It was a cold, crisp December day and a heavy frost lay on the ground.   Underneath the pale blue sky sprinkled with white clouds and the sun which made the cobbles in the road sparkle like diamonds; a small, green figure could be seen slowly making his way up the street breathing hard as he dragged behind him what looked like an enormous Frogmas tree. When he finally reached his house, he put the tree down on the ground and leant against the door as he got his breath back. He then got out his front door key and opened the door and with one final heave, he put his Frogmas tree into his sitting room and then planted it in a bright red pot that he had got ready the previous evening.

As you might imagine, Errol loved the Frogmas season and that morning he had got up early and visited the Frogmas market.  Once he was certain that his tree was straight in its pot, he set about decorating with sparkly candles in the shape of fish that changed to different colours of the rainbow and red and white stripy peppermint sticks – presents for friends who would visit him over the Frogmas period. Aound the top of the tree he put a circle of silver mermaids that sparkled in the candle light and on top of the tree he put his favourite decoration, a model of Neptune, the King of the Sea.

Finally, around the bottom of his tree, he put of the Christmas presents that he had wrapped up for friends.

He stood back to have a look at his handiwork and feeling pleased with himself, he went into his kitchen and poured himself a large pumpkin juice. Just as he was putting the pumpkin juice back into his ‘fridge he heard a thump. He paused and listened for a few moments but all was quiet so he thought it was his imagination and took a sip of his juice.

Crash, it sounded like it came from the sitting room. Errol jumped at the noise and immediately put his juice down on the kitchen table and ran though to his sitting room. He put his hands up in horror when he saw the sight in front of him. His Christmas tree was lying on the floor and peppermint sticks lay broken around the floor. In the middle of all this mayhem was Mincipie examining one of the mermaids and Nutmeg was sitting to one side of the fallen tree licking her paws and looking very innocent of any crime.

“Oh no, what have you done?” said Errol, “my tree, what have you two rascals done to my tree?”

Mincipie ignored Errol and carried on with his examination of the mermaid but Nutmeg paused and holding her paw in the air, looked at Errol as if he was bonkers.

“Go on, disappear, get out of here,” he shouted waving his hands and both cats disappeared back in the direction that they had come – the stairs. Errol’s Uncle, Albertus, had gone to spent the Frogmas season with his son’s family in America and Errol had agreed to look after his cats while he was away. He had initially thought that it would be easy, after all, what mischief could two cats get up to, he thought, but after seeing his Frogmas tree on the floor, he was starting to have second thoughts about what had been a good intention.

When the cats had disappeared back upstairs, he carefully picked up his tree and was relieved to see that it had not been damaged in the fall. He put his decorations back up and stood back to survey his work for a second time. Satisfied with his efforts and having listened out for Mincipie and Nutmeg only to hear peace, he went back to the kitchen to fetch his drink.

Now, what Errol had not realised when he went back to the kitchen were two pairs of beady, yellow eyes watching him. The minute his back was turned Mincipie was back down the stairs and sitting on one of the higher steps, tried to get one of the mermaids off the tree again. This is what she had been doing before but she lost her balance and both she and the Frogmas tree went flying across the room. Nutmeg, meanwhile, ever the lady, preferred to sit further down the stairs and play with the peppermint sticks. What curious shapes they are she thought to herself but try as hard as she could, she just could not get them into her paws for a proper examination.

She turned to look back at what Mincipie was up to and seeing Mincipie at a precarious angle said, “do be careful, Mincipie, we don’t want Errol shouting at us again.”

“But I want to play with this, it looks like a fish,” she replied.

“Well, just don’t knock the tree over again,” Nutmeg cautioned glancing at the kitchen door. Just then, it started to move and sensing that Errol was coming back in the room she quickly moved upstairs closely followed by Mincipie. From the top of the stairs, they could spy on Errol without him noticing and as long as they were quiet, Errol left them to their own devices which they liked. Nutmeg had decided that she enjoyed staying at Errol’s house and so did not want Mincipie to be too naughty just in case Errol said no to them coming back when Uncle Albertus went on his next holiday.

