Nightshade

[Palustris]

Nightshade.

A Cat Story

Chapter One

Who knows what cats think?

The cat had never been given a name, not a human name at least and cats do not give themselves names, that we know of. He was black all over, except for a white bib just under his chin and one completely white ear. He lived with The Witch of the Dark Forest. That is to say he lived around the cottage in which she lived. He was not a Witch’s cat like some you may have read about who rode on broomsticks and so on. This cat was just an ordinary everyday cat. He was a good mouser and he kept the birds away from the Witch’s seed beds without doing too much damage to the soil himself and so he was tolerated. The only time he was even really taken any notice was when the Witch was making up one of her potions. Now, as you may well know, cats do have one nasty habit. They shed hairs, all the time and everywhere, even in places they never go. The first person to land on Mars will find a cat hair stuck to the inside of his (or her) helmet.

Under normal circumstances, the Witch made sure that all her cats and every other animal were outside when she mixed up her potions. A stray cat hair could have played havoc as the mixtures were very finely balanced combinations of herbs, roots, berries, pieces of this and bits of that. These ingredients were carefully measured and mixed at the right time to the accompaniment of strange sounding words and odd arm waving. Now these potions were not all nasty ones. Some were for making plants grow, some for making hair grow. Some of them were to cure people of nasty illnesses or to make someone fall in love with you. However, most of them were much less pleasant and were for things I would rather not think about.

This day the Witch was making a particularly nasty potion which she used to turn frogs into princes. Any Witch worth her money could turn a prince into a frog, but to do it the other way round took real skill. Just as the mixing and spell casting were almost complete she had been disturbed by a commotion outside her cottage. She had stormed outside to find three young men arguing over the rather poor picnic lunch which their mother had packed for them when they had set off to seek their fortunes in the wide world.

            In a foul temper for being disturbed the Witch said “If greedy pigs you be, then greedy pigs you SHALL be!” There was a flash of light and three fat porkers dashed off squealing. The Witch made an odd gesture with her fingers and the three pigs slowly came back and allowed themselves to be penned up.

”Good,” chuckled the Witch. “Sausages, Bacon and Ham.”

I hope that was the names she was giving to the pigs, but I think she may have meant what she said.

Meanwhile, she had left the door to her cottage open. Naturally, the black cat went inside. I do not know what he was thinking, if indeed he was thinking. Since cats do not talk, who knows what, or if, they think at all. At a guess I would say he was merely looking for somewhere to curl up for a nap before lunch. He found an old blanket in a dark corner and curled, with his paw over his white ear and very soon was fast asleep.

The Witch came back in grumbling to herself about stupid boys and carried on with her potion making. She did not notice the single black cat hair that drifted across on the draught made as she slammed the cottage door. The hair dropped gently into the mixture and disappeared beneath the surface The Witch added the final ingredient, said the last incantation and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Now something you should know is that if a Witch’s spell is made wrongly then it backfires, so to speak. The single black cat hair was enough to spoil the mixture. It is no good asking me what happened to the Witch for I have no idea. The odd thing is that even though nobody saw this happen, the news of her disappearance spread through the Forest as quickly as birds can fly. Everyone, even the trees gave a sigh of relief.

When the news reached the King of that particular part of the Forest, he immediately sent a troop of soldiers with firewood to burn down the Witches cottage.

”Seal it up and burn it all to ashes!” That was the order he gave. Then having second thoughts, the king said. “That is if the rumour is true. If the Witch is there, then give her the firewood as a gift from me to help her through the winter.” The Witch’s cottage was not far from the Palace and so the soldiers did not take long to arrive.

In the meantime, the flash of light and the puff of rather unpleasant smelling smoke woke the cat. He stretched, washed, fluffed out his coat and went to the door. It was closed. After a few scratches at the base of the door he gave up and wandered around the room. Since the Witch was not there to stop him he jumped up on to her work bench. As cats will, he sniffed at all the bottles and packets and jars. Some made him sneeze and one made him hiss. Then he reached the pot in which the Witch had been mixing her potion. It was too tall for him to sniff so he stood with his paws on the rim. That was a mistake. The pot was not very stable and tipped over pouring its contents all over the startled animal. With a hiss and a spit he jumped down and fled to a corner. He was covered from head to toes in what can only be described as ’goo’. As he did he knocked over a small cage in which sat a very unhappy looking green frog. The cage door burst open and the frog hopped out.

