by Ali Sparkes
“Danny, when will you learn to trust me?” sighed Petty with a look of great sorrow, thinking of the hidden S.W.I.T.C.H. spray bottles inside her coat. “You’re all quite safe with me . . .”
Charlie’s most daring feat took place that night. At around 2:30 a.m., there came a series of small sharp knocks on their door. It sounded like a squirrel with urgent news.
Danny blearily slid out of his top bunk, narrowly avoiding standing on Josh’s head below, and went to the door. Outside it had stopped raining and there in the dim light of the moon stood Charlie in her pajamas, clutching several shiny rectangle things.
“My DS! WHOA!” yelled Danny, scooping up his computer gadget in delight.
“Shhhhh!” Charlie looked around edgily. “Don’t wake everyone up, you plopstick!” She stepped inside and pushed the door shut with her shoulder, grinning wickedly. “I couldn’t sleep, I was sooooo bored. So I thought I’d get these back for us.”
Callum and Sayid were now awake. They got out of their bunks and seized their own gadgets, whooping with joy. Josh sat up in bed, smiling and shaking his head. He hadn’t brought a computer game with him—creepy-crawlies were his kind of fun. “You’re going to get into SUCH trouble this time, Charlie,” he said. “How did you do it?”
“I noticed where Drill Sergeant left the key to the confiscation cupboard while I was in the camp office getting shouted at for the hair thing,” said Charlie with a casual shrug. “It’s on a hook right next to his bunk in the room next door.” She held up the key, an old-fashioned iron one with a fob hanging off it—one of those soft plastic bulblike fobs with a mini yellow fish floating in red water inside it.
“I still can’t believe you cut Sally’s hair,” guffawed Callum.
“She wanted me to! I didn’t make her!” said Charlie, dropping the key back in her pajama top pocket. “Why all the fuss?”
They settled onto the bunks and switched on the gadgets with assorted jingly noises and flashes of color. The power chargers were still in their drawers so they hooked up to the mains and went on gaming for hours. Josh joined in a bit, although mostly he watched. Until he noticed something slightly worrying.
“Erm . . . guys,” he said, peering out of the window. “The sun is nearly up. Don’t you think we ought to get some sleep now?”
“Sheeesh!” Charlie stood up, looking worried. “I’d better get these back in the cupboard and the key back on the hook before Drill Sergeant wakes up.”
“It’s only 5:15,” said Sayid, looking at his watch.
“But he gets up early to go running,” said Charlie. “His cabin’s next to ours, and I hear his alarm clock go off at six o’clock, every morning, and then he hoofs past our window ten minutes later.”
“We’ll come with you,” offered Josh, clapping Danny’s shoulder. “We can keep watch while you go in.” Sayid and Callum handed back their switched-off games and scrambled back into their bunks.
It was cool and fresh as they stepped out into the dawn and made their way quietly toward the cabin that housed the office and Drill Sergeant’s room at the far end of the camp. As they passed the large pond, Josh paused, entranced by a chorus of purring croaks. “Listen! It’s the frogs! The froggy dawn chorus is just starting!” His eyes were shining.
“We haven’t got time,” hissed Danny, feeling very nervous now that the sun was so far up. He didn’t fancy meeting up with Drill Sergeant while clutching all these gadgets.
“No—I want to see!” whispered Charlie and ran after Josh who was now kneeling at the edge of the pond, pointing to the little greeny-brown noses and pop-up eyes of six or seven frogs in the dark water.
Charlie dropped the games on the bank and leaned in to look. “Ooooh—they’re so sweet, aren’t they? Ooh—look—did you see that one go? He just hopped right out from under that rock and into the water!”
“More ‘leaped’ than hopped, really,” said Josh. “Toads hop. Frogs leap. Actually, toads aren’t even that good at hopping . . . they mostly crawl about. They’re not half as energetic as frogs. They’re easy to catch.”
“Oh, here we go,” muttered Danny. “Nerd attack. Come ON, you two!”
“Wait! I want to see another frog leap!” said Charlie, crouching next to Josh. She anchored her hands on the bank and leaned right out across the water, fascinated. There was a plop. But it wasn’t a frog. It was the key to the confiscation cupboard.
