One Witch at a Time by Stacy DeKeyser Page B

he did not care. He followed Agatha and Susanna into the vines of the beanstalk, and began to climb upward inside the green tunnel.
    â€œWill the Giant follow us?” said Susanna, and Rudi stole a fearful glance below him. He was wondering the same thing.
    â€œI hope not,” said Agatha. “He’s not very fast. And I don’t think he’d fit.”
    Rudi found no comfort in this. But as they climbed ever higher, all was quiet below them.
    Before long the beanstalk began to level out, and just as before, it soon became a tunneled roadway. They were able to move more quickly here, and Rudi adjusted the burlap sack on his shoulder. Hildy did not protest but only clucked uncertainly, as if she knew there was nothing she could do about her situation. Rudi knew how she felt.
    â€œRudi?” said Susanna after a few moments. “How do you suppose Hildy got to Petz? Has the Giant been to Brixen?”
    Rudi’s mouth went dry at the thought. The Brixen Witch had warned about the danger of witches crossing borders. In his hurry to set things right in Petz, had Rudi left his own village exposed to even worse trouble?
    He refused to think such awful thoughts. He had enough awful things to think about already. “Agatha?” he said. “How did you get ahead of us on the beanstalk? I mean, Susanna and I were there when the beanstalk sprouted. But when we got to Petz, you were already there. How did you manage that?”
    Agatha only shook her head. “ I was there when the beanstalk sprouted, and I didn’t see you .”
    Rudi frowned at this. He wanted to believe her. It was possible, wasn’t it? Perhaps Agatha had been nearby on the Berg when they had planted the single bean.The ground had shaken so much when the vine had sprouted that perhaps they hadn’t even noticed her. “Did you see the Brixen Witch?”
    A shrug. “She didn’t say she was a witch. She didn’t look like a witch. At least not any witch that I’ve ever seen.”
    â€œHow many witches have you seen?” asked Susanna, awestruck. “Besides your giant hexenmeister ?”
    â€œOnly one, I suppose,” admitted Agatha. “But just the same, I know she was a witch.”
    The beanstalk was sloping downward now. They were more than halfway to the border.
    â€œI looked for you . . . ,” said Agatha.
    â€œMe?” Rudi’s face burned, and for a moment he forgot about doubting her. “I mean, us? When?”
    â€œAfter we first met, at the marketplace. Susanna insisted I should have a cow for the beans. Do you remember, Susanna? After we parted, I started thinking that perhaps you weren’t joking.”
    â€œI wasn’t joking,” said Susanna Louisa. “I don’t know how to tell a joke.”
    Agatha gave a half smile. “So I tried to find you. To explain that I could not lead a cow through the mountains. But you were already gone.”
    Rudi halted his downward steps. “ We tried to find you !”
    â€œSo that’s how we missed one another?” saidAgatha, coming to a stop just behind him. “Each one looking, and neither one standing still long enough to be found?”
    â€œSomething like that,” muttered Rudi, shifting Hildy in her sack.
    Agatha took the Hildy-sack from Rudi and settled it onto her own shoulder. “When I couldn’t find you, I walked to Brixen, to explain about the cow.”
    Rudi stared at her. “You came to Brixen?”
    Agatha nodded. “You told me you lived at the dairy, yes? But by the time I found it, the house was dark, and the windows shuttered. So I slept in the barn. I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t mind. It was quite cozy and warm, with the cow and the calf, and the snoring dairyman, and the sweet cat—”
    â€œWait!” said Rudi. It all sounded like home, and yet . . . it didn’t. “What did the cat look