Just like any good cat, he began to lick himself clean. Fortunately for him, the goo was not so unpleasant that it made him ill, but it was not exactly to his taste. As he licked he thought to himself. “Good job that was not hot.” Then he thought, as he licked some more, “It could do with a bit more mouse in it.” Finally he thought. “This is odd, I am thinking!”

So like all cats do when they are confused, he washed himself all over again.

All this sniffing, investigating, tasting and washing gave the fast galloping soldiers time to arrive.

The Captain of the band knocked politely on the door. Of course there was no answer. He knocked again louder. As before there was no answer. Finally the Captain hammered with his sword butt on the cottage door and shouted, “Open in the name of the King!” The door stayed firmly shut. So, taking his life in his hands the brave soldier opened the door and looked in. He did not notice the small green frog which hopped out as he came in.

The cottage only had one room and he quickly could see that the Witch was not in there, just as quickly, he closed the door again. No one wanted to hang around in case the Witch returned. The cat watched the door open and thought about racing through it, but he was not fond of legs with boots so he stayed where he was and listened carefully to what was going on outside.

The soldiers stacked the wood all round the cottage and pushed dried grass here and there to help it get started. When the Captain was satisfied he produced a tinder box and lit a torch that he handed to the sergeant who walked round the cottage setting fire to the thatch and the dried grass. Very soon there was a satisfactory blaze going. The soldiers stood round watching it, to make sure that the whole place was completely destroyed.

Inside, the cat began to get a little worried. The place was beginning to get warm and he did not like the smell of smoke. He went to the door. “Would one of you humans mind opening this door,” he shouted. Now a cat’s mouth and tongue and teeth are not designed for speech so this request came out as a rather quiet cross between a meow and a purr. The soldiers would not have opened the door even if they had heard. Indeed, they may well have fled the scene thinking the Witch had returned.

 

[ideasguy]

A good plot, Eric

I'm sure the cat will survive (unless it has already used up its 9 lives )
And what will become of the frog?
Looking forward to Chapter 2
James wont be here until Friday this week, but he will definitely enjoy this story.

[Palustris]

Chapter Two

What do cats think?

The cat sat and looked hard at the door and then stood up and walked away into the Forest.

”Hang on,” he thought. “I was inside looking at the door and now I am outside walking away. There is something very, very strange going on here.”

He stopped walking and returned to the Cottage. The fire was burning really fiercely now with strange coloured flames as the Witch’s bottles and packets caught fire.

The cat sat behind one of the soldiers and watched the flames. “They are very pretty colours,” he thought.

The soldier did not turn round. He said to no one in particular, “Those are very pretty colours.”

The cat sat and watched. He suddenly thought. “My leg is itching.” He leaned over and licked the spot. The soldier bent down and scratched the back of his leg.

The cat watched this and tried another thought. “There is a spark on your neck.” The soldier clapped his hand to the back of is neck and rubbed the burnt place.

”The Witch is not really dead.” A soldier heard a quiet voice say. It went on, “And if she returns while you are burning her Cottage down, she is not going to be very pleased.” The voice seemed to the soldier to be coming from somewhere down by his ankles. He turned round and looked down. There was nobody there, only a small black cat with a white bib under its chin and one orange ear.

Did I not tell you? No! Well, for some reason the potion had changed the cat’s white ear to a rather bright orange. The cat did not realise this of course. He had not had time to look at himself in a mirror.

Anyway, back to the soldier. He looked around for the small person who had warned him. Everybody knows that cats cannot talk so he did not for one minute think that the comment had come from the cat. Puzzled the soldier went across to pass on the warning to the Captain. The cat followed him.

”I would not hang around here, if I were you. She is going to be very cross when she returns.” The voice still seemed to be coming from somewhere down by the soldier’s legs. It made even the Captain nervous. He gave the order for the soldiers to mount up and leave.

One of the men came over and pointed to the three pigs in the pen nearby. The Captain nodded and said. “Yes, why not, they will make a nice meal when we get back. I am sure I saw a cart round the back of the cottage. We can use that.” The three pigs were bundled into cart, squealing very loudly. Their legs were tied together so they could not run away. The troop then rode away as fast as they could.