Josh and Charlie squeaked in horror and tried to grab it as it sank through the water, but it was gone in a second, lost in the dark depths.
“Noooo!” gasped Charlie and shoved her arm in after it, scrabbling around frantically. Josh joined her, but all they succeeded in doing was stirring up all the silt and weeds, making it impossible to see a thing. They couldn’t feel anything keylike—just the rather slippery gooeyness of waterweed, algae, and the odd squirm of something living.
Eventually, as Danny looked on in horror, they slumped down on the bank and stared at each other, aghast. “We’re done for,” said Josh. “We can’t get the games back in the cupboard or the key back on the hook. And Drill Sergeant could wake up at any minute!”
Charlie sighed and shook her head. “No . . . you’re not done for. It was me who did it . . . me who lost the key . . . you two go back to bed, and I’ll own up.”
“But you’ll be sent home!” said Danny. “That’s what they said after the hair thing. One more strike and you’re out!”
“Ah well,” shrugged Charlie. “It’s been fun. But unless one of us turns into a frog and goes diving for the key, that’s that. I’ll be OK. Mom was hoping I’d last the full ten days . . . “ She bit her lip. “. . . but I’m always disappointing her, so it won’t be a surprise. Why are you two looking all funny?”
Josh was staring at Danny and Danny was staring right back and now he started shaking his head. “You’ve got to be kidding!” he said. “You have GOT to be kidding!”
Josh looked at his watch. “We’ve got half an hour if we’re lucky,” he said.
“What are you two on about?” said Charlie, peeling some pondweed off her arm.
“Erm . . . we might be able to help,” said Josh, detaching a water snail from his wrist.
“Josh! NO!” hissed Danny. “You can’t!”
“Look—she’s not just any girl,” said Josh. “She’ll handle it!”
“Handle what?” said Charlie, looking very puzzled.
“Charlie—you said one of us needed to turn into a frog,” said Josh. “Well . . . one of us can.”
“OK,” said Charlie. “If you say so.”
“I’m going to tell her,” Josh said to Danny, who slapped his hand across his eyes and groaned. “Listen, Charlie—don’t interrupt, there’s no time. We CAN turn into frogs—and we’re going to do it just as soon as we’ve woken Petty Potts up.”
“Which one of you is S.W.I.T.C.H.ing?” Petty eyed all three of them eagerly as they stood beside the pond. She was also wearing pajamas (thick plaid ones) with rain boots and her dark red raincoat, which she now opened up, revealing the four S.W.I.T.C.H. spray bottles held in its lining. “Frog, toad, or newt?” she added, like a mad waiter presenting a menu.
“Frog! Frog!” Charlie jumped up and down in immense excitement, clapping her hands. “Oh, I can’t believe this! It’s so amazing!”
“Wait—you’re not going!” said Josh. “I am! It’s far too dangerous for a g—for a beginner.”
Charlie narrowed her eyes at him. “You meant ‘for a girl’! That’s what you were going to say, wasn’t it?”
“No—yes—look, it doesn’t matter!” spluttered Josh. “It was my plan, and believe me, you have no idea how terrifying it is to be S.W.I.T.C.H.ed. Everything wants to eat you!”
“You’ve done it loads of times!” pointed out Charlie. “So it can’t be that bad.”
“Yes, but only because Petty tricked us into it! Mostly, anyway . . .”
“Excuse me! The genius scientist is actually PRESENT, you know!” interrupted Petty.
“And pardon me, but didn’t you ASK for my help this time?”
“Sorry, Petty . . . but you know what I mean,” said Josh.
“Yes . . . you’re never all that worried about how chewed we might get, are you?” added Danny, giving her a glare.
“Nonsense. I am always filled with great concern for you,” scoffed Petty. “Now—who’s first?”
“Me! Me!” Charlie started jumping again, as if she was practicing. “Frog! I want to be a frog. Spray me!”
“Charlie—I said—” began Josh.
“Don’t care!” said Charlie. “S.W.I.T.C.H. me, Petty, or I’ll tell everyone your secret. Turn me into a frog, and I will NEVER breathe a word.”
Petty was taking no chances. She pulled out a bottle with “A1” written on it in marker and sprayed it at Charlie’s head. There was just time for a thrilled squeak before Charlie vanished and a frog sat at their feet, grinning in a very delighted way.
