A Prince among Frogs (14 page)

“We don’t know if they are men or women, but we do know where there are some humans,” said a snake swimming past Millie’s ear.

She shrank back, but it was paying no attention to her. When she glanced at Shelton, she noticed that he was holding on to her ridge with one claw while the rest of him was hiding in his shell.

“There are humans on the island and humans in your old cave,” a sea snake told Audun.

“But you shouldn’t go near any of them,” said another.

“The humans on the island scream and run away when we swim past.”

“And no one can get near the ones in the cave. The entrance is too dangerous.”

“Our cousin tried to go in and was squashed when the roof to the tunnel collapsed.”

“Two other cousins went in as well. We warned them to be careful, and they were. They didn’t touch the tunnel walls, but more of the roof collapsed anyway.”

“They were squashed, too.”

“And what about the humans inside the cave?” asked Audun.

“They yelled when the roof collapsed, which only made it fall down more.”

“Thank you, my friends,” Audun said. “You’ve been very helpful.”

“We have?” said one of the sea snakes.

“Indeed,” Audun told them. “You have repaid whatever debt you believe you owe me.”

“But we want to serve you, Great One!”

Audun thought a minute, then said, “Then wait here for my return, but live as you would anywhere else.”

“Ooh,” said one of the snakes. “We can do that!”

When Millie and Audun left, the snakes were writhing with happiness. Millie couldn’t get away fast enough.

Audun obviously knew where he was going when he headed for the seaweed again. “We won’t have to be in here long this time,” he told Millie. “The seaweed doesn’t grow very far in this direction.”

“I assume my parents and Grassina and Haywood are the humans in the cave,” said Millie, “but that doesn’t make sense. My mother, my great-aunt, and my great-uncle all have magic. Why can’t they get out? Unless … Oh, Audun, you don’t suppose they’re dead, do you?”

“I don’t think that at all,” said Audun. “You heard what the sea snakes said about the humans shouting when the tunnel roof collapsed. The tunnel is fairly long and the cave itself had plenty of room. They should be fine. As to why they can’t get out … Do you remember the stones Olebald brought with him and tried to hide in the dungeon under your parents’ castle?”

Millie nodded. “They were the same as the stones in the roc’s nest. They prevented magic from working near them.”

“The stones came from this cave. I saw them on the walls when Nastia Nautica tried to trap me in there. She must have given some stones to Olebald Wizard.”

“So my family can’t get out because their magic doesn’t work. And the sea snakes say that no one can get in without making the roof collapse,” said Millie. “We’re going to need something to hold up the roof. Perhaps we could get some wood from Nastia Nautica’s ship.”

“That wood is too rotten,” Audun said. “It wouldn’t be strong enough to hold up the roof and support the walls for long. No, what we need is something strong that can hold up the roof from more than one angle.”

“What can we use, then?” asked Millie.

“Not what, whom. And I know just whom to ask.”

Eleven

I
t didn’t take long for Shelton to return to the tunnel with Octavius. “I don’t know why I have to do this,” the octopus grumbled. “We could still go back to the castle and wait for Coral to return. I’m sure she’ll be back soon, and with her magic you could—”

“Magic doesn’t work in the cave,” said Audun. “Or past the entrance of the tunnel. I know. I’ve been in it. We need you because you have all those strong legs. How many do you have, anyway?”

“Eight, but they’re tentacles, not legs,” Octavius said in a quarrelsome voice.

“Start at the front of the tunnel and work your way back to where the roof is weak,” said Millie.

“Just leave room for us to get past,” said Audun. “We’ll have to haul out all the rocks that fell from the roof.”

“Is there anything else?” asked Octavius. “I mean, if you want to stand here all day telling me what to do, I’ll make myself comfortable and—”

“No, no!” Audun said. “That’s all. You can go now.”

“And be snappy about it!” Shelton said, snapping his claws like castanets.

Octavius turned one of his eyes toward the little crab. “Watch it or I might toss you into the tunnel to see if it’s safe!”

Shelton scuttled behind Millie’s tallest ridge and pulled his eyestalks into his shell. “Never mind!” he said and pulled the rest of himself inside, too.

Millie could hear Octavius grumbling all the way down the tunnel. When he stopped, he called back to them, “I found the first weak spot. Here goes … If I put one tentacle here and another over here … There’s one there. I’ll have to twist my body like this, but I might be able to reach it if I …”

“What are we going to do if he can’t reach them all?’ Millie whispered to Audun.

“I’m not going to worry about that unless I have to,” Audun told her. “Let’s just hope he doesn’t run out of tentacles.”

“All right!” Octavius called after a few minutes. “I think I have them all. You can come in now, but don’t touch the walls and don’t bump me, or the whole thing might come crashing down.”

Audun entered the tunnel with Millie close behind, holding on to his tail. It was nearly pitch black inside the tunnel, but Millie could see with very little light. She followed Audun’s example and hunched down so that she was practically crawling on her knees. And then the tunnel got narrower and she
was
crawling. “Does it get any narrower than this?” she asked Audun.

“A little,” he said. “But unless it’s collapsed so much that we can’t get through, we should be able to fit.”

“That’s encouraging,” Millie muttered. “Ask Octavius if he can see anyone in the cave.”