Of course the cat was correct. The Witch was not dead, merely somewhere else. She did return and dealt severely with the King, but that is another story and you will have to wait to hear that one.

The cat watched them go. He looked at the fire, gave himself a lick and walked off down the path with his tail stuck straight up in the air. He too thought that perhaps it was not a good idea to be there when the Witch returned. He had no idea where he was going to go. Besides he wanted to practice this thinking thing. It was something he had never done before and as everyone knows, thinking does need a lot of practice if you are to do it properly.

He walked along the path exercising his new found powers of thought and speech.

”Hi there lunch” He said to a sparrow. It did not reply. “Good afternoon dinner!” He called to a blackbird which completely ignored him.

Further along the path he came across a girl, sitting on a log. She was searching through a knapsack for something and talking to herself. She was so engrossed in her conversation that she did not notice the cat straight away. He sat down beside her and politely said “Good afternoon.” His practising as he walked along had improved his pronunciation tremendously and now there was only the faintest hint of a purr in his voice.

The girl did not look up, but politely replied. “Good afternoon to you, too.”

There did not seem much else to say so the cat sat and waited until the girl produced a rather grubby handkerchief from the knapsack and blew her nose. He could see now that she had been crying.

The girl carefully folded the handkerchief and put it in her pocket. “There,” she said. “That’s better, though I really must look a mess. I did not mean to cry but you know how it is sometimes.” She turned to look at the person who had spoken to her.

The cat nodded and politely said again, “Good afternoon.”

The girl looked around.

”Down here!” said the cat.

The girl looked at the cat. “Was that you?” She sounded doubtful.

”Yes!” The cat said and licked a paw.

”I did not know cats could speak,” said the girl.

”Neither did I,” replied the cat.

Now most people would have found talking to a cat rather strange, but this girl spent a lot of time talking to things other than people so it was not a problem for her, except that this was the first time an animal had replied.

”We had better introduce ourselves. My name is Megan,” said the girl. “What’s yours?”

The cat looked puzzled. “You know,” he said, furiously licking his chest as he thought. “I don’t seem to recollect ever having a name.”

Megan thought for a moment, and then she asked,” Would you like me to give you one?”

The cat nodded. “Yes please,” he said.

”Are you a magical cat? You can talk, but can you do magic things as well?”

The cat thought for a moment. “I did get out of the Witch’s Cottage even though the door was shut, but I don’t know how. When I thought things near a soldier he did them. I think I AM magic, but I am not sure I can DO magic, if you see what I mean.”

Megan thought she did. “Then a name like Sooty or Blacky or Smudge is no good to you. You need a really special name. Let me think.”

The cat sat and had a thorough groom as Megan sat with wrinkled forehead and thought. She was not used to thinking so it was very hard for her.

”Nightshade!” she said firmly.

The cat thought about if for a moment then nodded. “I like it,” he said.

They sat for a few moments contemplating his name before the cat asked. “If you don’t mind me asking, what is a girl of your age doing out in the Forest all on her own? It is not a very safe place to be. There are some very bad people, animals and even trees in this place you know.”

Megan sniffed. “I know, but it’s not fair. My brothers were allowed to go off to seek their fortunes, but not me. Mum even packed them a picnic to take with them”

The cat pricked up his ears, which is easy for a cat to do.

Megan went on. “So I decided that if they could go so could I. I made myself a picnic and here I am.”

Nightshade thought for a moment. “Have you got three brothers?”

Megan nodded.

”Would they argue about the picnic?”

”Oh, yes they definitely would. They are greedy pigs.”

”That might be more true than you think,” said Nightshade. He told her of the three boys who had been changed into pigs by the Witch. ”Bacon, Ham and Sausages,” he finished. Then he remembered what had happened to the pigs. “Aaah. Now, there maybe a little problem here.”

Megan said “What?”

”Well, the Captain of the soldiers took them away. I distinctly remember him saying that they would make a fine supper for the men. Tonight!”

”We must rescue them.” Megan jumped to her feet. “Which way is the Palace?”     

”How should I know?” Nightshade replied. “I only started thinking a short time ago and before that I had never been anywhere but the Forest round the Witch’s Cottage.”

”Well, we have to hurry, it is afternoon now. Is there anyone around here we could ask?”

