The original Hilda books were written by Luke Pearson and the animated series was produced by Silvergate Media and Mercury Filmworks and is released exclusively on Netflix. Enjoy.
Chapter 2
Either by sheer luck or divine intervention, Kaisa managed to avoid getting arrested because of Hilda's antics. For as fate would have it, Johanna had in fact left a message with Principal Magnussen's secretary that explained everything to his satisfaction. So after a brief but sincere apology from the older gentleman, she was allowed to leave with her young charge without any further delay.
Unfortunately, things didn't exactly improve from there.
After finally making it to the library, Hilda had apparently decided that rather than viciously harangue her babysitter all day, she would instead just sulk quietly and glare at her. And while this was decidedly better than what had happened at school, it was in no way healthy for their relationship; or any of their relationships for that matter.
Anyway, it was getting close to lunch time and the two of them were on one of the upper levels reshelving books; or to be more accurate, Kaisa was reshelving and Hilda was standing close by giving her dirty looks.
"Hilda, would you be a dear and hold the ladder steady for me?" The Librarian asked sweetly as she attempted to replace a book on one of the high shelves.
"Humph." Hilda replied rudely.
"Oh, come on. You don't really want me to fall off and get hurt, do you?"
"Ugh. Fine." She groaned before rolling her eyes and holding onto the ladder.
"Thank you, dear." Kaisa replied warmly before sliding back down to give her young charge an affectionate pat on the head. "See, it feels good to help out, doesn't it, Hildie?"
"Don't call me that." The girl said in a harsh but surprisingly quiet tone. "My name is Hilda, not Hildie."
"I know, I was just trying to…"
"I know what you were doing, but just don't. And while we're on the subject, don't pat my head either. Only Mum gets to do that."
"Okay… I'm sorry." The Librarian replied, sounding hurt, but not discouraged. "You know, Hilda, it's really not good for a girl your age to be this angry. Maybe it's time we finally talked about all this. It might make you feel better."
"I don't want to feel better. I want to stay mad until you're so miserable that you promise to stay away from my Mum forever."
"I see…" Kaisa said sadly before looking over her shoulder. The Library was mostly empty this time of day; the only other people around were older men looking for job listings in the newspaper racks. Which meant this was the ideal time to finally clear the air with her young charge. "I've got an idea. Follow me."
And before Hilda could even try to argue, the Librarian took her by the hand and gently led her to another section of the library.
"Where are we going?" Hilda asked annoyedly.
"It's a surprise." Replied Kaisa with a warm smile. "Just hold on, we're almost there."
A few minutes later, the young girl found herself standing in the middle of a small alcove with a large, brightly colored rug and a big, comfy looking armchair in the corner.
"What's this?" she asked confusedly.
"This, Hilda, is the Story Corner." The Librarian said proudly.
"The what?"
"Every Saturday, children from all over Trolberg come here so I can read to them. It's my favorite time of the week." Kaisa explained, blushing a little. "Sometimes, I even dress up as the characters."
"That's nice." Hilda replied sharply. "But I'm not a baby and I don't want to hear any stories."
"I know, but we're not here for that. We're here because it's long past time that you and I cleared the air about yesterday. Here, have a seat." The Librarian said as she carefully picked up her young charge and gently placed her in the big chair. "Comfy?"
Hilda just grumbled in response.
"Okay…" said Kaisa, attempting to remain calm and positive. "Now, Hilda. I know things like this can be very… confusing for a girl your age, and a lot of what you saw might be hard for you to understand. So I'll try to put this as delicately as I can. You see… when two people like each other very much, they sometimes…"
"Ugh! Just stop it!" the young girl said in a harsh, but surprisingly reserved tone. "I already know what you two were doing."
"You… You do?"
"Yes. I grew up in the wilderness, remember? I've seen animals in the spring. So I know you and Mum were having…" Hilda paused for a moment to make sure no one else was around before she softly whispered, "…sex…"
Needless to say, this came as quite a surprise to the older woman, but at the same time, she was a little relieved; at least that was one less awkward conversation they needed to have.
"Oh… I see."
"Yeah, and as gross as it is to think about Mum having… that… with you, that's not why I'm upset."
"It's not?"
"No, but at least now I know that on top of everything else, you think I'm stupid too."
"What? No, Hilda, I just… I mean, you're just a little girl, so I only assumed…"
"Save it. I don't want to do this anymore."
"Hilda, please." The Librarian said in a gentle yet pleading manner. "Your mother is very important to me, and I know you're very important to her, which means you're important to me too. So come on, meet me half way and give me a chance to make this right."
