Anna's Icy Adventure Page 2

  Carrots?

  Okay, so he likes vegetables.

  Wait. I could use this guy’s help. I mean, I’m pretty adventurous for someone who has almost never left her castle. But there’s a slim chance I’m a little out of my league when it comes to navigating magical snowstorms.

  “So, the North Mountain, huh?” I say to him as casually as I can. “I’m heading there myself.”

  “You wouldn’t survive,” he replies. He pushes past me and takes his things to the counter, but he makes a huge mistake. He fights Oaken on the price. Then, when he’s not given a discount, he calls Oaken a crook.

  Oaken doesn’t take kindly to that. He throws the guy out without letting him buy a thing.

  It’s a bummer for the guy, but an opportunity for me.

  Fifteen minutes later, I’m dressed in a cozy new outfit, and my arms are full of supplies.

  Now, where did that guy go?

  Soon I hear voices and the sound of a lute playing. I follow the music to an old barn. I peek inside and see my fellow shopper. He’s lying against a bale of hay and talking to his reindeer.

  That’s odd.

  No, wait—he is singing to his reindeer.

  That’s even odder.

  I listen and realize it’s sort of a duet. The guy is singing one part in his own voice and the other part in a fake low grumble, pretending to be the reindeer. It’s pretty funny, actually, and as the song goes on I learn a couple of things. First, the guy’s name is Kristoff, and his reindeer is Sven. Second, in spite of his man-of-few-words act in the store, Kristoff is a goofball.

  That gives me the courage to go ahead with my plan. I burst into the barn.

  “I am Princess Anna of Arendelle,” I say in my sternest voice. “Take me up the North Mountain. Please.”

  “I don’t take people places,” Kristoff says.

  He tries to turn away from me, but I throw him the bag of supplies. It’s full of everything he wanted to buy at Oaken’s, and it lands on his chest with a thud that sounds painful. Oops. I didn’t mean to hurt him.

  “Oh, no!” I gasp. “I’m sorry, I’m so—”

  When I realize he’s smiling. I clear my throat and go back to my stern voice.

  “We leave now. Right now,” I order.

  “So tell me,” Kristoff says as Sven pulls us up the mountain in their sled, “what made the queen go all ice crazy?”

  I hate to talk about Elsa behind her back, but since Kristoff is helping me, I feel I owe him answers. “All I did was get engaged,” I explain, “but she freaked out because I only just met him, you know, today. And she said—”

  “Wait.” Kristoff cuts me off. “You got engaged to someone you just met today?”

  There’s a judgy tone in his voice that I don’t like. I try to get back to Elsa and her power, but Kristoff’s totally stuck on the Hans thing. Obviously, he knows nothing about true love. Yet when I start to tell him so, he clamps his hand over my mouth. I want to snap at him, but I realize he looks nervous. Then he holds up his lantern and I see eyes in the woods all around us.

  Wolves.

  “Sven, go! Go!” Kristoff shouts.

  The sled jerks forward as Sven bolts at full speed. The wolves catch up and surround us.

  Kristoff grabs a torch from the back of the sled and lights it as a wolf leaps toward him. He kicks the wolf away, but another one jumps up from the other side. Kristoff doesn’t see it, so I use his lute to knock the wolf away. I save Kristoff, but only for a second. Another wolf attacks him!

  As Kristoff is pulled off the sled, he drops the torch and I catch it. The wolf is on Kristoff’s back now, and the two of them are dragged behind the sled, Kristoff holding on to the reins for dear life.

  I get an idea. I use the torch to light the sled blanket on fire. “Duck!” I yell to Kristoff, then throw the flaming blanket at him. Thankfully he listens, so the blanket lands on the wolf, which tumbles away. I help Kristoff back onto the sled, and we both breathe a huge sigh of relief…

  . . . until Sven whinnies. There’s a massive gorge up ahead!

  The next thing I know, Kristoff grabs me and hurls me onto Sven’s back. He then unhooks Sven from the sled. Sven and I leap over the gorge, barely landing on the other side, but Kristoff is still on the sled! He clutches his rucksack, gives a mighty scream, and jumps alongside the sled.

