Toad-ally Magic

by Deborah Kelly

  Granny shook her head.

  ‘Toads breathe air like us. Don’t worry—he’ll stay asleep while it’s this cold.’ She pulled a large basket filled with wool out from under her bed.

  ‘Did I ever tell you I was once a champion speed knitter?’

  Before Ruby could answer, Granny had disappeared in a whir of colour and a clatter of knitting needles.

  After a few seconds, she stopped and held up a red and white striped hooded jumpsuit for Jellybean.

  Then, in the shake of a lamb’s tail, Granny whipped up two colourful outfits for herself and Ruby, complete with matching hats, scarves and gloves, as well as a baby sling for Jellybean.

  ‘Bravo!’ cried Ruby.

  Jellybean squealed with delight.

  Granny pulled four tennis racquets from under the bed. She wove the remaining wool like shoelaces around two of the racquets and slipped them over Ruby’s feet.

  ‘Snow shoes!’ Ruby giggled at her strange new footwear.

  Granny hoisted Jellybean into the sling on her back and nodded with satisfaction.

  ‘Now we are ready for the snow!’

  Outside, the snow had stopped and the air was as crisp as an apple.

  Ruby stood in the doorway and breathed deeply. She hoped it wasn’t too stuffy in the caravan for Todd with the heater still on. Like them, he would probably enjoy a bit of fresh air.

  I’ll leave the door open—just a crack, she thought.

  Chapter 12

  As they shuffled across the snow, Ruby spotted a trail of paw prints.

  ‘Look!’ she whispered. ‘There he is!’

  Jupiter was rolling around in the snow by the steps, clearly enjoying the cooler weather he had created.

  He sat up and shook the snow off the tips of his ears.

  ‘Nice work, Ruby. That boy is much nicer as a toad.’

  Ruby and Granny exchanged worried looks. Getting Jupiter to turn Todd back into a boy again might be harder than they thought.

  And there was an even bigger problem.

  Jupiter had wished the backyard into a freezing winter wonderland. And now, he had wished back his ability to speak! That meant that two of Ruby’s precious wishes had already been wasted.

  I have to find a way to get my wishes back, Ruby thought, before Jupiter uses them all up!

  If Cousin Todd was stuck as a warty, poisonous cane toad forever, it would be all her fault.

  Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a loud beeping noise.

  ‘Something smells fishy,’ muttered Granny.

  ‘Very suspicious,’ Ruby agreed.

  ‘No, I mean really fishy.’ Granny sniffed the air. ‘Like … sardines!’

  An enormous tip truck reversed into the Wishfingers’ driveway. Its tray tilted higher and higher. There was a great squelching noise as half a tonne of small flapping fish slithered out onto the snow.

  ‘Excellent!’ Jupiter purred. ‘My delivery has arrived!’

  ‘Stop wasting my wishes!’ Ruby cried, pinching her nose.

  ‘Mind your own business,’ Jupiter snarled.

  ‘Jupiter!’ Granny scolded. ‘Those wishes belong to Ruby and they are not to be wasted! Turn Todd back into a boy at once!’

  ‘They’re my wishes now!’ Jupiter glared at them with a mouthful of sardines. ‘Now scram—before I turn all of you into toads!’

  Jellybean whimpered. Ruby and Granny’s mouths snapped shut.

  From under a bush a cat appeared, and then another. They twitched their noses, licked their whiskers and joined the feeding frenzy.

  Suddenly Ruby noticed that Jellybean’s paddling pool was no longer leaning up against the fence. It sat right side up on the grass with group of cats clustered around it, licking frantically.

  ‘It is full of ice cream!’ cried Ruby, shaking her head at another wasted wish.

  A large kookaburra sailed past Ruby’s head and snatched a sardine off the pile. Crows swooped down from the trees. A flock of seagulls squabbled by the letterbox.

  Suddenly, a beautiful tabby with blue-grey eyes stopped feeding and lifted her head. The other cats turned around, their ears and tails twitching. One by one they crouched down low and began to creep slowly and stealthily towards the garden.

  What are they doing? Ruby wondered.

  Then she spotted something small and yellowish-brown hopping about helplessly in the snow.

