The Frog Princess (7 page)

A snake,
I thought. Even if it was in a cage, the thought of a snake in the room made my heart beat faster and my skin feel cold and clammy.

"It's our turn!" breathed one of the spiders. "I want to hear how the two frogs were enchanted."

"Go ahead, princess!" squeaked a mouse.

"Tell us how—"

"—you became a frog!"

With a snake in the room, all I wanted to do was hide, but it seemed only fair that I answer. I swallowed hard and tried to speak normally. "Actually," I began, "it was Eadric who became a frog first. He said something to a witch that she didn't like and she turned him into a frog. Then when I kissed him so he would turn back into a prince, I turned into a frog, too. When we first saw Vannabe, we thought she was the witch who did it, but it wasn't her at all."

"Are you kidding?" said Li'l. "Vannabe couldn't turn a cabbage into coleslaw. She's trying to be a witch, but she doesn't have the knack for it."

"If she's not a witch, what does she want with Eadric and me? What is she going to do with those plants she found?"

"I'll tell you if you really want to know," said the bat.

"She'd be the one to tell," whispered one of the spiders in a voice so soft I might have imagined it. "Li'l Stinker has lived here most of her life. She's tied to that rafter with a piece of twine. It's too short to reach any of the cages, or one of us would have helped her untie it long ago. I've seen her try many a time, but that knot lasts like iron. I wish I could get up there to see what kind of knot the old witch used."

"Moe's very interested in knots. Eenie and I like to try different designs in our webs, but our brother has made knots his life study. You can see some of our handiwork on the broom against the back wall. Eenie, Miney, Moe, and I did it before the witch caught us."

"I'm sure you're very talented," I said.

"If you all are finished talking, I'll tell her about Vannabe now. I refuse to try to speak over your cackling!" Li'l glared at each of the cages before swinging around to face me. "I'm going to have to give you a little history first. Vannabe has lived here for about a year. I'm the only one who's been here longer than that. I used to live here with the old witch, Mudine. She was a nice old lady, although kind of crazy toward the end. Hardly anybody came by because she didn't like company and she made people feel uncomfortable. She had me live with her only because she didn't like the bugs. The old woman thought cleaning was a waste of her time, so there were always plenty of bugs and I was here to eat them."

Li'l sighed and rearranged her wings. "Those were the good old days. That witch could do real magic and some days this place was hopping! But Mudine was old even when I first came to live with her, and her health wasn't good. Then she got sick and she couldn't take care of the animals anymore, so she let them all out of their cages. By then she was too weak to undo my twine, so I was still here when she lay down on her bed and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"We'd known that a young woman from one of the farms had been snooping around for some time. We didn't let on, but we knew. The day the old witch vanished, Vannabe took the place over. The puff of smoke was still fogging up the room when that woman barged in and made herself at home. As far as I can tell, she hasn't even a hint of magic in her. Her only claim to fame is that she can read, which, I admit, is an accomplishment in itself. Why, these days the best witches are the ones with the talent who can also read. You have to read the old spells, you see. Passing them down by word of mouth can be a bit shaky. People forget things, mispronounce a word or two... Who knows what can happen then?

"Anyway, Vannabe really wants to be a witch, but it takes more than just wanting. You have to have some talent or you can do only the simplest spells, the kind you just read from the book. Vannabe's not interested in the basic spells. She's got it in her head that to be a real witch she has to do big, showy magic, the kind that would impress lots of people. She doesn't realize that the little magic is powerful, too."

"But if she doesn't have the ability to do the magic, why is she here?"

"I can't answer that one. Maybe she doesn't realize she can't do it yet, maybe she's too stubborn to give up, or maybe her life on the farm was so bad, she'd rather be here."

"What is she looking for now?" I asked.

"She has some idea about trying one of Mudine's fancier spells," said Li'l. "The spell requires some unusual ingredients like that dragon's breath on the shelf next to you. See it there—it's the pretty bottle with the swirly colors. It was part of Mudine's collection. Vannabe would never have gotten it on her own."

"What is the spell for?"

"Nothing unusual. She thinks it will give her everlasting youth and beauty. These things usually backfire, but there's no telling her that."

