Sorry about the time between this chapter and the last one. I've been busy with school and all that goes on with the hell before winter break, and, honestly, I've been feeling unable to write lately. Uninspired, kind of down. Numb. Depressing, I know, but I'm just being honest. It might be stress, I don't know, but now that I've got some time off, I managed to come up with the rest of this chapter.
The beginning may seem a little dull, and I'm well aware. It's short, though. Bare with me.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed and otherwise, you really do encourage me and help me keep going. :3
Frozen-Disney
Story and everything within it that isn't copyrighted to Disney-Mine
On the border between Arizona and Utah was a small river that fell off the edge of a cliff into the crystalline Colorado River. Set halfway upon its Eldorado stone bank was a water mill, the other half of which hung off the side of the cliff and was supported by a series of crisscrossing logs that formed a sturdy but unnerving support. It'd once been used as a corn mill by the local farmers, but a drought had left the owner bankrupt and caused him to run to California in search of better fortune.
This sad event was luck for Elsa, however, because it gave her somewhere safe to stay.
The young sheriff had discovered the refuge when fleeing Arendelle Landing. Traveling along the river wasn't the best way to keep out of sight, considering that's where most towns rested, but it was certainly safer, and faster. Hopping from town to town, wearing her hat low and her badge stashed in her satchel, along with what money she'd managed to scrounge up before running. She'd eventually landed at a military fort, and the men at that fort, so inclined to help a lady who claimed to be a merchant's widow find new land, had showed her the mill. It was in near working condition, the cranks, bolts and gears still in place, the grinder slightly rusty but otherwise fine. The windows had been covered in dust and cobwebs, but Elsa had soon taken care of that. There was even a well a few yards, next to a pen that might have once contained a horse, and now contained hers.
She'd found a small room with a crusty old bed at the far end of the place, the part that hung over the river. It was in no way settling to think how high up she was and how unstable the construction below might be, but it would have to do. She traded in town for a proper blanket and had replaced the straw inside the mattress with soft, plush snow. Most would consider it uncomfortable, but she'd always been partial to the cold. Not to mention that the Arizona heat was unforgiving, so it made the room far more comfortable for the day (and the blanket made up for the chill at night).
So she'd been holed up in the building of solitude, and she'd wondered what to do. She couldn't go home, that was for sure. She'd end up hanged, or she'd panic and ice would go everywhere and hurt someone - like it had in Georgia. She shivered at the thought. Anna couldn't remember it since the Shaman had put a mask of sorts over her memories, but it still kept Elsa up at night. They were just playing, out in the yard like always. And then Elsa had to trip, and Anna had to get hit in the head. She was just lucky it wasn't the heart. She would, Elsa decided, have to stay in the mill. She could get food in the city, and the well was good - so was making her own ice and letting it melt in a bucket outside, or just sucking on a cube of it. She figured she could ration out her money and get a train ticket in Salt Lake City and head out East. She could find some sort of work there, as a teacher or some such. Or maybe she could take a train down to Texas and join the police ranks down there. They wouldn't take kindly to a lady in their business, but she could convince them otherwise.
With these thoughts in mind Elsa put money enough for a ticket away in her satchel and sat on her bed, the snow willed unmeltable by its creator crunching under her hindquarters, and took out a small loaf of bread from the bag and bit into it. She had to keep Anna safe, and the only way to do that was to stay far, far away from Arendelle.
A day into their travels, Anna and Kristoff hitched their horses in Bullhead City and traveled to a small cafe for breakfast. The occupants of the establishment looked at Kristoff oddly. The gruff bounty hunter would look at them with sleepy-lidded eyes like he did at everyone and then set himself down at a booth, the guns on his hips scraping along the leather. Anna sat across from him in a light, springy manner and ordered their food before turning her head to him.
"Nobody you talked to seen anything?" She asked.
