“You’ll see—I’ll be quick this time.” Anna slipped out the door, took the bucket near the stoop, and headed down the street. First she’d stop at the market for tea; then she’d head to the farm a little ways away for the eggs. The sky was a sea of blues, much like the ocean in the distance, and the air felt warm, but not sticky. One good thing about life in the mountains, so Anna was repeatedly told, was that it was never as hot as it was in Arendelle. Mountain air was much cooler and life was much quieter. Anna snuck another glance at the mountainside, her eyes searching for Arendelle far below. She wondered what people were doing down there at that exact moment. Anna heard someone talking and stopped short, her bucket still swinging.
“What do you want, Sven?”
Ma called her a social butterfly. Papa called her Harmon’s official greeter. She truly did like talking to people, and this was a voice she didn’t recognize from their small village. It was only a few rows of houses, clustered tightly together on the mountainside overlooking Arendelle. Each one was a different bright color—green, blue, red. The bakery was orange. Anna knew the inhabitants of every one of those houses. The person speaking wasn’t one of them.
“Give me a snack!” This was a second voice, much deeper than the first.
Curious, Anna rounded the corner to the market and saw a boy about her own age standing there. He was with a large reindeer hooked up to a wagon holding big blocks of ice. When school was in session, she met boys and girls of various ages, but she’d never seen this boy before. Oaken lived high in the mountains and his kids didn’t come to Harmon often, but this didn’t look like one of his children, either. The boy in front of her had shaggy blond hair and was wearing a deep-blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up, dark pants, and beige boots. Most important, he seemed to be talking to a reindeer.
“What’s the magic word?” he asked the reindeer.
Men moved around them, busy carrying crates of vegetables that would be sold at the market. Anna watched the boy swipe a bunch of carrots from a crate when no one was looking. He held one high in the air above the reindeer.
“Please!” he said, putting on a deeper voice.
Anna watched as the reindeer bit at the carrot swinging above his snout.
“Ah, ah, ah!” The boy pulled the carrot away. “Share!” Next, the boy took a bite of the carrot, broke the rest in two pieces, and gave the other half to the reindeer.
Okay, that was gross, but intriguing. The boy was talking to and for the reindeer. Strange. She couldn’t help giggling. The boy looked up with a start and caught her staring.
Anna inhaled sharply. Should she say hi? Run? This was her chance to meet someone her own age—even if he had just pinched some carrots. She should say hi. She stepped forward.
The sound of hooves pounding against the cobblestones made her jump back. A wagon squeaked to a stop in front of her, and men quickly began unloading vegetables and taking them into the market.
I need to get tea and eggs! Look at me getting distracted. She had promised her mother she would hurry, and there she was, dawdling again. Still, maybe she could say hello on her way into the market. She walked around the horses to see the boy. He was gone.
Not meant to meet, I guess. Anna sighed, but she didn’t have time to linger. She ran inside to purchase the tea, put it in her bag, and then ran down the road with her bucket. Mrs. Aagard, the cobbler’s wife, was sweeping her stairs.
“Good morning, Mrs. Aagard!” Anna called.
“Morning, Anna! Thanks again for the bread yesterday,” the woman said.
“My pleasure.” Anna rushed onward, past another row of homes, and found her way to the farm where they kept their chicken coop. She opened the netting to collect a fresh batch of eggs. “Morning, Erik, Elin, and Elise,” she greeted the hens. “I’ve got to move quick today. Freya is coming!” She gathered at least a dozen eggs, closed up the coop, and carefully carried the bucket and the tea back to the house.
An older man was pulling a cart with flowers down the street. “Morning, Anna!”
“Morning, Erling!” Anna called. “Gorgeous blooms today. Do you have my favorite?”