Barbie McGillicutty: Part 4, Kissing a Toad

Dymphna and Barbie were beginning to get used to the Jello-y feeling they got when they jumped into books. When they arrived back in The Frog King's land, they got straight to business.

Belle had been kind enough to give Dymphna a plain, full-length dress, so she could blend in with just about any of the fairy tales they might have to visit. Walking through the tall grass now seemed quite a hassle to Dymphna. Barbie rode in the skirt pocket as the dress had a fitted bodice.

Dymphna walked over to a tree at the edge of the clearing and sat down. She took Barbie out of her pocket and set her gently on top of her book bag. Then she drew out Belle's mirror.

This mirror could easily have been mistaken for any other normal hand mirror. If you held the looking glass by its wooden, white with gold trim handle, the oval glass itself was about five inches across and six inches tall. As the girls peered into its depths, Dymphna said, "Show us Denton."

At first, nothing seemed to happen, and Dymphna felt very stupid. She looked around to make sure no one was watching them, laughing their heads off. No one was, as far as she could tell. When she glanced back, her reflection became foggy as if she were in a dream. Then she saw something else in the fog. It was Denton!

Denton was in a homemade cage that hung near a bubbling cauldron. The cauldron—a little smaller than the size of your mom's oven—hung over an open fire place that stood in the middle of the room. An ugly old hag appeared to be working nearby. She wore a long, ragged skirt about her fat body, and her short, crazily-cut, stone-gray hair stuck out all over. It looked so brittle that Dymphna thought it might snap off and break if anything touched it. Her face spoke loudly of evil. It's harsh, coarse looks had a grayish hue and it seemed to be encrusted with dirt and infection. Unkempt hairs grew randomly about her face and arms. Her eyes held no warmth. Her lips swung loosely as though she had no teeth.

Barbie whispered with a quavering voice, "Mirror, show us how to find him."

The scene backed up so they could seen the entire room with its dirt floor, cracked wooden walls, and its odd assortment of cooking ingredients—things neither Barbie nor Dymphna would want to eat in a million years. Then the room changed into the cottage that held the room. It looked like a large, weather-beaten shed with a crooked chimney coming out the top. The scene drew back and they could see the cottage at the bottom of a hill in a meadow. It drew back some more and they were traveling through a wood, not very far, all the way back to where Dymphna and Barbie sat watching and holding their breaths.

Dymphna shakily said, "Thank you, Mirror," and her face grew as clear and sharp as it would be in any mirror. She put the mirror back in her book bag, slipped Barbie into her pocket and began walking determinedly.

While Barbie pondered how they could ever steal Denton away or—worse—battle the witch, Dymphna muttered under her breath. "Denton drives me crazy! Why couldn't he just stay put?!? Why does he have to get into so much TROUBLE! Why do I always have to clean up that boy's messes?" On and on she went.

Finally, the girls arrived at the hilltop just above the witch's cottage. Now they became stealthy. They came around to the side of the building. Because Barbie was so small, Dymphna placed her on the little window ledge, so she could spy on the situation.

"She's not in the room!" Barbie reported. "I don't see her at all!"

Dymphna was scared. She sat down with Barbie against the wall, and drew out the mirror once more. "Show me the witch," Dymphna whispered.

When the scene came into focus, the girls saw the witch searching for something along the banks of a creek. "It can't be that far away," said Dymphna, "we just saw her in the room with him twenty minutes ago."

Barbie nodded solemnly as Dymphna slipped her back into her pocket. Dymphna carefully walked to the front door, glancing all around her as she went. It opened easily. She walked straight across to Denton's cage. And there he sat just as funny looking as ever. Suddenly, a raven, which Dymphna had not noticed before, flew from its perch by the window and out the open door.

"Dymphna!" Barbie cried worriedly, "I'll bet it's going to warn the witch!"

Dymphna grabbed a chair, placing it under Denton's cage. She climbed up on it and opened the little door. That darned Denton took a flying leap and hopped away under the witch's own bed.

"Denton!" Dymphna cried, "she is going to do something terrible to you! Come on!!!" True to form, Denton did not come out until Dymphna caught him and dragged him out. Just as she did so, a dark shadow loomed within the frame of the door. The raven squawked as it flew off into the woods.

The witch shrieked, "Give me that toad!" Dymphna was glad Barbie was safely in her pocket, so she could not see the witch. She was also glad that the sun prevented her from seeing the witch herself. She thought she might lose courage if she saw the hag truly face to face.

Dymphna slipped Denton into his broken cage in her book bag and zipped the bag. She slung it on her shoulder and made ready for whatever was to come.

"He's not a real toad," said Dymphna courageously. "He's my brother."

"A likely story," the hag cackled mirthlessly. "I caught that toad fair and square. Go get your own toad. What are you anyway, an upstart witch? Are you trying to steal my secrets?"

"No," said Dymphna disgutedly. "Trust me, I wouldn't touch an old toad for any money. He's my brother, though, and I have to take care of him. He's got to come back with me."

"I need that toad," the hag said dangerously as she walked slowly toward Dymphna, dropping in whatever she had picked from the bank of the creek as she walked by the cauldron.

