Anna & Elsa: The Great Ice Engine Read online

  “How exactly does the engine work, Oaken?” Anna asked.

  “Hoo-hoo! I thought you’d never ask!” he replied. Oaken explained that his invention was powered by steam. It needed heat and water. The water was kept in the rusty food tin. The heat came from the furnace beneath.

  Oaken had lit a small fire in the furnace before he went to town. By the time he reached the lake, the heat had begun to build. When the coal was added, the fire grew. The heat built up and boiled the water in the tin.

  Steam rose from the boiling water. Some of it escaped through the horn in the tin. That made the trumpet sound. The rest of the steam powered the piston. The piston was the metal rod connected to the fly wheel. The wheel worked the pole and the blade.

  “Wow,” Anna said, impressed.

  “It’s like a train engine,” Elsa added.

  “Exactly,” Oaken replied, beaming. “Only, a train does not have my little friend Lars here.” Oaken nodded to the little gray mouse in his hand. He tucked Lars back into the breast pocket of his sweater. Lars’s head poked out of the pocket. He squeaked happily.

  “Well, that’s great, Oaken. This engine is a doozy, no question,” Kristoff said. “But something tells me it’s no substitute for a real, live ice harvester.” He flexed his muscles playfully. “Am I right?” he asked his fellow ice workers.

  The harvesters stared at him blankly.

  “Aw, come on, guys. You think this machine can beat us?” he asked.

  There was no reply.

  “Maybe a friendly contest, ja?” Oaken said. “You versus the ice engine?”

  “You’re on!” Kristoff said good-naturedly. “I’ll show you just what one man and his trusty saw can do.”

  “Uh-oh,” Anna whispered to Elsa. She glanced at Kristoff, who was puffed up with pride. “Why do I get the feeling that one man and his saw can cause a whole lot of trouble?”

  The next morning, Kristoff arrived at the castle bright and early. He and Oaken had agreed to hold the contest in three days. Kristoff planned to spend those three days training. Anna and Elsa had agreed to help.

  “Hey there, Kristoff!” said a familiar voice. Olaf the snowman bounded toward him as he entered the castle.

  “Hi, Olaf,” Kristoff said. “What are you doing here?”

  “I heard all about Oaken’s snow-cone machine!” Olaf said. “I’ve always wanted to try a snow cone! They sound delicious!”

  “Uh, Olaf,” Kristoff said. “It’s not a snow-cone machine. It’s an ice engine. It cuts ice blocks—er, circles…cylinders.”

  “Oh, you mean you’re not going to practice making snow cones with Elsa and Anna?” Olaf asked.

  “No, I’m going to practice my ice-cutting technique with Elsa and Anna,” Kristoff replied.

  “But you cut ice every day. Why practice that?” said Olaf.

  Kristoff sighed patiently. “Because I’m in training,” he explained. “I’m going to get faster and stronger. I’m going to beat that machine.”

  “Oh,” Olaf said again. He was quiet for a moment. Then he said brightly, “Well, if you need a workout buddy, I’m your snowman!”

  “You?” Kristoff asked, surprised.

  “Of course. How do you think I got this perfect figure?” said Olaf. He rubbed his round snowball belly. “You think I was just made this way?”

  A short while later, Kristoff, Olaf, Elsa, and Anna were in the ballroom. The large space had been turned into a training gym.

  “…one hundred seventy-one, one hundred seventy-two, one hundred seventy-three…” Anna counted. She was coaching Kristoff through some weightlifting exercises. But instead of lifting weights, Kristoff was lifting Olaf! He pressed the snowman over his head as if he were a barbell.

  “Faster!” Anna shouted.

  Kristoff picked up the pace. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

  “Wheeeeeeee!” Olaf said excitedly.

  “You know, you’re surprisingly heavy for someone made out of snow,” Kristoff told him.

  Anna continued to count: “…one hundred eighty-five, one hundred eighty-six, one hundred eighty-seven…”

  Kristoff’s arms were getting tired. He was out of breath. He began to slow down.

  “Come on, you can do it!” Elsa yelled encouragingly.

  Kristoff gritted his teeth as if he were calling on every ounce of strength he had left. Olaf cheered him on.

