with scrolls, parchment, books, ink pots, and feather quills. I suppose wizards did a lot of writing for their spells. A tall chain on the other side of the desk was turned away from us so that we couldn’t see who was sitting in it.
I coughed nervously, but it was Jozlyn who spoke first. “Wizard Ast, sir, we hate to bother you.” She glanced at me and swallowed, so I figured it was my turn to speak.
“We know you dislike visitors, sir, but …” I searched for the right words.
Suddenly, I felt edgy. I knew the wizard wasn’t mean like Cleogha, but he still used magic. He could probably turn Jozlyn and me into frogs, too.
“Everyone in Tiller’s Field has been turned into—” Jozlyn added but the wizard finished her sentence.
“Frogs,” he croaked, his tall chair swinging slowly around. “Yes, I’m well aware of that, as you can see-tell.”
His chair stopped turning. In it sat a frog with a long white beard wearing a pointed dark blue hat covered in lightning bolts and silver stars. It was a wizard’s hat.
My knees trembled at the sight and what it meant. Wizard Ast had been turned into a frog!
21: MIDNIGHT SNACK
“NO!” Jozlyn exclaimed in shock and disbelief.
“You’re a frog, too!” I gasped at the same time.
The frog-wizard croaked. “I’m afraid so, ribbit-croak.”
My mouth hung open. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Wizard Ast was a frog. That meant that Cleogha had beaten us here and that Ast probably couldn’t use his magic.
Disappointment hit me like one of Jozlyn’s sisterly punches. What were we going to do?
Our adventure was supposed to be over and we were supposed to be heroes. We’d made it up the hill, found our way inside the castle, and located the wizard. That was supposed to be the end of it for us.
I fell to the carpet and hung my head. Maybe we had to accept the fact that Cleogha had already won.
I felt miserable and hopeless. We had failed.
Jozlyn knelt down next to me. By the look on her face, I could tell she felt awful, too. She’d been putting on a good show of being brave and heroic but now she looked sad and tired.
Ast hopped up onto his desk. Papers scattered and an ink pot slipped off the edge to spill on the carpet.
“Squirmin’ vermin worms!” he swore under his breath but still loud enough for us to hear. Then he quickly cleared his throat.
“Hmm, you weren’t supposed-intended to hear that, ribbit-croak. Pardon-excuse me.” Then he cackled long and loud. It was a happy sound, nothing like I expected to hear at a time like this.
He hopped from the desk to the floor in front of us. “There, there now, buck up children-young ones. Old Ast might be green but he still has a few tricks-surprises left. We’ll teach that witch a thing or three yet, ribbit-croak.” He winked mischievously, then added, “If it’s the last hopping-leaping thing I do.”
Like Pa Gnobbles back home, the wizard-frog was wrinkled with age. But his eyes were a piercing blue, very clear, and young looking. They didn’t match the rest of his wrinkled body or his white beard.
Jozlyn glanced at him. “What do you mean ‘we’ll teach that witch a thing or three’? Do you mean ‘we’ as in you, me, and Josh?”
“Of course, of course! You, me, him, we. All four of us, ribbit-croak!” He cackled merrily. “Who else is there?”
Wonderful, I thought sarcastically. Who else is there? That was almost the same question that Mayor Garlo had asked right before he’d sent us off on our adventure to find the wizard.
Hearing it from Ast told me that he had a new adventure planned for Jozlyn and me.
“What is it we have to do?” I asked glumly. I wasn’t exactly thrilled about running off to have another adventure. At least not so soon.
Ast hopped over to face me. His bright blue eyes seemed to stare right through me. “That eager-excited to get started, lad? That’s the spirit, ribbit-croak! I’ll make a hero of you yet.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I’d been thinking I was already a hero just a few moments ago.
“For now,” the frog-wizard went on, “let’s fill your rumbling-growling bellies. The racket they’re making is quite annoying, ribbit-croak. I can barely concentrate-focus on our cunning-clever plan with all that noise.”
He leaped toward the doors. “Mephello!” he called, and the giant returned almost immediately with a loud clanging.
“Please be a good fellow-chap and see that our guests enjoy a hero’s feast-meal.” The wizard paused and tugged on the end of his dangling beard with his webbed hand. “I do believe-think that jellypuff custard and snapsoda fizz are in order, ribbit-croak.”
“Yes, please!” Jozlyn and I chimed together. We never ate jellypuff custard or snapsoda fizz except on special occasions.