”Anyone we might meet in the Forest is likely to be the kind of person one should not talk too.” Nightshade warned. “Let’s think about this. Which way is your home?”

Megan pointed down the path.

”Did you pass a Palace on the way here?”

She shook her head.

”Then we have to go in that direction,” Nightshade pointed with a paw up the path.

Megan gathered up her knapsack and they set off. They had not gone that far when Nightshade stopped and pointed out horseshoe prints in the dirt. They carried on along the path following the trail left by the horses. Soon the trail led them to the gates of a fine looking building.

”I suppose this is the Palace,” said Megan who had never seen one before.

 Nightshade had never seen one before either, but as the trail went on through the gates he agreed that perhaps this was indeed the Palace.

Megan tried the gates but they were firmly shut and before she could look for a door knocker or a bell a guard appeared and ordered her to go away. He did not give her time to explain her business, but disappeared once again.

Megan and Nightshade walked on round the walls until they came to a small wooden door. Actually, it was Nightshade who found it as it was almost completely hidden under a thick growth of ivy. Megan tried the handle. The door was locked.

Nightshade sat and stared at the door then got up and walked towards the Palace He only took two steps before he realised that he was inside the walls. Quickly he went back to the door and stared at it. Almost immediately he was sat outside with Megan once again.

”You disappeared.” She sounded a little cross.

”I was inside the walls.” said Nightshade. “But I don’t know how.”

”Then you are magic,” cried Megan and clapped her hands. “Do it again.”

Nightshade stared at the door and without seeming to move he found himself inside the Palace. He went back outside again. They tried it with Megan holding on to him, but when he went through the door she was left behind.

Then Megan had a brilliant idea. “Is there a key in the lock on the inside?”

Nightshade looked puzzled. He had never seen either a key or a lock. Megan reached into her knapsack and took out her diary. It was one of those kinds with a little lock and key on it. She showed Nightshade how it worked and explained that there might be a bigger one in the door. He stared at the door and sure enough there was a key in the lock. He stood on his hind legs and gently worked at the key until it came out. Holding it in his mouth he went through the door to the outside. The key fell to the floor on the inside.

”Hmmmm, this needs thinking about.” He wandered up and down. Megan sat on the step and watched him She could think of nothing.

”Silly me,” Nightshade suddenly said. “Look there is a small gap under the door. All I need to do is push the key through it.”

Megan clapped her hands.

Nightshade went through the door and using his nose he pushed the key under the door. Megan quickly gathered it up and unlocked the door. They were both inside the Palace walls.

[ideasguy]

Exciting story Eric
Now the cat is OK, I hope they can rescue the three little pigs (and I hope it IS the palace they have managed to enter )
The story I unfolding rather well indeed - we now know the significance of the title

[Palustris]

Chapter Three

When a Cat really thinks

“We cannot just walk in and ask can we,” whispered Megan. There were guards and people everywhere. She put her knapsack down in the ivy by the door. They stood and watched for a few moments at the number of people scurrying about the Palace grounds.

Suddenly Megan felt a heavy hand on her shoulder and a rough voice said. “What are you doing, hiding away here when there is work to be done? Take this basket to the kitchens and be quick about it.” A basket was thrust into the surprised girl’s hand by a large woman who bustled away without waiting to see if Megan did as she was ordered.

”If they are going to cook your brothers then that is the place we want to be,” said Nightshade.

”Yes, but where is the kitchen?” Megan sounded a little panicky.

”All the girls with baskets seem to be going over there,” said Nightshade. “Just follow them and see if you can find out where the pigs are kept.”

”What are you going to do?”

”I am going to act like a normal cat and see if I can hear anything that might be useful. I will come and find you in the kitchens. I am ready for something to eat.” Nightshade realised that he had not had any food since breakfast and he was hungry.

Megan followed the other girls across the Palace grounds. One of the girls noticed her and said “You new here?”

”Yes!” Megan replied. “I only started today.”

”Good, we need all the help we can get. There is a big party on tonight. Apparently the Witch is dead and the King has ordered a celebration. There are three big pigs to be slaughtered too. Not that we shall see any of the pork.” She sniffed.

”Oh, the pigs are still alive then, “asked Megan innocently.

”Oh yes, Captain Wilberforce only bought them in a short time ago. You should have heard them squealing. In fact if you listen you can still hear them now.”