  Chapter 13

  ‘Todd!’ Ruby hollered. The warmth of the caravan had woken him up!

  If only I hadn’t left the door open a crack! She groaned.

  Suddenly, the cats shot across the yard like radishes from a slingshot.

  ‘Run, Todd!’ Ruby shouted, sprinting after them. ‘I mean, hop! Hop for your life!’

  Todd’s blue eyes grew wider and wider. He scrambled through the snow toward the fence as quickly as he could on clumsy webbed feet.

  ‘Look out!’ cried Granny.

  Just as Todd reached the fence, a kookaburra swooped low. It snapped at him with its razor-sharp beak, but Todd squeezed under the fence and into Mrs Cottesloe’s garden, just in time.

  ‘Phew!’ Ruby gasped.

  ‘You can say that again!’ agreed Granny.

  But their relief didn’t last long.

  As the cats and kookaburras made their way back to the sardine pile and ice-cream-filled paddling pool for a much easier meal, Ruby suddenly remembered her morning chat with Henry—and his bag of horrible cane toads!

  ‘Todd’s not safe in there!’ she cried. ‘Cane toads are pests! Henry puts them in a bag and gets rid of them!’

  Granny looked worried. ‘In that case, we had better find him before Henry does!’

  But finding Todd in Mrs Cottesloe’s large garden would not be easy. There were a million different places a frightened toad could hide.

  Plus, now that Jupiter had wished the backyard into a freezing winter wonderland, it was already beginning to get dark.

  I have to find Todd, thought Ruby.

  ‘Let’s ask Jupiter again.’

  They found Jupiter standing on his sardine pile next to the Tabby, growling and hissing at the other cats.

  Granny looked doubtful.

  ‘I don’t like our chances. He’ll turn us both into toads!’

  That’s it! Ruby grinned. She scooped up a handful of snow and formed it into a firm ball. Then she hurled it as hard as she could at Jupiter. The snowball missed Jupiter and hit the Tabby instead. She leapt into the air with a yowl.

  Jellybean giggled.

  ‘Have you lost your marbles?’ Granny cried. ‘Do you want to be turned into a toad?!’

  Ruby tried again.

  This time the snowball hit Jupiter’s tail. He wheeled around in fury.

  A third snowball hit him square in the face.

  ‘It was me, Jupiter!’ shouted Ruby. ‘I’m a horrid little toad—just like my cousin!’

  Jupiter narrowed his eyes.

  All of a sudden, Ruby felt rather odd. Her skin grew strangely tight, as if it were shrinking. Her eyes bulged, bigger and bigger, until she thought they might pop right out of her head! Her skin had turned a yellowish-brown and began to bubble. One by one warts popped up all over her body!

  Ruby wriggled her webbed feet. Her plan had worked! She hopped over to where one of Dad’s thongs was poking out of the snow.

  Clinging tightly to the sides of her little rubber sled, Ruby the toad pushed off hard with her long hind legs.

  ‘Hold on, Todd!’ Ruby cried, as the thong skidded across the snow. ‘I’m coming!’

  But all Granny and Jellybean heard was:

  ‘Bleurgh!’

  Chapter 14

  Thwack!

  The thong hit the fence. Ruby went flying and landed in a soft drift of snow. She blink
ed a few times, shook the snow off her back and then slipped under the fence into Mrs Cottesloe’s garden.

  As she hopped across the lawn, Ruby was surprised to find she had excellent night vision. But with the sun now gone, it was much colder. Ruby yawned. She remembered what Granny had told her about toads hibernating in very cold weather.

  I mustn’t go to sleep! she thought. I have to find my cousin!

  Ruby peered into an upturned bucket. She hopped under a bush and looked around. She spotted her favourite sparkly ball but there was no sign of Todd.

  Suddenly, she could hear a rustling. Something was sliding towards her.

  A red-bellied black snake!

  Ruby felt her body puff up. The skin on either side of her head began to prickle and soon she felt frothy white poison running down the sides of her neck.

  The snake paused. Its tongue flickered. Then it slithered off quickly in the other direction.

  Double phew! thought Ruby.

