A Wizard, A Dragon and a Girl

Mattie woke up to a rather unusual breakfast—a big slice of chocolate cake. Next to the cake sat a note from Papa.

Morning Sunshine. Doing some work for Ms. Wimbley. Come see me if you like.

That explained the cake.

Mattie kicked her feet beneath her chair as she enjoyed her breakfast with a glass of milk, then she left for the town square in her favorite dress. As she walked the cobbled road, she read a wonderful story about fairies trying to get rid of a troll who had overstayed his welcome. Martha, the Librarian, suggested the book, Forest Stories, after Mattie told Martha she wasn’t interested in a textbook titled Everyday Trigonometry.

There is a fountain in the center of town square. Tommy Tuck sat on the edge of that fountain, beneath a statue of the town’s resident hero, Sir Reginald in his suit of arms, his sword plunged through the head of a dragon. Water spilled from the dragon’s mouth into the pool below.

Tommy said, “Hey-a Bratty Mattie,” as Mattie passed by.

Normally, Mattie would say something to Tommy, like, “Hey Tomma Llama,” or throw something at him—never a book. Today she didn’t look up. The fairies were luring the troll to the waterfall with acorns. “Brilliant,” said Mattie. Everybody knows trolls love acorns.

“Bratty Mattie’s talking to herself again,” sang Tommy Tuck.

Mattie didn’t hear him. She also didn’t hear townsfolk she passed whispering that the Wizard Cantauk was in town. Martha the Librarian’s husband, Henry is the town’s Wizard. He is a nice man who means well and sometimes his spells work. Cantauk is an ornery, selfish man whose spells always work. If Mattie heard Cantauk was in town she would have been on the lookout because he was known to turn people who perturb him into toads.

The smell of baked bread hit Mattie’s nose. She stopped, looked up from her book and saw the storefront for Masticatia’s Bakery. Reluctantly, she closed the book and entered.

“Hello Mattie, dear,” said Ms. Wimbley from behind the counter. She was packaging a loaf of bread for Mrs. Oakmont.

“Thank you for the cake,” said Mattie. “It was delicious.”

“Oh, you’re welcome, dear,” gushed Ms. Wimbley. “Your father is in the back. He’s building a display case for my latest creation—puff cakes!” Ms. Wimbley’s energy level was a bit too much for Mattie. Mattie suspected the baker might be sweet on her papa.

Mattie secretly hoped her teacher, Miss Arbitrage might bump into her papa under a starry night, and they would decide to get married. Miss Arbitrage pretty and once told Mattie she was brilliant at remembering things she was taught the first time.

“Sweetie?” said Ms. Wimbley.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Before you check on your father, will you do me a favor? There’s a raspberry drop cookie in it for you.”

Ms. Wimbley knew her weakness. “Okay.”

“Thank you. Will you deliver these loaves of bread to the café, to Mr. Patti?”

“Sure.”

“Thank you, dear.”

Mattie found it a little difficult to hold the basket of bread in one hand and the open book in the other, but she managed. She navigated the crowd as she crossed the square as if by radar. Tommy Tuck said something snide to her as she rounded the fountain. Mattie didn’t hear it. The fairies had coaxed the troll to the edge of the waterfall. Fairy folk are notoriously nice, even when they don’t want to be. Surely, they wouldn’t . . . They did! The fairies gave the troll a basket full of acorns, then pushed him over the falls. One called out, “Thank you for visiting.” Another yelled, “Come again.” A third cast a spell of befuddlement on the troll so he wouldn’t find his way back.

Mattie nearly smashed into the café door. “Oh.” She put the book on top of the bread so she could open the door.

The café was awful quiet. A lone man sat at the table by the window. Mattie walked past the man without any heed, focused on Mr. Patti. She could see Mr. Patti’s bald spot in the large mirror behind him. “Here’s your loaves of bread.”

Mr. Patti had little beads of sweat on his brow. Mr. Patti had a look on his face that said he was struggling with a decision. “Oh, thank you child,” said Mr. Patti after Mattie placed the basket on the counter.

“Sure,” said Mattie.

“Um. Will you do me a small favor?”

Mattie hesitated.

“Will you please take this tea to the gentleman seated at the window?” He pushed a teacup on a saucer forward with a shaky hand.

“Did you add two and a half sugars?” said a gruff voice behind Mattie.

“Yes sir, precisely,” said Mr. Patti. He patted his brow with a handkerchief. “It-it’s on the house . . . sir.”

“I should think so,” said the man.

Mattie shifted the book to her left hand and picked up the saucer with her right. She turned and almost dropped the tea and the book. The man seated at the window was Cantauk, the ornery wizard.

“I don’t like children,” said Cantauk.

Mattie didn’t know what to say to that, so she said nothing. She wanted this encounter to end quickly. She walked toward the Wizard. The teacup and saucer began to shake in her hand. She wished she had put the book down.

Don’t drop it.

Mattie was so focused on not dropping the tea or the book that she didn’t see a chair leg protruding into her path. She clipped the leg with her toe, lost her balance, dropped the book, and bobbled the tea. She instinctively reached forward to steady the teacup on the saucer, but unfortunately, this motion launched the teacup from the saucer. Time slowed as Mattie watched the teacup sail through the air and land on Cantauk’s lap, upside down.

