Frozen Together Chapter 15
"Anna!" Elsa gasped.
Anna tried to get back on her feet. "I'm all right," she lied.
"Oh, this is bad," Elsa quavered. "This is worse than bad. I need to get you to a... no, a doctor can't help. You need... you need the trolls! They can help! That's where Father took you... the last time."
"Where?" Anna wondered.
Elsa looked even more stricken. "I don't know. Father knew, but... wait! He had a book with a map! We need to get back to the palace and find that book!"
There was one small problem – they couldn't get out of their ice palace. Their way was blocked by a solid wall of ice, with a dozen hostile soldiers and noblemen on the other side. The only other exit was the balcony door. Elsa helped Anna onto the balcony and looked down. They were far too high to jump.
"How can we get down without killing ourselves?" she asked herself out loud.
"Slide?" Anna asked.
Elsa could have hit herself – why didn't she think of that? She gestured, and a long icy chute leaped from the edge of the balcony, across the chasm, to the rocky spur on the other side. They climbed onto it, with Anna in front, and they made a fast transit across the chasm and landed in an undignified heap in the snow right in front of Kristoff.
"Out of the way!" Elsa exclaimed as she struggled to her feet. "Queen's business!"
"I hear that a lot, up on this uninhabited mountain," Kristoff commented. Then he saw how pale Anna looked. "What's wrong? Can I do anything to help?"
"Not unless you can find us some trolls in a hurry," Elsa snapped.
The mountain man's face lit up. "Actually, I can do that."
"You can?" Anna wondered.
"I was raised by the trolls," he explained as he hurriedly got Sven into his harness. "They adopted me when I was just a boy. I know exactly where they live. We can get you there in an hour or so."
"Anna, do you trust this mountain man?" Elsa demanded.
"Yes, he's a good man."
"All right." The sisters got into the back of the sled.
As Kristoff finished harnessing Sven, they heard a commotion from the other side of the chasm. The ice-palace doors flew open, and Olaf scampered out and slid down the banister of the ice stairway. "Cannonball!" he shouted, and thudded into a snowdrift. Behind him, twelve armed men burst out of the palace and made their cautious way down the stairs toward them.
Olaf pulled himself partially out of the snowbank, and promptly panicked. "I can't feel my legs! I can't feel my legs!" he screamed.
"Your legs are made out of snow! Of course you can't feel them!" said Kristoff, distracted.
"Oh. Yeah. I knew that," the little snowman answered.
"Your Majesty, are those soldiers friends or enemies?" the mountain man went on.
"They're not friends," Elsa replied.
"They've got horses, and Sven has to pull a sled – we'll never outrun them!" Kristoff exclaimed.
"Olaf, can you hold them at bay while we make a getaway?" Anna chattered.
"I can try, but I'm kind of outnumbered," Olaf answered. "It would be nice if I had a little help."
"You've got it," Elsa decided. She gestured with both hands. The snow near them heaved upward and formed itself into a monstrous, unfriendly-looking snowman. It glared through its hollow eyes at the Prince, who was leading the charge, and who had slammed on his brakes when he saw what was waiting for him at the bottom of the steps. Slamming on your brakes doesn't work well when you're on ice.
"Stay away!" it bellowed at him. The soldiers' horses panicked and bolted for the tree line.
"Yeah, like he said!" echoed Olaf, who was keeping a safe distance.
"Sven, go!" Kristoff exclaimed with a flick of the reins, and the reindeer spun the sled around and took off. Kristoff knew exactly where he wanted to go. They heard the sounds of battle behind them, but there were too many trees in the way to see what was happening. They listened hard for the sound of horses overtaking them, but that dreaded sound never came.
After about fifteen minutes, something did over take them – Olaf. He was sliding on his belly and moving pretty quickly. "Hey, guys!" he called, sticking out his thumb. "Can I catch a ride?"
"Olaf, little friend, Anna is very, very cold," Elsa said sadly. "A hug from a snowman, even a warm hug, wouldn't be good for her right now."
"But a hug makes everything better!" he protested.
"Almost everything, but not this."
"I'm going to be okay," Anna said quietly. As Elsa watched, another strand of her sister's hair turned white. She looked away, trying to fight the tears. The snowflakes streaming out behind them were close to blizzard strength, and they weren't being kicked up by the sled.
About ten minutes later, the sled hit something hard, rocked up on one side, and nearly tipped over. When it fell back to the ground, they all heard something crack. "Whoa!" Kristoff shouted to Sven, and got out to inspect the damage.
"We must have hit a rock," he said sourly. "The runner is broken in three places. That's what I get for trying to save money with reconditioned parts!"
"What can we do?" Anna asked.
"We'll have to abandon it and walk," he said disgustedly. "I just paid it off, too. Luckily, we're pretty close to where we're going." It took almost an hour of walking, but they finally arrived.