Kristoff pulled a pouch of tobacco and paper from the bowels of his coat and began to roll a cigarette. "Nope. One man said he might've seen an young looking old lady pass by a sum of miles away from the Colorado, but otherwise it's bust." He swiped his tongue along the length of the paper and pressed it to the other side of the cigarette and then stuck it in the corner of his mouth and brought a match to the tobacco, puffing as it began to ignite. Anna crinkled her nose, but didn't object.
"Maybe she went East?" Anna suggested as plates of eggs and ham were set before them, alongside glasses of lukewarm water.
Kristoff inspected his meal as he spoke. "No, not if she's smart. Traveling too far and too hard in this heat will kill a horse and a lady real quick -especially one in fancy dressings like you say she was in when she high tailed it outta town. Even if she traveled at night, they'd freeze to death without a proper fire, and I don't think she stayed long enough to find any flint and a decent knife. She had to have stayed by the river, and probably stayed in a hotel or two. Maybe rested a bit here or there and kept going when she could, but otherwise she didn't stray from the Colorado. We ain't traveled that long, so there's still a chance she's the next down over, or maybe here."
He shoved a mouthful of egg in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. "I'll be done here in a second." He took another bite, and his eggs were gone. Anna was astonished at his eating ability. "While you finish up, I'll head out and ask around town. You can," there went half the slab of ham, "pester the folks here." The glass of water was gone in an instant, followed by the rest of the ham. He wiped his face with a smudged handkerchief and then leaned his elbows on the table, his hands clasped under his nose and obscuring his mouth as he chewed. "When you finish, you can go wander and pester, too. We meet back here round noon. If we ain't found anything, we move on. Agreed?"
Anna nodded, only halfway through her eggs. "What if I find out where Elsa is and can't find you?"
"Just meet me here and noon." He said, sliding out of the booth and standing. He turned to leave before stopping himself and turning. "One question I wanna ask you is, how far do you think Miss Elsa is willing to go?"
Anna thought a minute, contemplatively chewing her eggs, almost like a cow would chew a cud, and then answered, rather gravely, "The other side of the world, if she's gotta."
Soon as Anna had told Hans her plans, a pain had started to attach itself to the space behind his eye. It was a throbbing, nipping sort of pain. The kind that always started when someone was dangerously close to being found out.
He immediately traveled to his hotel room. Shutting and locking the door behind him, Hans strode across the carpeted floor and bent before his traveling trunk. He lifted the clothes, setting each pile on the rollback desk beside him, and then removed the false bottom and looked at the money below. He beheld it a moment, thinking back to the acquiring of the said bundle. After the chaos at the dance hall, Anna had ran out after her sister, and he'd pretended to as well, only to slip around the corner and slink down the sidewalks and cobblestone until he came to the address of one Arthur K. Bastable, profitable merchant and mine owner. As his wife was still at the party, no doubt mewling over his body, the only people left were the servants, and they were all asleep. So he'd quietly picked the lock and slipped inside as if he was a shadow and tiptoed down the steps to the basement, where there was a safe behind a painting of some older-than-sin woman in a high collared dress.
He'd smiled impishly as he entered the combination acquired through the untimely demise of the elder gentleman, thinking what a stroke of luck it was he'd drunkenly slipped the location when talking about thieves to a group of other aristocrats in the dance hall.
Looking back at it, Hans winced. It was a spur of the moment, with little planning and a lot of luck. He'd heard of the safe and saw Bastable pat his front pocket while declaring he "always kept the way in close to heart". It'd been impulse, and impulse was always messy, and usually landed him in hot water. Currently, it was just beginning to simmer. He'd warded off the police and kept Anna at bay for a few weeks, but he couldn't have stopped her quest without seeming suspicious. After quick but thorough thought, Hans donned his hat and replaced the false bottom and the clothes, snapping the lid shut and locking it. With one final look out his window, onto the cobblestone that wavered under the Arizona heat, Hans made his decision.
He must find Elsa, and fast.
