Up to this point, Major Mint hadn't paid much attention to Clara. She didn't cause any trouble or make a fuss, and the only time Mint ever really acknowledged her existence was to wonder why she was there in the first place. He could just about understand why the Nutcracker had to come with them, but what was the point of bringing a woman along? In the Major's experience, women were nothing but trouble on expeditions like these. The tougher ones would grumble and act as if they were in charge; the weaker ones would get tired too easily, demand to stop and then scream the house down if anything small and scaly came within two feet of them. Granted, Mint hadn't had much trouble with Clara; in fact, in some ways, she reminded him of his niece, Stacie, who he'd liked well enough. Now, however, she was proving to be a real nuisance. The last thing Mint needed was a hysterical woman on his hands; if he'd wanted that, he'd have brought Elizabeth with him.

"What's she carrying on about now?" he sighed as Clara ran down the hill towards them, calling their names. "Probably saw a snake or a spider or a-"

"ROCK GIANT!" Shouted the Captain.

What the devil-

But there it was. Stomping behind the Nutcracker was a huge creature made entirely out of rock. The Major didn't want to guess how tall it was, or even how it could see where it was going. None of that was important. It was huge, it was invincible and it was coming his way. He gasped, dropped his monocle and frantically tried to think of some way of dealing with this. He came up with nothing. Major Mint had never encountered a rock giant before and had no idea how to defeat one without a cannon around. All he could do was crouch next to the boat and pray that the creature didn't spot him.

He heard Clara calling to them from somewhere to the right.

"Major! Captain! Over here!"

She and the Nutcracker had taken shelter behind a large rock. The giant – which, Mint noticed, wasn't exactly the brightest of creatures – didn't appear to have noticed them. It didn't even move as the two officers scurried over to join them.

What on earth is it doing? The Major wondered, but then it straightened up and he found out. The creature was lifting a boulder in what passed for its hands, and as the group watched, it threw it down onto the recently-finished boat, smashing it to pieces.

In that moment, Mint forgot where he was. He forgot that he could very, very easily meet the same fate as his boat. All he cared about was the fact that his work – his hard work! – had been demolished, and he wasn't going to stand for it. He stood up, put on his most threatening pose and glared up at the rock giant.

"I WORKED ON THAT SAIL A GOOD HALF-HOUR, YOU CHEEKY BLIGHTER!"

He felt someone tug at his shoulder. It was Candy.

"Why don't you invite him over for tea and cakes while you're at it?" the other officer asked angrily. Mint was just preparing to make a comeback when he realised what he'd done. He'd attempted to scold a rock giant, and not only was it not backing down, it now knew exactly where they were. There was nowhere for them to run now. They were doomed. They could only back away as the rock giant stomped towards them, preparing to crush them just as it had crushed the boat.

It was almost upon them when the snow fairies arrived, flying around the small group before zooming back up into the air. Everyone stared at them as they flew past the rock giant, who tried in vain to swat them as if they were little more than insects. They could only continue to watch as the fairies skimmed the surface of the Sea of Storms, turning the churning waves into ice. To make things even more miraculous, a pink horse came trotting along the now-frozen sea, dragging a sleigh behind it. Clara seemed to recognise the horse. Mint didn't, but he hadn't seen a live horse in a long time.

Nutcracker immediately bolted towards the sleigh. "Come on!" he shouted. "Before the snow fairies disappear!"

For a moment, the Major was unable to move. He'd already seen a man remove his own arm and a real rock giant in the same day, and a swarm of snow fairies freezing an ocean was almost too much for him. He could only stare at them, transfixed, until Candy pulled on his arm and dragged him forward. Then, having regained his senses, he ran towards the sleigh and took the reins. They were off, speeding away from the rock giant and towards safety.

Well, not quite. Within seconds, Mint heard the rock giant coming after them, covering as much distance with one stride as they did on their sleigh. He kept calm. There must be a way of outrunning this thing. There had to be.

