Jennifer Murdley's Toad (Magic Shop Books) (3 page)

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Bufo into the air. The toad's legs dangled from the bottom of Skippy's fist and his chin peeked over the top; his face seemed to waver between fear and rage as Skippy raised him to look more closely.

"He's a pretty good old toad," he said, bringing Bufo's warty nose close to his own freckled one. "What do you want for him?"

"Nothing!" snapped Jennifer, grabbing for Bufo. "He's not for sale."

"Cool it," said Skippy, raising Bufo over his head, where Jennifer could not reach him. "After today, you owe me. And I say this toad is
mine."

Still holding Bufo, he headed for the door.

"Skippy!" Jennifer cried. "Wait!"

Her brother ignored her. But as he was about to leave the room, Bufo uttered a sound that made Jennifer think of nails scraping down a blackboard.

Skippy stopped and looked at the toad in surprise. "I never heard a toad make a noise like that before," he said.

Bufo made the noise again, even louder. Skippy dropped him and stepped back. The moment Bufo hit the floor, he scrambled over to Jennifer, who scooped him up. He crouched in the shelter of her hands, glaring at Skippy.

"That toad is weird," said Skippy, looking at his hand, then rubbing it nervously on his jeans. "Are you sure he's not sick?"

"He's not sick, he's just special," said Jennifer. "And I can't give him to you because he's for a school project."

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"Well, you still owe me," said Skippy. "You promised to keep your mouth shut about wearing my underpants."

"I only told one person!"

"Telling one girl is like telling the world!"

Jennifer was furious. She knew Skippy's friends gossiped at least as much as hers did, but after today's disaster she was in no position to argue the point.

"I'm sorry," she said sullenly. "That's not good enough. Say it."

"No. Let me pay you back now."

"Give me the toad?"

"No!"

"Then say it!"

"No!"

Skippy began to reach for Bufo. "Say it, or I take the toad!"

"All right! I owe you!"

Skippy gave her a grin that she knew all too well. "Good. You can keep your old toad."

He left the room, slamming the door behind him.

"What a disgusting creature," said Bufo.

"Oh, shut up," snapped Jennifer. She was worried. To say "I owe you" was sacred in their family, a binding obligation for a favor that could be called in at any time. And Skippy was brilliant at finding the least pleasant way possible to have her cancel her debts.

"You just better be worth it," muttered Jennifer, depositing the toad in his tank.

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Bufo, a shocked expression on his face, turned his back and went into a corner to sulk. Jennifer was trying to decide if she should try to talk him into a better mood, when Brandon appeared at her door. "Let's play phone," he said, holding up the red plastic phone she had given him for his last birthday.

"I'm sorry, Bran," she said. "I don't have time to play right now. I have to ..."

Jennifer stopped. She stared at the phone her little brother was holding. It was small and made of red plastic. It had pictures of cartoon characters on the buttons.

And it was doing something it had never done before.

It was ringing.

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THREE

Vocal Exercises

Brandon and Jennifer stared at the phone in astonishment. It rang again.

"I didn't know it could do that!" cried Brandon, his voice filled with delight.

Jennifer was not as thrilled. Remembering the time Skippy had put a tape recorder under her bed and convinced her that her room was haunted, she said, "Brandon, did Skippy fix up that phone to fool me?"

"Uh-uh, no, honest!" replied Brandon, his eyes wide with innocence.
Ring!

Jennifer was not entirely convinced. Skippy had four basic ways of dealing with Brandon. They were--

a. ignoring him

b. tormenting him

c. using him shamelessly

d. playing nicely with him

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Though "playing nicely" was clearly at the bottom of the list, Brandon adored Skippy, and desperately wanted to please him. So even though Brandon also loved Jennifer, it was not hard for Skippy to pull him into pranks directed against her.

Ring!

"I better answer it," said Brandon, reaching for the receiver.

"Wait!" cried Jennifer. She stared at the phone nervously. Surely the ringing had to be a prank set up by her obnoxious older brother. And yet the world had already shifted for her that afternoon. Given the fact that she had a talking toad, the idea of a toy phone that actually worked wasn't as farfetched as it should have been.

Too bad we don't have a toy answering machine, too,
she thought. Because what bothered her even more than the fact that the phone was ringing was the question,
Who's calling?
Of course, it could be Mr. Elives, with some last-minute instructions for her. Maybe he was even calling to tell her to bring the toad back. All things considered, that might be a relief.

Ring!

The more she thought about it, the more she figured it must be Mr. Elives. Who else could make a toy phone ring?

"Brandon," she said, "hand me the phone."

He shook his head. "It's my phone. I wanna answer it."

Jennifer hesitated. It might be a relief to let

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Brandon answer it. Yet somehow it felt like a cowardly thing to do. "Bran, I really think you ought to let me answer it."

He shook his head stubbornly.

It didn't make any difference; the phone had stopped ringing.

"Phooey," said Brandon.

It took Jennifer nearly a quarter of an hour and a promise of an ice-cream cone to convince Brandon to leave the phone in her room. When Brandon decided to go see what their father was up to, Bufo scrambled over the top of the terrarium and onto the desk. "Why didn't you answer the phone?" he demanded.

"I was afraid. Besides, if you were so eager to have me answer it, why didn't you say something?"

"I try to keep the number of people I talk in front of to a minimum."

"Why?"

Bufo shrugged his warty shoulders. "People find my talking hard to deal with. It tends to frighten them."

Jennifer nodded, remembering how startled she had been when Bufo had first spoken to her.

"And since fear makes people hostile, I don't talk very much."

Jennifer snorted.

