Authors: E.G. Foley
Jake slapped their faces lightly, bringing them back to awareness. “Come on,
get up, you two! Dani! Archie! On your feet!” he yelled at them. “If we fall asleep out here, we’ll die!”
“Caw, caw, becaw!”
“What is it, Red?” Isabelle turned and looked intently at the Gryphon, using her telepathic powers to read his thoughts. She drew in her breath at his news. “Really? How far?”
“Caw!” He bobbed his head toward the distant ridge.
“What is it?” Jake asked as he pulled Archie to his feet.
Archie blinked, trying to shake off sleep.
“Give me a hand,” Jake muttered. Then both boys hauled the still-sleeping Dani upright.
“Red says there’s a building ahead!
” Isabelle reported. “He says we’re almost there!”
“Santa’s c-c-compound?” Archie chattered.
“He’s not sure. Probably so. It’s just beyond that ridge!” she answered, pointing to the north.
Red breathed on Dani to try to warm her up, and spread his wings to shelter them all from the wind for a moment until they were ready to continue.
Dani rubbed her eyes. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I can’t believe I fell asleep. I’m
soooo
tired.”
“We all are,” Isabelle said
, giving her a worried hug.
“Take hold of whatever streng
th you’ve got left,” Jake encouraged them. “It’s not much farther. Red says we’re almost there.”
“Really?” Dani
asked wistfully.
“Let’s all hold on
to each other so no one falls asleep again,” Isabelle suggested. “We don’t want to lose anyone.”
They linked arms, even though it made the slow going even slower. At least now there was no possibility of anyone falling behind.
Red walked a few steps ahead of them, leading the way, and keeping his wings spread to try to shield them from the wind.
“Maybe we should think of a game or something to help us keep going,” Archie said slowly.
Dani groaned. “I don’t feel like playing any game. My face is so cold I can hardly talk.”
“Why don’t we sing?” Isabelle said.
“No, thank you,” Jake muttered.
“Count, then,” Archie said. “Just count off numbers
, one by one. That’ll help us stay awake. Come on, you can count, can’t you? Simple. Count the steps. One!” he sounded off.
“Two,” said Isabelle.
“Three,” Dani forced out.
“Four,” Jake said.
“Caw!” Red chimed in.
“Six…”
Anyone who was too slow to say their number got an elbow from the person beside him or her.
“I can’t wait until we get there. I wonder what Santa will be like. And Mrs. Claus. And the reindeer.”
“I hope he gives us hot chocolate.”
“Of course he will.”
“I hope he has a blazing fire in the hearth.”
“And a place to lie down.”
“Do you think he’ll help us get home?”
“H
e has to! We might have to wait until after Christmas, though. This is his busiest time of year,” Archie pointed out.
“Mother and Father will be very cross
if we’re not home for Christmas,” Isabelle said wearily.
“Aunt Ramona will be furious if we miss the Nativity pageant,” Archie said. “She’ll probably turn us all into newts.”
“Nonsense. They’ll all just be glad that we’re alive.” Jake’s legs burned with every step as they climbed the frigid slope before them.
But when, at last, they arrived at the crest of the ridge and saw the building below, the hurrahs died on their lips.
It was not what they had expected.
Indeed, Jake felt his hopes shatter like brittle ice at the sight of the
dark, foreboding castle.
A single, pale
blue light shone in the tower like a cold, watchful eye.
Dani sent him a fearful glance, looking for reassurance, but he had none to give.
It looked deserted.
Isabelle shook her head
in dismay. “I don’t think that’s Santa’s compound.”
“It certainly doesn’t look very jolly,” Dani agreed.
“But look! Humbug came this way. There’s his trail.” Archie pointed down the hill.
Sure enough,
barely visible anymore in the shifting winds, the little bump-up in the snow led right up to the ominous castle gates.
The gates stood
open, as though someone was expecting them, Jake thought uneasily. But no. They were probably just frozen into place like that.
He scanned the area, but saw no obvious signs of danger—nor any real signs of life. Maybe the castle
was
deserted except for the grumpy elf, who had apparently made a beeline for this place. Jake shook his head in grim uncertainty, but what else could they do?
“Come on, then,” he said.
“It’s the only shelter available. Let’s go.”