This time we practically jumped into Mephello’s big hands, and the big creature took us through another maze of passages, doors, and stairs. I didn’t bother trying to remember the way.
“I’m going to eat four helpings of custard,” I told Jozlyn excitedly, “and drink four mugs of fizz!”
She smirked at me from Mephello’s other hand. “Well, then, I’ll have five of each.”
“Six!” I shouted back. I wasn’t sure I could really eat that many helpings, but I couldn’t be outdone by Jozlyn.
We continued our friendly competition until Mephello dropped us off in a small dining room. It had a long polished table with a fancy stuffed chair at each end. That was neat. Jozlyn and I sat at either end of the table pretending we were a king and queen.
Just as Ast had promised, there was plenty of custard and fizz. There was also warm bread, butter, mashed potatoes, crunchy green beans, roast beef, and gravy.
Even after all that, I still had room for two helpings of jellypuff custard. Jozlyn couldn’t even finish one.
When we were done eating, Mephello took us to a big room with two huge beds covered by satin comforters and the fluffiest pillows I’d even seen.
There was clothing laid out on both beds. A cream-colored tunic and suede skirt with horses along the hem lay on Jozlyn’s bed. A sleeveless black and green doublet with matching green hose waited on mine. The doublet had two bands of stamped swords running up and down the chest.
We figured the clothes were for us and were about to change when a weak knock rapped on the door. I opened it to find Ast huffing and puffing on the other side.
“I do believe,” he gasped, “that knocking on a door in frog form-shape is one of the most difficult-hardest things I’ve ever done.” He panted for a few seconds then hopped into the room.
“The clothes and beds are for you,” he explained, “but there’s no need to change until morning-tomorrow, ribbit-croak. You have enough to think-worry about until then.”
“Have you finished making your plan?” Jozlyn asked. She was holding the skirt with horses up against her waist and legs.
Her pose made me roll my eyes. She was acting just like a girl. Girls can be in the worst mood but if you mention new clothes, they get as sweet as jellypuff custard.
Ast hopped excitedly and let out a burping croak. “Why, yes! Yes, I have. And a very good plan-scheme it is.” He hopped closer to the door and seemed ready to leave.
“But aren’t you going to tell us what it is?” I demanded. I couldn’t imagine getting to sleep without knowing.
“Of course, ribbit-croak. How forgetful-absentminded of me,” he cackled happily. Then his penetrating blue eyes narrowed.
“The two of you will travel-journey to Croneswart Swamp to confront the witch,” he croaked with a mysterious wink. “Now, goodnight and sleep-rest well.”
With that, he bounded out the door and disappeared.
22: GIFTS-PRESENTS OF MAGIC
I don’t know about Jozlyn, but I hardly slept at all that night. A strange bed, the adventures of the day, and the thought of going to Croneswart Swamp were too much.
Surprisingly, Jozlyn and I didn’
t talk. We were too busy being nervous. Nobody in their right mind went to the swamp.
Nobody but a witch, that is.
After being kicked out of town by the mayor for flying her broom on Cauldron Cooker’s Night, Cleogha must have fled to the swamp. It made a creepy kind of sense. A swamp, darkness, snakes and spiders—it seemed like the perfect place for a witch, if you asked me.
It was also the last place I wanted to go. Usually I like exploring but not in Croneswart Swamp. No one who wants to come out again goes there. Ogres and just about every other ugly kind of monster with a bad attitude were supposed to live in the swamp.
Thinking about it now, I gave Rosie a little squeeze inside my tunic. I felt guilty for hiding her from Jozlyn, but I could understand why my sister liked her so much. As long as Rosie was safe, so was I.
A loud knock on the bedroom door woke me. I couldn’t believe I’d fallen asleep, but I really had to fight to pry open my eyes. They felt scratchy and heavy and wanted to close.
Jozlyn was already awake and dressed in her new clothes. She opened the door.
Mephello stood on the other side. Without any sort of greeting, he scooped Jozlyn up with a big hand. Then his burning torch eyes turned to me.
I scrambled out of bed and put on my new green and black outfit. I hid on the far side of the bed so that I could move Rosie from my dusty old tunic to my new doublet without being seen.
As soon as I was done, I climbed into Mephello’s open hand.
The metal giant carried us up stairway after stairway. We passed by a window once and I caught a quick glimpse outside. Far below I saw the rocky brown of
Cauldron Cooker's Night (Epic Fantasy Adventure Series, Knightscares Book 1) Page 11
