Matilda and the mysterious frogs

Ivanka Ferenčić Martinčić

Matilda and the Mysterious Frogs

Ivanka Ferenčić Martinčić Matilda and the Mysterious Frogs Copyright © Naklada Nika, 2014.

Publisher Naklada Nika Amruševa 10, Zagreb tel./fax.: 01/ 557 85 50 e–mail: info@nakladanika.hr www.nakladanika.hr Design DTP – Naklada Nika Illustration Martina Frančić Translation Ana Huzjak Kišivan ISBN 978-953-7284-42-8 CIP zapis dostupan je u računalnome katalogu Nacionalne i sveučilišne knjižnice u Zagrebu pod brojem 878677.

Ivanka Ferenčić Martinčić

Matilda and the Mysterious Frogs

4

Everything you need to know before you start reading this book

If you have not read the book Matilda and the witch's cat, I have to tell you Matilda is a somewhat peculiar girl.

She lives in a peculiar red house, with her mum, the librarian, and a big, black cat Puck. She sees her Grandma regularly, but her Dad works far away, in India, so he is rarely home. Therefore Matilda writes everything down, in a diary. Her diary is not the kind you would hide under a pillow; it is more like a long letter for her Dad when he returns home. In that way he can find out about everything that was going on while he was away.

If you are wondering what kind of a strange name this cat has, you are not the only one. Matilda’s Mum named him after an elf from her favourite book, but this is not the strangest thing about him. He

5

often does not even behave like a cat; he is grumpy and does not like to cuddle, sometimes he growls like a dog and follows Matilda around. It was his peculiar behaviour what caused a series of events that encouraged Matilda to search for witches and magic.

Although Matilda did not find what she had been looking for, it still was an exciting adventure with an unexpected end. We will not give away all the details, but we will tell you where the story stopped.

Matilda had a sneaking suspicion that indeed her Mum was a witch, and that she was hiding a book of magic. She believed it was a real witch’s book, with recipes for casting spells and preparing magical potions. Matilda was just about to start her search for the book, when her father returned home. So, the story about Matilda and the witch’s cat ended, like all good stories do, with the beginning of a new exciting adventure.

6

Chapter 1 In which Matilda is bored

Cold rains came first and washed away all the festive autumn colours. Overnight, the trees lost their rustling ornaments and remained bare. It was as if a giant broom had swept away the cheerful rug of yellow, ginger and brown leaves and replaced it with mud. All that greyness might have bothered some, but those were mostly adults and those who did not like to get dirty. Matilda was not one of them.

Everything that gets dirty can be washed clean, and magical colours just need to be looked for in new places.

Such days were made for rubber boots and jumping in the puddles, for searching for snails with colourful shells and spider webs with raindrop beads.

The muddy greyness was followed by snow that painted everything white. Some people do not li-

7

ke snow. But Matilda did not mind. After playing in snow, she would always get a cup of warm tea or cocoa, and nothing is as fun as throwing food to the birds and waiting for Puck to get all wet, while trying to chase them away. That big black cat hated being wet, so he would walk around for hours, all bristling and funny.

Matilda's winter days were filled with joy, games and hugs.

Ever since her father had returned, they often went on trips. Dad called them small and big trips.

Walking to the meadow behind their house, visiting the forest on the edge of their town or the old fort that looked like an enchanted castle-those were all small trips. The big trips were the ones taken by car, outside their small town, like the trip to the zoo.

They made snowmen and forts in the snow, they decorated the Christmas tree together, and then once again the next day, because the tree had tipped over from the old, rickety stand. They exchanged their diaries, which they had been writing for each other and they spent many evenings reading them together and talking about what they had written.

Dad’s diary was full of photos and postcards from

9

India, as well as small packages with spices and teas. India looked and smelled very cheerful and colourful.

With all that excitement and hanging out with Dad, with the holidays and school, Matilda still found the time for searching for the book of magic.

She first looked for it in the study, and later she searched the whole house, from the loft to the basement. Yet, the book of magic was nowhere to be found. She peeked into Mum’s closet again. The stripy socks, the kind that witches wore, were still there, but she could not find the hat. Matilda also inspected the broom, but did not find anything peculiar. .

Finally, she started snooping around the library where her Mum worked. The best time for that was after school, while she was waiting for Mum to finish work, or when she went to the library to borrow something to read.

In the end, she concluded the book must be enchanted. It could not be found because it was invisible. As a result, she no longer looked for it so often. At last, she lost all hope that she would ever find it. She might have been wrong, she might have imagined the whole thing.

Winter came and went, and so did the holidays.

The shy sun and rain melted the snow, revealing

10

spring beneath it. The grass was bright green, as if showing off and the branches were ready to burst into buds. Even the sky was impatiently blue, as if it could not wait for the sun to get a bit stronger. Dad had to go away again, and Matilda...she just stopped looking for the book of magic.

The spring days got longer. The birds got louder.

Everything was inviting children to abandon their homework and step outside. But Matilda just did not feel like it. She would pick up a book to read, just to give up on it after a few pages. She would take toys from their shelves, just to put them back a few moments later. She would start writing in her diary, but that did not feel right, either. Matilda was listless and bored. It was not the kind of boredom you feel when you are waiting at the dentist’s or for the bell to ring at the end of the last class. That kind of boredom goes away and is followed by play time. This kind of boredom was like a fog, dragging for days. It was like a grey cloud that no wind could blow away.

It was the worst kind of boredom.

And the book of magic? The book of magic was as a tiny stone in your shoe. The thought of it rubbed her all the time, but she just did not know where else she could look for it.

11

Ivanka Ferenčić Martinčić

Matilda and the Mysterious Frogs Exciting and magical adventures don’t always begin and end the way we expect them to. Matilda’s first quest for a magic book did not exactly end in glory. Her new quest starts awkwardly, but even the most boring day can in the blink of an eye turn into a new adventure.

Neither tricky falls, slippery troubles, nor elusive frogs can stop her in her quest. With Puk at her heels and a diary in her pocket, Matilda is determined to find magic in her extraordinary world. How much trouble can scientific research cause? Where can all the secret books be hidden? And how is it possible that punishment is not the worst thing that can happen?

Join Matilda in discovering magic in unexpected places.

Naklada Nika • Amruševa 10/I HR-10000 Zagreb Tel./Fax:+385 1 557 85 50 E-mail: info@nakladanika.hr 65,00 kn