  The sled doesn’t make it. It falls into the gorge and bursts into flames.

  Kristoff is luckier. He catches the far end of the gorge, but he doesn’t have a good grip. He’ll fall if I don’t act fast. I tie one end of our rope around Sven and the other end to an axe. With all my might, I heave the axe into the ice, just inches from Kristoff’s head. Oops.

  “Grab on!” I shout.

  He does, and Sven heaves forward, pulling Kristoff to safety.

  I look down at the fireball that used to be Kristoff’s sled. I feel horrible. I dragged Kristoff and Sven into helping me find Elsa. Now they’ve lost nearly everything they own, and Kristoff almost died.

  “I’ll replace your sled and everything in it,” I say. “And I’ll understand if you don’t want to help me anymore.”

  I walk off. I hold my head high and try to look like I know what I’m doing.

  Which way should I go? I take a few steps to my right, but it doesn’t seem correct. Maybe to the left? Hmmm.

  “Wait up,” Kristoff says. “We’re coming.”

  “You are?”

  I’m elated, but I try not to show it. I don’t want Kristoff to think I can’t handle this on my own, which I totally can. Still, it’s nice to have company, especially now that it’s clear we can count on each other in an emergency.

  “Sure,” I say as he and Sven catch up to me. “I’ll let you tag along.”

  I don’t know how long we walk, but it feels like ages. By morning we’ve climbed so high up the North Mountain that we’re above the clouds. The view is incredible. It’s not stormy up here. It’s white and crisp and clean and gorgeous. Even Kristoff gasps, and he isn’t impressed by much.

  We walk under a weeping willow. All of its leaves are coated in ice, and they glisten in the sun, tinkling like wind chimes when Sven’s antlers brush against them.

  “Wow,” I say. “I never knew winter could be so beautiful.”

  “Yeah,” a voice replies, “but it’s so white. Does it hurt your eyes? Mine are killing me.”

  Okay, that’s weird. I didn’t say that. Kristoff didn’t say that. He and I share a glance, then look at Sven. Was it him?

  Nope. Sven looks as confused as we are.

  “Am I right?” the voice asks again. Now it’s behind us. I spin around.

  I almost don’t want to say what I see, because it’s impossible. It’s a snowman, but he’s alive!

  “Hi!” he says cheerfully.

  I do what anyone would do in that situation.

  I kick it in the face.

  The snowman’s head goes flying toward Kristoff, but it keeps talking! Kristoff is as freaked out as I am. He tosses the head back to me, but I don’t want it.

  Then things get weirder.

  I recognize the snowman.

  At least, I almost recognize him. I place his head properly on his body, then grab one of Sven’s carrots and press it into the snowman’s face.

  “I’m Olaf,” the snowman says. “I like warm hugs.”

  Olaf. Yes, his name is Olaf. I know that because I remember a snowman just like him, a snowman Elsa and I made when we were kids. Only back then, he was a regular snowman.

  “Olaf,” I say, “did Elsa build you?”

  “Yeah,” he replies. “Why?”

  “Do you know where she is?”

  “Yeah,” he replies. “Why?”

  I can’t believe our luck! Kristoff tells him that once we find Elsa, we can get her to bring back summer.

  “Summer?” Olaf asks. “Oh, I’ve always loved the idea of summer!”

  Kristoff and I look at each other. Clearly Olaf doesn’t kn
ow that snow melts in the summer. He seems so happy, I can’t tell him.

  We set out, with Olaf leading the way. Eventually he brings us to a wide expanse of winter whiteness. Jagged crags of ice jut out in every direction, and we have to slide carefully between them to avoid getting impaled. It’s almost impossible. Just when we think we’ve made it, we reach a dead end. A sheer wall of ice rises higher than we can even see. I try to climb it, but there aren’t any handholds or footholds. There’s no way up.

  “I don’t know if this is going to solve the problem,” Olaf says, poking his head around a corner, “but I found a staircase that leads exactly where you want it to go.”

  Okay, maybe there’s one way up.