"Tell the frog about the rest of the ingredients." The voice was dry and raspy. Just hearing it made my skin crawl.
The snake,
I thought, shuddering.

"Oh, yeah," said Li'l. "Aside from some rare plants, all she needed were the tongues and toes of talking frogs. She has plans for you and your friend. Your fate was sealed as soon as she heard you talk. That's why she wanted to keep you calm. She wouldn't want you to damage those precious tongues and toes right when she was about to use them."

"Our tongues and toes! She wouldn't listen when we tried to tell her that we aren't really frogs! I even told her that my parents would reward her, but it didn't make any difference."

"Of course not. If you were humans, you wouldn't be of any use to her. She needs talking frogs to make her spell work. No gold or jewels would get her what she wants. Only the right ingredients could do that, and that includes you, or at least parts of you."

"What are we going to do?"

"Hope that she doesn't find the plants she's looking for. She can't do the spell without them."

"You really do know everything that goes on around here," I said.

"I should. I've been here the longest and can see just about everything from my rafter," Li'l said proudly.

Wind blew through the cracks in the shutters, sending dust and scraps of litter swirling around the cottage. The room grew dark and rain pattered on the roof. It lasted only a few seconds, then abruptly stopped. The wind blew again and I coughed at the swirling dust. When the rain came in earnest, it was heavier and louder than before. A steady drizzle fell through a dozen holes in the roof, leaving damp spots on the table and floor. Li'l edged along her rafter, avoiding the worst of the leaks.

Everyone had grown quiet when the rain began, lulled by the steady drumming. Although the sound was soothing, I was unable to relax, for I'd begun to feel a prickling down my spine as if someone was watching me. Certain that I would have noticed Vannabe's return, I glanced over my shoulder. At first I thought that no one was there, but then I noticed the jar of eyeballs. Every one was focused on me. It made me feel the way I had on the rare occasion that my father had me sit beside him on the raised dais of the throne room while he received petitioners. Courtiers and commoners alike had stared at me as if hoping I'd make a fool of myself so they'd have something to talk about later. I'd hated the feeling then and I hated it even more now; these eyes were unsettling even when they weren't looking at me. I tried to ignore them, but it was nearly impossible.

In a way, it was almost a relief when the door squealed on its ancient hinges and Vannabe stalked into the room: all the eyes turned to watch her. Tossing her dripping sack on the table, she hurried to light the lantern. I crouched down and pretended to be asleep, but my heart began to race when the witch walked toward my shelf.
This is it,
I thought. If anyone had ever told me that I'd end up as a frog used in a witch's spell, I would have sworn he was crazy. But now ...! The witch stopped beside my cage and I held my breath. I was positive that I was about to lose some of my favorite body parts until I realized that Vannabe was looking through the pile of books and not at me.

"It's somewhere in one of these," Vannabe muttered to herself. "The old woman kept good records. I'm sure she wrote about the plants I need." She took the dragon's skull from the pile of books and set it aside, then selected some books and carried them to the table. A few minutes later she was back, shuffling through the books again.

Each time the witch approached our cage, I pretended to be asleep. I opened my eyes only when I was sure she was looking the other way, and then I opened them only a little. I was glad of this the next time she passed by, for she paused by our cage to look at us. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel the woman's eyes boring into me.

"The frogs' tongues and toes can wait until I'm about to start," Vannabe decided after a long silence. "They'll be more potent if they're nice and fresh."

I heard her move on to the books and look them over one more time. A chill crept through me and I fought to keep it from showing. Vannabe selected a book and returned to the table. The room grew quiet, and although I knew she was lost in her studies, I was too scared to open my eyes.

Tongues and toes,
I thought.
She's going to take our tongues
and toes. Even if she doesn't kill us, we'll be maimed for the rest
of our lives. What are we going to do?

It was late by the time Vannabe found the book that she needed. Musty and yellowing with age, it contained notes written years before by the old witch. Vannabe pored over the pictures, looking for the plants named in the spell. "Found it!" she said at last. "But according to this I need the stems, not the leaves. Good," she said, yawning. "I'll get them first thing in the morning. Tomorrow is the big day!" Still studying the drawing, the witch fell asleep with the book clutched in her hands.

