Chapter 11: Oaken's Trading Post Barn

King Kristoff knocked on the door of the closed trading post. There was no response so he knocked again. Still no one came to open the wooden door.

"He is always here. Why is he no answering," Kristoff asked under his breath. They needed to get supplies and had no time to waste.

"Wait, Kristoff, how many times have you been here before," Anna asked. She thought that based on the interaction between Oaken and her husband when she first met the both of them was the first time Kristoff had dealt with Oaken.

"Only twice but both times it was later than this," Kristoff answered after knocking a third time.

Princess Rapunzel looked around the trading post to see if she could find anything that could be a clue as to why Oaken had apparently left his own store. She did not see anything but there was something else that caught her eye. There was, in the straw storage house Oaken had, a light that looked unnatural in a weird way. Rapunzel could not help it- she had to go see what it was.

"Anna, come with me," Rapunzel whispered.

"Where are we going?" Queen Anna asked.

"Over there. Do you see that light? It does not look like it should be coming from in there. I want to see what it is," Rapunzel answered, "I do not think Kristoff or Eugene would approve of me going alone so I will bring you along."

"Ok, but we better see if the rest of the group wants to explore it with us," Anna said. She decided this would be an appropriate time to be mature about the situation, with Elsa missing and The One being the obvious one to have he blame put upon.

"Fine, Anna! If we must but that does take most of the fun out of it," Rapunzel said, "Kristoff, look over there. What is that light?"

"I am not quite sure. It does look strange, good catch, princess," Kristoff answered.

"It looks almost like a fire but I do not smell any smoke. It is kind of glowing like one, though," Prince Eugene observed.

"Yeah, it is. Let's go check it out," Olaf said. Sven grabbed the snowman with his nose and pushed him to the back of the line. Then Sven motioned at Kristoff and Eugene saying, "Let them take the lead. It might be dangerous."

"But it does not smell like a fire- or at least not one made from wood," Kristoff said after taking in a big breath of the air.

"Well, if it is a fire then we are wasting valuable time. Fires do not last forever, you know. Sooner or later, it will have to go out," Rapunzel said. She really wanted to see what it was since she was the one who first noticed the light emitting from the straw storage house. Rapunzel felt that she was give the right of curiosity because of that fact.

"She is right, Kristoff. We need to go and see what it is while we have a chance. Even if it is not a fire and is more mysterious than just a natural old fire we may have a limited window with which to observe it," Eugene added after thinking about what exactly to say. He did not want to insult anyone but did want to agree with his wife.

Queen Anna was the one who led the group to investigate the strange glow. She wanted to see it first because there was a slight possibility that whatever she would find in the storage place would give a clue as to where they could find Elsa. That would be the best case. However, Anna also knew that what she saw in the barn could be something horrific, too.

When the group got to the barn what they saw made them spring into action. The glow was, in fact, a fire. By the looks of it, it seemed that the fire was caused by a lantern tipping onto the piles of straw and hay lying around the floor of the barn.

"What is that," Eugene asked as he looked at one of the piles of straw. There was a big figure laying there, either knocked unconscious or fast asleep. It was hard to tell which one was accurate. The figure kept moving around, trying to do something with its arms but Eugene could not tell what it was that the figure was trying to accomplish. Kristoff barely caught a glimpse of what was moving when he knew exactly what, or who rather, it was.

"Oaken, are you all right," Kristoff asked. There was no answer. "Anna, hold Sven's rope as tight as you can. I am going in to get Oaken. He will try to fight you and go in after me. Do not le him. Anna, if I do not make it out I want you to know that I love you very much," Kristoff said handing his wife a long rope that he was using to guide his reindeer throughout this journey.

"I love you, too, Kristoff," Anna said back.

"Kristoff let me go with you. You can not pull him out by yourself. He is too big and probably too heavy for one man," Eugene said.

"If you want to that would be much appreciated," Kristoff answered.

The two men went into the storage barn together. As soon as Kristoff got a smell of smoke in his nose it became harder to breathe. He found himself sneezing and gasping for air. Kristoff knew he had to change the approach he was taking to save Oaken's life.

