"Jack!" A voice called through the snow covered forest. It was Danny riding on Spirit, "Jack!" There was still silence as the sun was now over head to indicate it was afternoon, "Jack, it's me Danny! Your little brother who didn't mean to make you get mad and freeze up summer! It was totally my fault so I'm sorry!" Danny still heard nothing and he sighed while looking down, "But maybe this whole thing wouldn't have happened if he just went ahead and told me his secret. I mean seriously, I can totally keep secrets. Boy he's such a dweeb."
Danny was so busy talking to himself that he didn't even notice where he was going. Spirit neighed when snow suddenly fell from the trees upon him and his rider. Shocked, the mustang stood up on his hind legs and bucked off Danny. The boy cried out in surprise and fell backwards into a bank of snow. He was glad it cushioned his fall. He shook off the snow and managed to sit up in time to see Spirit go galloping off.
"Hey wait! Spirit! Get back here! Spirit!" Danny shouted but his mustang had long disappeared back into the forest, "Well that's just great," He said while rolling his eyes and he looked up to see a tree hovering over him. Since he was stuck, he might as well use the branches to get out of the bank. He grunted as he reached up and grasped on the snow covered pine needles. However, the tree merely flew upwards and more snow fell right on top of the boy, "Really?"
"Winter…" Danny said as he stomped through the snow. It was late in the evening and the sun had long set. He had been walking for a few hours. He was tired, hungry, frustrated, and mostly cold. He clutched his coat closer but it wasn't enough to keep him warm, "He had to have winter powers," He complained and stomped his feet, "I mean couldn't he have, oh gee I don't know, maybe summer powers? Like makes the sun beamed down. Have sand go everywhere with grass growing along with…" he trailed off when he saw smoke from afar, "Fire?" He smiled in relief.
But that was cut short when he lost footing at the edge of a hill. Danny cried out in surprise as he lost his coat, slid down and landed harshly in a not yet frozen tiny stream. He gulped and could feel the cold water already making his shoes and his pants become drenched,
"Can this day get any worse?" he questioned and he immediately got out, soaked from the waist down. He had to hurry to the building before he caught a cold or froze outside, "Cold, cold, cold…" he whined and winced to know his shoes were completely soaked.
Luckily, the building that he was going to wasn't that far off. Danny gulped and stepped gingerly onto the porch. He gripped his arms and looked up at the snow covered signs. He had to make sure this wasn't someone's house. Gulping, he reached up with one arm and managed to push on the sign to make snow fall off.
"Testlaff's trading post," Danny read and more snow fell to reveal more writing, "And sauna? Sweet!"
Without another word, he rushed inside and found nice warm air greeting him. Danny sighed in relief and started to clap his hands against his arms. He was so busy trying to get warm that he didn't notice the large woman behind the desk across from the door. That is till he heard a throat being cleared. He looked up to see her staring at him.
"Well little man. Evening. Want anything we have on sale? We have bathing suits and even some suntan lotion." She said holding up a bottle.
Danny blinked in confusion. Summer items? But it was…oh right. It was supposed to be summer anyway. Too bad his brother messed up the weather. He finally spoke, "Uh that's great. But for what's going on outside, how about I get a winter coat, boots, and maybe jeans?"
"Right. That would be in our vendor department." Mrs. Testlaff said, holding out her arm to the said department.
Danny looked and saw there were only a few things; one coat that was white and red, some jeans, and red and white winter boots, "Okay then," he said and walked over to get the clothes. He decided to ask this woman if she knew anything of the whereabouts of Jack, "I was just curious. Did a teenager, about eighteen, this tall…" he held up his hand to show how tall Jack was, "With white hair probably walked by here maybe?"
"Only one crazy to be out in this blizzard is you, my boy." Testlaff replied just as Danny placed his new clothes on the check-out desk. The door opened again, and Danny and Testlaff turned to see a figure come walking in. This person was covered head to toe in snow, "Another customer. Hello, want any of our summer items on sale?"
"No thanks," a muffled voice was heard and the figure started to walk forward. Danny watched as long brown hair was suddenly falling from the hat this person was wearing. It was a girl and when she looked at him, she had amber eyes. He backed up just as she came up to him, "Apples," she said and Danny wasn't sure what she was talking about. He merely started to whistle nervously, "Behind you." She added sharply.
