Eustace opened his notebook, which was clutched in his hand. He quickly began leafing through pages. "This tree here is an oak tree. Which means it is completely solid inside, so the frog must be living up on one of the branches. The people in the town have it wrong: he's not in the tree, he's on the tree." He looked up at Lucy and Edmund. "You are following me so far, aren't you?"

"Yes, of course," said Edmund in exasperation. "But what is your point?"

Eustace puffed up and continued in his very superior way, "If it's living in a tree, then it must be a Hyla aborea." He paused. "Don't you know anything? The European tree frog."

"How do you know he is a European tree frog?" asked Lucy.

Eustace rolled his eyes. "Because it speaks English," he responded, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world. "And if you know anything at all about tree frogs, you would know that they each have a distinct call. That's why the frog likes to sing: it's looking for a mate!"

Edmund thought about this for a moment. "I don't know about this, Eustace. Even if you're right, how do we get him to stop singing?"

Eustace smiled. "Once we get it out of the tree, someone will have to kiss it. And since Lucy's the only girl . . ." He looked over at her.

Lucy giggled. "You want me to kiss a frog? Like in the stories?" She laughed again. "Do you suppose he'll turn into a prince if I do?"

Eustace frowned at her. "You wanted my help, didn't you? Then you shouldn't make fun! This is the only way." And with that, he snapped his notebook shut.

"I don't remember asking for his help, do you?" Edmund whispered to Lucy. But Lucy just stifled another laugh and said, "I suppose I could kiss him, if I had to. But first we need to get him out of the tree." The three of them looked up.

"We could set in on fire," Eustace said. "Or chop it down."

"Eustace!" Lucy cried in alarm, and Edmund said, "We are not going to chop it down or set it on fire." Having known so many dryads in Narnia, such a thing was unthinkable for them. "Fine," Eustace grumbled. "I'd like to see if you can think of something better."

Edmund looked at Lucy. "If Eustace is right, then I suppose I ought to go up and take a look." He went to the lowest branch and heaved himself up. Lucy bit her lip, watching him climb.

"You'd never catch me doing such a thing," Eustace said to her.

"Come now, Eustace!" Edmund called down. "You shouldn't be scared of climbing a tree. It's not difficult!"

"I'm not scared!" Eustace shouted back. "I just think it's foolish to climb up so high!" They could hear Edmund's laughter floating down to them. "That's it then," Eustace muttered, and he began to climb as well.

"Be careful!" Lucy warned. Eustace wanted to holler something rotten back to her, but after getting only a few branches up the tree, he was already gasping and sweating.

Edmund leaned over the branch on which he was perched. "You can climb faster than that, can't you?"

"Do—stop—shaking—the—tree!" Eustace panted. He held on tightly to his branch, closing his eyes until the tree stopped moving.

"What does this thing look like, anyway?" Edmund asked.

"Very small," Eustace answered. His smug tone was gone as he concentrated on climbing. "Only four centimeters long. It'll be green, of course."

"That small?" Edmund marveled. "Imagine something that tiny making such a great noise! Are you sure, Eustace?"

Eustace did not answer. He had just caught sight of how very far up he was. It actually wasn't that far at all, and anyone who had ever climbed a tree before would have been very comfortable at that height. But Eustace had never been in a tree, and was suddenly terrified. He wrapped his arms and legs around the huge limb, and began to wail. "Get me down from here! I don't like it!"

"Eustace!" Lucy's voice rose up from the ground. "You're all right. Just drop down to the lower branch."

Eustace drew in a deep breath and bellowed, "Have you gone mad? I'm not dropping anywhere! The fall would kill me!"

"Don't be so silly, Eustace!" Lucy called back. "You're only a few meters from the ground!"

Edmund looked over, and through the leaves he could see Eustace clutching the tree tightly, holding on as if his life was depending on it (and in Eustace's mind, it was). "What a bother," he said to himself. "I suppose I'll have to get him down." He crawled along and easily stepped from branch to branch, until he was right next to Eustace. "Now Eustace, listen to me," Edmund said. "The branch below you is right there. Just put your foot down and step on it."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Eustace spat. "I'll put my foot down, all right, and find no branch at all! Maybe you think you'd all be better off if I fell to my death right now!"

"Don't be so ridiculous," Edmund sighed. "Grandmother could get down from here." He edged closer to the boy, which caused the tree to shake again. Eustace began to moan. "Stop doing that. The whole thing is going to come down!"

"If it was so unsafe," Edmund said, "then you shouldn't have come up here in the first place!" He swung over and landed lightly on Eustace's limb. "Now I'm right here. I'll hold on to you while you climb down. This way, if you fall, we both will."

Eustace looked up at him. After considering for a moment, he finally said, "All right then. But slowly. And try not to shake the tree, for heaven's sake!"

Gradually, Eustace edged off of his branch, and slipped down to the next one. Edmund stood there with him, giving instructions. "You're doing well, Eustace, you really are!" Lucy shouted up to him.

"Oh shut up," he groused. Edmund overheard him, and bounced on the limb, causing it to sway up and down. Eustace screeched and clutched the tree again. "Sorry there, Eustace," Edmund said. "My mistake." Eustace gave him a terrible look, but Edmund simply grinned.

