The Frog Collector
Chapter Ten

Mirian entered her house exploding with rage. Earlier, she had already destroyed Emily’s entire garden by tearing up all the flowers and manicured plants that were there. She broke several dishes in the kitchen, overturned tables, and then went into Emily’s bedroom. She tore the few of the girl clothes that were there, broke the old bed and tore the small mattress that lay on the bed as she raged.

The old witch was still moping when she saw something on the ground. It was a small black flower. She picked it up and took a good look at it. “This one won’t fall apart”, she thought as she put some saliva on the petal and nothing changed. Then she looked around under the bed and found nothing, until she saw the torn mattress. Then she tore it further and to her surprise, the inside of the mattress was full of black flowers. Her anger dissipated and she began to laugh uncontrollably.

“I can’t believe it… that fool… hid the flowers from me! So there was magic root in this soil after all!”, she said without controlling her laughter.

***

“Yes… I grew the black flowers inside the invisible prison without the witch knowing. There is a box full of them there. It’s hidden by magic, but if the witch replaces it she will be able to escape”, said Emily.

A terror gripped the group. Agatha put her hands on her head. Lilian had one hand covering her mouth.

“I can’t believe it! So everything we did was for nothing?”, asked the princess.

“I’m sorry. I wanted to go back and get it, but there wasn’t time”, said Emily almost crying.

“Don’t worry my child, I’ll fix it”, said Lilian to calm her down.

“Are there that many flowers, Emily?”, James asked her.

“From what I remember there are at least fifty in the box. Not counting some that I hid in the mattress”, was the answer.

The group wailed.

“I don’t understand… How come the witch didn’t suspect that you were growing the plants all this time?”, asked the prince.

“The garden… Although I have always been interested in flowers and plants, the main reason I made and tended the garden was to keep this secret. Since the witch didn’t care about it, she didn’t suspect that there were black plants among the others”, answered the girl.

Everyone was paying attention to the report. Emily continued:

“But I had to be very careful, because sometimes the witch would walk by and see the magic flower. So I didn’t leave the root there all the time. The root of the magic flower is special, it can be planted for some time and taken out of the ground and it doesn’t die. I would plant it, take the magic flower, put it away again, and stay a while without planting it again. I kept the flowers because I wanted to use them to get out of there, but I didn’t want to release Mirian along with them. At first I thought about binding her with magic of flowers that I had, freeing myself from the invisible prison and asking for help somewhere, but the spell book is gone and I didn’t know any magic other than hiding the box with the flowers”.

“I’m sorry for this”, said Lilian.

“It’s fine. Also, Mirian is a powerful and experienced witch, she always takes some old flowers with her. I don’t know if I could beat her, even with the book”, said Emily and continue: “As the years went by my box of flowers got fuller, but after Mirian left me mute I couldn’t do the spell to replace the box anymore. So I put some inside my mattress, but it was a place of easy access and I didn’t want to fill it, so I stopped planting the root. Little by little I lost hope of ever replaceing my mother again. Until the princess arrived. I had hope again and I planted the root again and wanted to show her, but we left and I couldn’t bring the box back”.

Lilian hugged her daughter after this speech and told her:

“Everything is fine now. Nothing will ever separate us again”.

“What should we do then? The witch may already be replaceing the flowers and will be able to get out of prison”, said the princess apprehensively.

“Put me in. I’ll take care of this”, said the prince, but he felt a twinge in his body.

“You can’t, you’re only one and still injured, you’ll be no match for her”, said Lilian.

“We need to warn the king then. If he brings an army here, even if the witch undoes the invisible prison, there will be time to catch her before she attacks everyone”, he said.

“But we can’t let her take the flowers. If that happens, not even the army will be a match for her power”, Lilian warned.

“It took years of gathering plants, only to be easily picked by the witch”, Emily lamented.

“Maybe she hasn’t found them yet”, Agatha reminded and asked: “Where did you hide the box?”.

“It’s in a false bottom in the closet in the bedroom. I used to do some magic to hide it, but it is too easy for an experienced witch to replace it. There are a few that I also kept in the mattress”.

“With these mattress plants she won’t be able to escape?”, asked the prince.

“No. I kept at most fifteen there. And sometimes I heard the witch talking to herself that it took thirty to destroy the invisible prison”, answered Emily.

“Well… I’m going to go there and get the box”, Lilian said to everyone’s astonishment and continued: “We can’t count on luck that Mirian will never replace them. And you are going to tell the king about everything that has happened here. I, who have some plants with me, will confront the witch before she can undo the prison. I need you to help me get in there princess”.

“How many plants do you still have?”, asked the princess.

“About ten, not much can be done… But it is necessary to stop it”, said the woman not very confidently.

“I’ll go with you. I’m immune to the spells and I can protect you”, said Agatha.

“My love…“, the prince began to say.

“I’ll be fine, the witch can’t hurt me, my love. Please, tell my father”, said the princess.

Emily looked disappointingly at the direction of the invisible prison and said resolutely to her mother:

“I’m going too. I won’t stay away from you again”.

At first Lilian wanted to object, but there was no protest. James said goodbye to Agatha.

“I will return quickly with the king and the army. Don’t worry”, he said.

Then he wished the three of them luck and left.

The three began to think about what they would do, but while they were talking a large movement in the forest interrupted them. James, who was still nearby, drew his sword, stood guard, and returned to the women. The four of them stood still and apprehensive. “They’re here!“, a man’s shout was heard. Suddenly twenty-five soldiers revealed themselves and along with them King Edgar.