by E. D. Baker
"She won't mind at all. Go on ahead. We'll be there as soon as we can." I watched Li'l become a dark speck as she flew over the moat. When I could no longer see her in the gloom, I turned and spoke to Fang. "And what about you, Fang? Are you coming with us?"
"No, I must return home now. I have much work to do to reestablish my territory."
"Thank you for being there all those times," I said, throwing my arms around him. "You were right—we did need you."
"I know. And you are welcome." My hug made him uncomfortable, for he quickly backed away, eyeing me warily. "Emma," he said, "because of your emotional demonstration, I must tell you something that I would not otherwise have disclosed."
"You can tell me anything, Fang. If anyone has the right, it's you."
"I understand that humans whose lives have been saved may feel a certain ... affection for their rescuers. If you are feeling such an affinity for me, you must know that my heart is engaged elsewhere."
If he thought that I had a crush on him ... I tried not to laugh, and thought of a trick I'd learned when my mother caught me in a giddy mood and I knew she would disapprove if I laughed out loud. I had only to think of something sad, such as the death of my first puppy, to make myself lose the desire to laugh. I tried it now and it worked, allowing me to alter my expression to one more suitable to a jilted female.
"Is it Clarisse?" I asked, looking as mournful as I could.
"Yes," he said, nodding solemnly. "You are not too badly disappointed, are you?"
"I'll recover, but it won't be easy."
"Good luck in your endeavors. And the same goes for you, Eadric."
"Thanks, Fang. It was ... an experience having you along."
I watched Fang slither down the road with mixed emotions. He was a snake and I had always been terrified of snakes. Because I was now a frog, he should have been one of my worst enemies, yet he had proven to be a friend, someone I could trust when I was in danger.
"What did you mean when you thanked Fang like that?" Eadric demanded. "He didn't do anything! And who is Clarisse?"
"And you accused me of being unobservant! Never mind, Eadric. Maybe I'll tell you about it one day. Let's just say that he was a much better companion than either of us thought he would be."
"I guess that's true," said Eadric. "At least he didn't eat us."
Fourteen
Following Eadric to the edge of the moat, I peered down into the water, thinking about how often I'd passed by without really looking at it. The moat had been a fixture, part of the castle fortifications that I knew we needed, but it had never seemed particularly important. I'd certainly never considered swimming in it before.
A breeze blew past, carrying the stench of decaying garbage. "Pew!" I said, wrinkling my nose. "Do you smell that? Is that the water?"
Eadric lowered his head and sniffed. "It sure is."
I stepped back from the edge, my stomach churning. Having grown up near the moat, I suppose I'd been used to the smell. Maybe it was because of my enhanced frog senses, or maybe the moat had gotten stinkier since I'd been gone, but for whatever reason, I now found the stench overwhelming. "I'm not swimming in anything that smells that bad!" I said.
"We don't have much of a choice, do we?"
"We could wait until morning when they lower the drawbridge."
"But then all the wagons and foot traffic will be going in," Eadric said, shaking his head. "Crossing the moat is probably the best idea. Just keep your mouth closed and swim as fast as you can."
I looked at the moonlight's reflection on the moat. The other bank suddenly seemed so far away, so high above the water. "I don't think I can do this!"
"Sure you can!" said Eadric. "You just need a positive attitude!"
"Fine! I'm positive I can't do this!"
Eadric sighed. "You're right. You can't do it if you don't believe you can. But don't imagine yourself failing—imagine yourself doing it. Picture yourself swimming across and climbing up the other side. I know you can do it if you really want to."
I closed my eyes and tried to picture myself swimming through cool, clear water, speeding to the opposite side of the moat and climbing the stones as if I'd done it every day of my life. Unfortunately, I could still smell the water, and the illusion was hard to maintain. It was easier to imagine Eadric swimming beside me, holding his nose with one hand and paddling with the other, saying, "Picture yourself as a bubble, floating across the water," his voice fading as he disappeared in a stinky green fog.
