“This is really hot!” Olaf shouted.
“HARRUMPHHHH!” Sven snorted. “Hara! Um! PHHH!” Quickly, Sven stepped forward and pushed the little snowman down with his nose so that Olaf was rolling in the snow. The flames were extinguished, but Olaf continued to roll. Then he began to roll faster. And faster. And faster still!
As Sven watched, the tiny snowman grew into a large snowman. Then he grew into a really, really large snowman!
With a loud THUNK, Olaf reached the bottom of the hill and hit a small fir tree. His new layers of snow fell off and he sat there, once again small and now a little bit dazed. Looking down, he saw that his arm was singed a bit, but luckily, the snow had put out the fire before it could do any real damage.
“Well, that was unexpected,” Olaf said. Then he laughed. “Let’s do it again!”
Sighing, Sven kicked some snow onto the fire and walked down toward Olaf. It seemed like a good time to move on to Troll Valley.
“I knew what I was doing, you know,” Olaf explained as they walked along. “It was fun, Sven! I do love heat! Plus, I got a nice new snow bath. Snowmen like to add layers every once in a while to freshen up. It makes our original layers cleaner.” He puffed out his chest. “Don’t I look cleaner?”
Sven snorted skeptically.
“Well, I feel fantastic,” Olaf said. “A roll in the snow might help you, too.”
In response, Sven stopped short and shook himself violently. Olaf had to hold on tight not to get thrown off.
His point made, Sven continued to drag the sleigh toward Troll Valley. Soon they arrived at the entrance. The landscape was dotted with what looked like rocks of varying sizes and shapes covered with green moss. The trees were tall, their branches covered in thick leaves. The valley was low enough on the mountain range not to be covered in snow year-round, but the air was still crisp.
Coming to a stop, Sven let out a loud snort.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, one by one, the rocks began to rumble. Then they began to shake. Suddenly, the rocks began to roll until, finally, they transformed into trolls!
The trolls all let out happy shouts when they saw the duo, and within moments Olaf and Sven were surrounded. “Sven! Olaf! We’ve missed you!” one troll shouted.
“Hi there!” Olaf called, turning to the clamoring troll babies. “Why, ha-ha! That tickles!”
As Olaf played with some of the troll babies, a few of the other trolls ran up and hugged Sven’s legs. Several began to braid the longer hair around his neck. A couple of trolls even climbed into the sleigh and sat on the ice. A snort from Sven stopped them short, though, and sheepishly, they climbed down.
Finally, after nearly every troll had said hello, Bulda and Cliff made their way up to Sven. They had practically raised Kristoff and were extremely fond of him and his reindeer.
“Where’s Kristoff?” Bulda asked.
“Harrumph,” Sven snorted, nodding over his shoulder at Olaf. He snorted a few more times before Bulda’s eyes lit up.
She clapped her hands together happily. “Olaf, how sweet of you to help Kristoff out! He and his pretty Anna should always spend time together when they can. Are they both doing well?”
Before Olaf could reply, Cliff let out a big rumbly laugh. “Of course they are, Bulda!” he said. “Such a great pair! I always told Kristoff he would find himself a nice girl and settle down. No need to spend all your time with a reindeer.”
Sven snorted, spraying Cliff.
The troll let out a laugh. “Not that you aren’t great company, Sven.”
Sven nodded and then nuzzled his head against the little troll.
“Well, since you are here,” Bulda said, “Sven, would you like a snack? And, Olaf, I’m sure the troll babies would love one of your stories!”
“Oh, you bet!” Olaf cheered. “I have the perfect story about my favorite thing in the whole wide world…summer, of course!” As he started to walk away, Sven stopped him with a “Harrumph.” Olaf turned to his reindeer friend and said, “Sven, you lucky reindeer! Two snacks in one day! I love coming to visit friends!”
But that wasn’t what Sven’s “harrumph” had meant. Sven looked back at the sleigh and the blocks of ice sitting inside. Then he looked up at the sun. He looked back down at Olaf and shook his head. They were no longer up in the North Mountain, so the ice might melt if they stayed for too long.
“You worry too much, Sven. Just wait here and enjoy your snack. I’ll be back soon!”