"Humph."
"Well, will you at least tell me why you're so upset?"
This time, Hilda gave no immediate response. Instead she just continued to glare at her caretaker as she apparently thought things over.
"Do you really want to know?" she asked finally.
"Yes, please."
"Okay, fine." The little girl said coldly. "Well, first of all, I'm mad because I got in trouble for doing something Mum's been doing ever since we moved to Trolberg."
"I don't follow."
"Mum told me she first met you the day after the Bird Parade and that you started going out not long after." Hilda explained bitterly. "Which means pretty much every day since we moved here, she's been lying to me, and yet she still had the nerve to lecture me and ground me when I got caught lying to her."
"I see." Kaisa said in a sympathetic tone. "You know, Hilda, one of the hardest parts of growing up is realizing that parents aren't perfect. They make mistakes, just like everyone else. And okay, maybe there are some things she could've done better, but even if it doesn't seem like it, you have to know that everything she did was because she loves you and only wants what's best for you."
"She still shouldn't have lied, or have punished me without coming clean. But as bad as all that was, what you did was even worse."
"Me? What did I do?"
"You used me!"
"What?" Kaisa replied confusedly.
"Whenever my friends and I had a problem we couldn't solve on our own, you were there to help us out. I thought you were just doing your job. I thought you were just a nice lady. I thought… I thought you were my friend. But you were only being nice to me to get my Mum to like you!"
Oh… that one cut deep.
"Hilda, no, I… I… sigh…. You're right." Kaisa confessed, sounding and feeling deeply ashamed. "I admit it. When you first started coming here, I gave you and your friends special treatment, because I thought if I did, then maybe you'd mention it to your mother and then she'd know how good I am with children and then that would make her want to… go to bed with me."
Hilda's scowl deepened.
"But that was only at first, I swear. After I got to know you and David and Frida, I started to care about you and now I really look forward to your visits. Hilda, I promise, I really do think of you as my friend."
"And how do I know that isn't a lie?"
Ouch. That one hurt too.
"I… I suppose you don't."
Just then, the alarm on Kaisa's electronic watch went off.
12:00 pm.
"Sigh. Come on. It's lunchtime." She said halfheartedly. "We can finish this once we've had something to eat."
"I'm not hungry." Hilda said stubbornly, only for a sudden rumble in her stomach to nix her argument. "Sigh. Fine, you win."
XXX
A short time later, Kaisa and Hilda were in the library's breakroom. The Librarian herself was at the refrigerator fetching her lunch, while her young charge waited for her at a nearby table.
"Why do you even have a breakroom?" said charge asked confusedly. "Aren't you the only one who works here?"
"I have an assistant who comes in three times a week, but she's not a witch, so she mostly just works the checkout desk." Kaisa explained as she retrieved her lunch bag and closed the refrigerator door. "There's also a cleaning staff that comes in after closing, but yeah, it's mostly just me."
"Sounds boring."
"It can be… sometimes." She admitted. "But the good thing about being a librarian is that people are always coming to visit you at work."
"Whatever." Hilda grumbled softly before her stomach grumbled extra loud. "Oh man, I didn't realize I was this hungry. Maybe I should've eaten Mum's pancakes after all."
"Probably, but don't worry, I've got you covered." Kaisa said sweetly as she sat down beside her. "Your mother told me she didn't pack you a lunch today, so I made extra. Here you go."
And with that, the Librarian handed her what appeared to be a square wrapped in tinfoil.
"What's this?"
"It's grilled cheese."
"Ick."
"Yes, yes, I know. Your mother told me you prefer cucumber sandwiches, but I didn't have any cucumbers at my house, so you'll just have to make do."
"I don't like grilled cheese."
"That's only because you've never had one of mine."
Hilda opened her mouth to argue once more, but another loud grumble from her stomach took the fight right out of her. So she just sighed, unwrapped the sandwich and reluctantly took a bite.
But oh, once she did, her eyes lit up like a bonfire, and for the first time all day, the little darling actually smiled.
Upon seeing this, Kaisa couldn't help but smile herself. She really did enjoy seeing little children happy; especially when it was the result of her own efforts. She knew that a simple grilled cheese sandwich wouldn't fix everything, but it was a start, and that alone was cause for celebration in her book. So with that in mind, she took a bite of her own sandwich, and that's when she noticed something was off. Her sandwich was so bland. There was no kick to it. No bite. No…
Uh-oh.