“Petty! S.W.I.T.C.H. me NOW!” commanded Josh. “You shouldn’t have let her go first! If she gets eaten, I will NEVER forgive you!”
Three seconds later, there were two frogs on the bank. Petty waved the bottle at Danny and wiggled her eyebrows. He sighed. “Ah, go on then . . .”
And then there were three.
“Ribbet! Ribbet! Ribbet!” yelled Charlie, leaping up and down like a bug-eyed ballerina. “WOW! Ribbet! Ribbet!”
“Why do you keep going ‘ribbet’?” said Josh, extending his impressive back legs and peering down the length of them.
“I’m speaking frog!” Charlie giggled.
“Right—if you say so,” said Josh. “But actually, common frogs don’t say ‘ribbet.’ We’re speaking froggish right now, but the only frog which actually goes ‘ribbet’ is the kind in Disney movies.”
PLOP! Charlie landed with a squelch, right in front of Josh. “Well I like ribbetting! Will other frogs understand us?” she asked, her bulbous eyes shining with delight. They were yellowy gold around the outer edges with large oval black pupils in the center.
“Yes, probably,” chuckled Josh. He was pretty thrilled to be a frog too. “They might freak out when they see us, though. We might still smell a bit human. They might scream. They don’t ribbet, but they can scream.”
Danny was ready to scream at any moment. “What’s going to eat me this time, Josh?” he asked, looking around edgily. Behind him the titanic shape of Petty Potts was standing very still. Her foot, in its rubber boot, looked like the size of a car.
“Ummm . . . big birds might try,” said Josh. “Mammals too. Snakes. A fox would make a quick snack of you, no problem. A cat too, maybe, although mostly they just like to play.”
Danny shuddered, the ripples of horror visible across his mottled throat. So did Josh. He’d been “played with” by a cat before, on the day they were S.W.I.T.C.H.ed into grasshoppers. “Let’s go!” he said and leapt into the water.
Two more sploshes and plumes of bubbles followed him in, and at once, the world was utterly different. They were floating through a dim watery universe, filled with elegantly wafting weed, spinning particles of silt, tumbling black water snails, and darting brown fish.
“Woooooooooow!” marveled Charlie. “Look at meeeeee!” Keeping her arms close to her body, she kicked her long legs and webbed feet and shot through the water at high speed. Josh copied her and caught up in two seconds. “How come I can talk underwater?” asked Charlie. “I’m not opening my mouth!”
“You’re sending vibrations,” explained Josh, using his own vibrations. “Through your throat muscles and skin. Clever, isn’t it?”
“Wait for me!” called Danny and followed close behind. “Josh! Wait! Is there anything down here which will eat me?”
Josh turned in the water and watched his brother approaching. Danny looked truly elegant. Josh had always loved frogs. Lots of people thought they were slimy and revolting, but Josh saw only their sleek, shiny beauty as they swam and their amazing leaping ability on dry land. He admired their clever pulsating throats pushing air deep down into their bodies and their amazing skin, able to adapt to water or dry land.
“We’re OK down here!” he called. “There’s nothing big enough to go for us in the pond. Another frog might jump on your back in springtime but not in summer. I can’t see any around now, anyway. Ooooh this is SOOOO amazing!”
Danny started to relax and enjoy the cool silky feel of the water. He stopped shuddering every time waterweed stroked his skin. He noticed beautiful pale greeny-gold shafts of light filtering down from the dawn sun above, and he swam up to break the skin of the water with his nose. His nostrils sprang open in the morning air, and the scent of the pond rushed into them. It was rich and almost spicy, like earth and grass and mint. He bobbed back down under the water to find Josh drifting happily nearby. “How come I don’t have to go up more often to breathe, Josh?” he asked.
“Frogs are amazing,” said Josh. “We can breathe through our nostrils like this . . .” He kicked his powerful legs twice, and his nose popped through the skin of the water and up into the morning air. Danny copied him, pulling in another fresh breath through his small nostrils. Josh dropped down again and he followed.
“Or . . .” went on Josh, “. . . we can breathe through our skin. That’s what we’re doing now, while our nostrils are shut. Our skin absorbs oxygen from the water. It’s brilliant, isn’t it?’