"Here we are," Olaf said cheerily. "Everyone, welcome to the next stop on our itinerary... a field full of rocks." He did a double-take. "Hey! It's a field full of rocks!"
Suddenly, the rocks began rolling toward them from all directions. Just before they collided with anyone, they suddenly unfolded themselves into small, stout, gray-skinned people. "Kristoff!" they shouted. "Kristoff is back!"
"Trolls?" Elsa asked her sister. She hadn't seen trolls since that awful day...
"I guess so," Anna replied. She had no recollection of them at all.
One of the trolls suddenly exclaimed, "Kristoff brought a pretty girl!"
"He brought two pretty girls!" another one replied.
A third approached the mountain man. "Two at once? You're kind of breaking the rules, Kristoff, but we can't fault your enthusiasm."
"Or your good taste," added a fourth.
"You can settle down with only one, though," the first one said.
"Do you need us to help you make up your mind?" a fifth chimed in.
"No, no! I know you're love experts, but that's not why we're here!" he shouted, but the group had already decided how they would handle this unexpected meeting. They were going to help Kristoff choose which girl would be best for him.
"Now, do you think you might be fond
"Of the one who's tall and blonde?
"She's a beauty and we're sure she's very nice.
"Picking her is not a blunder,
"Though we really have to wonder
"If she understands the message sent by dressing up in ice.
"We're here to help you to pick your lover.
"We are here to inform
"That the one you have pick-éd, her voice may be wicked,
"But we're pretty sure she can keep you warm!
"We're here to help you to pick your lover.
"We'll do it right, Kristoff!
"The way to help you pick your love
"Is to pair these lovers off!"
"No! Stop it!" Kristoff shouted. "This is the Queen you're talking about!"
"Oh!" That stopped the trolls' song. They blinked twice at him in unison, held a quick huddle, then came out singing some more.
"Or would you rather stay, instead,
"With the one whose hair is red?
"She's a cutie, though she has no fashion sense."
("That's not my fault!" she protested.)
"She might seem a little nervous,
"But – may all the saints preserve us! –
"Is she hoping that a life of love will soon commence?
"We're here to help you to pick your lover.
"You need to conquer your fear.
"Her agitation's an indication
"The implications of love are near!
"We're here to help you to pick your lover.
"We are very aware,
"The way to help you pick your love
"Is to make you two a pair!"
"NO!" Kristoff begged them. "She's almost engaged to someone else, and she's upset because she might be dying!"
That brought real silence. Anna suddenly looked even paler. "I might?" she asked nervously. Elsa nodded, unable to look her in the eye.
"Get the Grand Pabbie!" The crowd of trolls parted as a large rock rolled right up to Anna, stopped, and unrolled into the trolls' chief.
He glanced at Elsa sadly. "I had feared we might meet again." He turned to Anna and ran his hands up and down in the air in front of her. His solemn air became even more grave. After a few seconds, he shook his head. "There is nothing I can do."
"Nothing?" Kristoff and Elsa echoed.
"The head, the body, even the arms and legs... all can be persuaded to become warm again," the Grand Pabbie explained. "But only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart."
A gentle snowfall was dusting them all. The chief turned to Elsa, who was standing apart, tears streaming down her face. "Your Majesty, what I said to you before, I must say again – fear is your enemy. But guilt will be fear's greatest ally against you. If you let yourself be imprisoned by your dark feelings, you will never master your power; it will master you. Do you understand this?" She nodded miserably.
"Wait a second," Kristoff burst out. "If all she needs is an act of true love to heal her... then what about that prince of hers? Could he kiss her or something?"
"Could it be that easy?" Elsa wondered. "Anna, are you sure it's true love with you and him?"
"It has to be," she nodded weakly. Suddenly she shivered, and more of her hair went white.
"We've got to get her back to Arendelle, fast!" Elsa exclaimed.
"Sven can carry both of us," Kristoff suggested.
"Too slow! No offense, Sven, but we've got to move like we've never moved before!" The queen gestured, and brought a toboggan of pure ice into being. She leaped into the front position, looked back, and ordered, "Get on!" Kristoff sat behind her. Anna sat between them at first, but soon lay back against Kristoff, shivering uncontrollably. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her in place and trying to help her stay warm.
As soon as they were seated, Elsa turned the snow in front of them into a channel of ice. Another gesture, and the toboggan was accelerating fast. She kept extending the ice channel in front of them, and they were soon moving downhill at a frightening pace. Sven tried to keep up, but quickly fell behind. Olaf was sliding on his belly in the channel behind them, giggling as though he was taking the greatest ride of his life, apparently unaware that this might be the last ride of Anna's life.
Elsa spared a moment to glance behind her at Anna and Kristoff. The scene seemed familiar somehow. Where had she seen this before?
She remembered. It was the night her father and mother took both of them on horseback to see the trolls the first time. Her mother had clung to Anna in much the same way. They didn't look a bit alike, of course. But their tender, protective, worried expressions were almost identical.
Faster, Elsa thought.