  “…one hundred ninety-eight, one hundred ninety-nine, and…two hundred!” Anna said. “Good job. You can take a break.”

  Kristoff put Olaf down. Then he collapsed on the floor, panting.

  After a moment, Elsa offered him a cool glass of water. Kristoff sat up. He took the water and drank it down in one long gulp.

  Olaf looked proud of Kristoff. He opened his twig arms wide. “Warm hug?” he offered.

  “Warm hug for you. Cool hug for me,” Kristoff said. He was sweating. They hugged, and Kristoff sighed in relief. Then he collapsed onto the floor again.

  “Don’t tell me you’re tired,” Anna teased him.

  “Hey, you try lifting a snowman over your head two hundred times in a row,” Kristoff said.

  “That’s just the beginning,” Anna said. “We still have the obstacle course to go.”

  “Obstacle course?” Kristoff asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Anna and Elsa nodded.

  “There’s nothing like an obstacle course to build strength and stamina,” Elsa explained.

  “I tried it out this morning,” said Anna. “It works great.”

  Kristoff climbed to his feet. He mopped the sweat from his forehead. “All right,” he said, determined. “Let’s do this.”

  The obstacle course was set up in the castle courtyard. It had four sections: the wagon-wheel run, the mud crawl, the climbing net, and the wall.

  “This looks like fun!” Olaf said enthusiastically.

  “Easy for you to say,” Kristoff told him. The snowman was strapped comfortably to Kristoff’s back. Anna had thought it would be more challenging if Kristoff carried some extra weight.

  “Is everyone ready?” Elsa asked. She was holding a pocket watch to time Kristoff’s run.

  “You bet we are!” Olaf answered.

  Kristoff nodded firmly.

  “Ready, set, go!” Elsa shouted.

  Kristoff took off running. He headed straight for the long stretch of wagon wheels. They had been placed flat on the ground, side by side in pairs. He had to run through them without touching the spokes or the sides.

  “Knees up!” Anna called encouragingly.

  Kristoff jogged through the wheels, lifting his knees high. Olaf bounced up and down gleefully with each step.

  “Almost there!” Olaf said.

  Kristoff hurried through the last of the wagon wheels. He turned and rushed toward the large mud pit at the edge of the courtyard.

  There were ropes strung across the pit a foot off the ground. The only way to cross the pit was to crawl under the ropes.

  Kristoff dropped to his belly. He inched his way forward into the mud. It squished and squelched beneath him.

  “Is this really necessary?” he complained. “There’s no mud on the frozen lake.”

  “I’m sorry, did you say that you wanted to win the contest or that you wanted to keep clean?” Anna teased.

  Kristoff grumbled and kept crawling. He was halfway through the pit when Olaf’s voice rang out. “Lower, please!” The snowman was in danger of getting tangled in the ropes.

  Kristoff sank lower. As soon as he opened his mouth to complain, it was filled with mud. “Blech!” he said, spitting it out.

  “One minute, forty-nine seconds!” Elsa called, keeping track of the time.

  Finally, Kristoff reached the end of the mud pit. He got to his feet and ran straight for the climbing net. The net was attached to the castle wall. He had to climb up, touch the top of the wall, and then climb down.

  Kristoff jumped onto the net and started to climb. He looked good at first, but he
was clearly beginning to tire.

  “You can do it!” Elsa shouted.

  “Come on, Kristoff!” Olaf cheered. “Think of all the delicious hot chocolate you can have when you’re done!”

  “Cold chocolate!” Kristoff said, sweating. “I want cold chocolate!”

  “Two minutes and fifty-two seconds!” Elsa said.

  Kristoff touched the top of the wall. He climbed down and approached the end of the course.

  The final obstacle was a six-foot wooden wall with a rope attached. All Kristoff had to do was use the rope to pull himself over. That was easier said than done, however. He was losing steam. He stopped in front of the wall, panting.

  Anna could see that Kristoff was exhausted. “Dig deep!” she said. “Don’t give up!” She began to clap to show her support. Elsa clapped, too, cheering him on. Even Olaf, riding on Kristoff’s back, clapped his tree branch hands.

  Kristoff straightened his shoulders. He stared at the wall doggedly. He was determined to finish. He took a deep breath and ran.

