英语小说网

The wind howled and the snow blew into Anna's face. She struggled to guide her horse up the frozen mountain path. She was determined to find Elsa. Anna was sure her sister would thaw the fjord and bring back summer. The whole kingdom would celebrate, and the two sisters would live happily ever after. The thought encouraged Anna as she rode through the snowdrifts.

"Elsa!" Anna called into the blizzard. "It's me, Anna. Your sister who didn't mean to make you freeze the summer!" She paused, shivering in the cold. "Wow, that's a sentence I never thought I'd say. Anyway, I'm sorry! This is all my f-f-f-fault."

A wolf's howl interrupted Anna's cries.

Her horse stopped and looked around nervously. Anna tried to convince herself that the sounds were just puppies playing.

"Of course, none of this would have happened if she'd just told me her secret," Anna said with a sigh.

"Whoa, whoa!" Anna commanded, pulling back on the reins. She flew off the horse into a snowdrift! She sat up, spit snow out of her mouth, and looked around just in time to see her horse running away.

A tree branch snapped, and the horse panicked. It whinnied and kicked up its front legs.

"No, no, no! Come back!" Anna called, but the horse was long gone. "Okay," she said to herself. She had to keep focused. She struggled to stand up and dusted the snow off her dress.

Anna took one more step and stumbled down a steep hill. She began to roll like a snowball, layering on more and more snow as she went.

"Snow, it had to be snow," she grumbled. "She couldn't have had a tropical magic that covered the fjords in white sand and warm…" A welcome sight interrupted Anna's rant. She saw smoke rising in the distance. "Fire!"

Anna landed with a splash in an icy stream and the snowball broke apart. She got to her feet, shivering. "Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold…," she muttered. She was standing next to a small building. A wooden sign hung in front of her: WANDERING OAKEN'S TRADING POST. A lump of snow fell off the sign. "And sauna!" she said, reading the end of the sign.

Anna hurried inside. The little shop was stocked with summer supplies -- after all, it was technically still summertime. She gazed at the goods, looking for warm clothes.

Anna darted toward the single rack of warm clothing. "Oh, um, I was just wondering," she said, trying to sound casual, "has another young woman, the queen, perhaps, I don't know, passed through here?" She brought a pair of boots and some clothes to the counter and set them in front of Oaken.

"Oh, great," Anna said, looking around the store. "For now, how about boots? Winter boots and dresses?"

"Hoo, hoo!" called a blond man behind the counter wearing a bright sweater. His name was Oaken, and he was the owner. "Big summer blowout," he said hopefully. "Half off on our swimming suits, clogs, and a sun balm of my own invention, ja?"

At that moment, the front door opened and a gust of frigid air blew in. A large, broad man entered. He was dressed for the arctic cold and completely covered in snow, with only his brown eyes showing. It was Kristoff, and he was looking for supplies, too.

"Only one crazy enough to be out in the storm is you, dear," Oaken said in a pleasant voice.

"Well, that would be in our winter department," the man said in a thick accent.

Kristoff pushed past Oaken and went straight to Anna. "Carrots," he demanded. "Huh?" Anna asked.

"Behind you," Kristoff said crossly, pointing.

"You and this fellow. Hoo, hoo," Oaken sang out. "Big summer blowout."

"Oh, right," Anna said. "Excuse me." She moved out of the way, and Kristoff grabbed a bag of carrots from a shelf behind her. He gathered a few other supplies as he moved briskly around the shop.

"The North Mountain," Anna repeated to herself. Was that where Elsa had gone?

"A real howler in July, ja?" Oaken said, trying to make conversation with the stranger. "Wherever could it be coming from?"

"The North Mountain," Kristoff replied.