One morning in early June, the royal family of Arendelle was in the dining room, having breakfast together. It was particularly a special day for the little, five-year-old Princess Heidi, because today was the day that her father Kristoff was going to take her ice harvesting for the first time. Heidi's eight-year-old brother Prince Joseff had already been going ice harvesting with their father for a year, and even though Heidi was a couple years away from being Joseff's age, she had wanted to do it since Joseff started going.
So after much begging and pleading to her father and then her mother, Anna, both parents agreed that Heidi could go with Kristoff and Joseff. The condition that Anna made with Heidi was that Heidi would not wander off from her brother and father while in the mountains, and that she had to listen to Kristoff and do what he told her to do. The condition that Anna then made with her husband was that he was not to let Heidi nor Joseff out of his sight. She told all three of them to make sure they stayed together on their trip.
At the moment, while everyone sat at the table together, except for Elsa, who was at the stove getting some oatmeal for herself, Heidi and Joseff told everyone to listen, as they wanted to give a little rendition of Figaro. Elsa had been teaching it to both of them for the past week, but only a few lyrics of the opera. So they started to sing together,
Ehi, Figaro! Son qua.
Figaro qua, Figaro là,
Figaro su, Figaro giù.
Ah, bravo Figaro!
Bravo, bravissimo!
Figaro! Figaro! Figaro!
Figaro! Figaro! Figaro!
Figaro! Figaro! Figaro!
Fig…that's all folks!
Kai and Gerda were in the room with the family and stayed to listen to Joseff and Heidi singing. When the children finished, everyone applauded.
"Way to go, you two!" Anna exclaimed.
"That was wonderful, Heidi, Joseff," Gerda said.
"Well sung, Prince Joseff and Princess Heidi," Kai said.
"I see I have started to teach you two well," Elsa spoke up.
"Wow, Joseff and Heidi, the greatest singers in Arendelle," Kristoff said. He stood up from his place at the table, then picked up both of his kids. "Whoa, I think you two must have grown bigger overnight!" he stated before he sat down in one of the other chairs with the two kids in his lap.
"Gerda and Kai can't even pick me up anymore," Joseff said.
"Or me," Heidi added.
Gerda chuckled. "I think your daddy is the only one who can."
"Especially both of you at the same time," Kai said.
"Nobody's as strong as our daddy," Heidi said as she reached up to touch her father's chin affectionately.
Anna nodded in agreement. "Nobody. Heck, he can even pick me and Elsa up without any problem."
"I don't think we know any man who is as strong as Daddy," Elsa said. "Except for probably our father, right, Anna?"
"Oh yeah!" Anna answered. "I remember when we were Heidi and Joseff's ages, Papa could still hold both of us with no problem."
"Well, if we're getting too big to be held, me and Heidi are big enough to go ice harvesting by ourselves!" Joseff said.
"Yay!" Heidi cried.
"Oh, no, Joseff," Kristoff said while ruffling his son's hair.
"Awww, please, Daddy?" Heidi begged.
Kristoff shook his head. "No, you two. Either with me, or your mommy, or Auntie Elsa. And the same goes for leaving the palace. You're never to go anywhere without telling us first."
"But Daddy, you were alone and my age when you first went ice harvesting, weren't you?" Joseff asked.
"Yes, I was, Joe. But that's a different matter. I was alone with only Sven and I had no family. I had no other choice. I needed to do something in order to earn money, even at that age, so I began cutting and harvesting ice, then selling it."
"But aren't Grandma Bulda, Grandpa Cliff, and Grand Pabbie your family, Daddy?" Heidi asked.
"Yes, Heidi, but I didn't find them until after I began harvesting ice. Sven and I only had each before then. But even after the trolls took us in, they couldn't come with me whenever I did my work. Lots of times, Sven was the only companion I had."
"But Dad, how long before we are old enough to do just what you do?" Joseff asked.
"Maybe when you guys are teenagers. But not by yourselves, you two. Not just yet."
Joseff and Heidi both leaped from their father's lap and walked over to their aunt. "Auntie Elsa? When will Heidi and me be big enough?"
Elsa smiled and gently took her nephew and niece's cheeks between both of her hands. "Heidi, Joseff, why do you two want to grow up so fast? Hmm?" she asked, squeezing their cheeks in a playful manner.
"Because grown-ups are great," Heidi answered, then smiled widely.
"You said it, sister," Joseff answered, then he playfully took Heidi by her hands and they spun around together. As both of them laughed, so did all of the adults.
Hours later, Kristoff, Sven, Joseff, and Heidi had reached the frozen lake up in the mountains. While the other ice harvesters were working together, Kristoff first took his children to another part of the lake where the ice hadn't been cut yet. He laid all of his needed tools down nearby.
