Hello everyone! A BIG HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all! You are absolutely wonderful and very patient with me. A lot has happened this semester to prevent me from writing. A lot of it was ups and downs. One of them happened to be finding out one of my friends/roommate has recently been diagnosed with leukemia. So just keep her in your thoughts or prayers! But it is a new year and hopefully a better one at that! Just have to stay positive throughout it!
Chapter 10:
The day had finally come for Mildred's best friends to come.
Mildred bounced up and down on the grass outside of the castle as she, Pippa, and Hecate watched the skies for her friends to appear on their brooms. She was in desperate need of her friends, though she was getting used to Hecate's strict behavior. It was starting to get tense with Hecate always breathing down her neck: "Mildred, did you do this? Have you done that? You know you need to…" She appreciated that Hecate was so involved in her life, but it was starting to become overbearing.
Hecate rolled her eyes at her niece's enthusiasm. "Mildred, please do calm down and stop acting like an untrained monkey."
"I can't help it! I'm just so excited! It's been so long since I've seen Maud and Enid!" Mildred exclaimed as she bounced with anticipation, completely disregarding what her aunt had told her.
Pippa smiled at her. "I'm very excited for you, Mildred. Oh, Hecate, remember when you and I had sleepovers all the time?"
Hecate cracked a smile remembering the old times during their school days. "Yes, that was rather fun, wasn't it?"
Mildred tilted her head and stopped her joyful bouncing to look at the two. "What are you talking about? You two have sleepovers all the time!"
Both Pippa and Hecate blushed at these words. They looked at each other to decide who would talk about their 'sleepovers' first. Pippa cleared her throat to start, "Millie-bear, that is not exactly what we would call a sleepover."
Mildred frowned. "But you are always sleeping over with Hecate. Why wouldn't it be called a sleepover? What else would it be called?"
Before Pippa could reply to Mildred, Hecate saw blurry figures in the sky. "Oh, thank the Great Wizard! They're here!"
Mildred squealed, forgetting what they were talking about, as she watched the blurry figures become clearer shapes of her friends and their families. Both families landed perfectly on the ground, better than Mildred ever could. Mildred rushed to her friends. "MAUD! ENID!" She tackled them both with a giant bear hug.
"Mildred!" They both cried in unison, tightening their hold on their friend.
Miss Hardbroom smiled as she watched the girls reunite before turning to welcome their parents. "Well met, all of you."
There was a chorus of 'Well met' back to Hecate, and the deputy headmistress turned to Pippa to introduce her. "I'm sure you have all heard of Miss Pentangle, she has been helping me take care of Mildred." Pippa then gracefully gave the politest 'Well met' that Mildred had ever seen. The parents did the same over again.
"It is wonderful to meet you all and your children. Mildred has been very excited ever since she found out they could come here," Pippa said as she glanced over at Mildred fondly.
Mrs. Spellbody smiled at Mildred. "Well met, dear. I'm sorry to hear about your mother."
Mildred's mood suddenly shifted. Part of her had forgotten that it had been a week since the passing of her mother. She had put it so far out of her mind to try and be herself once more. Now, it was coming back to haunt her and she looked to Hecate for help. Hecate reached her hand out and Mildred took it instantly, grasping it to keep from crying.
Mildred took a deep breath and looked at Mrs. Spellbody. "Thank you. I miss her a lot."
Hecate let go of Mildred's hand to pet her hair, and crouched down beside her to whisper, "Brave girl, why don't you go and show Enid and Maud your room so they can get settled?" Mildred nodded sullenly and grabbed Maud and Enid to show them the way.
As they walked away, giving their parents a 'goodbye' as they went, Mildred's friends looked at Hecate as if she was a new creature created into this world. Hecate flushed, looking away from the two-her reputation wasn't preceding her at all. She was starting to become a gooey sap around Mildred and that made her feel unsettled. Hecate cleared her throat and looked at the parents now. They too had the same looks as their own children. The apple, it seemed, did not fall from the tree. Hecate brushed herself off and straightened up, giving them an evil glare to dare them to say something.
"I will soon be the guardian of Mildred. It is my rightful duty since she and I are related," Hecate said tightly, and Pippa swooped her hand into her hand to give her reassurance.
"Wait, you are related to Mildred? How?" Mr. Nightshade asked.
"As it turns out, Mildred happens to be my niece. I will not go into further details, but only to say that Mildred is in good hands," Hecate spouted out. "And I promise you that your children will be as well this weekend with me."
They nodded at this and asked no further questions, but only told Hecate when they would back to pick the girls up. Then all the parents got onto their brooms and flew back to their homes. Pippa piped up, "Shall we go check on the girls?"
Hecate sighed. "Yes, I think so. Hopefully they haven't gotten into too much mischief yet."
"HB is different now with you. It's really weird," Enid said as they made their way into Mildred's room.
"It's not that weird," Mildred defended. She wasn't sure if she would tell them just yet that she was related to Hecate or not. It was all confusing as it was anyway and she was afraid that they would both treat her differently if they heard the news. But it was starting to seem that they were treating her that way anyway.
"Uh-huh," Enid announced, and calculated the room. "I'm surprised she gave you a room. I thought she'd lock you up in the potions cabinet!"
Mildred frowned at her friend for thinking of Hecate that way, but said nothing. Maud did say something though. "Of course. she's not going to live in the potions cabinet! I don't even think Agatha Cackle would do that!"