“Two ways to breathe!” said Danny.
“Three if you include the gills at the tadpole stage,” said Josh.
“Look at meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Charlie shot past them again in a stream of bubbles and some small whirling snails. “This is better than World of Adventures!!!”
“OK, OK! Slow down, Charlie!” Josh grabbed one of her legs, and she spun around in the water.
“What?” she demanded.
“Have you forgotten why we’re down here?” said Danny. “We’ve got to get the key!”
“The key? Oh pooh!” grumbled Charlie. “But this is so much FUN! Why don’t we get Petty to spray us with loads more of that S.W.I.T.C.H. stuff? We can just spend the rest of the camp time down here! Then we don’t have to worry about Drill Sergeant at all. This would be the BEST!”
“No,” said Josh. “We can’t! For one thing, everyone would go mad with worry. For another thing, sooner or later we’d have to get back on land and get some food. And then we might end up being food.”
“Come on,” said Danny. “Start looking for the key! We’ve only got minutes left before Drill Sergeant gets up and sees it’s gone.”
“Look for the key fob,” said Josh. “The bit hanging off the key. The red ink in it should be easy to see.”
“Shame we haven’t got insect vision,” said Danny as they swam down to the murkier depths of the pond. “When you’re a bluebottle, you can look all round at once. You can check out your proboscis and your bum at the same time.”
“Have you really been a fly?” marveled Charlie.
“Yep. And done fly stuff,” said Danny. “And trust me—you don’t want the details! You’d never eat a doughnut again.”
“No insects to worry about down here, though!” said Charlie, digging cheerfully through the silt, pondweed roots, and clumps of algae. “Eeeeeugh! Wrong...”
Several creatures shot out of the muck cloud she’d stirred up. Danny yelped. There were eight-legged, six-legged, even clawed things, rushing towards his face.
Josh chortled. “They’re just water mites and water fleas and freshwater shrimps. You can eat them if you like.”
It was a menu of horror for Danny. He shut his eyes (as far as he could—they didn’t seem to have proper eyelids; just filmy things) until the minibeasts had swum past him.
“What’s the time now, do you think?” Josh murmured. He was getting anxious. They’d spent far too much time having froggy fun. Danny checked his wrist automatically, before realizing his watch wasn’t there—just a slender, freckled, greeny-brown hand.
“I’ve got it! I’ve
got it!” cried Charlie. Woohoo!” She had scooped up the key and the fob and was wearing the ring that connected them on one arm, like a bangle. “Let’s hop up onto the bank then, so Petty can change us back.”
They swam for the surface, but Charlie paused mid kick. “Hang on though . . .” she said, her froggy face creasing with concern. “What happens when we switch back? Are we all going to be naked? Because that is something I DON’T want to see before breakfast!”
“No, we’ll be fine,” said Josh. “All our clothes get S.W.I.T.C.H.ed too. Petty says the cellular hijack just takes them with us. We’ve never come back naked yet, have we, Danny?”
“Nope,” said Danny. “Squashed, upside down, burnt eyebrows . . . but not naked.”
“Good-oh!” chirruped Charlie. “Because I’m definitely S.W.I.T.C.H.ing again! It’s the best fun EVER.”
“Look . . . it’s not all fun,” warned Josh. “Sometimes it can be really dangerous.”
“Oh, you’re just SAYING that because you want to stop me because I’m a girl!” scoffed Charlie.
And that’s when the sword shot down through the water.
A second later, there was proof that frogs can scream. Charlie made the most terrifying screech as she was snagged down through the water at lightning speed. Before Josh and Danny could do more than blink, she was gone, plunged away into the dark depths. The shaft of the sword plummeted with her, and then, to Josh and Danny’s horror, a plume of red came bubbling up toward them.
Josh tried to shut his eyes. He realized, with a wave of sickness, what they were seeing. He had watched a heron hunting once before, on an early morning outing with his Wild Things club. The heron had stood motionless for nearly half an hour before it suddenly turned into a vicious killing machine, driving its skewerlike beak into the water in a blur of speed and pulling it out with a writhing, bleeding fish speared on it. A living kebab.