"Huh?" He looked behind him and saw underneath the counter was a bunch of apples, "Oh! Totally sorry!" he laughed nervously and moved out of the way.
The girl took the basket of apples and moved off to grab some rope hanging from a hook, "Boy that blizzard sure is coming in hard. Where is it coming from?"
"White Mountain." The girl answered with a sigh and placed her apples and rope next to each other.
"White Mountain?" Danny whispered when he heard that.
"All right, that will be forty dollars." Testlaff said while ringing up the amount.
"Forty bucks? Seriously? No way, what about ten?" Carrie retorted with disbelief.
"No, sorry. You see this kind of stuff is really hard to get, especially during a season like this." Testlaff answered with a shrug.
"You want to talk about stuff that's hard to get? The only reason I am even doing this job is because I wanna have enough money to get into my dream college." Carrie said and she lifted her arm up to show a handmade sled that held cubes of ice and wood.
Danny saw this and he laughed, "Yeah that seems like a real tough job to do all right. That's really…" he trailed off to see Carrie glaring at him, "Okay I'll shut up now."
"I'm sorry, but it's still forty. If you take this offer, you can stay here for a free sauna with my family." She turned and waved to another door. Danny and Carrie looked to see her family waving back from inside their make shift sauna.
While Danny waved at them, Carrie sighed, "But I only have ten dollars. Please help me out here." She said in a small pleading voice despite her face being half covered by her scarf.
"All right, how about this. I give you just the apples and nothing else?" Testlaff haggled and Danny decided to ask Carrie that has been bugging him when she said the name of the mountain.
"Let me ask you just one quick question. When you said about White Mountain, what was going on there? Was it like…magical?" He questioned and Carrie sighed in frustration.
She removed her scarf and glanced over at him, "Yeah. Now back up will ya? I wanna deal with this old lady here." She then realized her mistake when Testlaff stood up to her fullest height.
"What did you call me?"
In no time, Testlaff grabbed Carrie by the collar of her jacket and began to drag her to the door, "Okay, I'm going!" she tried to say, but the older woman tossed her straight out into the snow.
"And don't come back! I will remember your face!" Testlaff called before she walked back into the building.
Carrie grumbled and sat up. Avalon came up and nickered. She was expecting her apples but her mistress gave her a look, "No, Avalon, I don't have your apples," The horse neighed in disappointment, "Now don't look at me like that. At least I found a place we can stay for tonight. Look. And it's free." The young girl pointed to a stall near the building.
Danny wasn't sure of how to act when Testlaff threw Carrie out the building, "Now, back to business. Did you just want the clothes and boots?" the woman asked and the young boy frowned while thinking it over.
A short time later, in the stall, Carrie had made a makeshift bed that was made entirely out of straw. Avalon was near her and chewing on some dry grass. The teenage girl was singing softly to herself.
Oh I wish there was an easy way
So that eventually I may
Get into the school I want
She frowned before glancing at Avalon, who was watching her.
But until I fulfill my dream
In order to for me shine and gleam
I have to work hard first
Carrie lay down and smiled at Avalon who lay beside her.
Good night old girl
Don't like the frostbite bite
But before she can catch some z's, the door to the stall opened, causing her to sit up in a start. She thought it was Testlaff, "Nice singing." A familiar boy's voice said and she saw it was the same boy she saw in the building. However, he was wearing the winter clothing and his hair was no longer in its neat combed look.
"Oh, it's just you," Carrie sighed and frowned at him, "What do you want?"
"I want you to take me up the White Mountain." Danny replied with a shrug.
There was a long pause before Carrie lay back down and closed her eyes, "Forget it. I don't take people I don't know places."
"Fine. How about I rephrase that?" Danny tossed a bag to the girl, and she gasped when it made contact with her stomach. She looked into it to see some food, rope, and other supplies, "Take me up the White Mountain, please?"
Carrie searched his face to see what his catch was. Wary, she questioned, "Give me one good reason why I should."
Danny bit his bottom lip, "Okay, how about this? I know how to stop this winter."
Carrie thought it over long and hard. Finally, she gave a sharp sigh and said, "Fine. We leave at dawn," she was lying back down and she added with her eyes closed, "Oh, you forgot the apples for Avalon."
