Frozen Hearts

By- An Unknown Foreign Beauty

Chapter 3- Accident

The riding ring was on a slight incline, thirty yards to the right of the stable. It was surrounded by a low, white fence and brightly lit now by huge, new mercury-vapor lights on high poles that shone almost as bright as daylight on the ring and simultaneously cast everything else into shadow. Boys from aristocratic families had already ridden their horses, and lined up behind the starting line. It was an annual competition arranged by the Businessmen's club of Florida. With the sound of the whistle from the referee the race began. From his vintage point, Mr. Kingsley could see his youngest daughter racing towards the fence with her new camera in her hand. She had taken photography as a hobby since she got a digital camera on her twelfth birthday. She was getting quite good in it. It had been two months since they started their new life in the Florida, and the couple took a hard task of socializing their children. It started with admitting Anna and Elsa to the most prestigious school of the state, and then introducing them to their social circle. It became a real hard task, because of Elsa's awkward social skills, and Anna's wild nature. Still the Kingsleys had passed three wonderful months together as a family, and their bond was only getting stronger and stronger with each passing day.

"Anna is getting accustomed to this." Mr. Kingsley smiled, while watching Anna nearing the fence, and adjusting the camera lens, "She is quite brilliant."

"Yes," His wife followed his gaze, and found Anna snapping pictures of an auburn haired boy riding a white horse, "But I think she has taken interest in a lot of boys. I heard about her stupid crushes from Elsa."

"Oh dear!" Mr. Kingsley let out a small sound of surprise, "Anna is only twelve. I guess she is very precocious."

"She will grow up, my dear husband." Mrs. Kingsley continued watching Anna jumping with excitement as the boy of her interest took the lead, "Don't be worried. They are just crushes. Girls don't fall in love when they are twelve."

"Well, I think if she does, that boy will get a good competition." Mr. Kingsley smiled affectionately to his wife, "She will wrap him around her little finger, just like you did to me." His tone changed from light to flirtatious, and his wife sensed his intention immediately, and leaned forward for a kiss.

"I don't worry about Anna much." Mrs. Kingsley said, "But I'm worried about Elsa. She will turn fifteen in a couple of months. But she hasn't taken interest in any boy yet. What if she remains alone?"

Mr. Kingsley quickly broke the kiss and gave a sideways look to his eldest daughter. The book she was reading was now lying in her lap, and the wise father didn't miss the longing look in his daughter's eyes to the boy who was currently leading the race. He knew the boy well. He was the youngest of the thirteen sons of his business partner Mr. Westergard. It was the first time she had taken any interest in any boy.

"Anna will be there for her." He smiled finally kissing his worried wife. "They will always have each other."

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Elsa had no idea how long she was watching the handsome boy with auburn hair and charming smile, but she guessed that she even forgot to blink for a while. Now he was directing his horse towards the gallery, and was blowing kisses towards the squealing girls. Their eyes met for a second, and he smiled; Elsa guessed that her heart stopped beating for a while.

"Isn't he too cute?" Anna announced to Elsa after returning from her private photo session. She dropped in the empty seat beside Elsa, and lowered her voice so they wouldn't be heard by their parents.

"Everyone looks cute to you Anna." Elsa smiled, taking the camera from Anna's hand and shuffling through the pictures she had taken. "This is ridiculous."

"What is ridiculous?" Anna sounded annoyed as she took a bite of her own pretzel. It snapped in two, half of it landing in Elsa's lap. Elsa's pretzels never broke when she bit into them. In the last two months these two previously lonely girls grew very close. Maybe it was due to their lack of experience with people, or maybe it was their differences that drew them together. While Anna became Elsa's link to the outside world, Elsa became Anna's moral compass. Anna worshiped her elder sister like a guiding star.

Elsa carefully brushed away the piece of food from her skirt, and continued shuffling through the pictures. "All the pictures you've taken contain only handsome boys. Is that Daniel? And oh, is he smiling here?" she pointed at the particular picture where Daniel was smiling, his pearly white teeth predominated others. "Gosh! His teeth are so big. It gives me quite a scare."

"Oh, that's…" Anna blushed, snatching the camera away from Elsa's hand, "That is….oh, Elsa!" She cried, still blushing heavily, "Haven't you ever fall for a guy? You don't have any friend. It is so unhealthy."