  Her own tummy was beginning to rumble. She hadn’t eaten anything for hours. Insects buzzed around one of the solar lights at the edge of the path. Before Ruby knew what she was doing, her mouth flew open and snapped up something deliciously crisp and salty.

  Another toad hopped by.

  ‘Wait!’ Ruby cried, hurrying after it. ‘Have you seen my cousin?’

  But the toad just blinked its huge amber eyes and hopped away.

  Everywhere Ruby looked now, there were toads. But none of them had Todd’s freckles or his baby blue eyes.

  Ruby began to worry.

  Perhaps Todd had already left Mrs Cottesloe’s garden. Perhaps he had fallen in the swimming pool or been eaten by a snake! Perhaps he had gone to sleep somewhere and Henry had caught him. At the very least, he was cold, hungry and afraid.

  I’m the worst cousin in the whole wide world! Ruby thought.

  Her bottom lip began to tremble.

  There was a sudden rush of wind as a ginormous pair of wings flapped overhead. Every toad in the garden stood still. Ruby remembered what Henry had said about cane toads being masters of camouflage and froze too.

  As the owl flew off into the night, Ruby let out a long breath.

  Triple phew!

  Now that the danger had passed, the toads started hopping about again. All except for one that lay curled in a tight ball under Mrs Cottesloe’s washing line, fast asleep.

  Ruby hopped over to take a closer look. It had a sprinkling of freckles over its nostrils!

  ‘Todd!’ Ruby squealed, hopping up and down with joy.

  The toad opened one sleepy baby blue eye.

  ‘Wake up, Todd! It’s me, Ruby!

  Chapter 15

  Todd stared at Ruby in disbelief. His baby blue eyes filled with tears.

  ‘I’m sorry I ate Jellybean’s cake. I’m sorry I ruined your artwork. I’m sorry for everything I’ve done.’ His voice wobbled. ‘I’ll do anything you say, but please, please change me back into a boy!’

  ‘I’m sorry too.’ Ruby admitted. ‘It wasn’t very nice of me to turn you into a toad.’

  ‘But how did you …?’

  Ruby held up her webbed hands.

  ‘I promise I will explain everything and I will change you back into a boy, but right now we need to get out of here. This garden is no place for toads.’

  A thin beam of light cut across the garden. Ruby spotted a familiar pair of boots and heard the faint rustle of plastic. Suddenly she heard Granny’s voice over the fence, loud and clear.

  ‘HENRY!!!!! How wonderful to see you, HENRY! How are you this fine evening, HENRY? Looking for TOADS, I see!’

  Granny’s trying to warn us! Ruby realised.

  With Granny distracting Henry, now was their chance to escape.

  ‘Come on!’ Ruby nudged Todd. ‘Follow me!’

  As they hopped back toward the fence, Todd squealed.

  Ruby whipped around but he was nowhere to be seen.

  Then, she looked up.

  ‘Gotcha!’ shouted Henry, dropping Todd into a plastic bag already half filled with toads.

  Ruby looked around in panic. She had to do something—and fast!

  In the light of Henry’s torch, a glimmer caught her eye.

  My favourite sparkly ball!

  Ruby took a flying leap. She landed directly on the top of the ball, which catapulted her high into the air.

  Boing!

  As Henry’s face drew nearer, Ruby spread her limbs wide. She kept her eyes fixed firmly on his and prepared for impact.

  Splat! Ruby’s warty, slimy body hit Henry perfectly on the nose.

  ‘Arrgh!’ cried Henry. He fell to his knees, clutching his face with both hands. The plastic bag fell to the ground and spilled open. Toads scurried off in all directions.

  Todd bounded towards her, his baby blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

  ‘Let’s go!’ cried Ruby.

  The two cousins hopped across Mrs Cottesloe’s lawn as fast as their webbed feet would carry them. When they reached the fence, they dived through the gap and straight into the safety of Granny Wishfingers’ bucket.

  Quadruple phew!

  Chapter 16

  When Ruby woke up it was morning.

  She found herself lying on a soft towel at the bottom of the chalk bucket, with Todd snoring loudly beside her.

  As she yawned and stretched, Ruby felt a sudden tingling in the tips of her webbed fingers.

  They buzzed and hummed. They tickled and wriggled. They niggled like an itch begging to be scratched.

