“The princess,” said the frog patiently. “She’s in the saddlebag, and I’m getting tired of carrying her.”

“Why didn’t you say something before now?” Bindlepod, torn between exasperation and despair.

“She bribed me,” said the frog. “With june bugs. You know I can’t resist june bugs.”

Bindlepod groaned and climbed down from his steed’s spotted green back. Poking the saddlebag, he said, “Princess, are you in there?”

No one answered.

Even so, the shape of the saddlebag was distinctly suspicious. So Bindlepod unstrapped it from the frog, loosened the top, and turned it over.

Out tumbled the princess.

Bindlepod sighed. “What are you doing here?”

“Going to Nilbog,” said Princess Violet, picking herself up from the road and brushing the dust from her backside.

“You most certainly are not,” said Bindlepod.

For a moment Violet considered telling him that if he tried to take her back she would claim he had kidnapped her to begin with, then had a change of heart, but only after he had done unspeakable things to her, and so on. She decided against this tactic, mostly because she had always hated the girls who acted that way in stories. It was a cheap way to get what you wanted.

“Well, if it’s not Nilbog, it will be somewhere else,” she said. “I’m not going back, and you can’t make me.”

“She’s got a point,” put in the frog. “Even if you took her back, they probably wouldn’t let her in on account of . . . well, you know.”

“I know,” said Bindlepod. “The smell.”

This conversation alarmed Violet considerably. Despite her wish to escape from the palace, she had done so assuming that she could return any time she wanted. “What are you talking about?” she demanded.

“The smell,” said Bindlepod again. “You’ve been in my saddlebag for three hours already. By now the smell will have worn deep into your skin. Your parents may have put up with goblin smell on me, but they certainly aren’t going to accept it on their daughter.”

“Well, I’ll just wash,” said Princess Violet indignantly.

“Goblin smell doesn’t come off with mere soap and water,” said Bindlepod. He sounded offended at the thought.

“What does it take?” asked the princess, indignation turning to alarm.

“A dip in Fire Lake, if I remember correctly,” said the frog.

“Good grief!” cried Bindlepod. “We can’t expect her to do that! There’s no telling how she might come out.”

“What does that mean?” asked Violet, more alarmed than ever.

“Never mind,” said Bindlepod. “Be quiet. I have to think.”

“Never an easy task for him,” put in the frog with a smirk.

“Shut up!” snapped the goblin.

The frog winked one melon-size eye at Violet but said nothing more.