I giggled. "Now, that I can believe!" I said under my breath as I slipped into the moat.
I tried to breathe as little as possible, but it wasn't easy. The cold, greasy water made me gasp, and I gagged when it almost got in my mouth. Holding my head as high as I could, I tried to keep my face dry. A large glob of something soft and sticky bumped into me and I shuddered with disgust. Thank goodness it's dark and I can't see what that was, I thought.
"Emma, hurry up," said Eadric. "I think there's something in here with us."
"There sure is," I agreed. "There's all sorts of garbage floating in this water. This is disgusting!"
"No, I mean something alive. I just felt something swim past my feet."
A small wave nudged me forward, carrying me closer to the side of the moat. "Eadric," I whispered, suddenly afraid to talk out loud, "did you feel that? What could have made that wave?"
"Something bigger than a frog!" Eadric whispered back. "Here it comes again. Hurry, Emma, we're almost there!"
With the dry ground edging the moat only feet away, the castle loomed over us forbiddingly. Although I had always loved my home, I had never seen it from the moat before. Now I wished I never had. I kicked as hard as I could, arrowing through the water, and almost bumped into the fish. It was a small fish, only half as big as I was, but it startled me just the same. Its eyes were red and watery and swollen. It looked as though a third eye had begun to form between the first two, a shrunken eye that rattled loosely in its socket. Something brushed against my feet, but when I looked, the fish was still keeping pace with me. Evidently, the deformed little fish wasn't the only creature that lived in the moat.
When I finally bumped into the stone wall, I reached up and touched it with my hand. Eadric, who had already climbed out of the water, grasped my wrist and began to pull me up.
"Hurry!" said Eadric. "There's something in the water behind you!"
I looked down. Reflected in the light of the rising moon, a large silvery back arced above the water, heading toward me. Terror lent me the strength I needed. Digging my toes into the crumbling stone lining the moat, I fairly flew up the side and fell into Eadric's arms, knocking him off his feet. Something slapped the surface of the moat, splashing us with a wave of fetid water. Without looking back, we scrambled to safety as far from the moat as we could get.
"Now what?" I asked, wiping the moisture from my face with the back of my hand. Standing on the narrow stone ledge, I still felt exposed to whatever lived in the moat.
"Find a way in, I suppose. There has to be a hole or a missing stone or something we can use to get inside. We just have to look until we find it."
"And what if there isn't?"
"Then we wait until they open the door in the morning. Don't worry, I grew up in a castle, too, remember? Little boys explore everything. I found hundreds of chinks in the walls of my parents' castle, places too small for a little boy but certainly large enough for a couple of frogs. If anyone can find a way into your castle, it's me."
The moon was high overhead when we finally found an opening. Although it never grew any wider, it extended far back through the castle wall, forming a cramped, dark tunnel. Dried rodent droppings and beetle casings littered the floor, telling the tale of those who had passed that way before. The air was dank and smelled musty, but it was a way in and I was thrilled that we had found it.
The tunnel ended abruptly at a large open space. I was disoriented until I realized that we had reached the Great Ha
ll, the heart of the castle and the most important room. A warren of corridors and lesser chambers led from the hall, making it the focal point of the entire building. The remains of a fire burned in the massive stone fireplace, and my father's dogs lay twitching in their sleep on the hearth, their bellies filled with table scraps.
"This is wonderful!" I whispered into Eadric's eardrum. "We don't have far to go now. The stairs leading to my aunt's rooms are at the end of that corridor."
"What about the dogs?"
"We'll have to be careful not to wake them, that's all." Eadric looked skeptical, but I was insistent. "Eadric," I said, "we have to go now. It will be so busy here in the morning that it will be impossible to pass through then. If we don't go now, we might as well turn around and go back to the swamp."
"I can't help it—I don't like dogs. And look at the size of those monsters! Are you sure they're all asleep?"
"Of course I'm sure. Can't you hear them snoring? Here, I'll go first. Just stay close and be as quiet as you can."