Errol thought the cats were asleep so sat down on his sofa and read the Daily Tropical Newspaper.

After a while Mincipie got bored and whispered to Nutmeg that he would like to sneak down to the tree and play.

“No,” said Nutmeg sharply, “you stay here where I can see you.”

Mincipie sighed and lay down with her head on her paws watching Errol. He had reached the Sports section now and she had noticed that he liked his football. Quick as a flash, before Nutmeg could stop her, she ran down the stairs and launched herself at the Frogmas tree in the hope of getting one of the mermaids. Thump, she landed on her bottom on the floor and quickly ran back upstairs before Errol had had time to put his newspaper down and turn around.

As she made her way up the stairs, Nutmeg glared at her and then peered around at Errol and seeing that he was engrossed in reading a story, made her own way down the stairs and jumped off the stair aiming herself at a peppermint stick and successfully got it off the tree and onto the floor. She quickly ran back up the stairs and reported to Mincipie that it was 1-0 to her.

Cross and looking for revenge, Mincipie was back down the stairs in a flash eager to get his prize, a mermaid, off the tree but only succeeded in taking one of the candles. Still, Errol did not stir so Smudge took her turn next but was unsuccessful in getting one of the decorations off the tree.

It was a few minutes later when Mincipie finally got one of the mermaids off the tree that the game came to an abrupt end. The score was level, 6-6, but in her eagerness to impress Nutmeg she jumped a little too enthusiastically and – crash – the tree, and Mincipie were on the floor.

Quick as a flash, Errol was off the sofa and standing over his fallen Frogmas tree again. Mincipie looked up at Errol with what he thought was a look that would get him out of trouble but Errol was having none of it. He banished both cats to the kitchen and set about redecorating his tree for the third, and final, time he hoped.

Just as he finished his doorbell rang so he hopped over to the door and opened it to find Magnus standing on the door step. Errol had been so engrossed with his Frogmas tree that he had forgotten about the nativity play taking place at St. Frank’s church that evening. Marcus had organised the play and given Errol the responsibility of teaching the choir of lepracorns some Frogmas carols and this afternoon was their final rehearsal.

“Hello, are you ready, Errol,” said Magnus noting the look of surprise on Errol’s face. He glanced behind Errol and saw the Frogmas tree, “your tree is magnificent, Errol.”

“Thanks, said Errol, “I am almost ready, just give me a couple of minutes,” and he quickly picked up his bright red duffle coat and green woollen scarf, hat and gloves that he had bought himself especially for the festive season.

He then glanced in the direction of the kitchen and the sound of paws scratching against the door could be heard. He frowned and turned to Magnus and said, “I have Uncle Albertus’s cats staying with me while he on holiday in America and I don’t know what to do. They have twice knocked over my Christmas tree while playing some sort of diving game and I only brought it this morning so I am reluctant to let them run around the house, on the other hand, it seems cruel to leave them in the kitchen while I am out.”

“Them? How many cats has Albertus got? enquired Magnus.

“Two,” replied Errol.

“I am sure they will be fine in the kitchen while we are out. In my experience, Errol, cats spend most of their time asleep anyway.”

“These two don’t,” said Errol and then he had an idea. “I know, I’ll bring the cats with me and then that way I know where they are and my Frogmas tree is safe from their games.

“What? You bring those cats to the church, I’m not sure about that. Errol,” said Magnus, “with all the animals that will be there. Personally, I am not sure that that is a good idea.”

“No, listen, Magnus, “if I put them in their wicker basket and put them somewhere quiet in the church they won’t be able to get up to any mischief and my Frogmas tree might actually remain standing for a few hours.

Seeing the earnest expression on Errol’s face and knowing that it would be foolish to try and talk him out of the idea, Magnus relented and thus it was a funny group that made their way the short distance to the church; the tall Magnus with Errol tiny in comparison hopping along beside him carrying in his left had a wicker basket that had both Mincipie and Nutmeg inside.