"At least among people I don't know," said Bufo, sounding defensive. "Anyway, since you didn't answer the phone, the least you can do is read the

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note Elives gave you. I'm dying to know what he has to say."

In the flurry of events since she had first learned that Bufo could talk, Jennifer had forgotten the note altogether. Now she fished it out of her jeans pocket. The yellowed paper crinkled in her hands as she unfolded it. Across the top in fancy letters were the words, "In Regard to Toads." At the bottom of the page was a picture of a toad. It looked smug.

Between the title and the toad was a handwritten note. The script was thin and spidery. To Jennifer's surprise, the note began with her name. That disturbed her, since she was certain she had never told it to the old man.

Feeling a little shiver in her skin, she read on.

Murdley,

As I am sure you have learned by now, the toad with which you have been entrusted has the gift of speech. Whether or not he has the gift of silence is another question. I expect things will be considerably more peaceful around my shop now that he is gone. I am old, however, and prefer my solitude. Perhaps you will enjoy his perpetual chatter.

Be that as it may,
you
must not chatter about him. Which is to say that I must forbid you to discuss him with others. At this point in the turning, the world is fairly hostile to magic. Indeed, you may well find that you are accused of

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truck with the devil should anyone learn that you have such a creature in your care.

And make no mistake, he is in your care, since--for reasons that have not been made clear to me--I have been requested to pass him to you.

Jennifer paused in her reading. "For reasons that have not been made clear to me."
What in heaven's name did that mean?

"Well, what does it say?" asked Bufo impatiently.

Jennifer started to answer, but the next lines in the note had caught her eye.

Here are your instructions:

First, do not tell the toad what is in this note. He is exceedingly nosey, and a bit of mystery will do him good. Tell him I have forbidden you to repeat what is said here. He will accept that. Not happily. But he will accept it.

Second, do not speak of his existence to anyone without my permission. The toad himself may make his presence known; there is little we can do about that. You, however, would be well advised not to follow his example.

Third, be wise, wary, and watchful. I do not know why Bufo has been sent to you, but you may be certain that there is a reason. There may be danger involved.

Fourth, remember that not everything is as

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it seems: the inside is not the same as the outside, endings often hold beginnings, and most mirrors are mere errors.

Good luck,
S. H. Elives

P.S. You should probably be aware of one more thing. When asked a direct question, the toad can only respond with the truth.

Jennifer folded the note and stashed it in her pocket.

"Well," said Bufo, "what did it say?"

"I can't tell you."

The toad looked indignant. "What do you mean by that?"

Jennifer shrugged. "Mr. Elives forbid me to repeat it."

Bufo blinked twice, then began to pace back and forth in front of the terrarium. "Of all the nerve," he muttered angrily. "When I think of the things I've done for him. And to repay me like this! The nerve! The nerve of the man!"

Jennifer watched the toad for a moment, then returned her attention to Brandon's phone.

"Do you suppose that was Mr. Elives calling?"

"Who knows?" replied Bufo crankily. "Now that I'm around, anything is possible."

Jennifer blinked. "Do you mean that?" she asked nervously.

"Of course," said Bufo, jumping for the edge of the tank and scrambling back inside. "Why do you ask?"

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[blank page]

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"Just wondered," she said, without specifying that the
reason
she wondered had to do with the last line of Mr. Elives' note: "When asked a direct question, the toad can only respond with the truth."

Combining that with the statement "Now that I'm around, anything is possible" was enough to make a person very nervous indeed.

Later that night, when Jennifer was trying to go to sleep, Bufo croaked, "I'm hungry." Jennifer didn't answer.

"I'm hungry," repeated the toad, this time more loudly.

Jennifer rolled over, trying to ignore him.

"FEED ME!" bellowed Bufo.

"Be quiet!" hissed Jennifer, sitting up in her bed. "You'll wake my parents."

"Well, I'm hungry," muttered Bufo peevishly. Jennifer sighed.

"What do you want to eat?"

"Flies!"

"Don't be disgusting. Besides, I don't have any."

"Then I'll settle for some raw hamburger."

Sighing again, Jennifer got out of bed and poked her feet into her fluffy bunny slippers. A few minutes later she was back with a bit of hamburger.

"Thanks, sweetheart," said Bufo in an odd voice as Jennifer placed the meat in the terrarium.

"What did you call me?" she asked, yanking her hand away.

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"Sweetheart," said Bufo in that same odd, throaty voice. Then, seeing the look on her face, he added, "Oh, don't get nervous. I'm not going to ask you to kiss me to break a spell or anything like that. I am
not
a prince in disguise."

That was a relief. Jennifer had been half expecting the toad to ask her for a kiss all day. Without realizing it, she wiped her lips. "Then why did you call me sweetheart?"

Bufo looked crushed. "You didn't recognize that?"

"Recognize what?"

"My Humphrey Bogart imitation! I was doing Bogey and you didn't even know it!" He turned away from her, his bumpy brown shoulders slumping morosely. "Gad, this is humiliating."

"But I don't even know who Humphrey Bogart
is,"
said Jennifer, bewildered.

Bufo whirled around. "You don't know Bogey? What do they teach you in these schools?"

"Not much," said Jennifer glumly.

"I should say not," snorted Bufo. "Not knowing a great actor like Humphrey Bogart ... it's ... it's ...
appalling!"

"An actor?" Jennifer loved movies. "Does he have a new film coming out?"

"He's been dead for decades."

Jennifer's face fell. "Then what good is he?"

"That's the problem with the youth of America," said Bufo, his voice totally different from before. "They have forgotten how to honor the past."