Olaf & Sven on Thin Ice (2 page)

“T
his is going to be the absolute best day ever!” Olaf said as Sven walked along. “Wait. Going to the beach would be the best day ever. But if I went to the beach, I wouldn't be able to help Kristoff and Anna, my best friends in the whole wide world.”

Sven stopped in his tracks, nearly tossing the snowman to the ground. Then he looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes. “Hmmmump?”

“Oh, Sven! I'm sorry! Of
course
you are one of my best friends, too.”

Sven let out a pleased snort and resumed walking. Olaf resumed talking.

“Any
whoo
, I just love today. First we'll head up to the mountain. Then we'll start…”

Olaf's voice faded as he saw one of the boys who worked in the stables coming toward them. The boy was kicking rocks as he walked, so he didn't realize Olaf and Sven were there until he was practically right on top of them.

“Oh!” he gasped.

“Hi!” Olaf cried.

“Harrumph!” Sven harrumphed.

“I didn't see you,” the stable boy apologized. Then he noticed that there was a snowman on top of a reindeer, and a cloud on top of a snowman, and the reindeer was dragging a sleigh used for collecting ice blocks. It was an unusual combination. “Um, what are you doing?” the boy finally asked.

Olaf puffed up his chest. He tried to make his expression as serious as possible. “
I
am the Official Substitute Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer, and I happen to be saving the day.”

“Harrumph?” Sven grunted, turning to give Olaf a look.

“I'm sorry, Sven. I meant
we
happen to be saving the day,” Olaf said. Then he turned back to the boy. “We are going to pick up ice blocks from the lake and make all of Kristoff's deliveries for him.”

The stable boy looked at Olaf's stick arms. “How are you going to do that? You're just a snowman.”

Olaf's eyes widened. “
Just
a snowman?” he repeated. “What do you think snowmen are made of?” The boy shrugged. “Snow, of course! Snowmen know all about ice and snow.”

The stable boy had to give Olaf credit: he was determined.
Maybe it will work out,
he thought.
It's a big maybe, though.
So with a “good luck” and a wave, the young boy sent them on their way.

“See, Sven?” Olaf said happily. “People love me!”

The reindeer let out a snort.

As they continued toward Arendelle's main gate, they passed various shops. Several of the shopkeepers came out to see what was going on when they saw Sven without Kristoff. “What are you doing here, Olaf?” the baker asked. “Where's Kristoff? Isn't he supposed to be delivering ice today?”

“Not today! Today
I
will be your Official Substitute Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer!” Olaf announced proudly.

“Official Substitute Ice Master?” the baker repeated. “What does that mean? How can a little snowman get all the ice the townspeople need?”

Olaf smiled. “I may be little, but I have a big heart,” he replied. “And Sven is a very big reindeer. Together, the two of us will be as strong as one Kristoff. Maybe even stronger! Don't fear, Mr. Baker Man! You will have your ice.…I promise!”

With a wave of Olaf's stick arm, Olaf and Sven continued along. It didn't take long for news of Olaf's delivering ice to spread through the town. Soon everyone was asking questions like “What are you doing, Olaf?” or “Why are you riding Sven?” or “Where's Kristoff today?”

And every time, Olaf would smile and say, “Don't fret, dear Arendellians! I am your Official Substitute Ice Master and Deliverer! Your ice is in good hands!” No matter how many people asked and no matter how many times people expressed their doubts about him, Olaf stayed positive. He wouldn't let Arendelle down. He took his job very seriously, after all. He was the
Official
Substitute Ice Master and Deliverer, and that meant something.

As they finally began their trek up to the mountain, Olaf turned and shouted back into town, “I'll see you soon! The Official Substitute Ice Master and Deliverer and the best reindeer around are on the job!”

Behind them, the townspeople were all atwitter. Except for the time Queen Elsa's magical secret was revealed, day-to-day life in Arendelle was mostly routine and didn't hold too many surprises. The baker baked. The dressmaker sewed. The woodchopper chopped, and Kristoff—not Olaf—delivered the ice.