“I can hear you,” said the octopus. “You can talk right to me, you know. I can’t see anything from here, but if I twist this way a little … Nope. All I can see are rocks. I can try calling if you want me to. Emma! Eadric! Grassina! Grassina’s husband whose name I can’t remember!”

“He’s my great-uncle and his name is Haywood,” said Millie.

“Yeah? Well, it doesn’t really matter. No one is answering me, anyway.”

“Is there an opening big enough for Shelton to fit through? Maybe he can see inside the cave.”

“Unh-unh,” Shelton said. “You’re not getting me to go up there until the opening is big enough for you. I’m not getting trapped in a cave when the tunnel collapses!”

Millie sighed. She was growing more anxious by the minute.

The sound of rock scraping on rock reached her ears. A moment later Audun pushed a pile of stones to her. Without letting go of his tail, she shoved the stones back with her feet, wishing she had longer legs to shove the rubble out of the tunnel. She glanced back to see how far from the entrance she had to carry them and saw something moving in the near dark.

“We have come to help, oh friend of the Great One,” said a sea snake.

“In what way may we assist you?” asked another.

“Can you drag these stones out of the tunnel?” Millie asked, tapping the rubble with her hind foot.

“Yesss,” a group of them said at once.

“Who are you talking to?” asked Octavius.

“Sea snakes,” Millie replied.

Stones clattered up ahead as if Octavius had shifted. “I hate sea snakes,” he said just loud enough for Millie to hear.

Millie would have loved to watch to see how the sea snakes moved the rubble, but Audun was already passing more rocks to her. She passed them on, then the bigger rocks that he shoved back one at a time. When Audun crept forward, she did, too, and the whole process started over. No matter how far they moved into the tunnel, the snakes were right there behind her, clearing away the rocks.

After what seemed like hours, Audun reached Octavius and began to inch past him. Millie heard only bits and pieces of their muttered comments to one another. “If you don’t move that tentacle, you’re going to have only seven.” “Watch where you put that thing!” “You want me to go where?” “Ow! Your scales are sharp!” “You’re not nearly as slimy as I thought you were.”

Millie was tired, her back ached from crouching down for so long, and she’d already broken two talons on rocks. She had tried to be patient, but worry was making her temper shorter. She wanted to snap at Audun and Octavius and tell them to hurry up, but that would just start an argument and not help anything. Finally, trying not to let her impatience show, she asked, “How far are we now? Can you see anything yet?”

“Didn’t you just ask that?” said Octavius. “No, I still can’t see a thing.”

“But I’ve almost reached it,” Audun told her. “I’m out of the water now. Just a few more feet … There,” he said, half dragging Millie past the octopus and into the cave as he lurched clear of the tunnel. He reached down and drew her up to join him and they stood side by side, looking around the enormous cave. It was dark, with a dim, pale green light coming from the green stones embedded in the walls. Water lapped around their ankles as they stepped farther into the cave. The remains of plants that normally grew in seawater hung dead and limp on the walls, as if the cave had once been filled with water. A few fish swam in the water on the floor, but they darted away at the dragons’ approach.

The walls of the cave were uneven and bore ledges of varying sizes. There were shapes perched on some of the ledges; some looked just like rocks, the rest … ?

“Mother?” Millie called, the word catching in her throat.

One of the shapes groaned. Another raised a hand a few inches before letting it fall back to the ledge.

“It’s them!” Millie let go of Audun and sped across the cave to crouch beside one of the figures. “My father is breathing,” she said and inhaled, but the air smelled stale and she found herself gasping after the first few breaths.

Shelton climbed down off her back and looked around, waving his eyestalks.

“They’ve used up most of the good air,” Audun said, placing his hand on her shoulder. “Let’s not use up the rest. We need to get them out of here before it’s all gone. Grassina is breathing, too.”

“And here’s your mother,” said Shelton, swimming through the water covering the floor of the cave.

“Are they all … breathing?” Millie asked, almost too afraid to say it.

“Barely,” said Audun as he straightened up from beside Haywood. He pulled off the chain holding the amulet and handed it to Millie. “Here, put this on. You can take your mother and Grassina out first. I’ll stay here with your father and your great-uncle.”

“But you won’t be able to breathe!” said Millie.

“There’s a little good air left. Just don’t take too long!”

“I’ll be as quick as I can,” said Millie. “Help me get them to the door.”

With Audun’s help, Millie was able to carry her nearly lifeless mother and great-aunt out of the cave and into the tunnel. It was difficult getting the two women past Octavius, but he proved to be exceedingly pliable, and after some maneuvering Millie was able to squeeze them through the narrow space.

Millie was anxious to return to the cave to get Audun and the men, but first she had to see the women to safety. Because she was wearing the amulet, both Emma and Grassina were able to breathe again and both began to get color back in their cheeks. Neither woman was conscious, however, which meant that Millie would have to lug two dead weights to the surface and drag them through the waves to dry land. Swimming with her front legs wrapped around bodies was a difficult process and took far longer than she would have liked.

She was nearing the surface when she felt the presence of something behind her. After checking to make sure that the women were still all right, she bent her neck to look down. A large figure was coming out of the darker reaches of the water; at first Millie couldn’t tell what it was. It wasn’t until she saw an old mermaid with dark eyes like bottomless pits and wild, nearly translucent hair that she realized it was Nastia Nautica, and the blob that kept changing shape beneath her was the sea monster.