  Kristoff grabbed the rope, hoisted himself up, and threw himself over the wall. The landing wasn’t pretty, but he’d done it! He lay facedown on the courtyard stones, breathing heavily. Both he and Olaf were covered from head to toe in mud. Kristoff didn’t care. He had finished!

  Anna and Elsa ran over to help him up.

  “How did I do?” Kristoff asked. “How long did it take me?”

  “Three minutes, forty-eight seconds,” Elsa told him.

  “Hooray!” cried Olaf.

  “Not bad,” Kristoff said.

  “No, I guess that’s not bad. But I did it in three minutes and twenty-seven seconds this morning,” Anna said.

  “What? You mean you beat me?” he asked.

  Anna shrugged. “Elsa did it in three minutes flat.”

  Kristoff’s jaw dropped. He stared at Elsa. She gave him a friendly little wave.

  “You look like you could use a hot chocolate,” Anna told Kristoff.

  “Cold chocolate,” he replied. “And a nap.”

  A few hours later, Anna and Kristoff were waiting for Elsa in the queen’s study.

  “I thought we were done training for the day,” Kristoff said. They sat down in two comfortable chairs across from Elsa’s desk.

  “We’re done with the physical stuff. Now it’s time for the mental stuff,” she replied.

  “The mental stuff?” asked Kristoff.

  “Yes. Part of succeeding in any contest is being able to visualize your goals,” Anna told him.

  “Visualize. You mean like when I picture having a meat pie for dinner and then I make a meat pie for dinner and eat it?” said Kristoff.

  “Sort of,” she answered. “Only, this isn’t about your stomach—it’s about your mind.”

  A few moments later, Elsa joined them. She sat at her desk and turned to Kristoff. “I heard you have some questions for me,” she said.

  “I do?” Kristoff said, confused.

  “Of course you do,” Anna told him. “About the mental stuff.”

  “The meat pie?” he asked.

  “Yes, the meat pie,” Anna said encouragingly.

  Kristoff turned to Elsa and cleared his throat. “Okay, so I was wondering…in a competition where the goal is a…meat pie…how do I…make that pie?”

  Elsa looked at him blankly. “Are you asking me for a recipe?” she said, puzzled. “Because you’d have to talk to the chef. I know he uses parsley, but I’m not really sure what else—”

  “Not a recipe for meat pies!” Anna interrupted. “A recipe for success!”

  Kristoff and Elsa both turned to her. They looked confused.

  Anna sighed. “Elsa, you are a snow queen. You can make snow and ice,” she explained. “Kristoff is in an ice-cutting contest. I thought you might have some advice to share with him.”

  “Oh!” said Elsa. “The whole thing with the pies was really confusing.”

  “You’re telling me!” said Kristoff.

  “I just thought maybe you could help Kristoff!” Anna said.

  “Okay, well, I guess we should start from the beginning,” Elsa said. “Kristoff, what’s your game plan?”

  “To cut ice really fast,” he answered simply.

  “That sounds pretty solid,” Elsa replied.

  Anna put her face in her hands. She was thinking of a different kind of advice for Kristoff. She took a deep breath before looking up again. “As one of his coaches, I just want to make sure he’s mentally prepared for the competition,” she said. “He already knows how to cut ice, but I don’t think he knows how to be one with the ice.”

  Elsa scratched her chin. “I’m not sure I do, either,” she said.

  “Really?” Anna asked, genuinely surprised. “I thought you had a special connection to ice and snow.”

  “Well, I do, but I don’t quite know how it works,” Elsa said thoughtfully. “I guess I’m just so used to it. It’s a part of me. I don’t think I could explain it.”

  Anna was quiet for a moment. Even though Elsa was her sister, she realized there were things she didn’t know about her.

  “What does it feel like when you use your powers, Elsa?” she asked.

  “Like the ice and the snow have given me a gift,” Elsa said. “Like they’ve let me in and said it’s okay.” The snow queen shrugged. “But mostly, it just feels right.”

  Anna nodded slowly. Somehow, it made sense—not in her head, but in her heart.

  Kristoff cleared his throat gently. “I think I understand,” he said. “Cutting ice is a part of me. I’ve been doing it since I was little.”

