Kristoff shook his head. “Not really,” he said vaguely.
“What about brothers? Do you have any brothers?” Anna asked. “Hans has twelve!”
“He must be a lucky guy,” Kristoff said, his tone hard to read. “Twelve brothers and now you. Impressive.”
Anna blushed. For some reason, hearing Kristoff talk about her as though she belonged to Hans made her feel funny. She didn’t know why she had mentioned him in the first place. She supposed she just liked the idea of having someone to talk about. Just saying Hans’s name made her feel all warm inside.
“Anyway,” she said, trying to change the subject back to something a little less awkward. “I guess I just wish that I had had the chance to get to know Elsa before this all happened. I could have been there for her, stopped all of this from ever happening.” Anna paused. “But now we’re going to find her. She’ll come back to Arendelle and we’ll fix everything. Together.”
Anna glanced over at Kristoff. “Well, if she can ever forgive me, that is.”
“I think you would be surprised at how forgiving family can be,” Kristoff said. “No matter what kind of relationship you might have.”
Anna was just about to ask him what he meant and why he was being so evasive about his own family when the forest thinned and they stepped into a clearing. The sun was up now and the glare off the snow momentarily blinded Anna. When her vision cleared, she let out a gasp. From their vantage point, they could just make out Arendelle in the distance.
“It’s completely frozen,” Kristoff said, coming to stand beside her.
He was right. The gray stone of Arendelle’s walls and castle had disappeared under a layer of snow, and the ice had begun to spread beyond the fjord.
“It’ll be fine,” Anna said. “Elsa will thaw it.”
“Will she?” Kristoff questioned.
“Yeah,” Anna said with a little less confidence. “She has to.” Then she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. They weren’t doing Arendelle any good just standing there with their mouths open. “Come on. This way to the North Mountain?” She turned from her kingdom and pointed straight ahead at a gentle slope leading up.
“More like this way,” Kristoff corrected, reaching over and moving her finger—in the direction of a very tall, very steep, very dangerous-looking mountain.
Anna gulped. What had she gotten herself into?
So, Elsa…you have powers, huh? That must be pretty neat.
Neat? Neat? My sister reveals that she has magical ice powers, and the best I can come up with is neat? Anna thought as she walked beside Kristoff and Sven. To distract herself from the giant mountain she was apparently going to have to climb, Anna had been silently practicing what she would say to her sister when they finally found her. So far, “neat” was as far as she had gotten.
Hearing a soft tinkling sound, like chimes moving in the wind, Anna looked up and smiled in delight. They were in the middle of a grove of willow trees, which, like everything else, was frozen. But unlike the rather monotonous fir forest they had been making their way through, this place was breathtakingly beautiful. The willows’ branches hung down, their long leaves glistening like tiny lights that created curtains, separating the grove from the rest of the forest. Inside the grove felt like its own little world. Hearing the tinkling sound again, Anna saw that Sven was playfully knocking into the branches with his antlers. Each time he did, the branches hit against one another, causing the ice to make its cheery sound.
Elsa did all this, Anna thought in wonder as she gently waved her hand through the branches. I’ve been so focused on the damage she created, I never stopped to think about the wonderful things she could do with her powers.
“I never knew winter could be so beautiful,” Anna said softly.
“Yeah, it really is beautiful, isn’t it?” a voice, which was not Kristoff’s, said, startling Anna. “But it’s so white,” the voice went on. “How about a little color? I’m thinking like maybe some crimson, chartreuse…”
Anna looked over and exchanged a confused look with Kristoff. Where was the voice coming from? The only other being in the grove with them was…No. It couldn’t be. Could it? Together they looked over at Sven. The reindeer was staring at them blankly, his large antlers completely tangled in willow branches. They were still staring at him when the voice piped up again.
“How ’bout yellow—no, not yellow,” the voice said as though disgusted by the thought. “Yellow and snow? Brrr…no go.”
The voice was now coming from right between Anna and Kristoff. Anna looked down. Then she looked back up at Kristoff. Then, together, they both looked back down, their eyes wide as saucers.
Standing between them, as though it were the most natural, non-weird thing in the world, was a small snowman. A small, talking snowman made up of three snowballs and two short little stick arms.