“I don’t have a good feeling about this, Jake,” Isabelle murmured.
“Me neither. But if we stay out here, we’re doomed.”
They started down the slope.
Catching each other when they stumbled in the deep snow, they followed Humbug’s tunnel to the gates.
Jake noticed large boot prints on the ground.
Hmm.
Those looked recently made, and the feet that made those imprints were much too big for any Christmas elf.
Above them, the frozen pair of watchtowers that overlooked the gates were deserted. No soldiers on duty.
Where the devil are we? Whose castle is this?
he wondered, but he hid his growing fears as he led his companions up to the castle’s icy front door.
He was tempted to just go in, but on second thought, that could be bad for their health.
Instead, he reached up and grasped the huge metal knocker, rapping the rusty ring loudly against the thick wooden door.
They waited, huddled together and chattering.
“There’s nobody here,” Dani said, sounding on the verge of crying.
“Can you sense anyone in there?” Archie asked his sister.
Isabelle shook her head. “Hard to say. It seems to be protected by magic.”
“Caw!” Red urged him.
Jake nodded and took a step back. “I’ll get us in there.” He lifted his hands, praying he had enough strength left to use his telekinesis to blast the door open.
But before he could summon up his powers, suddenly, whether by magic or by some unseen mec
hanism, the massive door swung open slowly with a loud, ominous creak.
Swirls of frost whirled around them, but when the door had banged open wide, nobody was there.
Ahead stood a vast, dark hall, full of drafts and echoes.
They exchanged nervous glances.
“Maybe Humbug opened the door for us,” Dani whispered.
Jake shook his head.
I don’t think so.
“Stay on your guard, everyone,” he warned. Then he led the way, stepping over the threshold with the others right behind him.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Fortress of Frost
They had crept only a few stealthy steps into the castle when the door slammed shut behind them. Everyone jumped. Holding on to each other, they ventured on with Red right behind them.
There were no signs of life indoors, either, just echoes in the silence, and the howling of the wintry wind outside.
Pillars flanked the long, dark corridor before them.
“Is
it just me, or do you feel like we’re being watched?” Archie murmured.
Jake nodded.
“It looks like someone’s waiting for us up ahead,” Isabelle whispered, pointing.
A pale
blue light like the one they had seen glowing in the tower flickered at the end of the stone corridor.
Dani gulped. “Maybe we should just stay here.”
Jake knitted his brow with determination. “It’s probably just that stupid elf. C’mon.”
But the moment they stepped out of the narrow corridor into the wider space beyond, bright lights s
uddenly flashed all around them, blinding them after hours in the dark.
W
orse, a terrible roar from nearby made everybody scream.
While the lights co
ntinued flashing, the roar was joined by a pair of bloodcurdling howls on either side of them. Clumped together in panicked confusion, the kids kept on screaming—all the more so when their eyes adjusted and showed them the enormous polar bear rearing up on its hind legs just a few feet in front of them.
A polar bear dressed in a blue satin waistcoat.
Huh?
Jake thought, momentarily startled out of his terror. He glanced to the side. Likewise, the howls came from two large silver wolves standing guard at the end of the corridor.
The wolves wore plumed helmets on their heads.
And though all three animals bared their vicious fangs, none of them actually attacked.
“
Silence!” a female voice commanded. “That will do.”
At once, t
he bear and the wolves stopped making all the noise.
Still squinting against the bright light, Jake saw t
hat they were standing in the great hall of an ice palace.
Ice flowers. Ice furniture. Even a mock fireplace with ice sculpted into flames instead of a real fire.
Above the ice-block mantel hung an oval portrait of a hideous old woman with blue skin, wild gray hair, and a wart on the end of her crooked nose.
But that was not who sat on the ice throne in the center of the room.
As the polar bear dropped back onto all fours and withdrew with the wolves to stand obediently by the wall, Jake stared at the beautiful but strange figure of the ice queen seated on her crystalline throne.
She
wore a crown of spiky silver icicles, but what made her appearance especially unnerving was that her face was covered by an eerie white Venetian carnival mask.
The long sweep of her white gown sparkled like the snow. It had a high standing collar of frozen lace that wrapped around
the back of her neck in a regal fashion.
