Chapter one
Kermit the Frog watched as the train pulled into the station, right on time. The doors opened and people started pouring out. He scanned the passengers for her. He knew the real reason for the visit, but he had to admit, he was excited to see her again. She had never come to visit him before, and he hadn’t been back to the swamp for a while.
He stood up on a bench to get a better view.
It shouldn’t be too hard to find her, he thought.
How many frogs could be taking a train here from Leland? But he didn’t see her. He checked the schedule to make sure this was the right train, and started to scan the crowd again.
There! A frog, slightly darker shade of green than him, with long eyelashes. She was an extremely attractive lady frog, and she knew it. She was confident, despite being confused.
Kermit waved to get her attention. “MAGS!” he shouted.
She turned, saw him, and smiled. He hopped off the bench, and the next thing he knew, she was next to him.
“Hey, Mit!” she said as she hugged him.
“Hi Maggie,” he said, hugging her back. “How are you? How was the train ride?”
“I’m
wonderful, Mit,” Maggie said. “But the train ride could have been a lot shorter. Why’d you have to move so far away?”
“Well, I went where the work was,” he said.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know,” she said, clearly just giving him a hard time, as was her specialty. “So, how are ya?”
“I’m pretty good,” he said. “But I hope you don’t mind, we have to go straight to the theater. There’s a show tonight, you know.”
“Oh, sure! No problem!” she said. “But in that case, you get to carry my luggage.”
He took the small suitcase she was holding. “I would have anyway,” he said. He put his hand on her shoulder and guided her through the crowd to a waiting cab. “So tell me, Maggie, how’s everything in the swamp?”
“First tell me what’s going on here,” she said. “How’s the little tadpole?”
“You mean Robin?” Kermit said. “He’s not a tadpole anymore, Maggie, he’s a frog.”
“Already?” Maggie said. “They grow up way too fast. I could’ve sworn we were still pollywogs at his age.”
Kermit laughed as they got in the cab and pulled away.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Fozzie paced backstage. “He’s never been late before,” he said.
“Relax, Fozz,” Clifford said. “He’s never picked anyone up from the train station, either.”
“Yeah, and trains aren’t always on time,” Scooter said.
“But haven’t you guys noticed?” Fozzie said. “He’s been acting weird all day.”
“Only since he got that call,” Dr. Teeth said.
“That’s all day!” Fozzie said.
“Calm down, Fozzie,” Hilda said. “For all we know, whoever he’s picking up may have missed the train.”
Fozzie continued to pace.
“Will you hold still, okay!” Pepe said.
“Sorry,” Fozzie said. He stopped pacing and started to fidget with a pen on Kermit’s desk.
“Hey, Fozzie,” Johnny Fiama said. “You don’t have to freak out just cause he’s a little late. Just, you know, relax a little bit.”
“If Johnny Fiama tells you to relax, you’d better relax!” Sal said.
“Okay okay I’ll relax,” Fozzie said. He put the pen down. Then he started tapping his hand on the desk.
Clifford shook his head at the bear. “Man,” he said. “Somebody oughta teach you to meditate or something.”
The door opened and they heard laughter. Kermit came in carrying a small suitcase. “What about Goggles,” he was saying. “How’s he doing?”
The most beautiful female frog they had ever seen came in and leaned casually against the door jam. “Well, he
was alright,” she said. “When I left, he had just accidentally gotten Blotch with his poison gland. Again.”
They laughed. Kermit put the suitcase down, and the girl closed the door.
“Sorry I’m late, guys,” Kermit said as he approached. “You weren’t worried or anything, were you?”
“No, of course not!” Fozzie said. “You’re not
that late.”
“Oh good,” Kermit said. “Anything out of the ordinary happen?”
They heard an explosion from the other end of the stage. The lady frog looked startled. The others hardly glanced to see what had happened.
“Just the usual,” Clifford said.
“Alright,” Kermit said. “Uh guys, this is Maggie. Maggie, this is Clifford, Dr. Teeth, Scooter, Fozzie, Johnny Fiama, Sal Minella, Pepe, and Hilda.” He pointed to everyone as he said their names.
“Oh, nice to meet you,” Maggie said.
“
Well,” Clifford said, taking a good long look at her. “It’s nice to met you too, Miss Maggie.”
“Si, si,
very nice, okay,” Pepe said.
“Yes,” Johnny said. “And if you need anything-“
“Feel free to ask me,” Dr. Teeth interrupted.
Scooter cleared his throat. “Would you like a tour of the theater, Maggie?” he offered.
Kermit glared at them.
Maggie smiled. “Well, actually, what I could use is a, um-“ she turned to Hilda. “A bathroom?”
“Oh, certainly,” Hilda said. “Let me show you.” She led Maggie away.
The men watched them go. Kermit didn’t have to look at his friends twice to know he needed to step up to the plate.
“Don’t. Even.
Think about it,” he said, glaring at them.
“What’s the
matter, Kermit?” Johnny said. “Can’t take a little competition?”
Kermit scrunched up his face. “Let’s just say it’s in my best interest to protect her,” he said.
“And how does that affect us?” Dr. Teeth asked.
“Just remember who signs your paycheck every week,” Kermit said.
“Uh-oh,” Pepe said. “Is that a
threat, Kermin, okay?”
“
DON’T you have work to do?” Kermit shouted.
Everyone immediately scattered, including Miss Piggy, who had seen and heard everything from the door of her dressing room. A moment or two later, Clifford came back. He folded his arms across his chest and leaned on Kermit’s desk. Kermit looked at him.
“What?”
“Come on, Kerm,” Clifford said. “What’s the story?”
Kermit glared at him. “Clifford, Maggie’s my sister,” he said.
“Ohhh,” Clifford said. “So you’re the over-protective brother?”
Kermit scrunched up his face. “I am
not over-protective. I just don’t want her to get hurt.”
Clifford shook his head. “Kerm, you know who says that kinda stuff?”
“Who?” Kermit asked.
“Over-protective brothers.”
“Clifford!”
“Alright, I know, I’ll get back to work...” Clifford walked away, debating to himself how to not get on Kermit’s bad side over Maggie.
Kermit shook his head, suddenly remembering why he tried to keep swamp and city separate from each other.
“Hey where is everybody?”
Kermit turned to see that Maggie was back from the bathroom. “Working,” he said.
She scrunched up her face. “Are you
protecting me again, Mit?”
He sighed.
“Mit!” she whined as she leaned on his desk. “You said you would stop.”
“I said I would stop protecting you from Blotch,” he said. “I never said anything about anyone outside the swamp.”
“You know I can handle them,” she said.
“Oh, right,” he said. “Same way you
handle them at home? Like how I’ve seen you handle Cro-“
She threw a pen at him, cutting him off.
He shook his head. “You know Maggie, you haven’t changed at all,” he said.
“Neither have you,” she said. “So are you going to show me around or not?”
He smiled and pretended to give a little bow. “Certainly, ma’am,” he said. “Right this way for the courtesy Muppet Theater tour.”
She laughed. “Mit, do you ever wonder if you’re absolutely insane?”
“In this place?” he said. “Every day.”
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