“I hope the snowman doesn't get lost,” an elderly woman said. “He's such a cute little guy.”

“Or what if something happens to the sleigh?” a man asked. “We could go
days
without ice!”

As the town continued to discuss this new development, Kristoff made his way to the stables. He was unaware that Olaf had overheard him talking to Anna and that Olaf had wrongly presumed Kristoff was taking the day off. So he was rather surprised when he walked into the stables and Sven was nowhere to be found.

“Sven?” he called out. No harrumph came in response. Kristoff frowned. “We don't have time to play hide-and-seek today, buddy. We're running late as it is.”

Still no noise from Sven.

Growing worried, Kristoff peered into every stall. Then he looked in the pasture. He even looked in the tack room. No Sven! Then he caught sight of a stable boy.

“Hey!” Kristoff shouted, startling the boy. “Do you know where Sven is?”

The boy looked at him blankly. He was new to the stable, so he didn't know everyone yet.

“My reindeer?” Kristoff added.

The boy's eyes lit up. “The reindeer with the snowman! Yeah, I know where they are. Well, I know where they
were
.”

“And that would be…”

“They were going for ice. The snowman said he was the Official Substitute Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer. Although I don't know how he'll deliver ice with those little arms and…”

Kristoff didn't wait to hear what else the stable boy had to say. He turned and ran toward town. As he sped along, he muttered to himself: “Why would Olaf decide to deliver ice? And why would Sven go along with it? What if they get hurt? Or lost?” He ran quickly, hoping he could catch up to them soon!

Reaching the center of town, he was bombarded by people telling him about Olaf's adventure. He pushed his way through the crowd and raced to the gate. On the ground he could just make out familiar hoofprints. Kristoff saw that Olaf and Sven were headed toward the North Mountain. It looked like he was going to have to play catch-up. He could only hope that he would find Olaf and Sven before they turned a tiny inconvenience into a big slushy one.

O
laf was having so much fun on his adventure with Sven! In fact, the duo was making good time as Sven marched up the mountain. With the sleigh empty and only a little snowman to carry, the work was easy for the reindeer. So Sven used the time to take in his surroundings.

Up on Sven's back, Olaf was enjoying the scenery, too. He hadn't been on the mountain for some time. It was nice to see that the trees were full of leaves and the grass underneath Sven's hooves was bright green. Birds chirped, and every so often a squirrel or rabbit would peek its head out and watch the duo as they passed by.

Finally, after they had walked for quite a while, the forest began to thin. The air got colder, and soon they found that the ground was no longer green but rather white with snow. “Look at that, Sven! We must be almost there,” Olaf said. The reindeer let out a pleased harrumph. “Now we just need to find the lake,” Olaf cheered.

With a nod, Sven pulled the sleigh along, turning this way and that. He knew the route well, and after a few minutes, they arrived at the lake.

Letting out a happy yelp, Olaf jumped off Sven's back, unhooked his friend from the sleigh, and quickly made his way to the edge of the lake. Sven followed close behind.

Both Olaf and Sven were surprised by what they found: they didn't have to worry about cutting any ice blocks, because a huge pile had already been cut and the blocks were scattered along the shore! “We're so lucky, Sven!” Olaf said. “Kristoff must have cut too many blocks on his last trip—which means we can just deliver them today. This will be so easy!”

Of course, there was another teensy, tiny problem that wasn't very teensy and wasn't very tiny. Kristoff's blocks of ice were very big and very heavy. How would Olaf and Sven be able to gather them all up and put them in the sleigh?

Sven watched as Olaf walked around and mumbled to himself about all the possibilities. Sven knew his snowman friend could come up with some inventive ideas, but he also knew that Olaf didn't have to figure out this one alone. It was just like when Kristoff was younger and needed Sven's help to gather ice. Sometimes it went smoothly; sometimes one of them ended up wet and cold. However, working as a team always, well, worked. Sven and Olaf could work together, too.

