Chapter 12: Worth Freezing For
Back inside the castle, Malina was laying in the floor of the library. She had made it to the door, but was too weak to open the latched handles. Nobody could hear her silent pleas for help. She felt so hot, and her heart ached with pain. She noticed the walls being lined with red fiery crystal.
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At that moment, the door handles began to jiggle. Malina could not lift her head to see who it was. Malina could see a twig wedged right into the keyhole…
Soon, the door flew open. It was Rascal! The ferret then plucked the twig off of the keyhole and entered the library, chuckling to himself. His happiness soon melted when he saw Malina on the floor. "Malina, no!" he exclaimed. He ran to one corner of the library, where he found an ice box crammed with large blocks of ice.
Dragging the ice blocks to the fireplace, he placed a wet cloth above the wood. One by one, he unloaded the ice blocks by hand. And in a few minutes, a low coolness began to fill the room.
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Malina lifted her head and noticed Rascal standing by the ice. "Rascal," she cried out. "Rascal! Get away from there!" Rascal, meanwhile, was too busy admiring the glossy ice blocks in the fireplace. "So that's coldness," he said, leaning closer. "Got to say, I still like it!" As he extended his paw, he took it back after feeling the harsh cold. "Ooh! Don't touch!" he reminded himself.
Rascal hurried to Malina and brought her to the ice. "So…where's Ian? What happened to your kiss?" Rascal asked. "I was wrong about Ian," Malina said. "It wasn't true love at all." "But we rode all the way here," Rascal said.
"Please Rascal," Malina said, "you have to get out of here. You'll freeze to death." "No! I will not leave you until we find some other act of true love to save you," Rascal said, plopping down next to Malina. "Got any ideas?" A tear came to Malina's eye. "I don't know what love is anymore," Malina said.
"That's okay," Rascal said. "I do." He rose from his place. "Love is like putting someone else's needs before yours—you know, like how Young brought you back here to Ian and left you forever?" Malina's eyes grew wide. "Young…he loves me?" she asked.
"Wow, you don't know anything about love, do you?" Rascal asked. That was when Malina suddenly noticed Rascal's fur. His red fur was beginning to turn white from the coldness! "Rascal, you're freezing!" Malina exclaimed.
"Some people are worth freezing for," Rascal said. Malina smiled; Rascal was quite the one to make someone feel great. Rascal felt the cold beginning to turn his fur white. With a cry of fright, he wrapped himself with his red kerchief. He hid behind Malina, and his color soon began to return. "Okay, just maybe not right this second," he said.
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A sudden burst of wind sent the windows flying open. A wave of hot air began to fill the room. Malina shuddered. "Hold on, I got it!" Rascal said. As he raced to shut the windows, something immediately caught Rascal's eye.
"Wait a minute! I'm getting something," Rascal said. He picked up a glass that was sitting on a table and used it as a spyglass. As he spotted it, his eyes lit up. He gasped with delight.
"It's Young and Chabela!" he exclaimed as soon as he saw them racing up the pass and toward the castle. Turning to Malina, he exclaimed, "They're coming back this way!"
"They are?" Malina asked, struggling to stand up and see for herself. "Wow, they're really picking up speed," Rascal said, watching them even more. "Wow, I guess I was wrong. I guess Young doesn't love you enough to leave you behind." "Rascal! Help me up!" Malina demanded. "No, you have to stay by the ice and keep cool," Rascal said, pushing Malina back.
Malina was serious. "I have to get to Young," she said. "Why?" Rascal asked cluelessly. Suddenly, it hit him. "That's it!" he exclaimed. "There's your act of true love right there! Riding across the jungles like a valiant, pungent horsey king!" He then grabbed Malina's hand. "Come on!" he exclaimed.
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Malina and Rascal raced out of the castle library to find Young. Sheets of red crystal began to cover the walls of the library. The crystal began to melt, turning into fire, and causing the room to collapse. Rascal and Malina made it out in time. But as they hurried out of the library, walls of fire blocked their path!
"Back this way!" Rascal said, guiding Malina to the other hall. But as they turned around, the hallway was completely engulfed in flames! "We're trapped!" Rascal cried out. Malina spotted a window overhead, and suddenly, she had an idea. "Come on, Rascal!" Malina said, grabbing his paw and running to the closed window.
As soon as they approached the window, Malina stood back. With great force, she broke the latches on the window, slid outside from swinging on the window roosts, and landed safely on the ground. The two friends then began to embark on their journey to find Young.