Cantauk screeched.

Mr. Patti gasped and ducked behind the counter.

Mattie said, “Oh no.” Her eyes went to the floor.

Cantauk’s face reddened. His mouth tightened. He pointed his wand at Mattie and shouted, “Toadsu witt didily permenti!”

As the last angry word left Cantauk’s mouth Mattie dropped to the floor to pick up the book. The hateful spell passed over her head, zipped over the counter, bounced off the mirror and buzzed back from whence it came.

Mattie stood up with the book and inspected the cover for scuffs. Thank the stars, the book was okay. She looked up and said, “Oh my.”

Mr. Patti poked his head up.

Cantauk the wizard was gone. Left on his chair was his wizard hat which sat on top of his wizard robe, and on top of the table rested his wand.

Mr. Murphy burst through the café door. “Where’s Cantauk?”

Mattie said, “He’s . . . gone.”

The wizard hat moved.

“Gone?” asked Mr. Murphy, panic in his eyes.

“He may have turned himself into a toad,” said Mattie.

“Disaster!” cried Mr. Murphy. “A dragon is coming.”

“Oh no,” said Mattie and Mr. Patti in unison.

The three looked at each other. Mattie decided there was but one thing to do. She took the wand and marched out the door, careful not to step on the wizard hat that was now on the floor moving around.

Outside the café door was chaos. People scrambled about screaming. “The dragon approaches!” “All is lost!” “Mommy!” The last voice belonged to Tommy Tuck who ran in circles with his hands on his head.

Mattie grabbed Tommy’s arm and told him to take cover.

Wide-eyed Tommy nodded and joined the townspeople who ran for the edges of the town square.

The dragon swooped into town from above the clock tower, knocking its tall spire off. Mattie heard three loud poofs. Three nets flew from different directions. Two of them hit their mark. The dragon, tangled in woven webs fell to the ground in front of the fountain. The spire impaled deep in the cobbled ground in front of the dragon with a twang. The dragon growled and clawed at the nets.

Deep breath. Mattie kept walking. She rounded the fountain.

Someone else approached the dragon. Sir Reginald. He wore his shiny knight armor and carried a big sword. With his fist in the air he shouted, “Never fear, citizens of Masticatia. I will save you.” Sir Reginald failed to notice that the dragon’s tail was outside the nets. He raised his sword. The dragon whipped its tail. Sir Reginald summersaulted through the air, hit the sundry shop and crumpled to the ground in a shiny heap.

It was up to Mattie.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment,” said a voice beside her.

Mattie turned. Henry the town wizard stood in his violet and silver robe and matching wizard hat.

“Run away little girl,” said Henry. “This is no place for you.”

Mattie said, “But I know a spell. It goes like this. Toadsu witt didily permenti.” She got the words right. However, something went very wrong. The wand in her hand was pointed at Henry. Henry disappeared, his wizard garb fell to the ground and a toad jumped free.

“Oops,” said Mattie.

No time to fret. She pointed the wand at the growling dragon and recited the words. Her shaky hand aimed too high. Mrs. Hightower, who peered out of a window from the clock tower disappeared.

Mattie tried again. Somehow the spell bounced off the dragon’s hardened scales, bounced again off Reginald’s shiny armor, and hit Mr. Murphy through the café window. Mr. Murphy joined Cantauk on the ground. They both croaked mournful croaks.

The dragon stopped wrestling with the net and began to make coughing sounds. Mattie didn’t know why, but she thought the coughing was a bad sign. She tried again. Another spell bounced off a dragon scale and Mayor Pearbody joined the growing toad population.

Mattie prepared herself to try yet again. “Toadsu . . .”

Two big arms swept her up and carried her from the fountain and the dragon, just as the dragon unleashed fire so hot it melted the statue of Sir Reginald in the fountain to a glowing glob of metal.

Papa kept running.

Mattie could see over Papa’s shoulder the dragon had freed itself. The dragon reared up on its hind legs. Its wings flared. The dragon roared a massive roar as Mattie tried one last time, aiming for its yellow belly. “Toadsu witt didily permenti!”

Mattie missed.

But it was a glorious miss, the most wonderful miss in the history of Masticatia. The spell bounced off the melted statue, off Sir Reginald’s armor, and off the stuck spire at just the right angle. It hit the dragon square in its open mouth mid-roar. The dragon yelped (Mattie didn’t know a dragon could yelp) and turned into the biggest toad Mattie had ever seen.

“You can stop running, Papa.”

“Never,” said Papa.

Mattie said, “The dragon is gone.”

Papa stopped and turned. They stared in awe as townspeople crept out from their crevices.

All was quiet.

Then cheers sprang from the growing crowd.

Martha, the Librarian, gathered all the toads in a box—minus the dragon toad. She told Mattie she would take them to the East Witch to get fixed, and not to worry, and thank you for saving the town.

The town didn’t feel it was right to slay the dragon toad, that is until it croaked a fire ball that singed all of Tommy Tuck’s hair. With much soberness they decided Sir Reginald could slay the toad when he woke up.

The town also voted and decided to leave Cantauk the wizard toad in a nice mud hole down by the river.

After much chatter, and excitement, and a pat on the back from singed Tommy Tuck, Papa carried Mattie home, until she insisted that he let her walk.