I hopped once, but the slap of my feet on the stone floor echoed throughout the Great Hall. I froze and listened to the dogs. Their moans, whimpers, snores, and slow breathing assured me that they still slept. One dog growled in its sleep while another ran, its legs twitching, its body never leaving the floor. My father's biggest hound, Bowser, no longer a duckling, lay on his back with his legs in the air, flapping away as if he were trying to fly. I decided that Grassina must have finally found the right parchment to restore Bowser's dogness.
When there was no change in the rhythm of their breathing, I began to hop again, stopping every now and then to listen. We had reached the far wall and had only a little farther to go when I hopped into a puddle of dog pee, splashing myself with the smelly fluid from head to toe. "Oh, yuck!" I said, forgetting the need for silence.
My head whipped around when I heard one of the dogs begin to stir. It was Bowser. Blearily stumbling to his feet, the big hound lurched in our direction.
"Quick, in here!" said Eadric, pointing to a wooden bucket. Although the bucket was familiar, I couldn't remember what it was normally used for, but with Bowser on his way we didn't have time to be picky.
"One, two, three, jump!" I said and we both leaped over the edge and into tepid water. "Eadric!" I whispered as it dawned on me where we were. "This is the dogs' water! What if he's coming to get a drink?"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I just realized—"
"Shh! Here he comes!"
I shrank against the side of the bucket as Bowser's great head came into view. The dog is half asleep, I thought, so maybe he won't notice. I knew the moment that Bowser sensed us, for his ears pricked up. His rank breath washed over me as he looked into the bucket. When I saw Eadric swim to the bottom, I knew that it was up to me.
"Quack!" I said, sounding as much like a duck as I could. "Quack! Quack! Quack!"
"What the..." Bowser jerked his head back in surprise.
"Quack! Quack! Quack!" I said again, bobbing up and down in the water like a duck.
"Oh, no, another one!" whined Bowser as he backed away.
Although I could no longer see him, I could hear his claws scrabbling on the stone floor as he scurried out of the hall. Eadric was still underwater when I decided that it was safe to go. Sighing, I reached down and pulled him to the surface. "The dog is gone," I said. "We can get out now."
"I guess it was too dark for him to see us under the water," Eadric said, boosting himself onto the rim of the bucket.
I slid over the edge and plopped onto the floor. "Or maybe he's afraid of ducks."
"Why would you keep ducks in your Great Hall?"
"I never said we did."
Turning to look behind us, Eadric scratched his head with his toe, and I heard him mumble softly, "But I thought you said ..."
After trying so hard to be quiet in the Great Hall, entering the corridor was a relief. "I'll race you!" I whispered, eager to stretch my muscles.
"You don't stand a chance, slowpoke!" Eadric whispered back.
We raced across the floor, extending our legs in long, bounding leaps. Arrow slits in the tower walls let in the moonlight, making the steps easy to see. We hopped up one pie-slice-shaped step after another, racing to see who would reach the top first. Eadric won even though he was still wearing the vial of dragon's breath, landing on the top step seconds before me.
When I reached the landing, I was panting and tired but happier than I'd been in a long time. "You won," I said, trying to catch my breath, "only because you have longer legs than I do."
"That's not it at all," he said, panting just as heavily. "I won because I'm a superior hopper and you are a slowpoke."
"It doesn't matter—we're here now!" I grinned so hard my face hurt. "With my aunt Grassina's help, we'll be humans again in no time!"
Fifteen
I had raised my hand to knock on Grassina's door when Eadric waved me back. "Before you get your aunt, there's something I've been wanting to say," he said, avoiding my eyes. "I know I'll be happy to be a prince again, but there's a lot about being a frog that I've really enjoyed, especially since you became one, too."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Just that... Oh, never mind. Go ahead, knock on the door." Eadric turned his face away, but not before I saw a frown creasing his forehead.
"In a minute. First tell me what you mean."
