"How are you doing?" James asked with genuine concern. He had been impressed by Charlie's resolve in standing up to Elspeth but there was no doubt it had come at a cost.
"Well, it could have been worse I guess" the frog chirped back optimistically enough "24 hours really isn't that long"
"But what then?" James reasoned "she'll just find another way to punish you. It might be easier to just play along with the whole "Mistress" thing until we figure a way out of this mess"
"You're probably right" Charlotte admitted "Speaking about a way out of here, you found anything that might help us"
"Not yet" James was embarassed that he hadn't even tried up until this point "but there is nothing in this room and we're pretty much stuck here"
"Hmm, lets see about that" Charlie thought out loud as she hopped off of James' knee and jumped towards the invisible barrier that had been holding them - and right through it. James attempted to follow but came to a halt at the end of the room.
"So I guess it only works on humans" James figured "You know, you could just escape out the back and head home. You should turn back tomorrow anyway right?"
"And where would that leave you?" Charlotte replied "I could go to the police but it's not like they can remove curses. There might be something in here that can help you though"
"Even so, you probably shouldn't waste your chance to escape" James warned "You might not get another one"
"Nah" Charlotte responded stubbornly "I can't just run away and leave you to deal with an angry, crazy witch. Anyway, I want to explore this place. Who knows what I might find?"
"Well be careful then" James offered gratefully "Elspeth could come back at any moment"
"So? What's she gonna do?" Charlie called back as she hopped away "turn me into a frog?"