Edmund was helping Eustace down to the next one when a flicker of movement caught his eye. He looked to the right, and there on a branch was a small green frog, watching them both with wide eyes. Edmund gave a yelp and jumped towards it, reaching out to catch the frog in his hand. He let go of Eustace at the same time, who lost his balance and began to flail about wildly. Eustace fell right out of the tree, landing on the ground in a heap.

Edmund lurched forward, just missing the frog, who hopped easily to the next branch. He could hear Eustace bellowing "You idiot! You've killed me!" from below, but he paid it no mind. Edmund scrambled after the frog. But the frog was simply too quick for him, and hopped up and away into the tree. Edmund was about to continue after it, but he could hear Eustace and Lucy arguing below, so he turned and climbed down instead.

Eustace was causing such a racket that Caspian and Reepicheep came running from the town. "What happened?" Caspian demanded. "Were you attacked?"

Lucy began to answer, but Eustace interrupted, "Yes, I was attacked, by that rotten Edmund. He threw me from the tree, and I nearly died!"

"That's utter nonsense," said Lucy. "You fell because you weren't paying attention. And you're not even hurt at all!"

Eustace scrambled to his feet. "If you had any sense, you'd see that my arm is broken, and probably my ankle as well." He began to limp about as if to prove the point. He looked so ridiculous that the others could not help but laugh at him. Eustace became so infuriated that he stalked off, and Lucy noticed that his limp changed from one foot to the other as he went.

"If Your Majesties would permit," said Reepicheep, who was watching Eustace go with a dark expression, "I could teach him not to speak to Her Grace in such a way!"

"It probably wouldn't do any good," said Caspian. "It'd just give him more to complain about."

Edmund came up next to them. "I almost had him, but no luck. He's much too fast." He looked around. "What happened to Eustace?" When they told him of his departure, he just shook his head. "I suppose I should go see if he's all right. I didn't mean to let go of him, but I wanted to get a hold of that frog." He and Caspian walked together back to the town, leaving Lucy and Reepicheep standing under the tree. Lucy sat down in the cool shade of the tree, leaning against the trunk. "Now we're no closer to solving this mystery," she said softly.

Reepicheep sat down next to her. "My queen, you have tried all you could, and no one would dare say otherwise. As a Mouse and a Knight, I would never admit defeat. But perhaps this is one problem with no solution."

"It's a shame, really," Lucy said. "He does have a lovely singing voice. It's just the volume! And he sings the same song every night. It'd be nice if he could learn a new one."

"There was a song my auntie used to sing," said Reepicheep. "It was the loveliest song I ever heard!" There was a long pause, and then to Lucy's surprise, the Mouse began to sing:

"The long cold nights of winter
And the days of snow and frost
The wind howls through the evergreen trees
And the sun seems all but lost.

It sometimes seems the springtime
Will never come again
But rest assured the sun will return
And winter soon will wane.

The ice comes down
The world is cold
And shadows cover all
That's when springtime will make its return
And the birds will start to call.

When all seems lost
Do not be afraid;
The springtime will come again."

Reepicheep's little voice faded away. "That is beautiful," breathed Lucy. Reepicheep bowed. "Will you sing it again for me?" Reepicheep nodded, unable to deny a queen such a request. He began to sing, and Lucy joined in during the second verse. When it was over, Lucy closed her eyes and sighed. "I'll remember that song forever," she said.

Suddenly, she felt something plop into her lap. She looked down, and to her utter amazement, a little frog was there, staring up at her. Lucy sat up straight, and gently lifted the frog so that they were eye to eye. "Are you our singing frog?" she asked softly.

The frog nodded. Reepicheep, who stood next to Lucy, said to her, "I have sworn to Her Majesty that I would do away with this frog if given the chance. But now that the moment has arrived—I could not call myself a true knight of Narnia and strike a creature so small."

Lucy smiled up at him. "It is the mark of a true knight to care for those that are smaller than he." She turned her attention back to the frog. "Did you come down because of our song?" The frog nodded again. "You may use it, if you'd like."

At this, the frog shook his head. "No," the frog said, his voice very deep and sad. "I see now that I am not the only creature in this world who loves song. I thought I would share the gift with everyone, but I see that it is in the hearts of even those who aren't lucky enough to be frogs." He dipped down, in what Lucy assumed must be the way a frog would bow. "I am off now, to seek my adventures elsewhere. Please give my apologies to those I have offended."

"Even though you're not a prince in disguise," said Lucy, "I'd like to give you a kiss, just the same." The frog bowed, and Lucy planted a kiss on his cheek. Then he jumped off of Lucy's palm. They watched as he scampered away.

Lucy and Reepicheep returned to the village with the good news. "You mean you let him get away?" Eustace bemoaned. He was sitting in Gastor's house, his leg propped up on pillows, and a bandage wrapped around his head. "You should have brought him back here. We could have had him for supper."

"At least this means we can move on," said Caspian. "We have much more to explore."

"We're leaving this dratted island?" Eustace exclaimed, jumping up at the thought. "Let's go now!" He saw the looks that the others were giving him, and folded his arms. "I was hurt, you know," he snapped at them, and limped out of the house.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this little story. It was great fun to write, and I do love Eustace, even though he had a tough time in this one.

For those readers who are frog enthusiasts, I realize that the European tree frog is not native to the British Isles. I figured that even know-it-alls get their facts wrong sometimes.