"Ah," said the Captain, "he'll break right through that ice!"

The Major glimpsed back at the creature. The ice didn't look like it was going to break anytime soon.

"Seems the snow fairies did their job too well," he said, now putting all his effort into urging the sleigh forward as fast as possible. Nothing worked. The rock giant was always a few steps behind them. If they stopped, that thing would be upon them instantly. As much as the Major hated to admit it, he was terrified, but all he could do was grip the reins tightly and urge the horse to go faster.

Suddenly, someone yanked the reins out of his hand, bringing the sleigh to a halt. It was the Nutcracker, and no sooner had he put their lives in danger than he raced out to face the rock giant, sword in hand. For a moment, the Major almost felt bad for him; for someone with such a high opinion of himself, the Nutcracker was clearly inexperienced in situations like this.

"A sword's not going to do you any good, lad," he said pitifully. The wooden man didn't listen.

"You'll be pulverised!" Mint called after him. Still he didn't turn back. Even as his lady friend told him to be careful, the Nutcracker ran right up to the rock giant... but instead of trying to stab it with the sword, he thrust the sword into the ice, which split immediately. The wooden man ran back towards the sleigh as the crack widened. Mint encouraged him. Despite what he thought about the Nutcracker, he certainly didn't wish him dead. Besides, maybe he was onto something with this...

Well, they couldn't stick around to find out. If this was enough to send the rock giant to the bottom of the sea, it might sink them as well. The moment the Nutcracker reached the sleigh, Mint started it up again. He didn't look back. He didn't need to. Behind him, he heard a loud crash, the churning waves and the roar of the rock monster as it sank to its watery grave. He felt no pity. He just kept steering the sleigh.

Hours later, and the journey was nearly impossible.

Not that this was Mint's fault; oh, no. He was usually very good at getting people where they wanted to be. He could read a map, take note of any useful landmarks and they'd get there eventually. But this was a whole different kettle of fish. There was no map, no landmarks and to top it all off, there was fog. All the Major could see were frozen waves and pink mist. It seemed to go on for miles.

It had occurred to Mint that this probably could go on for miles. The Sea of Storms was an utterly vast ocean, and finding this island was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Even with the waves out of action, they didn't have any food and this horse was bound to get tired eventually. Come to think of it, Mint himself wasn't feeling very energetic, either. He couldn't begin to imagine what time it was, but he'd been working non-stop for most of the day and it was finally getting to him. He jerked his head around, hoping to find a suitable resting place, but all he saw was more ice.

That was another thing; this ice wasn't permanent. If they didn't find land soon, they faced the possibility of being stranded when it finally began to melt. This sleigh certainly wouldn't float, and once it sank, what would happen to them? Major Mint was a relatively strong swimmer, but he didn't fancy his chances against those waves. Some of them were bigger than he was.

He didn't pay much attention to the people around him; he was too preoccupied with these thoughts (not to mention a private longing for his bed back in the Treetop Village). They travelled for another hour or so before he decided he'd had enough.

"Weather's getting worse," he said to the others. "I say, we turn around."

He was about to draw the horse to a halt when it stopped in its tracks, looking to the right. Something was wrong with it. Clearly it was as sick of this ice as he was.

"Wait!" shouted Clara.

Mint turned and glared at her. This was certainly not the place for waiting.

"It's too dangerous! There's been no sign of this mysterious island! Not to mention what's going to happen when this ice starts to melt!"

But apparently such thoughts didn't occur to Clara.
"Marzipan saw something," she said as she stepped off the sleigh. "I'm sure of it."

She walked off into the mist, with the Nutcracker close behind her. The Major didn't even try to stop them; if they wanted to get themselves killed, let them. He'd had enough of those two, anyway. He'd almost had enough of this horse, too; it had stopped doing what he told it to and was now trotting after the others, dragging the sleigh – and the men still sitting on it – behind it. Mint couldn't even believe what was happening until the fog cleared and he saw it for himself.

They'd found the island at last.