It was true, about the sounds of the Palace and the chattering of the maids Megan could definitely hear squealing.

She took her basket into the kitchen and placed it and its contents on the table with all the others. There was no time to go searching for her brothers. She was ordered to go and help wash the big pots and pans.

Nightshade wandered across the lawns. He too could hear the pigs squealing He followed the noise until he came to a pen. He went in and sat and stared hard at the pigs. They stopped squealing for a minute and stared back at him.

He spoke, “Now I wonder if you three can still understand speech.”

The three pigs nodded and grunted.

”Well, that helps. Your sister is here in the Palace. She has come to try to rescue you. I do not know how we will do it yet, but I will come back and tell you what we decide. In the meantime you will have to wait.”

The three pigs nodded and tears ran down their fat faces.

Nightshade strolled over to the kitchens. The door was opened so he went in. No one took any notice of him so he sat next to a maid and thought “That poor cat looks hungry. I must give him some scraps.” The maid took some bits of meat and put them in a dish by the door. Nightshade tucked in. When he was full, he looked around for Megan. She was still washing pans. He went and sat on the drainer next to her.

”Your brothers know you are here. They can still understand speech. All we have to do is to get them out of the pen and across the grounds to that little gate,” he said quietly.

”I don’t think I am going to be able to get out of here for a long time, there are an awful lot of pans.” Megan whispered back.

”I’ll have to think about that then.” Nightshade looked around. By the door was a pail full of peelings and cabbage leaves. One of the cooks went over to it and added some more bits to it. She then shouted. “This bucket needs emptying!” Nightshade nipped across to near the cook and thought ’Let the new girl take it.’ The cook turned to Megan. “Here, you, new girl, take this bucket out and empty it and be quick about it.”

Megan wiped her hands and picked up the bucket. She and Nightshade crossed the grounds to the pig pen. Her brothers were still there by the fence. They pushed their noses through the bars when they saw Megan. The gate on the pen was easy to open from the outside so freeing her brothers would not be hard. However, the grounds were full of people. The pigs would not get very far without being spotted and chased and almost certainly captured again.     

”We need a diversion,” said Megan.

” I’ve got an idea,” said Nightshade. “Wait until the grounds are empty, then open the gate.” To the pigs he said. “You must run as fast as you can for that patch of ivy over there. Behind it is a door. Once you are out of the door head for the Witch’s Cottage. That is the only place where we may be able to change you back to humans again. Do you understand?”

The pigs nodded and squealed.

”And please, no squealing!” added Nightshade.

He ran off to the front gates. He sat behind the sentry and thought, “The Witch is coming. I can see the Witch.” Without waiting to see what happened he ran to the next sentry and thought the same. Then he ran along the walls of the Palace thinking the same thought to everyone he met.

The first two guards began to shout. “The Witch I can see the Witch. The Witch is coming.”

All the people Nightshade met on his tour began to shout the same. Soon all the people in the Palace grounds joined in, even those whom Nightshade had not gone past. “The Witch is coming, the Witch is coming.”

Nightshade changed his thought to. “Hide, we must hide.”

Every one he met began to shout. “We must hide, the Witch is coming, hide hide.”

Very soon the Palace grounds were full of fleeing shouting panicking people. Nightshade ran among them thinking, ’Hide in the Palace, bar the doors, board up the Windows, the Witch is coming.’

It did not take long for the Palace grounds to be empty and for the only noise to be that of doors being slammed and window shutters being closed.

Megan undid the pig pen gate and she and her three brothers ran across to the little gate. Megan grabbed her knapsack and undid the door. The four of them slipped unseen out into the late afternoon and of into the Forest.

Nightshade smiled to himself and began to cross the now deserted gardens. It was not quite as empty as he had thought. In his path stood a very large, growling monster. Every hair on his body stood on end and without any thought he turned and fled. The guard dog barked once and gave chase. Nightshade ran as fast as his legs could carry him until he reached a tree. His speed was enough to take him up the trunk and out on to the first branch, well out of reach of the snarling dog. It took a few minutes for his heart to stop pounding and for him to gather his thoughts. He could not stay up the tree too long, already the panic in the Palace was beginning to calm down. Before long the people in there would realise that there was no Witch and they would come to see what the dog had chased up a tree.