To answer her question she only lifted her eyes, and took a glance of the riding ring where girls swarmed around Hans like insects, then she quickly lowered her eyes and replied, "Probably not." She agreed, "I think I've a condition called PTSD…"

Anna wrinkled her brow. "What does PTSD means?"

"Nuts." Elsa paused in her explanation to rub her fingertips free of pretzel dust. "Crazy. Freak. Actually I don't know."

"You're not wacko!" Anna stated loyally and emphatically, taking another bite of her pretzel.

Elsa picked it up and handed it back to her. "It could be because I'm a bit short in social skills; I can't trust people easily, or talk to them. I talk with the ice statues I make instead of talking with real people. People consider me as a bad omen because my mom died when I was little and then my grandparents died a few years later. "

"That is not your fault." Anna persisted.

"But people think like that." Elsa added sadly, not looking into the eyes of her sister. "And bad things often happen in my presence."

Anna was dumbstruck at the sheer absurdity of such a notion.

"Where'd you hear that junk?"

"From the woman whom papa dated first after mama's death."

"What a jerk! She's supposed to help you, so she tells you all that stuff to scare you and make you think you're crazy?"

"No, she didn't tell me that. She told papa, and I eavesdropped."

"What did papa tell her?"

"He dumped her. Then two years later my grandparents died. I was with them when the accident happened. Both of them died in the spot while I remained miraculously uninjured. The next woman papa dated told him the same thing."

Anna digested that and then reverted to her earlier line of thinking. "When I kidded you about being so lonely, I was just trying to say that I think it's really amazing that we get along so great even though we're so different. I mean, sometimes I feel like you're better than me with people. I mean, sometimes I feel like a hopeless charity case who you've taken under your wing, even though I'll never be able to be like you. "

"Charity case!" Elsa sputtered. "But—but it isn't like that at all! I've learned lots of new stuff from you, and you have things that I wish I had."

"Name one," Anna said skeptically. "I know it's not my grades or my repeated crush on boys."

Elsa giggled so hard that tears began rolling down from her eyes; then she said very seriously, "You have an adventurous side that I don't have."

"One of my adventures will probably land me in jail before I'm eighteen."

"Then you'll not be alone!" Elsa said. "What I mean is, when you decide to do anything like that you've always someone to accompany you there."

"You'll go to jail with me!"

"No, I'll go there to bail you out."

Anna considered that for a long moment; then her eyes began to sparkle with mischief. "Well, if we want to start our unbreakable duo, we should start with them." She pointed at the riding ring where girls kept admiring the boys. The one who could catch the winner's jersey first, would get a chance to ride his horse with him.

When they approached near the crowd, Daniel was leading his horse to the resting place. Girls began cheering when he came closer, practically begging to kiss any of them. He smiled, and threw his jersey toward them. Anna, overexcited, leaned over, and caught the jersey. Behind her rest of the girls screamed with disappointment, but Anna proudly made her way through them and walked near Elsa who was waiting outside the crowd.

"See." Anna shook the jersey proudly, "I got it. Now I win a ride with Daniel."

"Him?" Elsa giggled, escaping a glance of the disappointed girls behind, "What got into you Anna? He isn't even one of your crushes."

"I know." Anna shook her head enthusiastically, "But it feels sexy."

"Anna!" Elsa glared at her playfully, sniffing the sweaty jersey. The scent of his sweat almost made her gag, "It smells real bad. It doesn't sound sexy to have a ride with this stinking boy."

"Does it?" Anna rolled her eyes, took the jersey from Elsa, and sniffed it, "Well…" She was gagged by the smell too, but kept the expression hidden, "Still it is sexy…"

Elsa watched the expression of her sister with a mischievous grin in her face, and rolled her eyes, "Actually I don't understand your definition of being sexy. I think he smells bad."

"Oh, he does." Anna giggled, but the next time her attention was caught by the auburn haired boy walking towards the fence, and the girls began screaming wildly.

"Look, it is Hans." Anna cheered, "Let's get his jersey before anyone else does."

"Oh, Anna." Elsa glared, trying to hide the blush that was extending from her ears to her fair cheeks, "What got into you? He has a girlfriend."