“Am I right?” he asked when he saw Anna and Kristoff looking at him. Then he smiled.
Anna couldn’t help it: she screamed. Kicking out, she sent the little snowman’s head flying right into Kristoff’s arms.
“Hi!” the snowman said cheerfully.
Kristoff was not charmed. “You’re creepy,” he said, tossing the snowman’s head back to Anna.
“I don’t want it,” Anna shouted.
The two began to throw the snowman’s head back and forth, neither one at all eager to be left with their version of a hot—or in this case, cold—potato. The remaining two balls of snow that made up the little creature danced back and forth between Anna and Kristoff, stick arms waving wildly in the air.
“Ew, ew, the body!” Anna shrieked, catching the snowman’s head one last time before slamming it—upside down—back onto his body. What is going on? Anna thought as she tried to catch her breath. A talking snowman? How is that even possible?
But it was, it seemed, entirely possible. “Wait,” the snowman said, confused. “What am I looking at right now? Why are you hanging off the earth like a bat?”
Anna couldn’t help it. She laughed. That was followed by a wave of sympathy as she looked at the little guy trying to make sense of the world. Because his head was on upside down, he was looking at everything upside down. “Okay, wait one second,” she said, kneeling down in front of the snowman. Gently, she picked up his head and flipped it right-side up before placing it back on his body.
“Oooh! Thank you!” the snowman said.
Perhaps I was a little quick to judge, she thought as he smiled up at her like a loyal puppy dog. He’s just a sweet, lovable, innocent little guy. Who happens to be made of snow. “You’re welcome,” she said warmly.
“Now I’m perfect,” the snowman said proudly, wobbling beneath the willows.
Watching him, Anna had to agree that the snowman was pretty perfect as far as snowmen went. He had the requisite three balls of snow. Two arms made of sticks and eyes that appeared to be made of coal. But he was missing one very important part. Reaching into Kristoff’s satchel, Anna pulled out one of Sven’s carrots. Then she turned, ready to add it to the snowman’s face. Unfortunately, the snowman chose that precise moment to turn around as well. He collided headfirst with the carrot. With a small crunch, the carrot went all the way through the snowman’s head so that only the tip was visible on his face. The rest of the carrot protruded out of the back of his head.
“Oh!” Anna cried. “Too hard! I’m sorry! I was just…” Her voice trailed off. She didn’t think explaining her motives would do much good. “Are you okay?” she asked instead.
Looking down, the snowman saw the tip of the carrot and his eyes lit up. “Are you kidding me?” he cried happily. “I am wonderful! I’ve always wanted a nose!” He went cross-eyed as he tried to take a better look. “So cute! It’s like a little baby unicorn!”
While he was clearly unperturbed by the chunk of carrot sticking out of the back of his head, Anna couldn’t let just let him wander around the woods that way! For some reason, that seemed like bad snowman etiq
uette. Reaching behind him, she pushed the carrot forward. Instantly, the tiny nose became a large orange nose.
“Hey! Whoa!” the snowman cried. Anna cringed. Maybe she had gone too far. But then, the snowman clapped his stick hands together in glee. “I love it even more!” He smiled up at Anna and Kristoff. “All right, let’s start this thing over. Hi, everyone. I’m Olaf. And I like warm hugs.” Opening his arms wide, he stood, waiting for a hug.
“Olaf?” Anna repeated. That name sounded so familiar…Did I read it in a book? she wondered. Or maybe it was a name of someone in one of the gallery portraits? I swear I’ve heard it before…
And then she remembered. “That’s right!’ she said. “Olaf!” She and Elsa had made a snowman once—long ago—named Olaf. He had been just like this Olaf. I even remember Elsa holding out the fake snowman’s arms and saying, “I like warm hugs.”
“And you are?” Olaf asked, breaking into Anna’s thoughts.
“Oh, um…I’m Anna,” she said.
“And who’s the funky-looking donkey over there?” Olaf asked, pointing toward Kristoff and Sven.
“That’s Sven,” Anna said.
Olaf nodded. “Uh-huh. And who’s the reindeer?”