"So how do we start harvesting ice, Daddy?" Heidi asked.
"Well, sweetie, I'll show you," Kristoff answered. Then he picked up one of his needed tools: an ice saw. "This is an ice saw, Heidi. This is one of the first tools ice harvesters use to get the ice." As he set the saw in its desired position, he then said, "You two better stand back." Once Joseff and Heidi were at a safe distance, Kristoff used all of his might to punch the saw into the water. While he moved the saw up and down in the water, and moved backwards as he did so, he explained, "The first thing we do is use the saw to break up the ice in the frozen lake."
"Can I try?" Heidi asked.
"Not yet, honey. This tool is very dangerous, so you and Joseff aren't ready to do use it yet. However, I do think you can do use this tool, like Joseff does." After Kristoff had cut up enough of the lake, he put the saw down and reached for another tool. He showed Heidi the three-pronged, fork-like tool. "This is called a coker. After you use the saw to cut up the ice, you use the coker to further break the ice apart into blocks." Kristoff demonstrated the usage of the coker by breaking the ice further apart, in smaller portions than what the saw did. Then he gave Joseff and Heidi cokers that were perfect sizes for them. "Do you want me to help you cut some ice, sweetie?"
"Dad, why don't I help her?" Joseff volunteered.
"Well, I want to try and do it myself, Daddy," Heidi answered.
"That's a very good work ethic, Heidi. But if you want to do it yourself, let your brother stand behind you while you try. Remember, this business can be dangerous, because you could hurt yourself if you fell on the ice or get hypothermia if you fell into the water. If you do any of this work, for now, I want you to do it with me or Joseff nearby so we can be there to help you if you slip or fall."
"Okay, Daddy. So can I try to cut the ice with the coker?"
"Yes, honey, but let me stay here to make sure nothing happens to you. And let Joseff use his coker on the ice with you while you try it. When you and your brother want to take a break, come with me because I want to keep an eye on you while I cut some ice myself."
Remembering what her father did when he used the coker on the ice, Heidi held the handle of the coker between her hands as she moved it up and down to break the ice, while Joseff did the same thing. Like her brother, Heidi gave it all of her might until both of them (from their own individual ends) finally split the ice into a large freely-floating block.
"Yay, I broke the ice!" Heidi cheered.
"Way to go, sis," Joseff said in a congratulatory way.
"Great job, sweetie," Kristoff said. "So now that you have broken the ice into a freely-moving ice floe, the next thing to do is break it down into smaller ice blocks or lift it out of the water." He walked over to where the tools were laying and picked up two other different ones. One was a metal stick with a sharp point at the end, while the other looked like a set of pinchers with a handle. Kristoff held up the stick and said, "This tool is called a pike pole," then when he displayed the pinchers, he explained, "while these are tongs. Both of these are used to pick up ice from the water. Now, if an ice floe is big, like the one you two just broke free, we use the pike to pull it up from the water, then we cut it into smaller pieces using a pick axe." Kristoff then showed them the pick axe he brought. "However, sometimes ice harvesters can make smaller ice floes when they cut it up by using a saw or a coker. When you have smaller ice floes, you could still pick them up using the pike, but most of the time, we use the tongs."
"I want to use the tongs, Daddy," Heidi said. "I want to be able to lift an ice block out of the water myself."
"I'll make sure you get your chance, Heidi," Kristoff said. "But for right now, let me pick this ice floe out of the water and cut it up. Then I want you and your brother to come stick by me while I gather some ice myself."
An hour and a half later, Kristoff had collected a few blocks of ice and loaded them into the back of the sled, where he always keep the ice he harvested. Joseff and Heidi were too little to lift any ice, but Kristoff showed them how he would carry ice over his shoulder using the tongs before he put it in the sled.
"Can Joseff and I have our own sleds one day, Daddy?" Heidi asked.
"You mean a big one like this?" Kristoff asked.
"Yeah!" they both exclaimed.
"Sure," he answered, but before the two could cheer again, Kristoff added, "when you two are bigger than you are now."
"Awwww!" Heidi and Joseff simultaneously groaned.
"Come on, guys. Don't be in such a rush to grow up. Enjoying being kids while you still are ones." Then he motioned to Heidi, "Say, Heidi? How about having a chance at lifting ice out of the water, huh?"
"Yay, Daddy!" Heidi cried.
"Okay. But for now, let's start with me cutting up the ice and breaking it into smaller floes for all three of us to pick up."
