Gary the Frog Prince

An extract

The Old Vicarage landed in the Kingdom of the Frogs.  "Snuggle!" cried Julius.  "You've brought the house.  Dad will be cross."  "What about Mum?" added Alexander.  "She's painting in the studio : she hates to be disturbed."  "Drat!" muttered Snuggle.  "I got carried away.  I'll have to take the house back - and your mother."  Gary ran out of the house.  "You had better follow him, but don't go far.  I'll be straight back."

          The boys and Scrooey-Looey ran out of the house.  Snuggle thought hard.  Snuggle and The Old Vicarage whirled through space leaving the boys, Scrooey-Looey and Gary looking about them.  They were in a wood beside a lake close to a castle.  The air throbbed with the croak croak croak of millions of frogs.  The Frog Princess appeared from between the trees.  When Gary saw her, he fell to his knees and croaked, "Your highness I love you.  Will you marry me?"  "What an idiot," squeaked Scrooey-Looey.

          The Frog Princess walked towards them, nose stuck in the air, smiling imperiously.  "I beg your pardon," said Julius politely.  "This is our friend Gary.  Somehow he has become a Frog Prince.  Would you mind giving him a kiss?"  "To turn him back into a man," explained Alexander.  "Come on darling," squeaked Scrooey-Looey.  "Give him a great big smacker.  Then we can go home."  "Be quiet Scrooey-Looey," hissed the boys.  "You can't talk to a Princess.  Not like that."

          The Frog Princess had not heard.  She was too busy looking at the boys.  She looked at them hungrily.  But Scrooey-Looey had not noticed that anything was wrong, and creeping up behind the Frog Princess he grasped her round her middle.  "Come on darling," squeaked Scrooey-Looey.  "Give him a great big smacker.  Then we can go home."         

          "Unhand me rabbit!" screamed the Frog Princess in a terrible voice as she turned into the witch Griselda.  It was a trap.  "Oh help!" cried Scrooey-Looey dropping Griselda in shallow water at the edge of the lake.  Griselda scrambled to her feet dripping wet, raised her magic staff and pointed it at Scrooey-Looey.  Filling with air he grew fatter and fatter, and floating off disappeared over the horizon.  Griselda looked at Gary and sneered, "You brought the boys to me.  I have no more use for you."  She raised her magic staff and pointed it at Gary.  His legs grew longer and longer and with a sad croak croak croak he jumped above the trees and disappeared over the horizon.

          Griselda turned to the boys.  "How nice to see you Julius, Alexander and dear little Benjamin.  It is time for supper.  Seize them guards."  Julioso, Aliano and Benjio emerged slowly from behind the trees.  "Hurry up," screamed Griselda.  "Snuggle will soon be here."  The thought of Snuggle's claws made the dwarves hurry and catching the boys bound them with strong rope and carried them off to the castle.       "Now," said Griselda to Boris, "I have a special welcome for Snuggle."  She raised her magic staff and muttered words of magic.

          When Snuggle returned to the Kingdom of the Frogs, he landed in the wood beside the lake and immediately disappeared beneath the surface.  Griselda had turned the ground into a bog.  "Got him Boris!  No more Snuggle!  Got him!  Got him!  Got him!" Griselda laughed as Snuggle was sucked down and down through mud and slime, black, cold, wet and oozy.  Mud seeped into his ears, nose, eyes and mouth.  Unable to breathe he was on the point of choking when he was sucked through a narrow hole in the roof of a high cavern, and fell with a splat on to the rocky floor far below.

          Wearily Snuggle forced open an eye.  Through a film of mud he looked around the cavern, at stalactites and stalagmites, at a deep slimy pool, at dark dancing shadows as huge bulbous man-eating frogs swiftly surrounded him.  Desperately he tried to defend himself, but still plastered with mud he was too slow.  The frogs bound Snuggle up, dragged him across the ground to a cruel High Priest standing with arms outstretched in front of an altar hewn from rock.  "Sacrifice him to the great god Karr!" cried the High Priest drawing a curved golden knife and pointing it at Snuggle.

          The frogs stretched Snuggle out upon the altar, then began to dance, jumping higher and higher, turning triple somersaults, beating drums and with screams and shouts calling on the great god Karr to come and take their sacrifice.  The dancing became wilder and wilder, the drums louder and louder until with an unearthly shriek a huge scaly frog-like monster emerged from the deep pond, spitting fire from his open bulbous mouth.  As frogs fell to their knees the High Priest raised his knife ready to plunge it deep into Snuggle's body.

          But as Snuggle lay stretched out upon the altar he had slowly regained his senses.  Eyes, nose and ears  cleared and silently he extended a single claw and cut through the ropes which bound him.  As the knife plunged down towards his heart he rolled to one side and shaking off the ropes became what he was in his imagination : a warrior half man half cat standing six foot tall with sword and shield in hand.

          Karr opened his foul stinking mouth and let out a stream of roaring fire which engulfed Snuggle, but protecting himself with his shield he stood his ground amidst the crackling heat and leaping flames.  Running forward he slew Karr with a mighty slash of his sword.  As Karr fell frogs screamed, groaned, beat their breasts, gnashed their teeth and picking up spears rushed at Snuggle.   Wielding sword and shield he drove them back.  "Kill that cat!" screamed the frogs as again and again they attacked.

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