“…Sven,” Anna said again. Then, realizing that Olaf had called Kristoff a funky-looking donkey, Anna laughed to herself. She waited as Olaf said his hellos and then asked the question that was burning a hole in her throat. She needed to know—“Olaf,” she said, “did Elsa build you?”
“Yeah,” he replied breezily. “Why?”
So she had been right. Olaf was here now, alive and talking—because of Elsa! Because of her magic! I wish the people in Arendelle could see Olaf, she thought. Then they could see how amazing Elsa’s powers can be.
“Do you know where she is?” Anna asked, shooting Kristoff a look. He had taken one of Olaf’s arms off and was holding it up, fascinated by how it continued to move even when disconnected from the body. Olaf wasn’t entirely off point, she thought. Kristoff can be a donkey sometimes.
Unaware of, or at least not bothered by, his detached arm, Olaf nodded. And once again, he said, “Yeah. Why?”
“Do you think you could show us the way?” Anna asked eagerly. This was the closest they had come to figuring out exactly where Elsa was hiding. If Olaf could bring them to the queen, they would be one step closer to putting a stop to this winter. And maybe to mending Anna’s relationship with her sister.
She looked up at Kristoff, hoping he would be as excited as she was. But he was still too busy playing with Olaf’s arm. To their surprise, the arm suddenly reached out and slapped Kristoff across the face. “Stop it, Sven,” Olaf said to Kristoff. “Trying to focus here.” Then he looked back at Anna and once again asked why.
“I’ll tell you why,” Kristoff answered instead. “We need Elsa to bring back summer.”
At the word “summer,” a huge smile spread across Olaf’s face. Summer, it turned out, was something Olaf really, really liked. While Anna found the idea of a creature made of snow liking a season known for being warm adorable and endearing, Kristoff did not.
“I’m guessing you don’t have much experience with heat,” he said.
“Nope,” the happy-go-lucky snowman said. “But sometimes I like to close my eyes and imagine what it’d be like.” As Anna and Kristoff watched, the snowman did just that. He closed his eyes and drifted away, lost in images of lying on the beach or frolicking through a field full of dandelions.
“I’m going to tell him,” Kristoff whispered to Anna as the snowman continued to narrate his daydream.
“Don’t you dare,” Anna hissed back. There was no reason to dash the little guy’s hopes. So what if he believed he could walk around in the sun and not melt? If the weather stayed like this, he would never have to learn any different.
Opening his eyes, Olaf looked over at them and smiled. “Come on!” he said. “Elsa’s this way. Let’s go bring back summer!”
Turning, he began to wobble away from the willow trees. A moment later, Anna followed. Behind her she could hear Kristoff grumbling about snowmen and summer and melting, but she ignored him. He could mumble and grumble all he wanted. They were about to find her sister!
Anna’s excitement was short-lived. As they left the willow grove and neared the base of the North Mountain, the terrain began to change. The beauty that had awed Anna just a short while ago was gone. In its place was something far more menacing. Icicles stuck out horizontally from the mountain, like spears on the front lines of battle. The wind was stronger now, too, whipping at Anna’s face and stinging her cheeks. It was like seeing the other side of her sister’s personality. The willows and Olaf were the kind, sweet part of Elsa. This was the scared and lonely part.
“So how exactly are you planning to stop this weather?” Kristoff asked, gesturing to their surroundings.
“Oh, I’m going to talk to my sister,” Anna said, feigning more confidence than she actually felt.
Kristoff stopped midstride and stared at her. “That’s your plan?” he asked in disbelief. “My ice business is riding on you talking to your sister?”
“Yup,” Anna replied, stopping to return his stare.
Kristoff groaned and resumed trudging through the snow. Anna was surprised he had let the conversation just drop like that and was about to say so when she heard him shout. Whipping around, she saw that he was standing perilously close to an icicle. One more step and it would have stabbed him right in the nose.
“So you’re not at all afraid of her?” he asked, reaching up to make sure his nose was okay.
“Why would I be?” Anna retorted. “She might have crazy ice powers, but this is still Elsa we’re talking about.”
