Kristoff grabbed her arm but stopped talking when he saw her expression. “What is it?”
The image vanished. This doesn’t make sense. Anna’s knees buckled.
“Whoa!” Kristoff held her up. “What’s going on?”
“I thought…I…” Anna wasn’t sure how to explain what she had just seen without sounding crazy. She spun around, trying to get her bearings, and spotted the portrait of the royal family. Anna stepped closer, staring at the picture curiously. Freya? Anna gasped in surprise. The queen and Freya looked exactly alike. How is that possible? she thought, and reached up to touch the painting then saw a flash. She saw her younger self sitting on a bench with her legs dangling while someone painted her portrait. “Anna, hold still!” the person said. She felt her knees wobble again.
“Are you okay?” Kristoff asked.
“It’s so strange, but I feel like I’ve been here before.” Anna clung to his arm so she wouldn’t fall.
“Have you?” Kristoff asked quietly.
Anna looked at him. Her voice was small. “No.”
“We should leave,” he said, sounding worried.
Anna shook her head. “We can’t. There’s something here I’m meant to find.” She let go of him and headed up the staircase to the next floor. This time he didn’t stop her. Kristoff silently followed her down the long hallway past several rooms. She heard the wind howling outside the windows as she climbed another staircase. She stopped abruptly when she saw a wall of jagged icicles blocking their path.
Kristoff touched the sharp point on one of the icicles. “What happened here?”
“It had to be the princess when she was trying to get away,” Anna guessed. But what had frightened her in the first place? The ice she’d created looked almost like a sculpture, twisting and turning into a shape Anna couldn’t put her finger on. She’d never seen anything like it before. “I never knew winter could be so magical.”
“Yeah…it really is beautiful, isn’t it?” someone behind them said. “But it’s so colorless. You know, how about a little variety? Must we bleach the joy out of it all?”
Anna and Kristoff turned around and immediately jumped. The person speaking was a walking, talking snowman with short, stout legs, a plump bottom, a thin oval head, teeth, and a carrot nose. A cloud with a flurry followed him.
“I’m thinking like maybe some crimson, chartreuse…” The snowman continued to babble as he approached. “How ’bout yellow? No, not yellow. Yellow and snow? Brrr…no go. Am I right?” He blinked at Anna.
Anna screamed and reflexively kicked his head, sending it flying off his body and into Kristoff’s arms.
“Hi!” the head said.
“You’re creepy!” Kristoff tossed the snowman’s head back to Anna.
“I don’t want it!” Anna threw it back to him.
“Back atcha!” Kristoff sent it her way again.
“Please don’t drop me,” the head said as its body ran at her, waving its twig arms.
Now Anna felt bad. “Sorry. I won’t.” She was talking to a snowman. How was that possible?
“All right,” the head said. “We got off to a bad start. Can you put me back together?” The body waited patiently next to her.
Was the snowman serious? Carefully, she reached out with the head. “Ew! Ew!” Anna cried as she placed it back onto his body. In her haste, she put the head on upside down.
The snowman looked confused. “Wait, what am I looking at right now? Why are you hanging from the ceiling like a bat?”
Anna knelt down. “Okay, wait a second.” She flipped his head the right way.
“Ooh! Thank you!” the snowman said. “Now everything’s perfect!”
Anna wasn’t sure about perfect. It was snowing in the middle of the summer, the princess had the power to create ice, they were talking to a snowman, and Anna was having the strangest sense of déjà vu standing in the middle of Arendelle Castle. She stared harder at the snowman. He seemed familiar as well, from the curve of his head to his front teeth and twig hair. He’s the snowman from my dreams! she realized. He inspired my cookies. How can that be if I’m just meeting him for the first time? She started to hyperventilate. Kristoff stared at her strangely.
“I didn’t mean to scare you! Let’s start over,” the snowman told her. “Hi, everyone. I’m Olaf, and I like warm hugs.”
She tried to calm herself down. “Olaf,” Anna repeated. I know this name. Why?
“And you are…?” Olaf looked at her patiently.
“Oh…um, I’m Anna.”
“Anna? Huh.” Olaf scratched his chin. “I think I was supposed to remember something about an Anna. I’m not sure what it