"Eugene, use your shirt to cover you mouth and nose. This smoke will kill us if we are exposed to it too long," Kristoff ordered.

"Way ahead of you, Kristoff," Eugene said. His voice was a little weaker, a sign that he had bee breathing in the smoke for longer than he should. In fact, his voice sounded very weak and this alarmed Kristoff when he looked up with his tear-filled eyes and could not find Eugene anywhere near him. In face, Kristoff could not see Eugene anywhere in the barn.

"Kristoff! Kristoff! Where are you, Kristoff?" Eugene asked.

"I am over here. I found Oaken. He is bleeding in the head. Should we move him out of the fire?" Kristoff asked.

"I do not know. I ca not see anything. I seem to be on the other side of the barn. It is a giant pile of rubble now," Eugene stated.

"Try to follow the sound of my voice," Kristoff ordered. Right after he said that Kristoff could hear a beam on the top of the barn breaking. Time was running out. The entire barn was going to collapse.

"Eugene, get out of here. I got this. Tell Anna I love her one last time for me, please," Kristoff said.

"I am not leaving you, not to die," Eugene said. Both Kristoff and he knew that, in all probability, one or both of them would not make it out of the barn and accomplish their objective of saving Oaken and survive themselves. It was then that Eugene was finally able to catch a glimpse of Kristoff. He was trying to lift Oaken all by himself. "You need help, Kristoff. I am coming. Hold on just a little bit longer."

"Eugene, get out. Stop trying to be a hero. It will kill you," Kristoff said.

"Well, then I will die if that is what it means. I will not let you suffer that fate with me. Get yourself out," Eugene said.

When Kristoff refused to leave without Eugene, the prince of Corona grabbed the other side of Oaken.

"Let's be heroes," Eugene said as he lifted the big man up with Kristoff's help.

Another beam fell at the other end of the barn. Now it was just being supported by one out of the original four beams. Eugene and Kristoff were now sprinting towards the opening where the sliding doors used to be. Kristoff stepped into a pit of fire.

"Uh, Eugene, I am injured," the king of Arendelle called out.

"You got to keep going or you will die. We have all ready been in this fire for about four minutes. It is amazing we are not dead all ready," Eugene said.

Kristoff agreed to keep going. It was the only way to stay alive. About fifteen seconds later the three men made it to the exit. Then the barn collapsed. They had made it out- alive!

Anna, Olaf, Rapunzel, and Sven ran to the three men, who were all badly shaking up after the experience they just had.

"Are you all right, guys," Anna asked. Kristoff was grabbing his leg, which was burned pretty badly. Eugene held his arm, which was hit by shrapnel when the barn collapsed and Oaken was just starting to regain his consciousness.

'We will be. Right now, we have bigger things to worry about than ourselves. We have got to find Elsa," Kristoff said.

About ten minutes later Oaken was feeling a little better, well, considering his head was bleeding and he was burned.

"Are you Ok," Eugene asked. They had taken Oaken inside his trading post and told his family what had happened.

"I am not sure. What happened," Oaken asked.

"The barn was caught on fire. You saw something in it and told me you needed to go investigate. Next thing I knew these people brought you in here and you were bleeding pretty badly," Oaken's wife told him in an accent that sounded a lot like her husband's.

"Now I remember. Thanks, dear! I went there to see what it was and a giant thing made of stone and ice attacked me, knocked me out with a pitchfork and sated a fire in my barn," Oaken asked.

"These people saved your life," Oaken's wife said.

"You did? Tell m, what do you want in return. I will give it to you- half price off everything for you," Oaken said.

"Half price? We just saved your life an your reward is half price?" Eugene asked.

"You are right! I give it for free today only and half price for the rest of your life," Oaken said.

"Deal! We need lots of rope, food, and torches," Kristoff said.

After getting the supplies they needed the group was on there way. They needed to find Elsa and get her to the North Mountain!

By now it was twilight of Hogler's first day, which we will talk about later.