Anna confidently strode forward…all the way into a dead end. On the plus side, they had arrived at the base of the North Mountain. On the downside, the spot they had come to was a spot that rose straight up into the sky.
“What now?” Anna asked, turning to Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven.
Kristoff craned his head back as he examined the mountain. Then he looked at Anna’s hopeful face. He sighed. “It’s too steep,” he said. As he spoke, he opened his bag and began digging around in it. “I’ve only got one rope, and you don’t know how to climb mountains.”
“Says who?” Anna replied, pleased to see the surprised expression on Kristoff’s face when he looked up and found her clinging to the mountain. She hated when people doubted her, and really, how hard could climbing be? You find footholds for your feet and handholds for your hands. Then you climb. Although, she thought as she scanned the rock face in front of her, I don’t really see that many places to hold on….
“What are you doing?” Kristoff asked.
Anna didn’t risk turning around, but she could hear the mocking tone in Kristoff’s voice and it only served to spur her on. “I’m going to see my sister.”
“You’re going to kill yourself,” Kristoff replied.
Ignoring him, she reached her leg out, straining for a small ledge.
“I wouldn’t put my foot there.”
Anna ignored his warning and placed her foot on the ledge. Her legs shook as she tried to steady herself, but she was thrilled when she was able to move a little farther up the mountain. Ha! So there, Mr. Know-It-All. A few more slick moves like that and I’ll be on my way!
“Or there,” Kristoff said as she once again moved her foot. Then he added, “How do you know Elsa even wants to see you?”
“I’m just blocking you out ’cause I have to concentrate here,” Anna said over her shoulder. And because I don’t need to be reminded that my sister basically ran away from me, she added silently.
Failing to pick up on the fact that Anna was clearly not in the mood for self-reflection, Kristoff kept pushing. “You know,” he said, “most people who disappear into the mountains want to be alone.”
“Nobody wants to be alone. Except maybe you,” Anna shot back. Her fingers were beginning to go numb and she wa
s pretty sure that if muscles could scream, hers would be shouting horrible things at her right now. The last thing she wanted to be doing was talking to Kristoff about relationships—again. Just because he had so-called “friends” who were “love experts” didn’t make him a genius on the subject. And seriously, why did this mountain have so few handholds?
There were no more places to put her hands or her feet. Anna was stuck.
“Please tell me I’m almost there,” she asked. Sadly, risking a look down, she saw that her “big climb” had taken her up—about six feet. Okay, that’s a little bit embarrassing, Anna admitted silently.
“Hey, Sven?” Olaf shouted, addressing Kristoff. He and Anna turned and looked over at the little snowman. “Not sure if this is going to solve the problem, but I found a staircase that leads exactly where you want to go.”
“Thank goodness!” Anna said. “Catch!” Then, without even looking down, she let go of the mountain and threw herself backward—right into Kristoff’s arms. Looking up at him, she smiled. “Thanks. That was like a crazy trust exercise!” Then, jumping free, she ran after Olaf.
Behind her, she could feel Kristoff’s gaze following her, and it made her flash hot for a moment. She hadn’t failed to notice when she landed in Kristoff’s arms that it felt kind of nice to be held by someone so big and warm. But just like that, Anna pushed the feeling aside. Catching up to Olaf, she grabbed his little stick hand, and together they began the long climb up the stairs that would hopefully lead to Elsa!
HANS WAS PLEASED. The group of men he had put together were more than capable and had so far offered up no resistance to his leadership. Except for the Duke of Weselton’s men. Those two, he thought now, glancing back at the men, are going to be trouble unless I figure out a way to change their loyalty. For the moment, though, Hans was content to just wait and see how things played out. It would do him no good to focus his attention on anything other than finding Anna.
They had been following Anna’s tracks for a few hours. At first, it hadn’t been too difficult. Her horse had left a clear path of broken branches on his gallop back toward Arendelle. But they had come to the point where Anna and her horse had clearly parted ways. A distinct human-sized impression could be seen in the white powder beneath a tree, and the tree itself was one of the few without snow covering its branches. She must have fallen off here, Hans thought, jumping off his own horse to examine the area. Yes, she most definitely landed beneath this tree. He reached up, his fingers brushing the soft needles of the fir tree.
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