As the snowman turned to go, Sven looked up at the sun one more time. What could go wrong in a few minutes? he thought.
A lot, it seemed, could go wrong in a few minutes—if a few minutes turned into an hour, and if in that hour a sleigh full of ice sat out in the sun.
Arriving back at the sleigh, Sven noticed that they barely had any ice blocks left and the ice blocks they did have were getting smaller by the minute.
“Is there a problem?” Olaf said when he saw Sven giving him a look. “These small pieces are so cute—they’ll work out great!”
Climbing onto Sven’s back, Olaf waved good-bye to the trolls and promised to return soon. Then he and Sven headed out of Troll Valley toward their second-to-last stop.
Behind them, the trolls waved and waved. Finally, one by one they lowered their hands as Olaf and Sven disappeared into the forest. But soon one of the trolls realized that her young son was nowhere to be found! She began to call out his name: “Pebble? Pebble!”
The trolls began the search for Pebble as Olaf and Sven made their way closer and closer to Arendelle. “We’re almost done!” Olaf said excitedly. “We have just enough ice, too.” He turned around to double-check, and Olaf saw two little eyes peering over an ice block.
“Ahh!” Olaf cried, delighted that Pebble had joined them.
“Ahh!” Pebble shouted, mimicking the happy-go-lucky snowman.
“Harrumph?” Sven snorted, coming to a stop.
“Hi there, Pebble!” Olaf said. “I don’t think you’re supposed to be joining us, but I sure am glad to see you!”
Pebble’s eyes watered. “I just wanted to go for a little ride. Don’t be mad, please?”
Olaf couldn’t stand to see anyone cry, especially an adorable little troll. Glancing over his shoulder, he said, “Well, Sven, looks like we have a new member on our team.” Looking back at Pebble, he added, “We can bring you home after we finish the deliveries. So until then, just hang tight.”
“Thanks, Olaf!” Pebble cried, leaping up and plopping himself down behind Olaf. Then he began to sing a happy little tune. Soon Olaf was singing, too. It was nice to have another friend along.
“I am also a fabulous babysitter,” Olaf told Sven. “Pebble’s parents have nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.”
Unfortunately, Kristoff had just missed Olaf and Sven at Troll Valley. Instead, he was met by a group of frantic trolls.
Kristoff had already been expecting the worst. Following Sven’s tracks, he had come upon the remains of a fire and what looked liked the aftermath of an avalanche. What he hadn’t seen was a sleigh, a reindeer, or a snowman.
“Kristoff!” Bulda said, running over to him. “You’re just in time! Young Pebble is missing! What if he’s hurt? What if he got lost in the woods?”
Kristoff leaned down and gave Bulda a hug. “Don’t worry, Bulda. We’ll find Pebble. I used to get lost in the woods, too, remember? You found me and everything turned out okay. I’m sure it will be the same with Pebble. Now, when did he go missing?”
“It was right around the time that Olaf and Sven left to…”
Kristoff nodded. “I have a good idea where little Pebble went. Don’t worry, I’ll have him back home very soon.”
Sure enough, Pebble was exactly where Kristoff thought he was—enjoying his time as part of the Official Substitute Arendelle I
ce Master and Deliverer’s team. He had already taught Olaf two new songs and shown Sven a shortcut. Pebble had a tendency to go on little adventures. (This was not the first time he had gone missing!)
By the time they arrived at their final stop before the castle, the sun was low in the sky. Candles flickered in the windows of the farmhouse, and from the barn came the low moo of a cow. It was a lovely little farm tucked into a glen right outside Arendelle.
Pulling up in front of the farmhouse, Olaf called out, “Hello!” A moment later, a grouchy-looking farmer came out onto the porch. He raised an eyebrow when he saw a snowman and a troll riding on the back of Kristoff’s reindeer. “Where’s Kristoff?” he asked.
As he had done before, Olaf puffed up his chest proudly. “I am Olaf,” he said. “I am the Official Substitute Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer, and I will be delivering your ice today.”
Sven let out a snort. Pebble gave a little shout of protest.