Eadric sighed. "I shouldn't have said anything. It's just that being a frog with you has been fun. Even the bad parts were better with you than when I was a frog by myself. As far as I'm concerned, it wouldn't be so awful if we had to stay frogs, not if we were together." Eadric finished in a rush, as if he wouldn't finish at all if he didn't hurry. He cleared his throat, then added, "And you'd never have to marry Jorge."
"I don't know what to say." I reached out to him, but he pulled away from me and turned to the door.
"You don't have to say anything," he said stiffly. "Go ahead and knock."
I'd seen the stubborn look on his face and knew that it was useless to try to question him. Not quite understanding what he meant, I could feel my excitement deflate. After all we'd gone through, did he want to remain a frog? Did he want me to remain a frog, too? I shrugged and lifted my hand to knock, determined to ask Eadric about it later. Before my hand touched the door, it was flung open and my aunt Grassina rushed onto the landing.
"Emma!" she called, her lips quirking at the corners. She turned her head, looking for some sign of me, but she never looked down to see two frogs waiting by her feet. Her smile faded, and she fumbled for the door behind her. "I could have sworn ... ," she said to herself.
"Aunt Grassina, I'm down here!" I shouted, thrilled at finally seeing her again. Now everything will work out, I thought. Aunt Grassina can take care of anything. But my heart sank as Grassina looked down and, seeing only two frogs at her door, turned to go back inside. The sorrow in her eyes made my heart tighten. I couldn't stand to see her look so sad.
"It's me," I shouted, hopping up and down in frustration. "It's me, it's me, it's me! It's your niece, Emma! I've been turned into a frog! Look at me, Aunt Grassina! Please look at me!"
When Grassina looked down, the stricken expression on her face almost made me cry. "It's not possible," she said. "I gave my niece a talisman to protect her from such spells. You can't be my Emma."
"But I am! I kissed an enchanted prince—Eadric, here—and turned into a frog!"
Grassina raised one eyebrow. "I suppose that could have happened if something went wrong with the talisman," she said slowly. "Emma did ask me about talking frogs and it would certainly explain her disappearance. Perhaps you two should come in."
We didn't need a second invitation. Eadric and I followed my aunt, nearly hopping on the hem of her gown in our hurry to enter the room. Even from a frog's point of view, the room was lovely. The rosy glow from the witches' lights made everything look warm and appealing. Sinking up to my knees in the soft rugs
, I reveled in the way they cushioned my tired feet. I sank down on the rug in front of the fireplace and stretched out my legs. Eadric followed me to the rug without ever taking his eyes off Grassina.
"So that's your aunt, huh?" said Eadric under his breath. "She's quite a looker! She's a much better dresser than Vannabe or the old witch, too. She even smells better."
"Thank you," said Grassina, whose hearing had always been good. "I suppose I should take that as a compliment. Just who are Vannabe and the old witch?"
"The old witch was named Mudine," I said. "She lived in the forest, but she died a year ago. Vannabe wants to be a witch. She took over Mudine's house and books when Mudine died."
"I see," said Grassina. "That's too bad. Mudine was a talented witch in her day."
"Did you know her?" asked Eadric. "She was the one who turned me into a frog."
"Is that so?" said Grassina. "Then she can't really be dead, can she? If she had died, the spell would have been broken as well."
"So what do you think happened to her?" I asked. "We were told that she was sick. She lay down on her bed and disappeared in a puff of smoke."
"She may have gone somewhere for a rest. Or if she were very sick, she may have gone to see a witch doctor. Sometimes their cures take a long time to work."
"Maybe Grandmother knows what happened to her," I said. "The old witches sit around a bonfire and trade stories and recipes on Wednesday nights. She might have heard something about Mudine."
"Where does your grandmother live?" asked Eadric.
"In the Old Witches' Retirement Community. It's a very nice place where every witch gets to choose her own cottage. My grandmother's is made of gingerbread, but I think she's sorry she picked it. She's always complaining that children from the village are eating her out of house and home. I'm sorry she didn't get the one her neighbor has. It has chicken legs and can walk around."
"I've never heard of this place. Where is it?"
"Over the river and through the woods. It's easy to find. Even my horse knows the way."