A Prince among Frogs by E. D. Baker Page B

haven’t heard a word about her. I assume Nastia still lives where she always has. Her shipwreck isn’t far from here—just on the other side of the seaweed. Grassina left after I told her that, and I haven’t seen her since, but a few days later your mother and father showed up asking the same questions. I told them what I’d told Grassina, and they took off in a tremendous hurry. I was hoping they had taken care of their business and gone home, but to tell the truth, I was getting worried. If everything was all right, wouldn’t they have stopped to say good-bye?”
    “I’m sure they would have,” said Millie. “But everything is not all right. They never came home and the witches never saw them again. We need to find my mother. Olebald Wizard kidnapped my baby brother, Felix, and turned him into a frog. He set him loose in Soggy Molvinia and we don’t know how to get him back. Mother needs to come soon, before an animal eats Felix or steps on him or something equally horrible! And now my parents and great-aunt and great-uncle have all disappeared and are probably in terrible trouble, too. Whatever happened, I need to go help them and take them to Soggy Molvinia as soon as I possibly can!”

Ten
    W e should start by talking to Nastia Nautica,” said Millie. “Two dragons should be able to handle one nasty sea witch.”
    “I’ll go with you,” Coral said. “If you’ll give me a few minutes to get ready, I’ll show you the way.”
    Audun shook his head. “That won’t be necessary. I’ve already visited her sunken ship. I should be able to find it without any trouble.”
    “But you’ll still have to deal with Nastia Nautica herself,” said Coral. “She’s usually horrible to everyone, but if she’s the one behind the sea monster attacks, then she’s gotten worse. You need me to go with you.”
    “If you really think you should … ,” Millie said. “It’s awfully kind of you to offer.”
    “Kindness has nothing to do with it. I’ve been a friend of your great-aunt and your mother long enough to know just how upset they’d be if anything bad happened to you. Oh, and take Shelton with you, in case we get separated. You can always send him back to me if you need my help.”
    “A fat lot of good he’d do,” muttered Octavius.
    “That will be all, Octavius!” Coral snapped at her butler. “You may go.”
    The octopus looked deflated as he slunk out the door, his eyes turning to watch them as he left.
    “I don’t know if Shelton will want to go with us,” Millie said. “We’ll be going as dragons.”
    Shelton waved his claws in the air. “I’m not afraid of dragons! See here, I’m wearing my own suit of armor! Nothing can hurt me.” He thumped his shell with his claws and tried to look fierce.
    “I didn’t think you’d be afraid,” Millie hurried to say. “It’s just that we’ll be traveling very fast, and you might be in danger when we meet Nastia Nautica.”
    The little crab scuttled down Coral’s fishy tail, across the white sand-strewn floor, and up the skirt of Millie’s gown. “When do we start?” he asked.
    “Octavius!” Coral called. The octopus appeared in the doorway as if he’d been listening in all along. “Our guests and I will be leaving now. Please see that there’s nothing lurking outside the door that shouldn’t be there.”
    “Right away!” said the octopus, and he disappeared from view.
    “Thank you for your help,” said Millie. “We’ll come back to visit you properly when we have more time.”
    “Just take care of that baby brother of yours,” Coral told her. “Olebald Wizard is a horrible old man to have kidnapped a baby like that. And to turn him into a frog … The least I can do is help you find Grassina and your mother. Now, if you’ll give me just a minute, I’ll go get ready.”
    Octavius made them wait while he peered through the bubble, then went outside to look around. When he came back and reported that the area was clear,