The Frog Princess Novel Book 1 (Completed)

Chapter 7

Eadric and I woke long before the sun was up the next morning. Even though I wasn't hungry, Eadric insisted that we have our breakfast before setting out. It was still dark and there were plenty of mosquitoes around. I was surprised when I tasted my first one. It was salty, but extremely filling for such a skinny insect.

"We'll be traveling over land for the first part of our trip," explained Eadric between mosquitoes. "We'll be safe enough as long as we follow some rules. One, don't make any unnecessary noise. Two, eat while you hop—we're on a tight schedule. Three, keep your eyes and eardrums open at all times. If you hear anything suspicious, don't talk. Just signal me like this." Eadric flapped his arm and patted his head. "That should get my attention."

"Yours and that of every other creature around," I said. "What if I tap you on the shoulder instead?"

"Fine," Eadric said, nodding. "That should work, too."

Our trip began over swampy ground, but as the sun rose overhead, we reached higher, drier land. I stopped to admire a bedraggled patch of dandelions, having had little contact with flowers other than the crystalline blossoms in Grassina's room. Ordinary flowers were banned from the castle because both my mother and my aunt were allergic to them.

I continued on when Eadric harrumphed impatiently, and we soon found ourselves hopping across pebbled earth where little seemed to grow. It made us both nervous, for the rocky soil and occasional scraggly weeds gave us nothing to hide behind if a predator sh

ould come along. Eadric and I hurried across the open ground, anxious to reach the tall grass beyond it. Suddenly, a ladybug zipped past my nose and flew toward a short, squat rock. I remembered Eadric's advice to eat while we hopped and tried to do just that. I jumped, flicking out my tongue at the same time, but the target was smaller than I was used to and I missed, my tongue coming back empty. Since I'd been concentrating on my tongue, I hadn't been paying attention to my feet, so I tripped and fell flat on my face. Thppt! Someone else's tongue flicked out and caught the ladybug.

"Better luck next time," said a gravelly voice. I stared in disbelief. What looked like a rock blinked and shifted a lumpy foot.

"You're a toad!" I exclaimed, startled.

"And you're a lousy jumper!" replied the toad. "Just how old are you, anyway?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked.

"I haven't seen such lousy jumping since my tadpoles first got their legs!" replied the toad. "You're going to have to work on your coordination if you're going to catch anything."

"She's been a frog only for a few days," said Eadric.

"What was she before that?" asked the toad.

"I can speak for myself, thank you." I said. "I was a princess!"

"That explains it. Never have seen a princess who could jump worth grasshopper spit. Whoa!" said the toad, looking behind me. "Look out, little lady. Here comes a big one."

I turned around, expecting to see a large insect. Instead, the same huge white dog that had once tried to eat me was trotting straight toward us. I couldn't take my eyes off it.

"You might want to sidle on out of the way," suggested the toad. "I can handle this one."

I scurried behind a scraggly clump of grass while the toad hopped boldly into the open. After one look at my face, the toad laughed. "Don't worry, little lady, I know how to take care of myself. Watch this!"

Three more hops set the toad directly in the dog's path. The dog's eyes lit up. "Hmmm!" it said, snuffling the toad from front to back before closing its great jaws around the lumpy, gray body. A strange look came over the dog's face and it dropped the toad as if it were hot. White foam dripped from between the dog's jaws. Whimpering pitifully, it pawed at its mouth.

"Yuck!" said the dog. "What is this stuff?" It shook its head and great flecks of foam splattered the dry soil. With a pained yelp, the dog ran back the way it had come.

"You poor thing! Are you all right?" I asked the toad.

"Fine as frog's hair. Thanks for asking."

"What did you do?" I asked. "I thought it had you!"

"Not me! Mother Nature gave us toads a little secret weapon." The toad lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "You frogs think you're so superior with your smooth skin and your pretty faces, but you don't have anything like this. You see back here behind my head? This gooey stuff isn't dog spit, no sirree! I make my own poison and I've been told it tastes downright nasty. Heh, heh, heh! That dog didn't stand a chance."

"That poison ... He isn't seriously hurt, is he?"

"Nah, nothing time won't cure. Might have learned a lesson, though, if he's lucky."

"I never would have guessed that you could do that."

"That's what makes it a secret weapon!" the toad said. He beamed at me before turning to Eadric. Eadric scowled back.

"We'd better be going," I said. "Thanks for your help!"

"My pleasure, little lady. Good luck with your hopping! Keep on practicing and you'll do just fine."