  Sven can’t handle the steps. They’re made of crystalline ice. He waits below as Kristoff and I follow Olaf. We soon arrive at an ice palace with spires that reach to the sky. It’s stunning. Part of me can’t believe Elsa built this herself, but another part feels that it’s perfect for her. The palace is flawless and strong…and cold.

  All of a sudden, I’m worried. What if Elsa doesn’t want me to find her? What if she’d rather be alone?

  No. That’s ridiculous. That’s just me being nervous. Elsa’s my sister. Now that I know her secret, it’s a whole new beginning for us.

  I reach out and knock on the door. It swings open. I figure that has to be a good sign. Elsa never opened her door for me before.

  I take a deep breath and prepare to see my sister.

  Kristoff and Olaf start to follow me into the palace, but I tell them it would be better if I went in alone. I enter an empty room.

  “Elsa?” I call. “It’s me. Anna.”

  I slip on the floor and land pretty hard on my rear. I hear her before I see her.

  “Watch your step,” she says.

  She emerges from the shadows, and I gasp. Elsa has always been beautiful, but now her hair is down in a loose braid and her eyes sparkle. She’s dazzling.

  “Wow, you look different. It’s a good different. I mean, not that you looked bad before.”

  Elsa laughs. “I feel different.”

  “I’m so sorry, Elsa,” I say. I never should have pushed her like I did back at the coronation. She tells me she’s okay. She says she’s never been better. She even wants to thank me!

  “Are you still engaged?” she asks.

  I nod and she tells me that if it’s really true love, I should marry Hans. She’s not going to stand in my way now.

  Whoa. “You mean that?” I ask. But Elsa doesn’t seem to hear me.

  Olaf has come running in the front door.

  “What is that?” she asks.

  “I’m Olaf, and I like warm hugs,” he says. “You built me.”

  “And you’re alive?” Elsa asks.

  “I think so,” he says.

  She kneels to examine him. When I ask her if she remembers us building him when we were kids, she says yes, and I relax. “That’s one of my favorite memories,” I say.

  “Because you only remember the fun, not the magic,” she replies.

  What?

  “That night I struck you with my powers. I could have killed you,” says Elsa.

  “No, you—” I start, but she doesn’t let me finish.

  “How do you think you got that white streak in your hair?” Elsa turns to walk away. “I think you should go.”

  “Go? Elsa, no. Please don’t shut me out again. I finally understand. Come back home,” I beg her. “You can be yourself, and I’ll be right there beside you. You don’t have to live in fear.”

  Elsa gives a sad smile. “That would be nice, but it can’t happen. I might be alone here, but I’m free, and I can’t hurt anyone. I can’t hurt you. Just stay away, and you’ll be safe.”

  “Actually,” I say, “that’s not quite true. Arendelle is still frozen over, and we’ll all freeze to death if you don’t bring back summer. But it’s okay, you can just unfreeze it.”

  Elsa shakes her head. Out the palace window, she can see the storm clouds sitting over Arendelle. Her expression changes. She looks frightened and upset. “I don’t know how,” she admits.

  I try to convince her that everything will be fine. I tell her we’ll work together to reverse the storm. If she’ll just let me help, I’m positive we can fix everything. We can face this thing together!

  “I can’t!” she finally shouts, and her power bursts out of her body. There’s a second when I see the shock on her face, and then I know the ice burst was out of her control.

  It hits me square in the chest.

  It knocks the wind out of me, but I won’t show it. I can’t let Elsa know how much it hurts.

  “I’m okay. I’m fine,” I lie as Kristoff runs in. He tries to lead me out. “I’m not leaving without her,” I tell him.

  Elsa sighs sadly. “Yes, you are.”

  She waves her arms and snow swirls together to form a creature. It’s a snowman, but not a friendly one like Olaf. This snowman is as large as a house. When it roars, the palace walls shake.

  The snowman doesn’t waste a moment before grabbing Kristoff and me. It drops us in the snow outside Elsa’s palace then goes back in for Olaf. It tosses Olaf out in pieces! That’s when I lose my patience. Olaf is still smiling, but I’ve had enough.