“Oh!” Olaf corrected himself: “I meant we are Official Substitute Arendelle Ice Masters and Deliverers.”
The farmer looked at the odd trio. A reindeer, a snowman, and a troll delivering ice? I guess stranger things have happened recently, he thought. Then he shrugged. “As long as I get my ice, I don’t care who delivers it. Bring the sleigh around behind the barn and I’ll help you unload.” He turned to go get gloves from the house but not before adding, “Just be careful. I loaded the hayloft this morning, so the ground is covered with loose hay.”
“Have no fear!” Olaf replied. “We may be substitutes, but we are still ice masters. There won’t be a problem.”
When they pulled up in front of the barn, they saw that the farmer hadn’t been joking. Hay covered every inch of the ground below the hayloft door. It was dry and light, the stalks catching on anything they touched. Not willing to pass up the yummy treat, Sven lowered his head for a quick bite.
“Focus, Sven!” Olaf called. “We need to finish quickly so we can surprise Kristoff!”
Sven let out an angry grumble. But he stopped snacking.
Olaf walked to the back of the sleigh. Pebble followed along, copying everything Olaf did. When Olaf cocked his head to the side, Pebble did, too.
“Let’s just push the ice off the sleigh, Pebble,” Olaf said. “Then the farmer can carry it to his shed. Easy, right?”
Pebble nodded. It sounded like a reasonable plan.
Grabbing a blanket that had been bundled up in the corner of the sleigh, Olaf held it up. “I’ll just put this down on the ground and that way the ice won’t hit the hay.” He tossed it over the side.
Together, Olaf and Pebble got behind some of the blocks of ice and pushed. Then they pushed harder. It was faster with the two of them, but still not easy. Soon enough, they were ready to push the last ice block over the edge. They pushed and pushed together. The ice block was just at the edge of the sleigh when the farmer walked out the back of his house. Looking up, he let out a shout.
“NO!” he cried. “Stop!”
It was too late. Olaf and Pebble pushed the ice block onto the ground.
“What have you done?” the farmer shouted.
“We didn’t want you to do all the work,” Olaf explained. “Now you just have to bring them to the shed.”
The farmer’s face was growing red. “You dropped the ice in the hay!”
Olaf cocked his head. What did the farmer mean? He had put down a blanket first. Walking to the edge of the sleigh, he looked down.
The blanket had blown a few feet forward, and the ice was now sitting on the ground smack-dab in the middle of a pile of hay. Thick stalks of dried grass covered every inch of the blocks.
“It’s ruined!” the farmer cried. “I needed clean, fresh ice! These aren’t even full blocks, they’re all melted!” He sighed. “Do you have any more ice in the sleigh?”
Olaf looked behind him. They barely had any blocks of ice left, and the rest was supposed to go to Cook at the palace. Olaf didn’t know what to do! Cook needed them to keep her pantry cool. Plus the ice would keep her ice cream cake birthday surprise frozen! He wanted to give Cook a great birthday gift, but he also couldn’t let Kristoff down. There was only one solution.
“Well, you are in luck!” Olaf told the farmer. “I have a few blocks left, and they are all yours!”
Sven looked over his shoulder. “Harrumph?”
“It will be fine!” Olaf whispered to Sven. “The castle always has extra ice. I’m just doing what Kristoff would do.” The farmer overheard him.
The snowman was just trying to help his friend, he thought. “You all should start heading back to the castle now before it gets too dark,” the farmer said.
“Okay, well, I hope to see you again real soon!” Olaf said cheerfully.
The farmer smiled in spite of himself. “Why don’t you bring Kristoff along next time?” he suggested.
“Harrumph,” Sven snorted again, as if to say, “Finally, a good plan!”
Olaf waited for the farmer to unload the last of his ice. Then, with their load completely lightened, the reindeer, the snowman, and the little troll headed into town.
As they continued on their way, Olaf grinned. He couldn’t wait to get home so he could tell Kristoff all about their day!
Olaf didn’t have to wait long! The Official Full-Time Ice Master had beaten the Substitute Ice Master and his team back to Arendelle. But not before stopping at the last farm on the route.