Sven walked over to Olaf and let out a loud “Harrumph.”

The snowman stopped. “What is it, Sven? Can't you see I'm trying to figure out how the Official Substitute Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer should collect the ice?”

“Harrumph!” Sven replied.

“Oh, you have an idea?” Olaf asked.

Sven nodded. He shook his big body, causing the harness buckles to jangle. Then he pointed his antlers at the ice.

Olaf laughed. “I don't think we should stop and play a game right now! But maybe later, okay?”

Once again, Sven shook his harness. And again he pointed his antlers at the ice. Olaf still wasn't getting it, so Sven pawed at the snow, drawing a semicircle with his front hoof. Finally, he looked back at his harness.

“Oh, I see!” Olaf squealed. “You think we should take the harness and turn it into a loop?”

Sven nodded.

“And then we will use the loop to pull the ice?”

Again Sven nodded.

“Sven, you're a genius! I knew we would make a great team!”

The reindeer puffed up his chest proudly.

“Let's get to work!” Olaf exclaimed.

Sven knelt down next to Olaf, who reached out for the harness buckles. Sven waited patiently as the snowman fastened the straps. “Look at us, Sven! Kristoff is going to be so proud. I hope Anna and Kristoff are having a nice time on their picnic.”

When Olaf was done fastening the straps and talking about how fun today was turning out to be, Sven was happy to see the harness was connected so that it created a perfect loop. He picked up the loop in his teeth and dragged it over to a block of ice.

As he had done in the stables, Sven nodded his head up and down until finally, with one big last nod, he looped a block of ice. He pulled it to the sleigh. Then he did it again, and again, and again until they had a bunch of ice blocks ready to be loaded onto the sleigh.

“Thanks, Sven!” Olaf said when the reindeer was done. “I can take it from here.” He scurried over to the first block. He brushed his hands off. He placed them on the ice. And he pushed and he shoved. Then he pushed and shoved some more. The ice didn't budge. “Don't worry, Sven. I think this piece is just stuck in a rut. I'll try another.”

Olaf walked over to a second block of ice. Then he pushed. He shoved. And he pushed and shoved some more. Just like before, the ice didn't budge. He pushed each block, and each time it was the same result. Olaf was just not strong enough to move the ice.

Luckily, while Olaf was busy trying to push the ice, Sven had also been busy. Knowing that Olaf probably couldn't lift the ice blocks, Sven was trying something different. He found two fallen logs and, using his antlers, pushed them together so they were propped at an angle against the sleigh, creating a ramp. Then he walked back to Olaf, who was still vainly pushing a block of ice.

“Harrumph?” he snorted.

“You want to help? Sure, that'd be great!” Olaf said.

So Sven showed him. Leaning his large head down, he began to push one of the blocks with his antlers. Slowly at first, and then faster, the ice began to move forward, until Sven had pushed it close to the ramp. Then, placing the tips of his antlers underneath the ice, he lifted the block up onto the log ramp. After that he simply had to push it up the ramp until it landed in the wagon.

“Sven!” Olaf cried. “What a smart reindeer you are! We are the best official substitute ice team there ever was!”

Together—or rather with Sven pushing and Olaf trying his best—they loaded another block into the sleigh. Then another. “Look at us go!” Olaf shouted as they worked. “We're the best! Up we go. Push that ice! Push, push, PUSH!” When the final block of ice was loaded, Olaf let out a big breath. “
Whew!
What a workout! I'm exhausted.”

His chest heaving, Sven looked at the snowman. “Hmmmph!” In reindeer, that roughly translated to “Are you kidding me?”

Olaf smiled. “Of course I meant
you
were getting the workout, Sven. But all that cheering was exhausting, too.”

The reindeer thought about it for a moment and then nodded. His little snowy friend
had
helped him stay motivated.

Hopping onto Sven's back, Olaf gave the signal. Together, they headed out, Olaf singing and Sven bobbing his head in time with Olaf's slightly off-key tune. They were ready to make their first delivery!