"Who cares?" Before Elsa could even react Anna grabbed her hand, and dragged her among the crowd. She noticed Valarie and Hailey among them, fighting each other to get the jersey first. Thousands of butterflies flattered in the pit of her stomach when she saw Hans riding towards the fence. He took off his jersey, and his well sculpted slender body looked absolutely gorgeous in the flashlight. Elsa blushed at the sight of the tiny light freckles all over his chest. He looked like a prince from fairy tales, riding a white horse, coming towards her.

'Let's win this ride." Anna whispered in her ears. Elsa nodded vigorously. Hans had a girlfriend.

"Please." Anna gave her the trademark puppy eyed look.

Elsa didn't know what made her to follow Anna to the crowd, whether Hans' glorious features or Anna's puppy eyed request, but she found herself among the squealing girls. Reluctantly she leaned over the fence, just when Hans threw his jersey in the air.

It landed in her hand.

The softness of the fabric sent tingles through her spine, the musky scent of his cologne trickled the pit of her stomach. Valarie was sighing disappointedly; Hailey was muttering something under her breath. But they ignored them completely, and walked into the clearing.

"What a ridiculous idea." Elsa looked over her shoulder, and caught a sight of the angry girls behind them. "Anna, you're crazy."

"You went up there with me."

"But I didn't want to. I was so scared my legs were shaking."

"But you did it anyway." Anna cheered, hugging Elsa tightly, "We're going to have a ride with Hans. Isn't it so exciting?"

"At least he smells good." Elsa threw the jersey at Anna so swiftly, and her aim was so good, that Anna didn't have time to duck. Laughing, she caught the fabric, and sniffed it, "I must agree with you, Elsa. He really does smell delicious."

"Sexy enough for you?" Elsa broke into laughter.

"Enough for me." Anna joined her, "But not sure about you…"

"Anna…" Elsa warned, and the girls collapsed in the middle of the clearing, shrieking with laughter. But soon they were interrupted by the sound of the whistle. It was the time for ladies' ride. They quickly got up from the ground, brushed the dirt off their skirts, and grinned at each other. Both of them knew that they were going to be the talk of the school tomorrow.

When they reached the riding ring, they found all others being paired up already. Of course the Kingsley sisters got jealous glares from their rivals, but the girls decided to ignore them happily. Anna kept pushing through the crowd, searching for Hans, dragging an unwilling Elsa with her. Elsa was clearly aware of her sister's persistent crush on the handsome boy, though she also developed crush on every single boy in her class. She almost let out a squeak when she spotted Hans in the middle of the riding ring, talking with one of his fellow riders.

"He is gorgeous." Anna whispered.

"Shut up, Anna." Elsa whispered, blushing.

Hans turned to find Elsa whispering to her overenthusiastic young sister, who was practically dragging her along with her. He handed Sitron to the stable boy, excused himself and walked near the girls.

"So are you my riders?" he asked.

"Oh, yes…yes…" Anna practically spurted the words in one breath, unable to maintain her manners anymore. "Me and Elsa." She said, gripping Elsa's wrist tightly so that she couldn't escape. She was blushing so heavily that Elsa could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks.

"Is she?" Hans raised his eyebrows, throwing a curious look at Elsa, "I didn't know that you ride." This time his question was directed to the other girl.

"No, I don't. Only Anna rides." she replied, and her soft voice was so very polite and adult that Hans bit back a smile. Elsa's amazing politeness always fascinated him. If not he had a steady girlfriend, Hans would probably ask Elsa out.

"Oh, no, don't believe her Hans." Anna informed him, "She is an excellent rider."

"I've not ridden since my grandparent's death." Elsa countered.

"That's great." Hans patted Sitron's back excitedly, "Come on girls. Let's ride."

Butterflies in her stomach became really bad with the thought of riding with Hans. Then she glanced at Anna who was watching Hans with a longing look in her eyes.

"You go, Anna." She stepped backwards, the familiar shyness was engulfing her again, "I'll just wait there…"

"No…" Anna protested firmly, holding Elsa's hand, "We'll ride together or won't ride at all…"

"But Anna…" Elsa persisted, "How can three of us ride one horse? The poor creature will buckle under our weight…"

"Elsa…"

Hans was immensely enjoying the playful interaction between the sisters. Both of them were so different. If Anna was the fire, Elsa was the ice. But it was the ice which intrigued him most. He laughed at the rare gesture of open affection between the sisters. But he decided to cut in.