At the farm, Kristoff had found the farmer cleaning up a pile of very wet hay. The farmer told Kristoff what his substitute had done, and added, “Next time you decide to take a day off, maybe you could send a different ice harvester instead of a snowman?”
Kristoff didn’t bother to explain that he hadn’t actually taken the day off. He also didn’t bother to explain that he hadn’t made Olaf his substitute ice harvester. He didn’t have time for explanations. He needed to get back to Arendelle and have a nice long talk with Olaf and Sven—and hopefully find Pebble.
After saying a hasty good-bye and apologizing yet again, Kristoff had raced down into Arendelle. He arrived, out of breath, in the stable yard. Sven and Olaf had not gotten back yet. So Kristoff simply waited.
A few minutes later, there was the unmistakable jingle of Sven’s harness. As Kristoff watched, the reindeer pulled the sleigh into the stable yard. On his back sat Olaf—and a small runaway troll.
Spotting Kristoff, Olaf let out a happy cry. “Kristoff!” he shouted. “You’re here! I can’t wait to tell you all about our day. You are going to be so proud of us!”
Kristoff walked right past Olaf and headed toward Sven. He leaned down so he was face-to-face with the reindeer. “You should have known better,” he said. Sven lowered his head and let out a tiny little harrumph. “We will discuss this later. I bet you had a crazy day, pal,” he said, laughing gently. Then Kristoff turned back to Olaf.
The snowman had no clue how many problems he’d caused during the day. Walking about, he excitedly told his version of the adventure. “As soon as I heard you tell Anna about your picnic, I decided to come to the rescue!” Olaf began. “So I went and got Sven, who of course agreed to help.” Hearing this, the reindeer shook his head. Olaf ignored him and went on. “Then, after I got the sleigh hooked up, we were off. Everyone in town came out to wish us well. Kristoff, they all liked the idea of having me as the Official Substitute Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer! Maybe we should talk about making the job permanent?”
The snowman’s excitement was contagious, and Kristoff had to hold back a smile. Instead, he raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, well, maybe not right now,” said Olaf. “We can talk about it later. Anywhoo, then we went all the way up the North Mountain to your favorite ice-gathering place and collected all the blocks we needed. It was a piece of cake.”
Kristoff’s eyebrow rose even higher. He had
seen the logs and the mess at the lake’s shore. He knew it had been anything but a piece of cake.
Still, Olaf continued. “After that we went to Mr. Oaken’s trading post. He was so happy to see us, Kristoff! We had a teensy, tiny problem at first, but all’s well that ends well! We put the ice away and then off we went. We were planning to go quickly, but then…” Olaf stopped and clapped his hands together in excitement. “Oh, Kristoff, you are going to be so happy when you hear this part! We found another lake! It is a brand-new place where you could probably get ice or have a nice snack with Sven, and it is so much closer and Sven was all worried about Marshmallow but I told him not to be because really the big guy is not that bad and then there was a small problem with a fire but it was a very small problem which you shouldn’t even worry about and then…”
As Olaf continued to describe the rest of their journey in one long breath, Kristoff’s eyebrow continued to rise. He knew his little friend only had good intentions, but when Olaf informed him that they had also brought a troll home to visit, Kristoff had to interrupt.
“Do you have any idea what you have done today?” he asked.
“We helped you, right?” Olaf replied hopefully, looking quickly at Pebble and Sven.
“Not exactly,” Kristoff said. “You froze a sauna. You covered the farmer’s ice in hay. You took a troll away from his mother. And then you showed up in town with no ice for the castle.”
“But you and Anna…and your picnic—” Olaf began.
“I wanted to spend the day with Anna tomorrow!” Kristoff interrupted. “On my day off. And now I doubt I’ll be able to go.” Kristoff turned and began to walk away.
Hmmm, he seems kind of upset, Olaf thought. That was not the homecoming he had expected. Sure, the day hadn’t gone perfectly (Olaf never did make it to the beach), but he was still proud of himself for getting the job done. Yet he still wanted to make sure Kristoff and Anna got their picnic. And he needed to get the cook a birthday treat. His day wasn’t done yet! He still had to fix a few more teensy, tiny problems.
Olaf & Sven on Thin Ice Page 3