The Librarian quickly turned her head and sure enough, her worst fears were realized. Hilda's face had turned bright red, her eyes were watering, and she seemed to be gasping for air. All the telltale symptoms of Hanson's Hellfire Brew; the hottest hot sauce in all of Trolberg. Kaisa loved the stuff, she put it on almost everything she ate, but clearly it was too much for a girl Hilda's age.
As expected, the little girl rushed over to the sink in a clear attempt to extinguish the fire in her mouth, but luckily Kaisa was quick enough to stop her.
"Hilda, no! Water will only make it worse." She said as she handed her young charge a tiny carton of chocolate milk from her own lunch. "Here, drink this. It will make you feel better."
Desperate and in no mood to argue, Hilda did as instructed and slowly drank the chocolatey beverage; allowing the lactic acids to soothe her blazing tongue.
A few minutes later, Hilda's breathing returned to normal and her face regained its usual pinkish hue. Unfortunately, as soon as she had fully recovered, her eyes narrowed in contempt.
"You did that on purpose!" she shouted, pointing at Kaisa accusingly.
"What? No, it was just an accident."
"Yeah right! You were getting back at me for embarrassing you at my school! Admit it!"
"Hilda, please, I promise it was an accident. I usually only make lunch for myself, so I didn't think to label anything. I just gave you my sandwich by mistake, I swear."
"Oh please! What kind of weirdo puts hot sauce on a grilled cheese sandwich?"
"I do."
"Liar!"
"Hilda!" the Librarian shouted, momentarily losing her cool, which she quickly regained after a quick cleansing breath. "Hilda, please, I'm trying very hard to help you get through this, but you're not making it easy for me. I really like your mother and I want to keep seeing her, but I need you to be okay with it or she'll never say yes."
Oh… she probably shouldn't have said that last part.
"Say yes?" Hilda repeated suspiciously. "Say yes to what? What are you talking about?"
"N-Nothing. Never mind."
"No, what did you mean when you said…" but the words died in Hilda's throat as realization dawned. Over the course of several seconds, the little girl's face switched from expressions of understanding, to horror, to blind rage. "NO!"
"Hilda, please, calm down."
"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! I will never, ever let you marry my Mum! Not ever!"
"Please, just listen for a moment."
"First you use me! Then you turn Mum into a liar! And now you think you can just sneak your way into our family after trying to poison me! Well forget it!"
"Hilda, I…"
"NO! Because I've got news for you! Our family is perfect just the way it is and there's no room in it for you, you… you… you… WHORE!"
Now, judging from the aghast look in her eyes and the way she'd covered her mouth just as soon as she'd said it, it was clear that Hilda hadn't really meant to say such an ugly word. But at the moment, Kaisa did not care. That was the final, the absolutely very last straw.
XXX
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Hilda cried out over and over again as Kaisa carried her under her arm to some unknown location.
After a few minutes of this, the Librarian finally reached her destination; a familiar looking bookshelf on one of the upper levels. Then with a wave of her wand and muttered incantation, the bookcase slid to the side, revealing the secret entrance to one of the library's 'reference only' sections. Down one last flight of stairs and she roughly set the little girl down in one of the reading chairs.
"I'm sorry." Hilda squeaked one last time as she braced herself for whatever was to come.
"Zip it!" Kaisa snapped viciously, before pausing to forcibly calm herself down. "You've insulted me, humiliated me in public, and even tried to have me arrested, but in spite of everything, I tried to be nice and brush it off, because you're just a little girl in a very confusing situation. But you have pushed me to my limit!"
"W-W-What are you going to do to me?" Hilda asked frightenedly.
"I'm grounding you for the rest of the day."
"What? But… But you can't do that. You're not my mum."
"Fortunately for you, or you wouldn't be able to sit down."
Hilda shuttered at the implication.
"But… But I said I was sorry."
"I don't care! Now you're going to stay in this room until closing time, and then I'm taking you straight home so your mother can punish you properly! And just incase you think you've finally driven me off, think again! Because I like your mother, and I'm going to keep seeing her, and if you don't like it then that's just too bad!"
And with that, the Librarian stormed out of the room, reset the bookcase and cast one last enchantment to keep the room sealed.
From the outside, Kaisa could hear her young charge crying and sniffling, and for a moment she weakened and considered going in there to comfort her. But then she remembered just how much the little brat had misbehaved that day and left to resume her work. And as she marched, she began to gently massage her temples and repeat a soothing mantra over and over again.
"Calm blue ocean… Calm blue ocean… Calm blue ocean…"
End Notes:
And that's chapter 2.
Don't worry, things will get better, in time.
With that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you next time.
Peace.