"Why?" asked Dymphna. "Really, Denton's way more trouble than he's worth."

"He belongs in my potion right there, Dearie." Dymphna shied away from the woman's putrid breath. "He is the final ingredient of my potion that will suck the good right out of a person, allowing only the person's evil to come through. I need that toad."

"Why don't you just get another toad?" Dymphna said logically, though she secretly hoped something would happen to the woman's potion, so no one would involuntarily become completely evil.

The hag laughed again. "I need that toad. It danced through the Gazania flowers then it ate a Morpho Didius Didius butterfly with its beautiful metallic blue set against those deep browns just before I caught it. I haven't seen a toad do just that in fifty years, and it is needed for this recipe. You give me that toad." She lunged at Dymphna with her gnarled, gouty hands.

Dymphna was really glad she had taken karate lessons, because she dodged the woman's attempt and fairly flew out the door. Then she drew up short as she stood face to face with an enormous dog.

From inside the cottage, the old hag cackled. Dymphna stood petrified for this dog, stood as tall as Dymphna's waist. If it decided to stand up on its hind legs, the black Irish Wolfhound would have towered over her. It had an unnatural, mean look in its eyes.

Barbie, however, was glad she had been listening to Dymphna when she studied her Latin. She pointed her wand at the dog, concentrated with all her might, and said, "Be our friend."

A tremendous change came over the dog. It stopped growling. It sat down and wagged its long tail.

The hag screeched, "Kill, Geronimo!"

Geronimo stood up and walked slowly over to Dymphna, who was still very wary of the dog. The dog, whose black fur shimmered in the sunlight, placed himself between Dymphna and the witch. It let out a long, low growl.

The witch's look of psychotic delight melted into determined anger. As she reached into her skirt pocket, the dog charged at her, clearly intending to protect Dymphna.

Dymphna just barely glimpsed a wand being drawn out when the dog hit the hag full in the chest. The witch flew backwards into the cauldron along with the dog.

Curiosity and fear drew Dymphna to run back to the cottage.

Now, the cauldron had been boiling, so Dymphna had expected the witch to be in horrible shape. However, the ugliness of the witch was melting away with astonishing rapidity. When she stood up, she looked like someone's kindly grandmother, as if she could have just baked an apple pie and crocheted an afghan. Dymphna could not believe the transformation.

The transformed witch stepped out of the cottage and back into the light. "I haven't felt this good since I was a little girl," she said with a hint of pleasant music in her voice.

As if to accentuate the old woman's words, Geronimo came bounding out of the cottage and began playing in the yard like a puppy.

Dymphna did not trust her at all. Barbie just stayed hidden within Dymphna's pocket, listening with all her might. Denton croaked loudly.

The witch smiled understandingly and said, "Will you please forgive me for scaring you and for almost killing your brother? I was so very wrong for doing all that, for doing many things I've done in my life. Wow. You have given me a whole new lease on life."

Dymphna stuttered, "What . . . What happened?" She kept her distance.

The witch smiled and said, "Well, Geronimo knocked me into my own pot, and I was completely doused in my own potion."

"But I thought you said that potion would suck the good right out of a person. You were bad before, and now you seem so nice."

"That's right," the woman returned. "That's exactly right. You forget that my potion was not finished. As it stood, it would do the exact opposite of what I told you. In other words, it sucked all the evil right out of me. I think I like that a lot. Would you like to come inside and talk for a little while?"

Dymphna shook her head violently. "I'd better go," she said quickly.

"I guess that is just as well. I wouldn't trust me either if I were you. Anyway, I've got a lot of wounds to heal because of the evil I've done. No time like the present to get started on that. I hope we meet again, though."

"Thanks," said Dymphna. "If that's true, though, would you mind if I took some of that potion with me? It might come in handy some day."

The old woman smiled and said genuinely, "I would be honored, Sweet Girl." She went inside and came back with several jars full of the emerald green liquid. "I have magically sealed them so they won't go bad, and I have put a spell on them to make them as light as feathers. I don't want them to wear you out as you walk."

"You are kind," Dymphna said. "Thank you." She took the jars and carefully put them in her book bag. Denton almost got out again, but Dymphna caught him and kept him still. She walked backwards away from the witch, watching the old woman the entire time. Geronimo followed Dymphna; his loyalties had changed. The old woman simply smiled and waved at her until she was out of sight.

When Dymphna was finally back where they started, she sat down cross legged in the tall grass, took Barbie out of her pocket, and set her down gently in the grass. She pulled Denton out of her bag and brought him close to Barbie. Barbie kissed the Denton toad.

Denton changed states of matter from a nice, solid (though squishy) toad to a brownish gaseous smoke. The smoke turned itself into rings and grew and spread until Dymphna and Barbie saw a gaseous Denton. He grew sharper in color and texture until he looked just like his old normal self once again.

Barbie shouted "Wahoo! I've completed my first magnanimous task! Just two more to go before I get my wings!"

Dymphna looked at her watch and said, "That may be, but we've got to get home, and if you don't look like your old self, Mom is going to have a conniption fit!"

Those words put a damper on Barbie as the three of them held hands and made their way back home.