It felt like Mildred had been walking all day, but she didn’t have far to go now. She didn’t mind the walk, she loved the trees in their autumnal colours, and the sun’s golden rays of the late afternoon were able to penetrate the canopy above her.
She was amazed that she’d even come back at all. She hadn’t been in these woods since she’d accompanied Hettie on her first day. She’d been able to teleport back to Weirdsister’s on that day, but there was currently something in the magical field that had prevented her from teleporting closer to Cackle’s.
A week after she’d dropped Hettie off she started her final year at Weirdsister’s. It had all seemed to go by in a blur – Hobbes and Ethel getting together, attending Maud’s wedding, Jadu getting elected to parliament, Azmat and Tim winning the prestigious International Magical Inventions award, the fun they all had on the night that Dr. Starfinder had too much to drink and started rambling on about large talking pepper pots in New York. But the day that stuck most in her mind was her graduation day. Not just because she’d graduated with first class honours, but because it was also the day that Ben proposed to her. Weirdsister’s had been a very special place to her, and she hoped that it would become just as special to Hettie when she started there next week.
After graduation things continued to go well for her. The government had become aware of her talents (Jadu insisted that she’d had no involvement and that they must have heard about her from elsewhere), and they offered her an important assignment at the UN headquarters in New York. At first she was afraid that she may not be able to take it up. Whilst she was one of the few witches who could teleport over large distances such as between the UK and the USA, it was too far to teleport twice every day, and so she’d have to move there. She was worried that Ben may not have wanted to relocate to the States, but her fears were misplaced as he supported her 100%. The assignment wasn’t due to start for several months, but that gave them enough time to arrange their wedding and sort out their affairs before heading across the Atlantic.
It was starting to get late now, with the sun getting close to the horizon. It wasn’t long until she would reach the tree she had been instructed to go to, the large oak tree in the clearing.
She had been given the instruction in a most obscure manner. She had been working late, and was the last person left in the office. She had taken a break and was looking out over the ever busy Manhattan when she saw a reflection in the window of what appeared to be a man standing behind her. She looked round but there was no one there. Looking back at the window the reflection was still there. It appeared blurred, and she couldn’t make out any features.
She then heard a voice from behind her, ‘Return to the old oak tree tomorrow evening. Meet me there, I have something to tell you.’ The reflection vanished immediately afterwards.
Mildred wasn’t sure what to make of this apparition. She hadn’t felt any malice from it, but why would anyone request to see her back at the forest surrounding Cackle’s?
Not being able to concentrate on getting any more work done she returned home and told Ben what she had seen. He didn’t know what to make of it either. When he saw that it had been bothering her all evening he suggested that she should go to find out what it wanted. Mildred thought about it – if it did hold ill will towards her she should be able to simply teleport away to safety, and she wanted to at least know what this was all about.
And so she decided to come. She hadn’t felt like doing any work all day, and was able to get away early. As she started to teleport herself back to England she found she couldn’t rematerialise directly by the oak tree, but she got as close to it as she could. Whilst she knew that if whatever it was that was waiting for her did mean her harm teleportation wouldn’t be an option, she could sense a strong feeling of peacefulness about the forest, so strong that she felt that it was safe to continue.
She now saw the tree and the clearing coming up ahead. She hoped that whoever it was that wanted to see her appeared quickly as there wasn’t much daylight left.
As soon as she reached the tree a sharp breeze picked up. She looked up into its leaves, and they appeared to be forming a shape. Within a few seconds she could see the same blurred outline that she had seen in New York.
She then heard the same voice that she’d heard before, ‘Thank you, Mildred, I’d knew you’d come.’
Mildred took a deep breath, ‘OK, I’m here now. What do you want? And who are you?’
‘I’m not of your world, and I just want to talk to you, that’s all.’
‘Why don’t you come down and talk to me?’
‘I’m afraid I can’t, I’m not able to fully materialise in your world. This will have to do.’
Mildred didn’t feel like arguing this point, and so decided to try and get to the bottom of this. ‘So what do you want to talk about?’
‘I wanted to thank you, Mildred Hubble.’
‘Thank me? For what? I don’t even know who you are!’
‘But I know who you are. 10 years ago today I saw you for the first time in these very woods, although I had heard about you long before then. I followed your adventures throughout Cackle’s Academy, Weirdsister College, and beyond. I longed to meet with you, to enter your world. The barriers between our worlds had become weakened for a time, and I was able to get closer to your world than I ever thought possible, although I foolishly believed that I could actually enter it. But I can still remember the warmth of that closeness, I can still feel the magic of it.’
Mildred didn’t know what to make of all of this. ‘But what do you want to thank me for?’
‘Whilst I was unable to enter your world, some of the magic of your world was able to reach mine. I don’t mean the ability to cast spells or make potions, I mean the raw, natural magic, that’s present in all worlds. If you could only know the full effects that your magic has had on me and my world. There have been some dark moments, some very dark moments in fact, but the magic that I got from your world helped me through them. And I’ve been able to use that magic to transform my world in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Most of that magic came from you, Mildred Hubble. If I hadn’t had found your magic, if I hadn’t have felt it as strongly as I did, I’m sure my world would be a very different place today.’
‘Why did you get me to come all the way out here? Why didn’t you just tell me all of this in New York?’
‘Because it was here that the magic was at its strongest. On this very spot 10 years ago it all started. But it’s now time for me to move on from your world. I’ll still look in from time to time, but I now have other worlds to attend to, worlds of my own. They all owe their existence to you.’
‘I’m really sorry, but I don’t understand any of this.’
‘And you don’t need to. Go from this place, back to your life, in peace. I ask nothing of you, and I wish you all the very best for your future, which I believe will be a very bright one. I just wanted you to know the power your magic had for me, and the joy that it has brought. Thank you, Mildred Hubble. From the very bottom of my heart, thank you.’
The breeze picked up once more, and the image of the figure was gone. The sun was starting to set, and the light was fading, but Mildred could still feel the peacefulness of the forest. Everything was as it was, and there was nothing more to be done here.
She could sense that the magical field had returned to normal, and so she teleported back home to New York.
Ben was waiting for her, ‘So, how did it go? Was it something looking for trouble?’
‘No, it wasn’t anything bad. I’m not sure what it was exactly.’
‘Do you want to talk about it? I’ve made you some supper.’
‘Thanks, but I’m not feeling very hungry. I think I’m going to get an early night if that’s OK?’
‘Sure, it’ll keep in the fridge.’ Ben put his arms around her and kissed her. ‘Have a good night’s sleep, I’ll be in a little later.’ As Ben went into the kitchen Mildred thought about how happy she was that she’d found him.
Mildred went to their bedroom and quickly got changed and got into bed. As she lay there, drifting off to sleep, all of the events of the past 10 years were swimming around her head. And when Ben came in later he would see her smiling.