"If you want, I can arrange another horse for you." He smiled, looking at Anna, who looked like that she was going to turn into a puddle of gratitude.

"Oh, yes…" she murmured, "Thanks for…" But she couldn't let the rest of her words out. Elsa gave him a grateful look and whispered, "I'll take the other horse."

"But…"

"Please."

'I honor your decision, Elsa." Hans gave her a gentle smile, and Elsa felt that her breath was caught in her throat for a second.

Elsa selected a black mare named Brigitte. She caught Anna's euphoric grin as Hans helped her to ride Sitron. She looked so happy when she was him. And together they began to follow Elsa's trail.

Elsa always loved riding. But riding with Hans…it was a dream. In many nights she dreamed herself riding with him, his arms around her waist…..She glanced over her shoulder to find Hans and Anna deeply engaged into some conversation. Her sister looked so happy. It was her happiness that she cared most. And she knew Anna loved being near Hans. She continued riding with a smug smile in her face.

They finished circling the ring, and Hans kissed Anna goodbye. Elsa dismounted her horse and searched for Anna. She expected to find a happy Anna, instead she found a sad Anna standing in a corner of the stable.

"What's wrong, Anna?" Elsa rushed near her, and hugged the crying girl immediately.

Anna said nothing, but let out a small whimper. In the bright glow of the mercury flood-lights, Elsa saw the tears at the corner of her blue eyes. "Anna." She cupped her chin and tilted her face upwards, "What's wrong?"

Anna turned her face away, her lower lip was trembling. Two tears rolled down from her big blue eyes.

"Anna…."

"I'm not Sofia." At last she busted into tears. Elsa followed Anna's eyes to find Hans outside the ring; his lips were locked into Sofia's in a deep passionate kiss. He was not the only one, but all other girls seemed be paired off . Maybe Anna managed to win a ride with the most popular boy in the school, but unfortunately she was the only one who was unable to find a date.

"I'm tired to hear how good she is. How well she rides, how nice she looked…" She chocked several times, "I'm really… really…jealous…"

"He told you that?" Elsa asked, cupping her sister's chin, and brushing her tears away. She was so much like a child sometimes…

"Yes…" Anna nodded.

"Do you want to learn how to ride?" She grinned. Anna raised her eyes; they were wide with surprise, "Will you teach me, Elsa?"

"Why not!" Elsa took her hand, and began leading her towards the stable.

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From the gallery, Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley saw their daughters leading a black mare to the empty riding ring. Anna was watching her older sister carefully as she gave her the basic instructions about horse riding. She looked like an ice queen beside the dark mare, with her long silver hair glittering in the flashlight.

"Look, how beautiful they look together." Mr. Kingsley whispered softly, "My little princesses."

"I told you they will always have each other." Mrs. Kingsley smiled affectionately.

They turned again to find Elsa helping Anna to climb the mare, and then adjusting her feet in the footholds. Mrs. Kingsley sensed that Anna was having some trouble with riding the horse, because the horse was acting weird. She neighed in protest when Anna climbed her back.

"The horse is acting weird." Mrs. Kingsley threw a concerned look at her husband.

"Don't worry." Mr. Kingsley assured his wife, "My daughter is an excellent rider."

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Elsa adjusted Anna's feet in the footholds, though the mare let out another annoyed neigh. Elsa leaned forward and patted the mare's neck to calm her down.

"I'm riding a horse for real!" Anna still couldn't believe her luck, and fortunately Elsa was such a good teacher.

"Oh, you are, Anna." Elsa patted the mare's back, and instructed, "Now hold the rein."

Like a good Anna followed Elsa's instruction, and took the rein. But then something unexpected happened. Instead of moving forward, the horse's body jerked violently, sending the rider reeling on the ground.

"Anna…" A sharp scream ripped Elsa's throat when she realized what just happened. The mare raced free leaving an unconscious Anna lying on the ground.

Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley screamed from the gallery.

And all Elsa could see blood.

A lot of blood. Dark, and sticky- pooling around Anna's head.

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