Chapter 7.
‘Me? Kiss the frog? Why me?’ spluttered Jessica.
‘You want to break the spell, don’t you?’
‘Well, yes, but…’
‘Then you’ll have to kiss the frog.’
‘Why can’t you kiss it?’
‘Look, I’m doing you a favour,’ explained Sophie kindly. ‘If you are the one who breaks the spell then you are the one who will get the reward. If it is a prince or a rich young man he will probably give you heaps of jewels and gold and stuff.’
‘Oh. I hadn’t thought of that.’
Jessica watched Sophie as she marched determinedly over to the flat rock and picked up the unprotesting frog.
‘Here you are,’ said Sophie, holding it out to Jessica on the palms of her hands. ‘Now kiss it.’
Jessica shrank away. ‘I don’t think I can,’ she confessed. ‘It looks all slimy and horrible.’
‘How would you like it if you were a frog and people said you looked horrible?’ demanded Sophie. ‘Hurry up and kiss it.’
Jessica took a reluctant step towards the frog. Taking a deep breath she bent over and kissed it on the top of its head. The frog gave a startled croak and leapt out of Sophie's hands into the pond, where it disappeared under a patch of weed.’
‘It didn’t work,’ said Sophie in disappointment. Jessica wiped her hands over her mouth.
‘Oh yuck, gross. That tasted so disgusting. I think I’m going to be sick,’ she moaned. She rubbed her mouth on her sleeve and made retching noises. ‘It didn’t even work,’ she said accusingly.
‘It was worth a try,’ shrugged Sophie.
‘No it wasn't,’ said Jessica bitterly. ‘You’re not the one who kissed it. How come I have to do the awful stuff.’
‘I went into Aunt Hazel’s room at midnight,’ Sophie pointed out.
Jessica had to concede this but spent the rest of the morning muttering bitterly about all the diseases she was bound to catch. Aunt Hazel could tell there was trouble between them and tactfully suggested that they might like to go to the movies that afternoon.
‘You can catch the bus to the next town and see the movie then catch the bus back again.’
Sophie and Jessica were delighted with this idea and after a hasty lunch they trudged up the road to the bus stop.
‘I don’t care what movie is on,’ declared Sophie. ‘I couldn’t bear another afternoon of being sent to the beach.’
Jessica nodded in agreement. ‘It’s such a worry knowing Aunt Hazel is a witch. You don’t know what she’ll do next.’
Fortunately the movie turned out to be a cartoon they hadn’t seen and it had nothing to do with witches. The girls ate popcorn from cellophane bags that crinkled and rustled and drank lemonade from paper cups that tasted slightly of cardboard. It was nearly dark when the bus dropped them off at their stop and they ran quickly down the road before it became too dark to see. Aunt Hazel seemed pleased to see them and made no objection to them going to their room straight after dinner.
‘The cat has still vanished,’ Jessica pointed out with satisfaction. That was a good spell.’
‘It didn’t work on me,’ said Sophie gloomily. As Jessica started at her in amazement she explained that she had rubbed what was left of the Vanishing Cream on her legs. ’I thought that if they vanished I could cover them with my jeans but it didn’t work. See.’ She thrust a pink healthy leg out for Jessica to inspect.
‘How did you dare? I’m glad it didn’t work. We wouldn’t know how to get you back if you vanished,’ said Jessica in relief.
‘I’ve been thinking about that. I’ve got a plan. Quick, here comes Aunt Hazel. Sh.’
She and Jessica each picked up a book and pretended to be innocently reading as Aunt Hazel came to wish them goodnight.
‘Now here’s the plan, whispered Sophie, when they were sure Aunt Hazel had gone. ‘We have to try and get into the spare room and get the book of spells. That way we can make the cat visible again and even make the people on the jugs come to life. If we hide the book somewhere then Aunt Hazel won’t be able to put any more spells on people.’
‘How do we get into the room? She keeps the door locked.’
‘Next time she goes in there start screaming really loudly and she’ll come running out to see what’s happened. I’ll go in and grab the book.’
‘What do I scream about?’
‘It doesn’t matter. Say you’ve seen a spider or something.’
Jessica could see the merit of this plan and agreed to help carry it out the next day.
At breakfast, Aunt Hazel greeted them with a croaky voice.
‘She is sounding more and more like a witch,’ Sophie pointed out to Jessica in a whisper.
‘Sorry, I’ve got a frog in my throat,’ said Aunt Hazel, not noticing the look of shock on the girls’ faces.
‘Oh yuck. She eats frogs. That’s disgusting. That is absolutely gross. It’s even worse than kissing them,’ said Jessica incredulously as she and Sophie discussed the situation in their room after breakfast..
Even Sophie was shaken. ‘That is fairly bad,’ she agreed. That must be why she went to her friend Mabel’s house. They probably all sit around eating frogs.’
‘Don’t! The thought of it is revolting.’
‘We really must get our hands on that spell book. Perhaps there will be a spell in there that we can use to stop Aunt Hazel, being a witch. First I’ll put another entry in the notebook.’ Sophie drew a large 11. and added Eats frogs underlined beside it. ‘I’m glad Mum is coming to get us tomorrow. I don’t know if we will be safe here for much longer.’
The girls decided to try for the spell book that morning when Aunt Hazel suggested they go to the beach.
‘Tomorrow I want you all to come with me after lunch to see something interesting, but today I need you to leave me alone.’
‘She’s trying to get rid of us again,’ hissed Sophie. ‘Fine,’ she said in a loud voice. ‘Come on Jessica.’ The girls walked out the back door then quickly ran to their bedroom window that Sophie had left open. They managed to climb in with only a scraped knee and the loss of one of Jessica’s shoes into the garden below. Sophie crept out into the hall and watched as Aunt Hazel unlocked the door of the spare room and went in. A hoarse cackling followed, accompanied by weird chanting and rustling noises.
‘Now,’ said Sophie, as she ran to hide in the bathroom. Jessica stood in the middle of the bedroom and screamed as loudly as she could.
‘What’s the matter?’ Aunt Hazel came rushing in through the door as Sophie quickly ran into the spare room. Sophie looked around. There was a witch’s hat and cape draped over a chair and a large tattered book lay on the floor. Sophie picked it up and rushed back down the passage and out the back door.
‘What is it?’ Aunt Hazel asked Jessica again. Really, this child was annoying. If she wasn’t staring at a person all day long like some sort of half-wit, she was screaming for no apparent reason.
‘Oh, it's okay now,’ said Jessica calmly. ‘I thought I saw a big black spider crawling on the bed but it was only Sophie’s hairbrush.’ She smiled nervously and ran out of the room. Aunt Hazel watched her in bewilderment. The child was only wearing one shoe! Shaking her head, she went back to the spare room.
Sophie and Jessica collected Jessica’s shoe from the garden and ran down to the beach. They scrambled under the upturned dinghy and eagerly opened the book of spells.