Where in the World is Willard Kraft Part 5
"In here," the officer escorting Zelda said as he pushed her into a cell and slammed the door. He started to laugh as he walked away. "Watch out for Fluffy!"
"So you're back," the prostitute Zelda had met before said as Zelda turned to look around the cell.
"Yes, but not for long. My sister is going to get me out of here," Zelda said as she dropped down onto one of the beds.
"I wouldn't set there if I were you. That's Fluffy's bed," the younger prostitute, Molly said.
"Fluffy? They let you have a cat in jail?"
"Fluffy's not a cat," the other prostitute said with a smile just as something moved on the bed.
"Then what is...." Just then Zelda saw the creature that was sharing the bed with her and jumped up with a shriek. "That's a RAT!!!"
"Of course he is. So, what's your name? I'm Cecily."
"I'm Zelda Spellman. Couldn't you move that rat someplace else?" Zelda said as she backed further away from the bed.
"Fluffy won't hurt you," Molly said as she picked up the rat and cuddled it. "Here. Pet him!"
"No thank you. I have no desire to get the plague!" Zelda muttered as she pressed herself into a corner of the cell.
"Okay," Cecily said as Molly put Fluffy down on the bed. "So, what are you in for anyway?"
"They think that I killed my boyfriend. I'm innocent!"
"Sure, you are, and that guy that they caught me with was really just my uncle," Molly said.
"It's true! I am innocent!"
"Sure. Come on. It's almost time for supper," Cecily said as an officer came around opening cell doors and leading prisoners out.
********
"What is this?" Zelda said as she stared down at the gray lump on her plate.
"Hog fat with extra fat. It's good," Molly said as she dug into the food.
"I can't eat this," Zelda muttered as she stared in horror at the food and then tried to give it point to change the taste and cholesterol content. Nothing happened though.
'What's wrong with my magic?' she thought to herself. Then she suddenly recalled an article that she had read in the latest issue of The Journal of Other Realm Medicine. 'It must be the cholesterol in this disgusting stuff that's blocking my magic! I can't change it!'
"Start eating!" a guard said as he came over and pushed a fork into Zelda's hand. "We don't want the ACLU to try accusing us of starving you."
"I can feel my arteries clogging already," Zelda whispered as she slowly started to eat.
*******
When Zelda and her two cellmates returned to their cell, the first thing that Zelda noticed was the fact the Fluffy the rat was still setting on the bed that she assumed was supposed to be hers.
"I can't stand this," Zelda muttered as she pointed to send the rat elsewhere but suddenly time froze and Drell appeared in front of her.
"Sorry, Zelda, but your magic has been removed," Drell said.
"What? Why?"
"Standard procedure for all witches charged with a crime in the mortal realm. If we left them with magic they would just skip bail and since I loaned your sister some of the money for your bail, I certainly don't want that."
"What? Drell, without magic I'll never survive here! Do you know what they made me eat tonight? Hog fat with extra fat! Bacon fat's on the menu for breakfast tommorrow! I'll have a heart attack by lunch! That is if I don't get the plague from that rat first! You have to give my magic back!"
"Sorry, but that's impossible. See you, Zelda," Drell said as he disappeared and time unfroze.
"Great," Zelda muttered as she backed away from the bed and wandered over to the cell window. The moon was shining brightly as Zelda stared up at it and then started to sing.
"Alone from night to night you'll find me,
Too weak to break the chains that bind me,
I need no shackles to remind me,
I'm just a prisoner of love.
"For one command, I stand and wait now,
For one who's master of my fate now,
I can't escape for it's too late now,
I'm just a prisoner of love.
"What's the good of my caring if someone is sharing those arms with me,
"Although he has another, I can't have another,
For I'm not free...
He's in my dreams awake or sleeping,
Upon my knees to him I'm creeping,
My very life is in his keeping, I'm just a prisoner of love."
"Hey! Keep it down! Some of us are trying to sleep!" a prisoner from one of the other cells yelled.
"What is that song, anyway?" Molly asked.
"It's 'Prisoner Of Love,' by James Brown--soul brother number one," Zelda said, vainly attempting to sound hip. Actually, Zelda had sung the more conventional Perry Como/Frank Sinatra arrangement, although she remembered liking the song when Russ Columbo popularized it in the 1930s.
"Honey, a word of advice for you. At your age, don't bother trying to sound hip. No one's going to believe it," Cecily said with a smirk as she climbed into the top bunk on the far wall and Molly took the lower bed.
Zelda stared at her bed again hoping that the rat had moved on but he was still there.
"This is a nightmare! Hilda, where are you?" Zelda moaned.