A Frog In Her Pocket (TrainReads) (2 page)

There were nice spells, too, like
The only spell you need for everlasting love
. Miranda skipped that one; it was too late for her.

A large section of the book was dedicated to
The art of kissing frogs (and other animals)
. It described how one could kiss a frog, or a lizard or a snake and make a wish come true.

A wish, a w
ish . . . Staring dreamily at the ceiling, Miranda wondered what she would wish for. For George to become normal again? So she could miserably go on being married to a man who wasn't interested in her and whose family hated her?

Oh, she was being ridiculous. Of course she had to do this. Geor
ge's family deserved him to be the man they knew. The combined kingdom would never accept her as Queen; they might even blame her for George's disappearance.

She read the page, memorised the spell, but when she went to pick up George, he jumped away, again and again. Over the bed, the bookshelves, the
desk, the chair, under the bed . . . When he stopped on the desk, Miranda glared at him, and approached him, chest heaving. "You darned frog, why do you keep running away? Don't you understand I'm doing this to help you?"

"
Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit." He sat on a stack of paperwork and jumped up and down so much that she was sure he was trying to tell her something. Miranda pushed him gently aside and took the first sheet.
Budget of the kingdom and colonies
. The next one read
Proposed  schedule of duties for senior knights
, and the next one
Review of taxes on bridges and roads
.

She put it down. "
But this is so boring. Is this what you have to do when you're a king?"

"
Ribbit, ribbit."

Miranda sank down on the bed
. And understood.

Her gaze went from the pond to the magic book
still open on the shelf to George on her knees. And she thought of how the King and Queen had gasped when they saw her face and how Adelie had called her a hippopotamus.

She made up her mind; she turned
to the bookshelf.

George jumped up an
d down in her hands. "Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit."

Halfway across the room,
Miranda froze. "Oh—the window. I better open the window first."

He blew air out of his throat sac.

She put him down and slid up the window. Outside, the pond glistened in the evening light.

Quickly, she grabbed the book and checked the spell. T
hen she picked him up again, she closed her eyes and thought very hard of her dearest wish. She murmured the words. Her lips touched his cool body.

A flash blinded her eyes.

And the world span.

And she fell, and fell and fell . . .

Until she sat amongst unneeded clothes on the bedroom floor.

"Ribbit,"
George said from the dressing table.

Footsteps sounded in the hallway.
"Miranda, George, my dears." Oh no, the Queen. Quick!

She jumped
up on the chair, from the chair to the dressing table and from the dressing table to the windowsill, where George was waiting.

Just as the door
opened and the Queen entered the room, they hopped out into the dew-kissed evening.

The Queen
's screams echoed through the entire palace.

"Ribbit,"
said Miranda.

George responded, "Ribbit."
And headed for the pond.

They lived happily ever after.

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