Mr Majeika Read Free Page A

‘That’s the best thing I’ve heard for ages!’
    Mr Majeika shook his head. ‘For you, maybe, but not for him. I’ll have to try and do
something
.’ And he began to mutter a whole series of strange-sounding words under his breath.
    All kinds of things began to happen. The room went dark, and the floor seemed to rock. Green smoke came out of an empty jar on Mr Majeika’s desk. He tried some more words, and this time there was a small thunderstorm in the sky outside. But nothing happened to the frog.
    ‘Oh, dear,’ sighed Mr Majeika, ‘what
am
I going to do?’

4. The Frog’s Princess

    Thomas and Pete thought for a moment. Then Thomas said: ‘Don’t worry about it yet, Mr Magic. Hamish Bigmore’s parents are away, and he’s staying with us. You’ve got two days to find the right spell before they come back and expect to find him.’
    ‘Two days,’ repeated Mr Majeika. ‘In that case there is a chance. We shall simply have to see what happens at midnight.’
    ‘Midnight?’ asked Jody.
    ‘My friend,’ said Mr Majeika, ‘surely you know that in fairy stories everything returnsto its proper shape when the clock strikes twelve?’
    ‘Cinderella’s coach,’ said Jody.
    ‘Exactly,’ answered Mr Majeika. ‘But one can’t be certain of it. There’s only a chance. I’ll stay here tonight, and see what happens.’
    And with that, Class Three went home.

    Thomas and Pete felt that really they should have taken Hamish Bigmore home with them, even if he
was
a frog. After all, he was supposed to be staying with them.
    ‘But,’ said Pete, ‘it’s not easy carrying frogs. He might escape, and jump into a river or something, and we’d never see him again.’
    ‘And a very good thing too,’ said Thomas.
    ‘You can’t say that,’ remarked Pete. ‘He may be only Hamish Bigmore to you and me, but to his mum and dad he’s darling little Hamie, or something like that. And just think what it would be like to be mother and father to a frog. Going to the shops, and the library, and that sort of thing, and people saying: “Oh, Mrs Bigmore, what a
sweet
little frog you’re carrying in that jar.” And Hamish’s mum having to say: “Oh, Mrs Smith, that’s not just a frog, that’s our son Hamish.”’
    When Thomas and Pete’s mum saw them at the school gates the first thing she said was ‘Where’s Hamish?’, and they had quite a time persuading her that Hamish wouldn’tbe coming home with them that afternoon, or staying the night, but was visiting friends, and was being perfectly well taken care of.
    ‘Who are these friends?’ she asked suspiciously. ‘What’s their name?’
    ‘Tadpoles,’ said Pete, without thinking.
    ‘Idiot,’ whispered Thomas, kicking him. ‘We don’t know their name,’ he told his mum. ‘But Mr Majeika, our new teacher, arranged it, so it must be all right.’
    ‘Oh, did he?’ said their mum. ‘Well, he might have told me. But I suppose I shouldn’t fuss.’ And she took them home.
    When they got back to school the next morning, Hamish Bigmore was still a frog.

    ‘Nothing happened at all,’ said Mr Majeika gloomily.
    He tried to make Class Three get on with their ordinary work, but it wasn’t much use. Nobody had their minds on anything but Hamish Bigmore, swimming up and down in his tank.
    Everyone kept making suggestions to Mr Majeika.
    ‘Mr Magic, couldn’t you just get a magic wand and wave it over him?’
    ‘Couldn’t you say “Abracadabra” and see if that works?’
    ‘Couldn’t you find another wizard and ask him what to do?’
    ‘My friends,’ said Mr Majeika, ‘it’s no use. There’s nothing else to try. Last night, while I was here alone, I made use of every possible means I know, and I can do nothing. And as to finding another wizard,that would be very hard indeed. There are so very few still working, and we don’t know each other’s names. It might take me years to find another one, and even then he might not have the