“So! Here are our spies, as expected. It seems you were telling the truth after all, Humbug.”
“I told you, Your Highness.”
Jake hadn’t even notice
d the elf’s presence until now.
He looked over and saw Humbug caught in the clutches of a giant nutcracker in the shape of a toy soldier.
The thing must have been seven feet tall. It loomed in silence beside the queen’s throne, its wooden face unchanging, its painted eyes just staring.
Similar giant toy soldiers painted with royal blue uniforms stood at attention here and there around the ice hall. The nutcracker must have been the captain of the palace gua
rd, however, Jake thought. He was painted the most ornately, with a gold sash across his chest and a saber by his side.
Not even Humbug, fast as he was, had much chance of
getting away from the ice queen’s wooden army. The little elf dangled from the nutcracker’s grasp, with his painted-on white gloves.
Jake wondered if this was the welcome the elf had expected when he had decided to come here.
What is this place, anyway?
He still had no idea what was going on.
The masked queen rose and glided toward them on razor-sharp ice skates. “So, spies. My grandfather sent you to check up on me, did he? Do you have anything to say for yourselves? Or shall I have my men torture it out of you?”
Red growled while Archie and the girls whispered to each other:
“What? What is she talking about?”
“We’re not spies!”
Jake told her.
“
Aha! Exactly what I’d expect a spy to say,” she countered. “How else do you explain your lurking around the castle, then?”
“Please,
ma’am, we’re lost. We haven’t the foggiest idea where we are,” Archie attempted, always the diplomatic one. “We’re sorry if we trespassed on your territory. We didn’t mean to. We just really need some shelter.”
“What, too cold for you
out there today?” she drawled.
Jake took a step
forward, bristling with anger. Everything in him warned that they needed to get out of there, but the prospect of going back outside was worse. “Look here, ma’am. We are not spies,” he told her firmly. “We are simply trying to reach the North Pole.”
“So you claim. And q
uit calling me ma’am. I’m not much older than you!” To their surprise, she whipped off her smooth, eerie carnival mask to reveal the face of a girl barely older than Isabelle.
Jake blinked
, taken off guard by this revelation, and slightly confused for a moment about why the girl had been trying to seem so much scarier than she actually was.
He shook his head to clear
it. “Look, whoever you are. I don’t know what that elf might have told you about us, but we are not spies—and he is not to be trusted! He’s a liar and a cheat. He nearly got us killed by yetis earlier tonight, simply as a distraction so he could escape.”
“Escape?” she e
choed. She skated closer. “Ah, then you admit you were holding him prisoner?”
“So what if we were?” Jake
retorted. “That elf’s got a bounty on his head. We’re returning him to Santa to collect the reward.”
“All lies!” Humbug cried, his little feet flailing as the nutcracker man held him fast. “They’re Santa’s agents sent here to spy on you, Your Highness! Whe
n I saw them lurking around the castle, I came here as fast as I could to warn you and your brother that you were once more under surveillance.”
The girl scoffed. “As if they’d dare send spies out on my brother. No, Humbug, you’ve worked for my family long enough to know my
grandparents would never subject the prince to their nonsense. Precious Jackie-boy can do whatever he wants. It’s only
me
they subject to their constant rules and regulations—which is why I am never going back there!” She folded her arms over her chest.
“What prince
? Who are you? What is this place?” Jake demanded.
“I’ll ask the questions h
ere!” she warned him. “And believe me, I have plenty of them. But first, we come to the basic problem: Humbug says you’re spies, while you claim he’s a fugitive. So it’s your word against his, and frankly, I’m not sure I believe either one of you.”
“But Your Highness, I told you they would come!” the elf protested. “The spies were chasing me and now, here
they are, just like I said! Please, dearest Snow Maiden, you know me.”
“
I know you to be a bit of a rascal, Humbug,” she admitted.
“Please, Miss,” Dani spoke up in exhaustion, “do we really look like spies to you?”
The Snow Maiden stared at her, then looked at each of them in turn. “Well, if you are spies, you’re not very frightening, actually. Except maybe him.” She nodded dubiously at the Gryphon.