When I was sure that Vannabe was asleep, I hurried to Eadric's side and shook him as hard as I could. "Eadric!" I whispered in his eardrum. "We have to think of something. We have to get out of here tonight. She's going to cut out your tongue tomorrow! She's going to cut off your toes! Please, Eadric! You have to wake up!"

Eadric groaned and raised his head to look at me through heavily lidded eyes. "Leave me alone, Emma," he said. "I'm too tired to talk."

"You're awake, Eadric! You're awake!" Eadric's head sank down onto his arm. I grabbed his shoulders in desperation and shook him. "We have to talk now, Eadric! We only have until tomorrow morning!"

Eadric began to snore. I sank to the floor of the cage in despair.
What am I going to do?
I thought for the hundredth time that day. Fat tears rolled down my cheeks and plopped onto the bottom of the cage.

"Hey, it's not that bad," Li'l said from her rafter. "If he woke up enough to talk, you'll probably be able to wake him completely in the morning. Leave him alone and get some rest yourself. You're going to need it tomorrow."

"I can't sleep, Li'l—I'm too scared," I protested. "And even if I could, this itchy rash is driving me crazy."

"A rash, huh? I can't keep you from being afraid, but I may know of a remedy for that rash. We'll need light for it, though, so we'll see about it tomorrow. Now relax and try to sleep. Nothing is hopeless, at least not yet."

Ten

"P
sst!" The sound woke me from a resdess sleep. "Psst! Emma, wake up!"

Still groggy, I lifted my head. At first I felt disoriented, the cage and the drafty room unfamiliar and threatening. Then I remembered where I was and what was supposed to happen and suddenly I was wide awake.

"Emma! Wake up! Vannabe's gone! Hurry—I thought of something!"

"I'm awake." I blinked and looked up.

"Finally!" said the bat, and she dropped like a stone from her perch to the stack of books on the shelf.

"Li'l!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

"I have an idea," she panted. "I was thinking about your rash and I remembered this book." Stretching her tether as far as it would go, the bat tugged one of the books off the pile and dropped it onto the shelf. "There!" she said triumphantly. "I think that's the right one."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "How is a book going to help anything?"

"Open it up and take a look. If I remember right, there should be a great spell for getting rid of rashes."

"The rash isn't my biggest worry now, Li'l."

"I know, but the book with the spell for rashes has a lot of other useful spells, too. I can't read, so I'm not sure if this is the right book. Go ahead, take a look."

"But I can't, Li'l! I can't do magic! I make a mess of it every time!"

"What are you talking about? All you have to do is read it! You can do that, can't you?"

"Yes, of course, but you don't know me! I can botch even the simplest spells! You should have seen what happened when I tried to clean my chamber using magic! My bed still makes itself whether I'm in it or not!"

"It's up to you. If you'd rather lose your tongue than try..."

"All right! I get your point! I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." I reached for the cover of the book, but my arms weren't long enough to touch it. Even turning sideways and shoving my leg between the bars of the cage wasn't enough.

"I can't reach it!" I said, stretching my leg as far as I could. Hoping to find something that I could use to extend my reach, I looked about my cage. There was nothing close enough to the cage that might be useful, and the only thing inside the cage was Eadric, lying on his back with his belly in the air and his limbs flopping at his sides in a most unfroglike position. His legs were long, longer than mine, and if I could wake him ...

At first I was gentle, shaking his shoulder, whispering his name and poking him in the ribs, but when that didn't work, I tried more enthusiastic means. Shouting his name just made him twitch in his sleep. Pulling his leg made him roll over. Finally, I tried lightly slapping his cheeks.

"It wasn't me, Mother," Eadric mumbled, brushing away my hand. "I would never put a mouse in Nanny's ale, even if she did leave the room to use the privy."

I glanced up at the bat, who had returned to her rafter and was hanging upside down, watching me. "Li'l, you said he would probably wake up today, but look at him. What am I going to do?"

"I suppose you could try the remedy used on those nitwits Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. I told you they were given the same potion, remember?"

"Right, right, I remember now. They were both princesses and they were both woken by princes, if I remember correctly. And the princes both ... aw, Li'l, I'm not going to have to kiss him, am I?"

"Only if you want him to wake up."

"But I told you what happened last time."

