The short round woman, whom nobody knew, was Agnes Fawnsnet. Agnes was a near-sighted, kindhearted grandmother who would never – ever – become involved in anything considered to be sneaky. Yet here she was late at night, tip-toeing about on her porch, when she should be up stairs in her bed, fast asleep.

“Fiona?” Agnes whispered lowly into the dark night as she boarded her broom.

A slight movement in a wooden box, just to the side of the front door caught the old woman’s attention. Agnes stared quietly toward the shadows at a pair of narrow yellow eyes, which stared intently back to her.

“Meow” A lazy black cat yawned as it plopped its head over the rim of the small wood crate.

“Good evening dear.” Agnes chuckled, “And yes … it is midnight already!”

The courteous grandmother moved the back end of her broom to the box and the sleepy cat gently crawled onto the tattered bristles.

“Welcome aboard!” Agnes greeted as she pulled a pair of flying goggles from her forehead and placed them over her eyes. Although the round lenses were as thick as the bottom of a soda bottle, Agnes could see quite fine.

“Nice and snug – don’t need a bug.” She giggled as she tightened the goggle straps about her head.

Hearing no response from her ‘familiar’, Agnes glanced over her shoulder and saw that Fiona had already curled up into a ball and was fast asleep.

 “Well I guess this will be a quiet flight tonight!” Agnes whispered to herself, “Off we go then!!”

For nearly thirteen hours the witch and her cat soared tranquilly amongst the stars, skirting over the artic circle and across the vast expanse of Canada.  Finally, after many thousands of miles, the employees of the Presidium of Magic arrived safely aside the moonlit coastline of California.

“We're here Fiona!” Agnes said as she pulled up on her broom handle and hovered into a dark patch of sky. “Although, I still think this assignment is highly irregular.”