They had listened to Errol and Magnus’s conversation through the kitchen door and had exchanged horrified looks when they heard Magnus’s suggestion that they spend the evening in the kitchen. They were both united in teaching Magnus a lesson about cats, after all, cats always won in their world.

As they arrived at the church the excited chatter of the leprachorns could be heard coming from the porch of the church where they were huddled against the cold air.

Magnus opened the church door and everyone went inside. At the top of the church were the choir stalls where the lepracorns went while Errol set the cat basket down on a table at the back of the church. It was a bit dark, thought Mincipie as she settled along side Nutmeg to watch the rehearsal.

Errol went through the carols with the choir and once he was satisfied with their performance they took a break and Errol went to find Magnus at the back of the church.

Magnus loved organising the nativity play and every year he introduced a new idea. Last year it had been carols from his native Norway, this year it had been decided to use a real donkey rather than having two frogs doubling up as the front and the back of the animal and he had also got two white doves for the finale.

The daylight gradually faded away as the sun went down and the moon came up over a sky that had become a pale grey.

Inside the church, Errol and Magnus were oblivious to this as the local children arrived to get ready for the nativity play. Their parents took their seats in the pews and looked at the stage proudly as they thought about what lay ahead.

Meanwhile, at the back of the church, all forgotten about were Mincipie and Nutmeg who were getting a little hungry. Unbeknown to Errol, Nutmeg had worked out how to open the basket and so while Mincipie kept watch, slowly a black and white paw appeared from inside the basked and gently pulled the latch to the basket down. Mincipie then pushed her weight against the door and it swung open. Quick as a flash, both cats were on the floor and looking at their surroundings but not before Nutmeg had closed the door so it looked as though they were still in the basket.

They made their way over to the right hand side of the church and spotted a door in the distance. They quickly made their way over to the door and seeing it open a little, went through and found themselves in a small room. They went through the room and peered around the door. There was Errol eating what looked like a fish pie and chips and singing away quietly to himself but there was no sign of Magnus. The cats cautiously made their way around the back of Errol and through another door and then they both broke out in a smile for there, in front of them, were two white birds, just perfect for a bit of fun.

The birds were in a metal bird cage and they looked as thought they were asleep. Carefully, the cats made their way to the table on which the birds were perched and jumped up behind the birds.   They crossed the table and just as they were going to open the door to the bird cage, a loud snort could be heard behind them followed by a burst of hot air.

Startled, they both turned around behind them and found themselves looking in the big, black eyes of a donkey. They shrieked which, in turn, woke up the doves and the movement caused their bird cage to fall off the table onto the floor. The door flew open upon landing and, without a second’s hesitation, both of the doves flew out of the cage and up towards safety on the ceiling.

The donkey moved around and neighed and the cats jumped around desperate to get at the two doves.

Meanwhile, all this noise went undetected. Errol had finished eating his fish pie and had gone through to the church to hand out candles and programmes to the arriving guests including the mayor. Magnus was busy checking the lights were working and the leperachorns were relaxing in the room behind the choir stall and making their own noise so the cats could carry on causing chaos.

It was only when Nutmeg came close to catching one of the doves did they decide that the room might not be safe and flew into the next room where Errol had been earlier. Just as Magnus tested the spotlight on the stage for Angel Gabriel’s entrance, in flew the two doves.

“What the…” he started to say and was interrupted by the spectacle of Mincipe and Nutmeg running across the stage in hot pursuit.

“Oh no, those dam cats, Errol,” he called, “Errol, where are you?”

At this point in time Errol was standing just outside the door to the church waiting for Herring Gull Harry to arrive. He had said he would arrive early and help out with last minute preparations, ah, there he was with Uncle Will who looked very smart in a new coat all wrapped up against the cold.

“Hello Harry, hello Uncle Will,” said Errol with a beaming smile, “welcome to the….”