"I'd be real surprised if you turned into anything else now. But whatever you're going to do, you'd better hurry. You don't have much time here. Vannabe won't be gone forever."

"I know, but... oh, all right. I guess even if we did turn into something else, it couldn't be worse than being a frog." I squatted beside him and placed my hands on either side of his face. "It's funny," I said. "He's finally getting his kiss and all he had to do for it was oversleep." I was about to kiss him when something else occurred to me. "Li'l?" I tilted my head to look up at the bat. "If I kiss him and he does wake up, I'm not going to have to marry him, am I? I mean, both of those princes married the girls they woke this way."

"Naw, you won't have to marry him unless you want to."

"Good! I want to keep my options open." I kept my eyes open as well this time, thinking half seriously that that might keep me from turning into something else. His lips were cool and smooth, just like the first time, and I had barely taken my lips from his when his eyelids fluttered open and he gazed up into my eyes.

"Well, hello there, beautiful! Is there something you want to tell me?" Eadric said, leering froggishly.

"What do you mean? I was just—"

"Don't get me wrong! I like being kissed by beautiful young ladies; I just wasn't expecting it, that's all."

"I wasn't kissing you. I mean, I was, but it was only to wake you up!"

"And I liked it! You can wake me that way every morning, and put me to sleep that way, too." Eadric winked and reached for my shoulders.

Pushing his hands away, I hopped to the other side of the cage, giving me space and the time I needed to explain. "I was kissing you only because you've been asleep since the day before yesterday! I warned you about that worm! But no, you had to eat a worm doused in sleeping potion! You had to sleep when you should have been trying to help me find a way to escape! I've been scared to death while you've been dreaming the time away and it just wasn't fair!"

"Emma," Eadric began.

"Never mind. We don't have time to talk now. The witch is going to be back soon to chop off our toes and cut out our tongues. Now get up and come help me! We have to look through this book and I can't reach it. Do you think you can turn the pages?"

Eadric looked thoroughly confused, but he didn't question me. With a long-suffering sigh, he struggled to his feet and hopped to the side of the cage. Crouching down, he stuck his arm between the bars, but it wasn't quite long enough.

"Maybe your leg," I said.

I was overjoyed when his longer legs reached easily. "What is it we're looking for?" he asked.

"Just turn the pages when I tell you to," I said. "I'll let you know when I find it."

"See if you can find the rash spell first," said Li'l. "Then we'll know if it's the right book."

Eadric turned around with a jerk, aware of Li'l for the first time. Trying to look nonchalant, he leaned over until his lips brushed my eardrum. "Who's the bat?" he whispered.

"She's a friend," I explained. "Her name is Li'l. Now be quiet and let me read this!"

I studied the book of spells, concentrating on some while skipping over others. At my direction, Eadric slowly turned one page after another until I saw what I wanted near the back of the book.

"Here it is!" I said, pointing to a spell. "Rash Rid—rid yourself of that itchy rash in those hard-to-reach places."

Li'l shifted nervously on her seat atop the stack of books. "Try it. It'll be good practice."

"Do I just read this out loud, Li'l?"

"Read it with feeling, Emma! And make big, dramatic gestures with your arms!"

"Anything special?"

"No, no! Just be dramatic!"

"All right, here goes!" I read the spell with as much emotion as I could, waving my arms and gesturing wildly.

Red blotches, rosy bumps,

Itchy spots, scaly lumps,

All you rashes here and there

Under shirts and underwear

On the legs and on the feet,

Don't look now, you're in retreat!

Begone, rash, and nevermore

Irritate my tender pore!

Despite the closed windows and doors, a blast of cold air blew through the cottage. For the briefest instant, I felt prickly all over. I looked down at my leg. It was the same smooth green it had been before I got the rash. I twisted around to look at my back. It, too, was smooth and green. All the itchy bumps had disappeared.

"Good job," said Li'l. 'You know, that works for pimples and boils, too. If you were a human, you'd never have another blemish for the rest of your life!"

"That was amazing! If these spells really work, this book is incredible! Look at some of these other spells, Eadric. Here's one for skin softening. It says it will make your skin as soft as a baby's bottom. You can have the hair color you've always wanted with Hair So Nu. This one's called Body Beautiful. It says you can eat what you want without gaining a pound. I wonder if there's a spell that would make me graceful."