A bag of apples hit her in the face and she gave a cry of pain and surprise, "Sorry. I'm a major klutz so it slipped out of my hands. Really," Danny apologized with a weak smile and not wanting to see this girl get angry, "I can't wait until dawn, so we godda leave right now."
He turned and walked out of the stall. But he hid near the door and waited for Carrie to make up her mind. As she fed Avalon an apple, she made up her mind.
"Go Avalon!" Carrie urged her horse forward while she and Danny rode on her sled, "Better hang on. We like to go fast."
"Cool! I like fast!" Danny said in excitement and he sat back while putting his feet on the dashboard.
"Hey! Whoa!" Carrie reached over and pushed Danny's feet off, "Get your feet down. This is fresh slacker. Seriously, were you raised in a barn?" she asked in disgust before she turned and spit on the dashboard to wipe it down.
Some of her spit got into his eye, and Danny groaned while replying and rubbing his eye, "No. I was raised in a palace."
"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Carrie questioned while rolling her eyes. After a pause, the girl decided to ask, "Just curious, but what made your brother go ice crazy?"
Hearing this question, Danny chuckled nervously, "Oh. It was totally my fault," he admitted and looked off to the side, "I got engaged but then he totally freaked because I only met her that day. So he wouldn't bless the marriage-"
"Wait a minute," Carrie suddenly cut him off for she was confused on hearing what he was talking about, "You got engaged to someone you just met that day?"
"Yeah," Danny nodded but continued like she hadn't interrupted him, "So anyway, I got pissed and he did too. I grabbed his arm, but only ended up pulling off his glove. I was kind of hoping that-"
"Wait, wait, wait! Back up!" She turned to look at Danny head on, "You got engaged to someone you just met that day?"
"Yeah I did. Now pay attention," Danny replied annoyed, "The thing is, he wore those gloves and boots all the time. Which I thought was totally weird since he loved to go barefoot all the time."
"How old are you? And didn't your parents even tell you about strangers?" Carrie questioned in disbelief for she thought that a prince like Danny would at least have some common sense.
"I'm fourteen, soon to be fifteen," the boy answered and taking note of her last question, he slid a few inches away from her, "And yeah they did. But come on, Paulina is totally not a stranger."
Carrie rolled her eyes, "Oh yeah?" What's her last name?"
"Sanchez, duh!" Danny replied mocking her eye roll.
"What's her favorite food?"
"Sandwiches."
"Best friend's name?"
"Probably Star."
"Eye color?"
"Dreamy…"
"Does she shower often?"
"I don't think that matters." Danny said with a laugh since these series of questions was starting to get ridiculous.
"You don't know that. What if you hate the way she eats? What if you hate the way she talks about her period?" Carrie questioned and Danny quirked an eyebrow at the last question.
"Talks about her period?"
"And describes it." Carrie finished with a playful smirk.
"Seriously? She's not like that!" Danny retorted.
"All girls go through it." Carrie merely said, her smirk still in place.
"Okay, gross," Danny shook his head in disgust but continued on, "Look, it doesn't matter. It's true love."
"That doesn't sound like true love to me."
"Oh, and are you some sort of love expert?" Danny questioned giving Carrie a look.
"Wouldn't say that. But I will say that I have been known to learn from the best. In fact, if it hadn't been for them, my brother would be going out with the wrong girl. So he's happy with his girlfriend."
"Wait, you mean to say you have friends who are considered love experts?"
"Yup, I do."
"Oh give me a break. I don't believe it." Danny scoffed.
Before Carrie could argue, she noticed Avalon had slowed down and she can sense something was wrong, "Stop talking." The girl said but Danny didn't notice,
"No way. I want to meet these so called love experts."
"I mean it, shut your trap." Carrie ordered and put her hand over Danny's mouth.
He gasped and shoved her hand away, "But…" he began.
"Shut up!" Carrie hissed and she took a flashlight to look around. Danny finally saw she meant it and he too looked around.
There was eerie silence. Carrie beamed the flashlight behind her and Danny followed her gaze. The boy could faintly hear growling and he saw yellow lights in the trees. But these were not lights. They were eyes. Carrie gasped and she quickly sat down.
"Avalon, go, now!" she urged her mare, and the horse took off without having be told twice.
Danny gasped as he was thrown back in the saddle when Avalon took off in a rush. Just in time for something started to go after them. He looked back and tried to make out the figures that were following them.
"What the heck are those things?"