  “Then you have nothing to worry about,” Elsa replied with a smile.

  On the morning of the competition, the sun shone brightly over the frozen lake. A large crowd had gathered to watch the contest. Oaken moved his ice engine into position. Kristoff stood with his long saw at the ready.

  Anna called them both to the center of the ice. She would be the referee for the match. Elsa would keep time, count ice blocks, and announce the winner.

  “Gentlemen, a few ground rules before we begin,” Anna said. “You will have ten minutes to cut as many ice blocks as you can. The contestant with the most ice blocks wins. Are we clear?”

  Oaken and Kristoff nodded.

  “Because this is a friendly competition, there will be no funny business,” Anna announced. “That means no illegal tickling, no tweaking of your opponent’s nose, and most certainly no snowball throwing. Am I understood?”

  “Hoo-hoo! I would like to add a rule,” Oaken said.

  “What is it?” Anna asked.

  “No distracting me with my favorite lingonberry pie,” Oaken said.

  “And no distracting Oaken with his favorite lingonberry pie,” Anna added.

  The two men shook hands and returned to their starting positions. Oaken placed Lars the mouse into the metal wheel. Kristoff drew back his saw.

  “On your mark, get set, go!” Anna shouted.

  Oaken turned the ship’s wheel. The ice engine’s chain reaction began. The snowshoe kicked the bucket. The bucket spilled the marbles. The marbles ran into the trough. The trough led the marbles to the second bucket. The second bucket sank, raising the cheese above the mouse’s wheel. The mouse chased the cheese and spun the wheel. The wheel turned the gears. The gears tripped the lever, opening and closing the coal hatch. The coal spilled into the furnace. Now it was time to wait for the heat to build and the water to boil.

  Meanwhile, Kristoff had been sawing steadily. He’d already completed his first block of ice. He knew it would take time for Oaken’s machine to heat up. This was his chance. If he could build up a sizable lead, he just might win.

  “Two minutes and fifteen seconds!” Elsa called out.

  Kristoff pivoted quickly on his feet. He was almost done cutting his second block of ice. He drew the saw swiftly back and forth. Finally, the block broke free. The crowd shouted encouragement. Kristoff grabbed a pair of tongs. He bobb
ed the ice block down so that it popped up and slid onto the surface of the lake.

  A minute or two later, there was a familiar bubbling sound. The water in Oaken’s ice engine was about to boil! Oaken rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

  Suddenly, the goat horn began to blow. The engine’s piston pumped in and out. The flywheel slowly started to turn. The wheel worked the pole with the blade attached to it. Finally, the blade sliced through the ice.

  “Five minutes and eleven seconds!” Elsa announced.

  Oaken’s ice engine roared to life. The blade bobbed up and down on the frozen surface. Within seconds, it had cut its first round ice block.

  The crowd of onlookers cheered. They weren’t rooting for one side or the other. They just wanted to see a good contest.

  Kristoff bobbed his fifth block of ice out of the lake. He glanced over at Oaken, who was leading his invention to a fresh patch of ice. They were halfway through the competition, but Kristoff didn’t look tired. In fact, he looked more confident than ever.

  Kristoff reached over and picked up another saw. Now he had one saw in each hand. He slid the blades into the ice, sawing two blocks at once!

  “Oooooh,” the crowd gasped.

  “Seven minutes and thirty seconds!” Elsa said.

  Oaken’s ice engine was on a roll. It chugged along, churning out one round block of ice after another. Oaken smiled happily, whistling as he led the machine forward on its cart.

  Kristoff was breathing heavily. Sawing two blocks at once was a neat trick, but it was also tiring him out faster.

  “Ten, nine, eight…” the crowd chanted. They were counting down the last seconds of the competition. Kristoff bobbed his final two blocks of ice from the lake. “…five, four, three, two, one!”

  Anna blew into a hunter’s horn to signal the end of the contest. Elsa hurried over to count the ice blocks. The crowd fell silent, waiting for the official announcement.

  Kristoff stood proudly beside his nine blocks of ice. Nine blocks in ten minutes was extraordinary. He was definitely one of the fastest ice harvesters at the lake. Elsa smiled at him as she finished counting. “Great job, Kristoff,” she said.