“Errol, there you are,” interrupted Magnus, “thought you said your cats were well behaved.”

“Well, they are,” said Errol, “why?”

“Cats, what cats?” said Herring Gull Harry with confusion written all over his face.

“Then why are they busy running around the church chasing my doves?”

“Are they?” said Errol with a sinking feeling as he looked at Magnus’s angry face.

“You have ten minutes until the play starts to get those cats of your’s under control, understand?”

“Perfectly,” said Errol and he turned around to Herring Gull Harry and gave him the programmes. He then followed Magnus into the church and went to check where he had left the cat’s basket. At first, it looked as though Magnus had got it wrong as the door to the wicker basket was shut but the closer he got to the basket, the more he knew that something was not quite right. After all, normally one or other of the cats were visible when they were in the basket and he could see nothing.

He then turned and looked at the church which was rapidly filling up with people and made his way over to the same door that the cats had disappeared through a short time before. Just as he was about to walk through the door, the doves flew out over him in the opposite direction and at his feet two small balls of fur raced passed him.

“Nutmeg, Mincipie, come here,” he said softly and when that did not work, he repeated it a little louder.

Oblivious to Errol, the cats continued their pursuit of the doves and did a circuit of the church neatly dodging the audience as they arrived. The doves thought that if they flew around the church enough times the cats would become dizzy and stop but it had not happened yet and now there was a frog involved in the chase too waving his arms at the cat and calling their names. The cats appeared to be completely oblivious to him though.

As they ran though the back of the corridor, the donkey, did not want to miss out on the fun and joined in the chase so on the next circuit around the church it was the doves followed by the Mincipie and Nutmeg, Errol and the donkey. It was a funny sight to watch.

Meanwhile, Magnus was getting angrier and angrier and when it looked to him like Errol was having no success in getting his cats under control, he went outside to Herring Gull Harry and spotting Rotten Rory arriving with his side-kick, Slimey Sam, he took the programmes out of Harry’s hands and handed them over to Rory and Sam and told Harry to help Errol sort out the chase.

By now, a lot of the audience had spotted the animal chase and found it very funny to watch. Errol spotted Harry and took the opportunity to stop chasing Uncle Albertus’s cats and Herring Gull Harry took over.

Errol went to the back of the church where Magnus was busy with the lights for the play and spotted a fishing net. Perfect, he thought and he went back out and stood at the back of the church.

On his first attempt at trapping the cats in the net, he missed and got Herring Gull Harry who looked furious. Errol apologised and tried again to no avail. He then ran in the opposite direction to the room to the right of the church and waited for the animals to arrive.

When they did, he again brought the fishing net down and got Mincipie. “One down and one to go,” said Errol triumphantly. He took the protesting animal back to the basket and locked her inside it.

He then returned to the chase but missed catching Nutmeg. He tried to catch the doves in the net but they proved trickier so he hopped onto a table and after two further attempts, he caught the terrified birds.

When Nutmeg saw that the doves had been caught and the fun was over, she walked back to her basket with her tail held high. Errol returned the doves to their bird cage and tied up the donkey.

Now that the chase was over, the audience settled down, the lights were turned off and the church was light by lots of green, sparkly candles.

The nativity play was enjoyed by all the audience including the major and the choir of leprachorns sang their hearts out under Errol’s watchful eye.

At the end of the nativity play, Errol invited the audience to follow the leprachorns outside the church door where there was a huge Frogmas tree all lit up with different coloured lights. The candles were lit and leprachorns made a circle around the tree and sang “Away in a manager” and “Oh come all ye faithful” with everyone and as they finished singing, the first flakes of snow started to fall from the sky.

This promises to be a truly frogtastic frogmas thought Errol as he wish everyone a happy frogmus before heading off to have a festive willow juice with Magnus and Herring Gull Harry and, of course, not forgetting the stars of this story – Mincipie and Nutmeg.

“A happy frogmus to one and all, froglettes.”