Mildred shivered at that name. It had been so long since her last encounter with the wicked witch. "Hecate is nothing like Agatha."
"I certainly hope not, " A voice said, entering the room. Mildred's cheeks blushed a brilliant red color as she saw her aunt standing in the doorway. Her dark eyes watched Mildred's reaction and Mildred saw the corner of her mouth tilt upwards, casting a small smirk her way. "Would you girls like some lunch?"
Mildred was happy that her aunt did not ask any further questions about the conversation her, Maud, and Enid were having. "What is Pippa fixing?" she asked.
"I thought it would be fair to let you and your friends pick out what we are going to have," Hecate said as she glanced over at Maud and Enid who seemed to be surprised still at her behavior. "What'll it be, girls?"
Their mouths dropped open, empty for words, and Mildred rolled her eyes at their behavior. "How about fish and chips?"
Hecate's mouth made a slim line as if she was going to say no to it, and Mildred knew why. Hecate preferred not to have anything fried or sweet and she didn't like Mildred having it either. Most of the time, Hecate made sure that Mildred was eating some sort of healthy meal. This time, Hecate let her choose, and she knew that Enid and Maud both liked that dish as much as she did. Hecate didn't argue, and nodded. "We will eat in an hour. I expect you will find something to entertain yourselves for the time being?" Mildred nodded. "Very good." Hecate strolled out towards the kitchen.
Mildred turned to see her friends gawking at her. "What?"
"You call her Hecate?" Maud questioned, pushing her glasses up.
"And who is Pippa?" Enid questioned too.
"Uh, yeah," She answered Maud first and then Enid. "That's Miss Pentangle's name."
"Okay, so maybe this is a little weird," Maud admitted, and Mildred huffed at her. "It's not you, Mildred, okay maybe it is…It's just-"
"It's weird how you and HB talk to each other now," Enid finished, crossing her arms and looking rather disgusted. "I get the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it!"
"Oh, cut it out you two! It's not weird!" Mildred shouted, and then lowered her voice, realizing Hecate or Pippa could come in anytime, "She's changed a lot, because of me. She's done a lot for me! It's been hard; like really, really hard without my mum, and Hecate has been patient, and-" She choked a little bit.
"Millie, I didn't even think of that! I'm sorry! I mean, we both are! Aren't we, Enid?" Maud's tone at the last question was quite threatening for Enid.
"Yeah, I am sorry, Millie. I know you've been going through a lot. It's just a strange time right now, yeah?" Enid shrugged.
"Yeah," Mildred nodded, and there was silence for a bit. Then Mildred thought of something. "Oh, oh, oh! I have a great idea! Let's play hide and seek in the castle!" She decided it was best to get past the awkwardness with a fun game to play with her friends.
"Hide and seek? What's that?" Maud asked, and Enid nodded, not understanding what the game was.
"Wait, you're joking, right?" They both shook their heads. She forgot that Enid and Maud grew up in a very different environment than her. Many games that she knew were probably not going to be ones that they knew, so she started to explain the rules and the goal of the game. By the end of explaining the game, they were ready to go.
"I want to seek!" Maud called out first. Mildred was glad that she did; she always was the worst at being the seeker. She told Maud to count to a hundred and fifty to give Enid and herself time to go and look for a spot in the castle.
Enid and Mildred both sprinted to the door as soon as Maud closed her eyes. Hecate appeared out of nowhere and caught them by the collars of their shirts. "Just where are you going and what are you doing?"
Mildred sighed exasperatedly. "Enid and I are hiding from Maud before she gets to a hundred and fifty!"
"Why would you hide from Maud? I thought she was your friend? And it's going to be a while before she is a hundred and fifty years old," Hecate said, mystified by Mildred.
"No, no, no, it's a game, Hecate! It's hide and seek and Maud is counting to a hundred and fifty; she's not aging to it!" Mildred giggled at her aunt's confusion. "After she counts she has to find us!"
The gears finally turned into the right place for Hecate to understand, and she eyed Mildred sternly, "Stay in the castle and only hide on the first and second floor."
"Aw, but Hecate that's no fun! The first and second floors are only the dorms!" Mildred whined. She hated it when Hecate took the reins on her fun.
"Exactly, if you did the whole castle Maud would never find you anyway, and I don't want you going into certain areas. Parts of the castle are very dangerous to be in or around. You will not be getting into trouble today on my watch, Mildred Hubble," Hecate stated, as she watched Mildred pout more.
"Fine," Mildred ground out. "I'm going to go tell Maud there's been a change in plans, then." Hecate cringed as Mildred stomped her way to her bedroom to tell Maud.
Only she only told Maud to recount and that it was still the whole castle they would be hiding in. How hard could it be to find her? And the more options her and Enid had, the more fun they were all bound to have. When she and Enid were out of range she told Enid that they would still use the whole castle.
Enid seemed wary of this. "HB said-"
"This isn't the first time you and I have disobeyed her," Mildred countered as she ran for the perfect place to hide from Maud.
Oh, Mildred, what kind of trouble will you cause next chapter? Will Hecate find out or will Pippa? Or will Mildred get away with it? Let me know what you think will happen next! And I hope you all enjoy your new year! And I hope to give you a new chapter soon! See you next time!