“Dear Penelope, Peter, and Simon,” he said. “It is through your kindness and your intelligence and your bravery that Mythologia was saved. We are sorry to see you go, but you know that you will always be welcome to come here at any time in the future.”
At this there were great cries of “Hear, hear.”
“And now,” continued H.H., “from us all I’d like to present you with this gift.”
H.H. handed a beautifully carved box to Penelope, and when she opened it she gasped. Inside were three necklaces for herself—one of pearls, one of rubies, and one of diamonds. There were also pearl, diamond, and ruby cufflinks and tie pins for Peter and Simon. Finally, there were three decorations—the Order of the Cockatrice. These showed a fallen Cockatrice, and all the other creatures of Mythologia triumphant in the background. The decorations had been beautifully executed in minute precious stones, seed pearls, and gold and silver filigree work. The children were overwhelmed. Everyone seeing their delight, burst into “For They Are Jolly Good Fellows,” and Penelope found that her eyes were full of tears. Finally, they embraced all their friends and, last of all, H.H.
“Come back soon,” he said. “We shall be looking forward to it.”
“We will,” the children promised. “We will.”
Then they mounted on three Unicorns, and Ethelred and Parrot mounted on a fourth, to see them off, and they rode away, leaving all their friends happily continuing the party by the shore of the Singing Sea.
After an hour’s stiff gallop they arrived at the same entrance by which they had entered Mythologia.
“ ’Ere, miss,” whispered Ethelred, as they dismounted. “Could I ’ave a word in private with you?”
“Of course,” she said, and she followed him behind the rocks.
“I was wondering, miss, if you’d do something for me, like,” said Ethelred, blushing.
“Anything, Ethelred, you know that,” said Penelope.
“Well, it’s like this,” said Ethelred, getting redder and redder. “I was . . . reading this ’ere story once about this ’ere Toad, see, and then there was this, er . . . Princess, see, and she sort of kinda . . . she, well, kisses the Toad, like, and cor lummy, he turns into a ’andsome Prince.”
“So, you want me to kiss you?” asked Penelope.
“If you ain’t a Princess, I’ve never seen one,” said Ethelred earnestly. “So, if you wouldn’t mind, miss; I mean just once, as a sort of experiment.”
“Of course,” said Penelope.
So Ethelred closed his eyes tightly and Penelope leant forward and kissed him.
“Cor lummy,” said Ethelred, his eyes still closed. “Is there any difference, miss?”
“I'm afraid not,” said Penelope.
Two big tears squeezed out of Ethelred’s eyes and slid slowly down his cheeks.
“And I am very glad,” said Penelope.
Ethelred opened his eyes in astonishment. “Glad, miss?” he said. “Why?”
“I wouldn’t like you as an awful, handsome Prince,” said Penelope. “I like you as the handsome, brave, and kind Toad that you are.”
“Cor, miss, you really mean that?” asked Ethelred, beaming. “ ’Onest, cross your ’eart, and spit on your ’and and ’ope to die?”
“Honest,” said Penelope. And to show that she meant it, she kissed him again.
“Come on, Penny,” yelled Peter, “or we’ll never get home.”
They went to the mouth of the tunnel. There the two boys shook Parrot’s claw and Penelope kissed him on both sides of his beak.
“Good-bye, my kind, brave, and dear friends,” said Parrot. “Please come back soon.”
“Yes, as soon as possible,” said Ethelred.
“We’ll try to come back next year,” said Penelope. “We promise. We’ll send you a message through Madame Hor- tense.”
The children took one last look at Mythologia with its beautiful blue forests of cork trees, the purple grass, the glint of the golden Singing Sea in the distance, and the jade green sky with its families of colored clouds. They looked once more at their friends, Ethelred and Parrot, and behind them the lavender and white Unicorns nodding their heads in farewell. Then, with a final wave of their hands, Penelope, Peter, and Simon plunged into the tunnel that was to take them back to the everyday world.
About the Author
GERALD DURRELL was born in India. He grew up on the Greek island Corfu and in England, where he worked as a student animal keeper at the internationally famous Whipsnade Park of the Zoological Society of London. Since the age of 2I he has been making animal collecting expeditions all over the world. As founder and director of the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust on the English Island of Jersey, he has for over fifteen years devoted himself to the study, protection, breeding, and rearing of endangered species. He is also the founder and an active director of the American non-profit organization SAFE (Save the Animals From Extinction).
Beloved by children and adults the world over, books by Gerald Durrell include My Family and Other Animals, Zoo in My Luggage, Menagerie Manor, The Donkey Rustlers, and A Bevy of Beasts.
About the Illustrator
PAMELA JOHNSON is a graduate of Wheaton College and has studied at Dartmouth and the Boston Museum School. She and her husband live on a Cape Cod farm in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, where they are caretakers for the local historical society. She frequently uses the animals on the farm as models for her drawings. Among the books she has illustrated are The Year of the Badger, Country Chronicle, and Bicentennial Philadelphia.
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
PHILADELPHIA AND NEW YORK