Eadric and I continued on, neither of us saying another word until we were concealed by a tall, rippling sea of grass. Once we were in its shade, I breathed a sigh of relief. "Now what was that all about?" I asked Eadric. "I think this was the first time I've seen you looking angry."

"He didn't have to do that!" grumbled Eadric.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Who didn't have to do what?"

"That old toad. He didn't have to show off like that! Who does he think he is, your knight in warty armor? If anybody is going to rescue you, it will be me! We didn't need him! If he hadn't interfered, I would have done something about that dog."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Something would have occurred to me, I'm sure. But I didn't need some old toad to protect you like that. Interfering old busybody!"

"Eadric, he was just trying to be helpful."

"We didn't need his help! Look at me! I'm big! I'm strong! I'm a superior example of froghood and capable of protecting us both!"

I gave up. From the furious scowl on Eadric's face, I was better off not saying anything.

Intent on maneuvering through the dense grass, I ignored my companion. Because there were few clear areas that allowed straightforward hopping, I had to develop my own crawl-hop-wiggle style that got me through the grass but left my muscles aching.

The stars were twinkling overhead when Eadric and I finally reached the edge of the grassy field and took shelter under a flowering thornbush.

The next morning, we entered a trembling copse of young saplings and heard the distant murmur of rushing water. With the sound as our guide, we detoured around boulders and old stumps, breathing a sigh of relief when the tangled underbrush bordering the stream came into sight. We had been out of the water for so long that my throat was parched and my skin was beginning to feel like old leather. Working my way through the maze of stems and branches, I leaped into the clear, sun-sparkled water only seconds ahead of Eadric.

The swim was easy and relaxing, because we were heading downstream. I swam beside Eadric, kicking now and then but mostly letting the current do the work. Around midday, fat black clouds gathered overhead. Rain peppered the water, landing on my head in oversized, heavy drops. A little more water won't hurt us, I thought, but at the first crack of thunder, I began to feel uneasy.

"How much farther is it?" I asked Eadric, who had been single-mindedly looking for landmarks.

"We're closer than I thought. Do you see that old oak over there?" Eadric pointed to a tree on the far side of the stream. "I tied my horse to the lowest branch the night I was turned into a frog. I wonder what became of him. His name was Bright Country and he was the best horse I'd ever had. I'd hate to think that something bad happened to the old fellow."

"I'm sure someone found him or he got himself loose. I don't see any old horse bones lying there. But why did you come here? You've never told me the story."

"It was no epic tale, believe me. I thought I was in love with a princess and hoped to win her favor by giving her some meadwort. I'd heard that if you picked it at midnight on the night of the full moon, then boiled the leaves, you could see your true love's face in the bottom of your cup. I was convinced that I was her true love and that it was my face she'd see."

"I've never heard so much garbage! Meadwort doesn't do anything like that. Who told you that it did?"

"My little brother," Eadric admitted.

"And you believed him? I don't know much about little brothers, but from what I've heard they are not the most reliable sources of information. It sounds like he pulled one over on you."

"I guess so."

Eadric's face looked so forlorn that I took pity on him. "I'm sure he wouldn't have done it if he'd known how it would end."

"Probably not," admitted Eadric. "He isn't a bad sort."

"I didn't know you were a romantic at heart."

"Romantic! Is that what you call it? I thought I was just having a run of bad luck. The really sad part is that a few months after I became a frog, I saw the princess. Her coach almost ran over me when I was crossing the road. It was decorated for a wedding, so it must have been her wedding day. My rival won by default, I guess. She'd been seeing a lot of him while I'd still been a human. That's why I'd even considered my brother's advice. I was getting desperate."

"You didn't finish your story. What happened when you came looking for the meadwort?"

"I never found it, but I did come across the old witch. She was out looking for plants that night, too. I stumbled across her in the dark, which was pretty unpleasant, believe me. She was wearing a filthy gown and smelled terrible. That's when I made a comment about her clothes and hygiene. She took offense and wham! The prince became a frog!"

"So how much farther is it?"

"It's right there," said Eadric. "We can wait under that blackberry bush. That's where I spent my first night as a frog. If there are any rotten berries on the ground, we should find plenty of insects."

Eadric and I climbed out of the water and made ourselves comfortable under the blackberry bush. To our disappointment, we found neither berries nor insects, although the leaves kept the cold rain off us. It had been a long, tiring trip and we hadn't slept well in days. With the soothing patter of rain on the leaves, it wasn't long before we were both asleep.