Chapter 5
Steps away from the pond, Bella watched, bemused, as a frog hopped straight toward her, ribbiting away.
She smiled down at it and veered out of its path toward the awaiting pond. “What an odd little creature you are.” She paused and recalled Bouleau. “Do you also speak?”
It croaked a few times in reply.
“Guess that answers my question.” She continued toward the water, her tongue dry and thick in her mouth, but the frog continued chasing her.
“Persistent little thing, aren’t you?”
Another round of croaks carried to her ears. This time, its tongue flicked out and stuck to her arm.
The shock of it sent a squeal from her lips.
“Are you biting me? Naughty frog!” It had reeled itself closer to her skin by retracting its tongue, so Bella was able to grab it and wiggle it free.
Once she held it in her hand, she watched it flail its front legs at her in a most amusing fashion.
She studied it, for it did act most curiously.
“I wager you are hungry, for no frog of sense would launch itself at a human. Here, go back to your pond.” And as she gently tossed it into the still water, what could only be described as panicked croaks flung from its mouth.
“—of this disgusting filth!”
She gasped. “You can speak.” Was there no end to today’s madness? At the word filth, Bella scanned the surface. A thick sheen of algae covered it, and it smelled foul, but perhaps it was Sulphur? She had read that Sulphur water smelled awful, and this did qualify....
The frog attempted to swim back to shore, alternating front leg after front leg, until he gave up and kicked with his back ones. He scrambled up the shore and stood on his hind legs, swiping pond scum off his front arms in a very human-like fashion.
He sent an impatient glance up to her and said, “Wum, wum.” Then he gave a human-like huff and placed one hind foot in the water. “Yes. I can speak.”
Bella studied him for a second. “Well, good day to you.” And she moved away to sip.
“No! The water is poisoned.”
Bella had already dropped to her knees at the pond’s edge, but she rolled to her feet and took a step back from the shore. “Poisoned? You mean, enchanted? Is that why you can only speak when you touch it?”
“No. Poisoned. I must remain here until I save as many lives as have been lost by drinking it.”
Such an odd statement. “Are... you... the one responsible for this?”
The frog’s mouth dropped open for the barest of moments. “I am the one accused of it.”
“You do not sound like you agree to the charge.”
“You are correct. But someone in my family likely is.”
“And yet you are the sole one cursed to fix it?”
The frog clamped his mouth shut.
Sensing herself right, Bella said, “I guess someone powerful believes only you are to blame, else the entire town would suffer alongside you. Who are you?”
The frog stared at her, took a deliberate hop out of the water, and said, “Wum... wum.”
“Fine. Keep your secrets. I care not and seek only my way home. Enjoy your poison, you belligerent bullfrog.”
“Wum.” With a huff, he slammed one foot in the water. “I am no disgusting bullfrog! I am a dashing, um, tree frog, who makes beautiful music.”
Bella eyed him, then grabbed him up. The water that dripped from his feet smelled foul. “Sing for me, then, you giant beast.”
The frog studied her, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. His throat puffed out, and a deep, resonant wum...wum...wum filled the air.
“Bullfrog, as I said,” Bella informed the creature as she set his feet into the mud.
If a frog could cry, Bella thought this one would. His head hung, and he stared at his front feet with its little fingers, moving them in a pattern. “I used to make the most beautiful music. Now... this.”
His pitiful plea broke Bella’s heart. The frog was not nearly as upset over his punishment as he was the lack of music he could make.
She hunched down, then scooped him up with a handful of slimy mud.
“Bullfrogs are the sound of summer where I come from. They are the sound of safety, of warmth. It means the frigid nights are gone, the days are long, the fireflies and berries plentiful. Do not fret that you do not sound lovely, for I assure you, you do.”
Gratitude poured from his eyes. “Thank you. That was... very kind.”
“‘Tis the truth.” She smiled at him as she set him back into the water and swished the mud from her fingers, then twisted them into the crunchy white sand. “Let’s make a deal. You help me return home, and I shall do what I can to help you reverse your curse. Sound fair?”
“Why... would you help me?”
“Why would I not?” She replied, wiping her hands on her skirts. They still felt slimy, even though they were dry with the copious white crystals stuck to them. A bit of darkness colored her tone. “No one should be stuck in a position from which they cannot escape.”
“Were you stuck?”
Between the two imprisoning towers and the brainless, chest-thumping lugs panting after her at home.
... “I was. But I was clever enough to find my way free. I do need to return though, and soon, to ensure my father is well.” She turned a hopeful expression on him.
“I am sure, given the opportunity, you will find yourself equally able to break free.”
The frog opened his mouth, then faltered. “I am inclined to agree, but I cannot leave the pond.”
Bella considered the water, then studied the frog. “What, exactly, were the words of your curse?”
The frog’s mouth opened and closed a few times.
“Surely you remember? Aren’t curses set to rhyme? That’s what the storybooks say.”
She watched him think for a moment. Then he recited:
“Lakes and ponds I govern
On hills and dales and fields
Verily I sentence you
Ever after to suffer and mourn
Seek you sums and yields
Killer of beasts kind and true
In this filth hereby be adorned
Save and prevent until healed
Sentenced until then are you.
“She said I am to be sentenced here, like this, until I have saved as many lives as have been lost,” he clarified.
Bella lowered her arms in thought. “An odd rhyme, to be sure, and sums and yields is an abstract and therefore indeterminate number. You will not know when you have reached it. You could be stuck like this for years.”
“I am well aware.” He had clearly already come to that realization. Bella felt bad about pointing it out.
She exhaled. “Well, maybe you are only tied to the water and muck and not the pond. I could carry some of it in a bucket....”
“Ah, a personal servant! I like that idea.”
The comment had Bella whipping her gaze to him. “Are you the king? The duke? Is that why you’re here?”
He paused for the barest of seconds. “I am neither. But you are right. That was not the jest I intended it to be. I apologize.”
Bella nodded, glad that the creature was not too haughty for penitence. “Well, I can head into the village to see about purchasing a bucket to carry you.”
“Purchasing? No, no gentleman would allow a woman to spend coin on him. But wait, I have an answer. You will need this.” The frog jumped into the pond and disappeared beneath its slimy surface.
He emerged a few seconds later with a coin in his mouth.
He swam to the shore and dropped the coin, then spat.
“So disgusting! I cannot get the taste of this pond out of my mouth.” And his little hands swiped at his mouth over and over.
“Interesting. You knew there was a coin down there?”
The frog shook his head. “The second I realized you would need coin, the image of where it was filled my head.”
“The enchantment on the pond provides for you,” Bella said, her mind puzzling it out.
“Very interesting.” She collected the coin, not recognizing it.
“Thank you so much for this. At the risk of sounding uneducated, may I ask what is its value? I am not from around here and have not seen its likeness.”
“Enough for a bucket and a fine meal for you. And a wineskin to hold water for traveling. Maybe a little more....”
“A treasure indeed.” She tucked the coin into her pocket and patted it down. “I’m Bella Schaus, by the way. Of Esch-Sur-S?re. And you are?” She raised a brow to the bullfrog.
If a frog could pale, this one did. “You... want... my... name?”