"Wolves." Carrie replied as she looked through her sacks.
"Wolves?' Danny repeated and using the flashlight, he saw she was right. The wolves looked really hungry, "What do we do?"
"I got this thing handled. The only thing I want you to do is sit down, make sure you don't fall off or get eating." Carrie said and grabbed a heavy stick she had in the sled.
"But I want to help." Danny argued.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't trust your judgment." Carrie answered simply and Danny was offended by this.
"Uh excuse me?"
"Who marries a girl they just met at a young age?" Carrie cried out her question as she kicked a wolf away.
"It's called true love!" Danny shouted and he suddenly punched a wolf before it could lunge on Carrie.
She stared in surprise before another wolf came up and pulled her right off the sled, "Yikes!" she screamed and managed to grab onto the rope that was attached to her sled.
"Charlotte!" Danny cried out as he leaned over the back of the sled.
"It's Carrie!" Carrie corrected angrily and she yelped in pain when the wolves snapped at her heels.
Danny looked around and saw the lantern that was on the sled and a bundle of small twigs. He got an idea and lit the bundle on fire with the lantern, "Duck!" he shouted and flung the flaming bundle at the wolves that were nearly upon Carrie. She gasped and did so to allow the bundle hit its target right on.
Getting over her shock, she glared at Danny and began to make her way up to the sled, "Well thanks a lot! You nearly set me on fire!"
"You're welcome. And I didn't!" Danny mocked and he helped her back up.
But they were not out of danger just yet. Danny and Carrie looked up ahead and could see a cliff coming up fast. There was another cliff across, but luck would have to be on their side if they were to make it to the other side.
"Get ready to jump, Avalon!" Danny cried out.
"You don't tell her what to do." Carrie said and without warning, she put Danny on Avalon along with a sack.
"Hey!" He said in surprise.
"I do!" Carrie got out her knife, "Jump Avalon!" she ordered and slashed the ropes that attached Avalon to the sled.
Avalon neighed and jumped toward the other cliff with Danny hanging on. Carrie was still on the sled as it went over the edge and she jumped just as the sled began to fall. She screamed and managed to grab ahold of snow covered cliff. She looked back to see the wolves stop and growl. She then dared to look down below and watch in horror to see her sled explode.
"Oh great…Hiccup so totally going to kill me," she mumbled to herself and her mitten covered hands began to slip. She was starting to slide down, "Not if gravity kills me first!" she tried to regain her grip.
Suddenly, a hook came right to her fingertips, "Grab on!" Danny ordered and Carrie immediately grabbed the hook, "Pull Avalon!" Danny and Avalon pulled Carrie up safely.
Once Carrie was a safe distance away from the edge of the cliff, she rolled on her back and sighed in relief and disbelief. Danny looked down and saw the small charred remains of the sled. He winced at this and looked down at Carrie.
"I'll replace your sled and anything that was in it," He said while rubbing the back of his neck. Seeing her not moving, he continued, "And I totally understand you don't want to help me anymore."
Danny then moved off slowly. Avalon watched him go before she nudged her mistress, "No way am I helping him. Forget it," Carrie replied and she sat up to glare at her horse, "In fact, after what happened, I don't want to help anyone ever again."
"Is it this way?" Danny questioned to himself as he was at the edge of the woods.
Avalon continued to look at Carrie, "I know what you are saying. He'll die on his own out there. Well, who cares? Not my problem," another stare, "But I won't get my new sled if he's dead. Ugh, sometimes I really hate you," Avalon neighed happily and rushed after Danny, "Hold on! We're coming."
"Really?" Danny asked relieved but he caught himself and added quickly, "Yeah sure. I'll let you guys tag along."
Carrie laughed and got up to follow after him. By the time the sun had rose, Danny, Carrie, and Avalon were on a cliff that overlooked Caricatury. Danny stared in disbelief, "Caricatury." He whispered and Carrie came up beside him.
"It's completely iced over." She said in equal incredulity.
Danny gulped and looked back over at her, "But it will be okay. Jack will thaw it."
"We'll see." Carrie replied for she still looked unsure.
"Yeah. So come on," he pointed in a direction, "This way to the White Mountain?"
Carrie laughed and took his arm, "More like this way." She raised his arm and Danny followed her gaze to see a mountain overlooking them. They still had a bit of a journey ahead of them.