an evening gown would give her away. With a wave of her hand, Elsa created a sparkling royal blue hooded cloak. She pulled the hood over her head and hoped it hid her familiar face. Then she walked up the steps and into the shop.
A man in a patterned sweater with a matching hat was seated behind a counter. “Hoo-hoo! Big summer blowout!” he said. “Half off swimming suits, clogs, and a sun balm of my own invention. If you’re looking for cold weather gear, we don’t have much left in our winter department.” He pointed to a sparse corner of the shop that had a lone snowshoe sitting in it.
“Thank you, but I have all I need for this weather.” Elsa stood in the shadows as she looked around the dimly lit space. The shelves were cramped with supplies from ice axes to clothing and food. “What I really need is a map.” She paused. “Or directions to the Valley of the Living Rock.”
His blue eyes widened. “Ooh, yes, a map I have, ja? But I don’t know of this place you mention, dear.” He shimmied out from behind the narrow counter, trying hard to keep his large frame from knocking over any of the books stacked on the shelf behind him. He unfurled a large scroll and showed it to Elsa, pointing out different landmarks. One looked like a rocky area just northwest of where Elsa’s sleigh was stopped. “I hope you find what you’re looking for, even if this isn’t the weather to be traveling in. The only one crazy enough to be out in this storm is you, dear,” Oaken added. “A real howler in July, huh? Wherever could it be coming from?”
“The North Mountain,” she murmured without thinking. She pressed some coins into Oaken’s hand. “Thank you for the map.” She shuffled out again and discarded her cloak.
Oaken had been right about the howler part: the wind had picked up that day, and many areas were now covered in a thick ice. Elsa climbed into her sleigh again and, using her magic to propel her, crossed the river and glided along while watching closely for the rocky area that she suspected could be the valley. Slowly the landscape started to change. Snow-covered trees gave way to large boulders. Something about it looked familiar. Elsa stopped and hid the sleigh behind a row of trees, then followed a craggy path until she reached what seemed to be an entrance to the valley. As she as she got closer, she knew she was in the right place. The valley looked just like it had in her memories; steam-billowing geysers dotted the wide-open spaces of the landscape, which was seemingly untouched by the deep freeze over the kingdom. A low-lying fog made it difficult to see, but she recognized a circle where hundreds of small boulders sat in a strange formation. As she neared them, her breath hastened. These were the boulders in her vison that had rocked and rolled when her father called to the trolls.
“Hello?” Elsa heard her voice echo from the walls of the mountains. “I need your help.” The rocks didn’t move, so she tried a different approach. “Grand Pabbie? It is Princess Elsa of Arendelle. I am trying to find my sister.”
Suddenly, the boulders began to shake. Elsa stepped back as they tumbled toward her, a large one rolling to a stop at her feet and transforming into a troll. The other boulders became trolls as well. She knew immediately that the one with the yellow crystal necklace and mossy robe was the one she was looking for.
“Grand Pabbie?” she asked, and he nodded. “I am here to seek your help.”
“Princess Elsa,” he said in a gravelly voice. “It has been a long time.”
Elsa glanced at the whites of his big eyes. “I’m looking for my sister. The kingdom doesn’t seem to know of her existence, but I remember her. The memories came flooding back the morning of my coronation when I saw a portrait of my parents and me with a small redheaded girl. I knew immediately it was Anna.”
Grand Pabbie nodded. “I see.”
“My parents brought Anna and me to you for help when we were children.” Tears started to flow before she could stop them. “I know I accidentally struck her with my magic, but I didn’t mean to hurt her,” she whispered.
“Of course not, child.” Grand Pabbie reached out, and Elsa knelt down in front of him and put her