Half an hour later, Kristoff had cut up what he thought was enough ice for him and his children to work with and remove from the lake. He used the saw first to break through the water and cut the ice into two parallel lines. Then he used the coker to break the ice from one of the other ends, forming the ice into the shape of a rectangle. Alongside her brother, Heidi watched their father then use the coker to break the ice into smaller, floating ice floes. He managed to break some of it into two parts that were perfect size for Joseff and Heidi.
"Can I use the tongs to pick up an ice floe now, Daddy?"
"You sure can, Heidi. You and your brother can pick up the two little ice floes right in the water. But remember, not without my supervision."
After he gave his kids their own pairs of tongs, Joseff and Heidi, remembering the motions their father did, bent down in front of the water where the ice blocks were floating. They both placed their tongs in the water around the ice…but neither of them picked up the blocks on their first tries.
"Awww!" Heidi groaned.
"Hey, don't give up, Heidi," Joseff said encouragingly. "I didn't snag my ice block with the tongs the first time I tried this, and I still don't. But Daddy taught me to never give up just because you don't make it the first time you try. As long we keep doing it every time we fail, we will get better and better at it as we grow up."
"Are you sure?"
"That's what Daddy said to me," Joseff answered.
"Hey, it is good advice that both of you should follow. I got better at this as I grew older, and if I could do it, so can both of you, and you will."
After listening to their father's advice Heidi and Joseff continued attempting to lift their ice floes out of the water. It took Joseff four more times before he finally snagged his and pulled it on to the frozen surface of the lake.
"Yes, I did it!"
"Good for you, son!"
"Awww, but I didn't get mine," Heidi complained.
"Just keep trying, honey. As long as you do, you'll be able to do it."
Keeping her father's words in mind, Heidi bent her knees and squatted down again. Once the ice floe was close enough, she grabbed it with the tongs and used all of her might to keep them holding the ice. Grunting with all of the exertion she had, she pulled and pulled until she nearly fell backwards. Kristoff was right there to catch her, but when Heidi regained her balance, she saw her tongs around the ice on the surface!
"I did it! I did it! I pulled out my first ice block!"
Kristoff laughed. "I knew you could do it, honey!" He gave Heidi a big kiss, then he pulled her and Joseff into his embrace. "I'm very proud of both of you."
Hours later, when they finally got home, Joseff and Heidi were fast asleep. It was dinnertime for everyone in the kingdom, but there was still enough daylight for Kristoff to sell his ice to people in the town square. Once Anna and Elsa saw him and Sven pull into Arendelle, from the palace, they hurried outside to help him with the kids.
Once they got down to the village square, Anna kissed Kristoff hello. "Hi, honey. Have a good day?"
"Hey babe," Kristoff said. "It was great. We got enough ice to sell to everyone before dark, and Heidi managed to pull her first block of ice out of the water."
"She did?" Elsa asked. "Oh, that's terrific! She must have felt very pleased with herself."
"She was. And in fact, Elsa, she said she has something special in mind to do with it."
"What's that?" Anna asked.
"Why don't we ask her?" Kristoff motioned to Heidi and Joseff, who were still asleep in the sled. "Come on, you two. We're home." their father gently said. "You guys are gonna go into the palace with Mommy and Auntie Elsa while I sell of the ice before dinner."
Once the two were awake enough, Heidi got out of the sled and said, "Wait, Daddy! Don't sell my ice block!"
"I won't, sweetie." Kristoff picked up the ice block where he had placed it in the sled. "Here it is."
"Goody!" Heidi giggled. "Auntie Elsa, I want you to have my ice block." One she said those words, Kristoff gave the ice to Elsa.
"Well, thank you so much, Heidi."
"I thought it was a good idea, since, you know, you have ice powers and are the ice and snow queen, so I thought you might like to have this since it's the first I ever caught as an ice harvester. And maybe you can turn it into a statue of ice or something. Plus I love you so much."
Elsa smiled widely. "Heidi, sweetie, I am touched that you wanted to give this to me. I promise, no matter what I do with it, I will treasure it forever."
Heidi smiled back before she ran into her aunt's arms (Kristoff took the ice back from before she hugged Heidi). Joseff didn't want to be left out, so he did the same thing. Elsa hugged her beloved nephew and niece close to her. "I love you both so much."
"We love you, too, Auntie Elsa," the brother and sister said together.
As she watched her big sister hug her son and daughter, Anna smiled, and did so even more when her beloved husband looked her in the eye and returned her smile.
What did you think?
Since I am struggling with ideas and time to write for "And Heidi Makes Five," I thought I would move ahead and try to write a story when Heidi and Joseff are older. So I thought, how about when Heidi first goes ice harvesting with her father and brother? ;) I have been thinking about this for a long time, so here it finally is!