."

"Of course I will!" Mildred was offended that Pippa would believe otherwise.

"Your—Hecate, spent a significant portion of her life trying to protect you. She believed that to do that she had to distance herself from you, keep you away from her and the magical world. Broomhead traumatized her deeply, filled her with a terrible fear. But...I think that it is highly likely that whatever danger there was...has past. Hecate is working so hard to train you because she doesn't want to believe that those years that she could have been with you but wasn't—she doesn't want to have to face the fact that maybe, she could have stayed with you Mildred. So she's overestimated the danger in order to justify her past actions."

"But how do you know that Broomhead's covens not still out there?" Mildred felt anger coming on. "You weren't even with my—Hecate when it all happened!" Mildred said accusingly. "It was someone else who died."

A flame erupted from the ground and both witches jumped apart from each other as sparks flew. Mildred realized her shoulders were very tense and relaxed them.

"Sorry. About the fire. I didn't mean to—"

"I know," Pippa said. "I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to criticize your—Hecate. It's just that I think our Hecate has lived a life of fear and secrecy for too long, and I don't want you to be forced into that way of living! Danger may be out there but that's true no matter who you are! And if others knew who you were, perhaps they could only protect you."

"You want to find a way to break the spell and expose the secret!"

"Yes, Mildred. But it's more than that. I want our Hecate to find a way to overcome her fear from the past. I want her to make the choice herself to release us all. It is her secret. I think it also has to be her decision."

Mildred nodded. "That's fair."

"It's not entirely fair to you," Pippa said. "None of this is!"

"I love having the two of you in my life and I don't care if it's difficult sometimes," Mildred said determinedly. "All I have to do is prove to Miss Hardbroom that I can protect myself, then she won't be scared anymore and she can release the secret. It's simple!"

"I don't think any of this is simple, but that optimistic attitude will take you far, Mildred."

"I think you need to talk to our Hecate about this." Mildred said. "Going behind her back isn't right. Maybe you could ask her to research the members of Broomhead's coven—see if any of them are still alive. If Broomhead was a murderer, perhaps they're criminals as well and the Great Wizard can lock them up."

"The magical community is not as fair as it should be. The Great Wizard may have a great name, but he's not usually who you want to go to for help. There are witches—witches like you and me, and Hecate, who would be glad to protect a magical child. You're probably not the only one of your kind out there Mildred. They're probably all in hiding. But we can change that, Mildred."

Pippa suddenly reached out and grabbed Mildred's arm, transferring them away. Mildred found herself in a small, familiar cottage.

Pippa laughed evilly, and began to transform.

"Ethel?" Mildred asked.

"Mildred, dear, are you okay?"

Mildred's eyes flew open and she sat up with a start. Pippa was seated beside her, Miss Hardbroom was across from her. They both wore expressions of concern.

"I had a dream but I think it was real," Mildred was shaking.

Pippa rubbed her shoulder.

"Your dreams are becoming more intense as your magic resettles—" Miss Hardbroom began.

"No!" Mildred slammed her fist on the table and her porridge flew up into the air in a magical geyser.

Miss Hardbroom raised a finger and the porridge froze.

"It was real. I think someone from Broomhead's coven knows who I am." Mildred stood up and started pacing. "Either that or, there's something hunting magical children, and they've sent some kind of message to me! The dream was too real Miss Hardbroom!"

Miss Hardbroom flicked her finger down and the porridge went back into the bowl.

"You are displaying signs of paranoia, Mildred, which can be a side effect of malnutrition."

Mildred placed both hands on the table to brace herself and the bowl of porridge went skidding down the table to slam into the floor. "Ooops. I didn't mean to do that I swear!"

"Mildred we know!" Pippa said. "Honestly, Hecate, I think we need to take her to a healer!"

Miss Hardbroom sniffed.

"Mildred," Pippa said. "Why don't you sit down and explain exactly what happened in the dream."

Mildred let out a breath then sat back down. "The thing is," Mildred looked at Pippa carefully. "In the dream, you were taking me for a walk. And you told me that you thought I wasn't in danger from the coven, and that—" Mildred forced herself to look at Miss Hardbroom. "That you should tell everyone your secret."

Miss Hardbroom's eyebrows were raised painfully high.

"Don't you think someone could have sent a dream like that, if exposing the secret is still really dangerous?" Mildred asked.

"I—" Miss Hardbroom looked down at the table. "I confess that I don't know. But Pippa is right. We'll have to take you to a healer or—actually, I'll summon one here. She should be able to tell us if your magical injury was...severe enough to disrupt the protective spells placed on you."

"I'm afraid to go back to sleep," Mildred confessed.

Pippa wrapped an arm around her tightly.

"You won't have to," Miss Hardbroom said. "At least not before the healer checks you over. She'll be here in an hour or so." With that Miss Hardbroom disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

"Where did she go?" Mildred asked, feeling her stress building, dizziness encroaching at the edges of her vision.

"It's okay, Millie dear," Pippa said, rubbing her back, and for a moment Mildred thought she sounded like her mum, the woman who had raised her, that is. "She'll be back soon. She's just gone to get the healer."

"Oh," Mildred said. She felt herself relaxing into Pippa's arms. She fought to keep her eyes open, as her mind began to drift away.