I had to get out of that kitchen and back to my grandmother. There was only one way to do this. I must make a dash clear across the floor and out through the door behind one of the waiters. I stayed quite still, watching for my chance. My tail was hurting terribly. I curled it round so as to have a look at it. About two inches of it were missing and it was bleeding quite a lot. There was a waiter loading up with a batch of plates full of pink ice-cream. He had a plate in each hand and two more balanced on each arm. He went towards the door. He pushed it open with his shoulder. I leapt out of the sack of potatoes and went across that kitchen floor and into the Dining-Room like a streak of light, and I didn’t stop running until I was underneath my grandmother’s table.
It was lovely to see my grandmother’s feet again in those old-fashioned black shoes with their straps and buttons. I shinnied up one of her legs and landed on her lap. “Hello, Grandmamma!” I whispered. “I’m back! I did it! I poured it all into their soup!”
“Her hand came down and caressed me. “Well done, my darling!” she whispered back. “Well done you! They are at this very moment eating that soup!” Suddenly, she withdrew her hand. “You’re bleeding!” she whispered. “My darling, what’s happened to you?”
“One of the cooks cut off my tail with a carving knife,” I whispered back. “It hurts like billy-o.”
“Let me look at it,” she said. She bent her head and examined my tail. “You poor little thing,” she whispered. “I’m going to bandage it up with my handkerchief. That will stop the bleeding.”
She fished a small lace-edged handkerchief out of her bag and this she somehow managed to wrap around the end of my tail. “You’ll be all right now,” she said. “Just try to forget about it. Did you really manage to pour the whole bottle into their soup?”
“Every drop,” I said. “Do you think you could put me where I can watch them?”
“Yes,” she answered. “My handbag is on your own empty chair beside me. I’m going to pop you in there now and you can peep out as long as you are careful not to be seen. Bruno is there as well, but take no notice of him. I gave him a roll to eat and that’s keeping him busy for a while.”
Her hand closed around me and I was lifted off her lap and transferred to the handbag. “Hello, Bruno,” I said.
“This is a great roll,” he said, nibbling away in the bottom of the bag. “But I wish there was butter on it.”
I peered over the top of the handbag. I could see the witches quite clearly sitting at their two long tables in the centre of the room. They had finished their soup now, and the waiters were clearing away the plates. My grandmother had lit up one of her disgusting black cigars and was puffing smoke over everything. All around us the summer holiday guests in this rather grand hotel were babbling away and tucking into their suppers. About half of them were old people with walking-sticks, but there were also plenty of families with a husband, a wife and several children. They were all well-to-do people. You had to be if you wanted to stay in the Hotel Magnificent.
“That’s her, Grandmamma!” I whispered. “That’s The Grand High Witch!”
“I know!” my grandmother whispered back. “She’s the tiny one in black sitting at the head of the nearest table!”
She could kill anyone in this room with her white-hot sparks!”
“Look out!” my grandmother whispered. “The waiter’s coming!”
I popped down out of sight and I heard William saying, “Your roast lamb, madam. And which vegetable would you like? Peas or carrots?”
“Carrots, please,” my grandmother said. “But no potatoes.”
I heard the carrots being dished out. There was a pause. Then my grandmother’s voice was whispering, “It’s all right. He’s gone.” I popped my head up again. “Surely no one will notice my little head sticking out like this?” I whispered.