"They look like a lot of useless beauty tips to me," said Eadric. "How would any of these help us with this witch?"

"They're not all useless. Look, this could be a big help. Squeak Be Gone—squeaky hinges squeak no more. How about Grow Rite—grow the biggest vegetables in the marketplace! Easy Open—open any container without breaking a nail. Listen, they're so simple." Using my normal reading voice, I said,

Unlatch, unlock, undo, untie,

In the twinkling of an eye.

Open ye lock,

Lift ye latch,

Remove ye block,

Release ye catch.

A sound like thunder shook the cottage. A tiny whirlwind twirled debris around and around the room. Then, with a pop, every container in the cottage opened. Lids flew off boxes, corks flew out of bottles, shutters swung open, the door to the cottage slammed back with a crash, the bat's tether twitched loose, and every cage opened with a
whoosh!

"Would you look at that!" exclaimed Li'l.

"Li'l, you're a genius. You were right about this book!"

"Ladies, the door is open! Don't just stand there talking!" said Eadric. "Let's get out of here before the witch gets back! Look, there go some mice."

Clifford and Louise had wasted no time and were already crossing the threshold. "Watch out, Emma!" called Clifford.

"Fang is loose!" shouted Louise.

"I'd forgotten all about the snake!" I gasped. "Where do you suppose he is?"

"Snake? What snake?" said Eadric.

"There was a big snake in one of the cages. His name is Fang," I explained.

"Of course it is," muttered Eadric. "What else would it be?"

"He's probably long gone by now," said Li'l. "He never was very sociable, so I doubt he hung around. I have to tell you, though, Emma, I'm proud of you! I knew you could do it as soon as you said you could read."

"So why didn't you have me read that spell right away? What if I hadn't read it at all?"

"I wasn't sure which spells were in that book. I just knew that they were simple spells and that a couple might have worked one way or another. I've never read them myself. You're the first creature I've met who could read."

"What about the spiders?" I asked, remembering the smallest of Vannabe's captives. "Are they still in their cage?"

"They were the first ones out," said Li'l. "I saw them going down a crack in the floorboards."

"What's that?" squeaked Eadric, pointing toward the fireplace, his eyes bulging even more than usual. Convinced that he was overreacting, I looked to where he was pointing. I must admit that if frogs could break out in a cold sweat, I would have done it then. Something still slopped around inside the barrel labeled
Trash Can,
but it didn't look any different than it had before. However, the lid had popped off the barrel labeled
Trash
Can't,
leaving it open to the air. Three slimy tentacles writhed over the rim, probing the side of the barrel. I shrieked when another rose up and slapped the wall with a soggy squelch.

"Dang," said Li'l, fluttering her wings in agitation. "Looks like Vannabe's got herself two Trash Cans!"

I gulped and whispered hoarsely, "You mean one barrel was called a Trash Can't..."

"Because the trash couldn't get out of it. But it sure can now!"

"Which makes it a Trash Can!"

"Yup!" said Li'l.

"Another reason we should get out of here as fast as we can. Look at those things!" Eadric's lips crinkled in disgust when an unattached tentacle slid to the floor and oozed toward the table, leaving a slime trail behind it. "Let's go somewhere safe!"

"He's got a point," I said. "See you later, Li'l."

"Emma, before you go," called the bat, "take this with you." Li'l flapped down to the shelf beside Eadric and me. Wrapping a wing around the vial of dragon's breath, she dragged it to us. "Without this, she won't have any reason to look for other talking frogs."

"But won't she come after us if she thinks we took it?"

"She won't know we took it if she doesn't see us with it, now, will she? And she won't see us with it if we're gone when she gets back." Eadric grabbed the vial with both hands and dragged it to the edge of the shelf.

I waved good-bye to Li'l and followed Eadric. Together, we jumped to the floor, then quickly hopped to the threshold.

"Wait," I told Eadric. I turned back into the room and looked up at the shelf. The bat still stood where we had left her. Her head and wings drooped and she looked so forlorn that I felt like crying.

"Li'l, aren't you coming?" I asked.

"No," said Li'l. "I think I'm going to stay here. I've spent most of my life in this cottage and I don't have anywhere else to go."