  “It’s not nice to throw snow people!” I yell. Then I gather a large snowball and hurl it at the beast. It chases us all the way to the edge of a cliff, where we’re trapped. The only way we can get away from the monster is a two-hundred-foot leap straight down. It’s terrifying, but it’s our only hope. We jump…and luckily land in a soft and cushy snowbank.

  “So now what?” Kristoff asks after we recover from the fall.

  “Oh, what am I going to do?” I ask, starting to panic. “I can’t go back to Arendelle with the weather like this. And then there’s your ice business—”

  “Hey, don’t worry about my ice business,” Kristoff says. “Worry about your hair.”

  “What?” I grab my braid and pull it around so I can see it.

  It’s true. Even as I watch, a long, thick strand turns bright white.

  “It’s because she struck you. Isn’t it?” Kristoff asks. He looks worried. The truth is I don’t feel great. I try to play it off like it’s nothing, though. I spring up and start walking, but my legs buckle a little. Kristoff catches me before I fall.

  “You need help,” he says. “Don’t worry. I know exactly where to go. You need to see my friends. They’ll make everything okay.”

  I look at Kristoff, then at Sven. As far as I know, the reindeer is the only friend Kristoff has. I’m fairly certain he can’t do anything about my hair. Or the strange cold feeling in my body.

  I follow Kristoff’s lead, but I can’t stop thinking about Elsa.

  Kristoff, Sven, Olaf, and I have been walking for a while now. Kristoff still won’t tell me about his mysterious friends. He just says that it’s important we reach them tonight.

  Eventually Kristoff stops at a flat area filled with loose stones. Ledges of rock covered with scrubby grass and lichen rise around us. I don’t see any homes.

  “Well, here we are,” Kristoff says. “Meet my friends. They’re more like family, actually.”

  “They’re also rocks,” I say. Just then, a bunch of rocks roll toward us and pop open.

  “Kristoff’s home!” one of the rocks cries. I realize that the rock is actually a grandmotherly creature covered in moss. Suddenly, I understand. These are trolls!

  “He’s brought a girl!” the grandmotherly troll shouts.

  “He’s brought a girl!” a chorus of trolls repeats. They surround me and pull me over to Kristoff.

  “What’s going on?” I ask as I fall into his arms.

  “Just do whatever they say and you’ll be fine,” he says.

  The grandmotherly troll climbs on top of a few other trolls to get a good look at me. “Bright eyes. Working nose. Strong teeth,” she clucks. “She’ll do nicely for our Kristoff.”

&nb
sp; “Wait. He and I aren’t. I mean, we’re not—” I start to say.

  Kristoff tries to explain. “What she means is that’s not why I brought her here. We need—”

  “We know what you need,” says a younger troll.

  Then the trolls start dancing and singing about love. Their excitement is uplifting. I can’t help but be swept up in the celebration. Kristoff joins in, too. Soon the troll women are decorating my hair. They seem to be getting me ready for something. Maybe they’re going to take away my cold feeling? That would be fantastic. Plus, this is kind of fun!

  When I’m finally face to face with Kristoff again, he looks different. Could the trolls be right about us? Are these sparks of love I’m feeling? I look around and see we’re standing in front of a crowd of trolls.

  One troll steps forward. He’s dressed like a priest. “Do you, Anna, take Kristoff to be your trollfully wedded—”

  “Wait, what?” I ask.

  “You’re getting married,” the troll priest says.

  “No, we’re not!” Kristoff and I say together.

  That’s when a very old troll pushes through the crowd. “That’s right, they’re not,” he says.

  “Pabbie,” Kristoff says warmly.

  Pabbie nods and smiles, then moves toward me.

  He’s a complete stranger—and a troll—but there’s something so kind and thoughtful about him that I trust him immediately. When he motions for me to take his hands, I do.

  “Anna,” he says, “your life is in danger. There is ice in your heart, put there by your sister. If not removed, to solid ice will you freeze. Forever.”

  What? No. That doesn’t make sense. It has to be a joke. I turn to Kristoff, expecting him to laugh, but he looks deadly serious.

  “So, Pabbie, remove it,” he says.

  “Only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart,” Pabbie replies.

  I don’t understand. “An act of true love?” I repeat.