“Excuse me, but we just
defeated three yetis out there,” Jake informed her, rather insulted by the remark. “Maybe we don’t seem like much at the moment, but that’s because we’re half frozen to death. Honestly! If you had any sort of decency, you’d offer us food and shelter. A fire to warm us? A place to rest would be nice! But if this is how you’re going to be, whoever you are, then we’ll take that lying elf off your hands and be on our way. Our business is with him and Santa Claus, not you.”
“Now, now, don’t be so touchy!”
she exclaimed. “There’s no need to go dashing off in a huff. This is my castle—”
“Er, actually,
it belongs to your brother, Snow Maiden,” Humbug pointed out.
Which earned him her glare
.
“The point is, none of you are going
anywhere
until I am satisfied about who’s telling the truth here. However,” she conceded with a haughty lift of her chin, “I suppose there is something we can do about your other requests, if you’re going to whine about it. We may be a thousand miles from civilization, but we are not devoid of hospitality here in the arctic circle. Guards!” she bellowed. “Show them to the guestrooms.”
“How very kind,” Isabelle offered at once, trying to smooth things over.
“But separate them,” Snow Maiden ordered the giant toy soldiers. “If they
are
spies, let’s not give them a chance to talk amongst themselves and coordinate their lies.”
The toy soldier bowed, then beckoned stiffly with his wooden arm and started goose-stepping ahead of them toward the
castle stairs.
She gestured to them to follow.
“My servants will attend you,” she said.
“Thank you,” Jake said, feeling rather smug. He sketched
a gentlemanly bow and Archie did the same; the girls curtsied.
The
Snow Maiden smirked but stared after Jake as he led his friends out of the ice hall. “Perhaps you will be in a more pleasant mood after a meal and some rest. I do hope you come back prepared to explain yourselves. If not, there’s always the dungeon.”
The kids exchanged grim glances
, still unsure if they were prisoners or guests in this strange place.
T
hen they and Red followed the giant toy soldier toward the castle’s main staircase. A second soldier followed after them, making sure nobody strayed.
Jake wondered how the tall wooden figures managed to stay upright on the staircase with their long, awkward
steps. The stairs were slippery as well, crusted with a thin coat of ice.
Archie came over to Jake and lean
ed toward his ear. “Who the blazes is she?” he whispered.
Still irked at the girl, Jake shook his head. “Don’t know, don’t care, as long as she gives us some food and a warm fire. But I imagine we’ll find out soon enough.”
After they picked their way up the treacherous icy staircase, the toy soldiers marched them down the upstairs hallway.
The guard ahead of them opened the first door and waited for one of them to go in.
“Well? Who’s it going to be?” Archie murmured.
They glanced around anxiously at each other.
Being separated was the one thing none of them had counted on. It was so much easier to stay confident and figure out solutions when at least they had each other.
Dani looked up at the toy
soldiers. “Can’t we please share a guestroom? You must have one with two large beds. One for the boys, one for us.”
The towering toy soldier
’s painted eyes stared blankly. His big, round, smooth head rotated back and forth.
“At least let the girls stay together, with Red to protect them,” Jake insisted.
Denied
. The toy soldier merely pointed to the chamber again.
Jake fum
ed. Not much for conversation, these blokes.
“Well, you’re going to have to wait while I at least make sure the room is safe for my friends.” He stepped past the guard into the room to see if it held any kind of threats agains
t whichever one of them ended up staying in here. He did not trust that daft ice girl downstairs for one minute, especially after she had mentioned torture.
While the soldier goose-stepped over to the f
ireplace, took the brass kerosene lighter off the mantel by its long handle, and used it to start a fire in the hearth, Jake scanned the room in suspicion.
He threw open the closet and even checked under the bed before he was satisfied.
He returned to the hallway, where Isabelle wore a look of concentration, her eyes closed. Jake realized she was using her gifts to try to sense any unseen threats inside the castle.
“Anything?” Jake asked as he
joined her.
She
opened her eyes and then shrugged. “Not from them.” She glanced discreetly at the toy soldiers. “They’re only following the Snow Maiden’s orders.”
“Who is she
?” Jake whispered. “And who are her grandparents? She sure seems angry at them. She mentioned a brother, too. Jack, right? A prince of some sort, and she must be a princess. Humbug did call the girl ‘Your Highness.’ Any idea who these people are?”