  My wishes are back!

  Not wanting to waste another moment, Ruby pressed her webbed hands together tightly and closed her eyes.

  ‘I wish Todd and I were kids again!’ She blew on her webbed fingertips with all her might.

  In the blink of an eye, Ruby and Todd were sitting side by side on the floor of Granny’s caravan, surrounded by pieces of the broken chalk bucket.

  ‘Yippee!!’ Todd shouted, leaping to his feet and dancing around the caravan. ‘I’m a boy! I’m a boy!’

  ‘Hooray!’ Ruby laughed. ‘No warts!’ She lifted Jellybean out of his carry cot and swung him around until he was giggling too.

  Granny sat up in bed and put on her glasses.

  ‘It’s good to see you both back in your own skins, even if you are still hopping about like a pair of toads!’

  ‘But, Granny,’ Ruby paused to catch her breath. ‘How did you get my wishes back from Jupiter?’

  ‘I didn’t.’ Granny smiled. ‘Jupiter lost the wishes and his ability to talk the minute he turned you into a toad. You see, he also broke The Golden Rule of Magic. Magic should never be used–’

  ‘–to harm nor punish anyone or anything!’ Ruby finished. It was one rule that Ruby would never forget.

  ‘But you put yourself in danger to save your cousin,’ Granny went on, ‘and that is how you earned back your wishes. I’m very proud of you, Ruby.’ She beamed. ‘I think Great, Great, Great, Great-Grandfather Wishfingers would be too.’

  ‘You were pretty brave,’ Todd added.

  Ruby’s heart swelled with pride. She gazed out the window. In the gentle morning light, the Wishfingers’ garden looked like a beautiful birthday cake covered in soft white icing. Ruby looked at Todd and grinned.

  ‘Last one out is a slimy toad!’

  The children raced outside into the snow with Granny and Jellybean close behind.

  When they’d had a snowball fight and built a giant snowman, Ruby and Todd lay down and moved their legs back and forth to make snow angels.

  ‘What fun!’ Granny sighed, looking at her watch. ‘But unless you are planning on wishing back time, we had better get cracking. Jellybean’s party starts in one hour!’

  Chapter 17

  On their way back to the hous
e, Ruby noticed that some of Dad’s vegetables had curled and withered from the snow. She closed her eyes tightly and pressed her fingers together.

  ‘I wish the whole garden was back to how it was before Todd arrived!’

  In a blink, the snow had gone. Ruby breathed deeply. The air was still crisp, but a bright orange leaf floated from above and landed gently on the grass by her feet. Dad’s vegetable garden was looking healthy again. His radish plants stood in neat rows. Crisp green lettuces grew around the edge of the garden bed—quite perfect for picnic sandwiches.

  In the kitchen they all worked together, sweeping and mopping until there was not a single cake crumb or muddy footprint to be seen.

  ‘I think you had better wish up that birthday cake, Ruby,’ said Granny glancing at the kitchen clock. ‘It’s almost party time.’

  Ruby’s heart sank. Wishing up a birthday cake for Jellybean didn’t seem anywhere near as special as actually making him one.

  ‘If only we had more time,’ Granny sighed.

  Ruby grinned. She closed her eyes tightly and blew on her fingertips with all her might.

  The hands on the kitchen clock spun backwards.

  ‘Now we have all the time we need to make the biggest, yummiest birthday cake in the whole wide world!’

  Todd fetched eggs and butter from the fridge. Granny turned on the oven and greased two large baking tins. Ruby began measuring out flour, baking powder and sugar.

  Together they sifted and mixed, stirred and beat, until there were two giant cakes in the oven and the kitchen was filled with the delicious aroma of chocolate.

  While Granny put Jellybean down for his nap, Ruby and Todd went outside.

  A full bucket of chalk sat at the bottom of the steps.

  ‘I’m really sorry about your banner,’ began Todd. ‘Do you think we could make another birthday sign for Jellybean?’

  ‘Sure,’ said Ruby.

  The children worked side by side until the front steps were covered with the words ‘Happy Birthday, Jellybean’, a giant number one and drawings of trains and trucks, dinosaurs and strawberries—all the things her little brother liked.