”Good dog.” called Nightshade. The dog wagged its tail.

Nightshade tried “Sit!” The dog sat.

Nightshade tried to climb down the tree. The dog snarled.

Nightshade said “Lie down!” The dog lay down.

Nightshade said “Stay!” The dog did not move, until Nightshade tried to climb down the tree.

Nightshade thought, “Fleas!” That was the rudest word he knew. The dog scratched itself.

Nightshade tried again. He thought’ Bone”’ The dog licked its lips and drooled.

Nightshade thought ’Sleep’ The dog lay down and yawned.

Nightshade kept on thinking about nice warm fires and a full stomach and sleep. The dog closed its eyes and began to breathe slowly and deeply.

Nightshade moved along the branch. The dog did not follow this time. Nightshade climbed down the tree trunk, the dog did not move. Nightshade began to trot across the lawns. The dog did not move. Halfway to the gate though, it suddenly sat up, looked up into the tree snarled and turned round to see where its prey had gone. Nightshade did not wait he ran. The dog barked frantically and gave chase. It was bigger than Nightshade and had much longer legs. Even with a good start the dog soon began to catch up. Nightshade was in too much of a panic to think any thoughts at the dog. He reached the gate inches in front of the snapping jaws. He did not even have time to think about the gates. He went through them as if they did not exist. There was a sickening crunch from behind him as the dog failed to stop. Nightshade did not stop either, he kept on running, just in case.

Eventually he reached Witch’s Cottage. He stopped and had a good wash and patted all his fur back down until it was all as it should be. There was no sign of Megan and the pigs so he carefully walked all round the clearing. There was no sign of the Witch either. He went and sat by the cinders that had once been his home. The soldiers had done a good job of burning it and all that was left was a few charred timbers.

After a few minutes he heard a commotion on the path and Megan and the pigs arrived. Megan ran over to him. “They stopped to eat acorns,” she said. The pigs sat down next to Nightshade and looked at him.

” I had hoped there would be something left that would help,” he said.

Megan wandered around and poked in the ashes. All she managed to uncover was a piece of mirror. She polished the glass and put it down near Nightshade. He looked at his reflection. “Not a bad looking cat,” he thought.

Then out loud, he said “Why have I got one bright orange ear? That is not a cat colour.”

Megan looked at him. “It was that colour when we first met. Hasn’t it always been that colour?”

Nightshade thought hard then said. “You know I do not know. I cannot remember ever looking at myself in a mirror before.”

Megan sat down next to him. “We cannot stop here, you know, the Witch may come back at any time.”

Nightshade nodded.

”Er, unless you are her Cat,” went on Megan. “You can do magical things, like talking and getting through closed doors and making people think things.”

”I don’t think so, “said Nightshade. “I would remember that, wouldn’t I?”

Megan shrugged her shoulders. “I am not sure, but I don’t think you are. If you had been her cat, you would have been wicked like she is and not helped us.” She bent down and rubber her cheek along Nightshades head. He found himself purring.

”You could always come and live with us at the farm you know, if you wanted to.” said Megan shyly. “There’s plenty of milk and mice and things to eat.”

”That sounds good,” said Nightshade. “We had better get going anyway, it is getting dark and there are some very nasty things which come out in the night in the Forest.”

They stood up. “I don’t know how we are going to explain them to my parents though.” said Megan.

”We cannot leave them here, the Witch may eat them and the people at the Palace certainly would.” said Nightshade. He turned to the pigs. “You had better follow us back to your Farm and no stopping for acorns this time either.”

  The pigs looked shamefaced and stood up. Megan gathered up her things and they set off down the path.

 

[Eric Hardy]

Wonderful, Eric, I have been copying and pasting this into a Word document as each instalment appears. I hope it will keep the great grandsons good at Christmas  Waiting impatiently for the next chapter. I am beginning to think I might give up eating bacon though 

Eric H

[Palustris]

Glad you are enjoying my nonsense.

[Palustris]

Chapter Four

Final thoughts

            As they walked they chatted. “When did you start talking?” asked Megan out of curiosity.

“Just after I started thinking, “replied Nightshade.

“And when did you start thinking?” Megan said, sharply. “And don’t say, Just before I started talking, either.”

Nightshade did not answer straight away, then he said slowly. “I remember climbing on the table and tipping a bowl of goo over myself.”

“Was it one of the Wit’s potions or was it her supper?” Megan wanted to know.

“I think it must have been a potion. I remember her chasing everyone out of the Cottage before she started and she only did that when she was mixing potions.” Nightshade began to get excited. “I tipped it over and it went all over me, so I sat in the corner and licked it off. That’s when I began to think.”

“It must have been the potion.” Megan was also getting excited. “Can you remember what the potion was supposed to do?”

Nightshade concentrated hard. It was hard to think back to before he could think, if you see what I mean. “No, I have no idea.”

They carried on walking deep in thought.

“Perhaps we can work it out, “suggested Megan. “I mean, it was obviously the potion that made you able to talk and think, so it must have been made to do that.”

“Yes, but the Witch did not make nice potions like that,” protested Nightshade.

“True. Can you remember anything else that was on the table after you started thinking?

Nightshade concentrated. “Yes, there was a frog in a cage. I let it out when the soldiers came.

“That’s it then. The Witch was making a potion to make the frog think and talk.” Megan grew excited.

“But why? What use is a thinking, talking frog?” Nightshade was less excited. “Unless......”

“Unless what?”

“Well you said that the Witch used to turn Princes into frogs. Perhaps she was trying to do it the other way round and turn a frog into a prince.”

Megan agreed. “Well that is the kind of thing she would do, but why did it work on you. You are not a frog.”

“Perhaps it works on any animal.”

Megan nodded slowly. “But why did it go wrong? The Witch disappeared, didn’t she?”

“I don’t know, but there is no point wondering, the potion was all burnt up in the fire.” Nightshade pointed out.

“I wonder,” said Megan looking at Nightshade. “Can you remember what colour the potion was?”

Nightshade thought back. “Yes, it was a sort of odd orange colour.” He flicked one bright orange ear.

“Have you washed that ear since then?”

Nightshade closed his eyes and thought back over all the times he had washed since spilling the potion. “No, I do believe I missed it. I always leave it to last and every time I have had a wash, I have been interrupted before I did it.”

“I wonder how much potion is needed to turn an animal into a human,” said Megan.

Nightshade had no idea. “There is only one way to find out,” he said. He called over the largest of the pigs and ordered it to lick his orange ear. “And no biting!”

The pig did as it was told. There was a flash of light and Megan’s elder brother appeared looking rather foolish. Quickly the other two took it in turns to lick Nightshade’s ear. It worked as well on them as it had on the elder. Megan hugged her brothers and then Nightshade.

All this walking, talking and licking had brought them to their home. All five of them went in to a brightly lit kitchen. Megan’s parents were overjoyed to see her and only scolded her a little for running away. They were even more pleased with her when the brothers explained how she had rescued them.

“And don’t forget Nightshade,” said Megan. “He did most of the rescuing.”

Nightshade was placed on the table. He sat and washed himself as cats do when they are not sure what else to do.

“Tell them what happened,” ordered Megan. Nightshade looked at her and carried on with his washing.

“His ear,” exclaimed the eldest brother. “Look at his ear. It is all white now, not orange!”

It was true. Nightshade’s ear had lost its odd colour and gone back to its pure white.

“We must have licked all the potion off.”

Try as they might they could not get another word out of Nightshade. He settled down to farm life where there was a plentiful supply of milk and mice and scraps. No one knows what he thought of it all, since he no longer was able to speak. However, if you looked very, very closely in his ear, you could just see a tiny spot of bright orange. He may not have been magic any more, but he had no trouble with doors. One second he would be sat on one side of it and the next on the other. It did not matter how often the airing cupboard door was latched whenever Nightshade went missing, that was where he was to be found, curled up on the best sheets.

The three brothers decided that fortune seeking in the Forest was not at all the thing for them and they settled down to make it at home. The experience did not completely change them, but Megan only had to quietly say “Oink!” when they were being greedy and they stopped straight away

 

[ideasguy]

An excellent story Eric
A lot of thought went into that! Lots of twists and turns!
James was only here for a short time today so didn't have time to do any reading with him:-[
This is a great story and he'll definitely enjoy it.

[Palustris]

Glad folks enjoyed it, plenty more where that came from.

[ideasguy]

Bound and sealed for posterity, Eric . See this:
http://www.flowergenie.co.uk/BookBinding/