Olaf & Sven on Thin Ice (3 page)

L
uckily, their first stop was not far away. In no time, they reached Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna. The trading post happened to be the only place in the area with a sauna, which made it a popular destination year-round, so Oaken depended on Kristoff's ice delivery to keep the drinks and food cold for his guests.

As Olaf and Sven pulled up in front of the trading post, Oaken stepped out onto the front porch. He was a very large man with a bushy beard, bright red hair, and rosy cheeks. He squinted at the pair in confusion. “Hoo-hoo!” he called out. “Kristoff? You look quite different!” he joked with the snowman.

“I'm not Kristoff!” Olaf said cheerfully. “I'm the Official Substitute Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer and this is my Official Substitute Ice Reindeer.” He paused. “Actually, Sven is always the ice reindeer, but you know what I mean. We are the substitute ice team, here to help with all your ice needs!” Olaf went on cheerfully. “Where should we put your ice?”

Oaken had seen plenty of strange things at the trading post, so a snowman riding a reindeer and delivering ice didn't faze him. Oaken pointed to a pair of smaller buildings behind the trading post. “Please unload the ice in the shed,” he said. “When you are done, I will bring your payment.”

“Let's go, Sven!” Olaf said. “Time to deliver the ice!” Sven began to walk around to the back.

As they approached the first building, Sven slowed down. “What are you doing, Sven?” Olaf asked. “We're supposed to put the ice in the
shed
. Clearly, that is an
outbuilding
. Keep going!”

Sven didn't move.

“Hee-ya!” Olaf shouted, trying to get the reindeer to continue walking.

Still, Sven didn't move.

“Do you want to play a game?” Olaf asked. “Or is it a treat you're after? Soon, I promise! We just need to deliver this ice to the shed, okay?”

The reindeer let out a big sigh. “Harrumph,” he snorted, as if to say, “This is not a good idea.” He knew that Kristoff usually dropped off the ice at the first building—but Olaf kept insisting that Oaken wanted it in the second building. Finally, Sven walked to the other building and halted in front of the door.

“Fantastic!” Olaf exclaimed. “Now if you help with the ramp, I'll push the ice out of the sleigh. Look how good we are at this, Sven!”

Again, Sven pushed the logs into place so they lined up with the blocks of ice. The stacks of ice had created a slick surface that made it easy for Olaf to slide the top blocks off the wagon.

Quickly, Olaf gave a heave—and a few big cold blocks tumbled down the ramp, pushed open the doors of the building, and rumbled inside.

“And there you have it!” Olaf said, clapping his hands together. “See how easy that was, Sven? I
love
being the Official Substitute Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer!”

Sven harrumphed skeptically, but Olaf didn't hear. “Do you think Kristoff would let me help more often?” he mused.

Sven stared at the closed door of the trading post with a worried expression on his fuzzy face. But Olaf was thrilled. They had completed the first ice delivery of the day!

Kristoff was a bit tired. He had hiked all the way up to the lake only to find that he had just missed Olaf and Sven. From the look of things, they had succeeded in collecting some of the ice he'd left after his last trip. Kristoff had to admit he hadn't expected Olaf to make it that far, let alone figure out a way to load the ice.
Pretty impressive,
Kristoff thought. But he didn't hang around the lake admiring their work for too long. He wanted to catch up with Olaf and Sven before they arrived at their next destination. It wasn't difficult to find their tracks, and soon he was following their route back down the mountain.

Arriving at Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna, Kristoff glanced around, looking for the snowman and the reindeer. He didn't see them. What he
did
see was Oaken standing in front of a building, which steam was billowing out of.

When Oaken saw Kristoff, his face turned slightly redder than normal. “Hoo-hoo! Kristoff!” the big man called. “I missed you today! That snowman is
not
the ice master and deliverer that you are.”

Kristoff took a step back.
Uh-oh,
he thought.
What happened?

As Oaken walked past him toward the steaming shed, Kristoff could see the man was upset. When he opened the doors, Kristoff could see why.

The building was the trading post's sauna. Or what
had
been the sauna. Now it was just a wet mess. The reason was clear: sitting there, in the center of the room, was the last bit of a melting block of ice. When Olaf had pushed the ice into the building, it had landed smack-dab in the middle of the fire that kept the sauna stones hot. Immediately, they had begun to cool and the ice had begun to melt! The sauna was now cold instead of hot and steamy.

Kristoff gulped. “I'm sorry, Oaken!” he said. “I didn't know Olaf was trying to deliver the ice by himself. What can I do to make things right?”

“You can help me mop up the sauna and rebuild that fire,” Oaken replied. “And then maybe you can deliver me twice the ice next time. What do you say?”

There was nothing Kristoff could do but agree. As he went to find a mop, he let out a groan. The day was not going according to plan. And he knew Olaf and Sven would be making more deliveries, which meant Kristoff had to hurry to catch up to them before anything else happened!

A
s Kristoff got to work cleaning up Olaf's mess, the snowman was happily making his way toward the next stop on the ice delivery route—Troll Valley.

“I love visiting the trolls, don't you, Sven?” Olaf said cheerfully.

The reindeer raised an eyebrow. Then he snorted.

“Oh, right! We talked about treats! Maybe the trolls will have something for you to nibble on.” But as he spoke, his eyes grew wide. He just had another brilliant idea. “You know what? Troll Valley
is
kind of far away. Maybe we should stop now so you can have a little snack. What do you think?”

The reindeer shook his head. Then he nodded his antlers to the right. Following his gaze, Olaf saw the North Mountain. It towered high above them, the top covered in snow year-round.

The North Mountain was where Elsa had made her ice palace when she ran away from Arendelle. It had been beautiful. It had also been isolating. No one had lived there except for Elsa—and Marshmallow. The huge creature was made of snow and ice. He was very strong, and last time Olaf and Sven had run into him, he had not been happy. He had even tried to throw Olaf over a cliff! Olaf still thought Marshmallow was just having a bad day. He only had nice things to say about Marshmallow!

But that didn't mean Sven was ready to run into Marshmallow again. Unfortunately, there was no way to get to Troll Valley without passing the large mountain. Every time he and Kristoff had gone that way, they had hurried through as fast as possible.

“Oh, Sven! Don't worry!” Olaf said, not the least bit concerned about Marshmallow. “Look! There's a perfect lake to sit by and have a quick nibble. How could you and Kristoff have missed this place?”

“Harrumph!” Sven snorted. They hadn't
missed
it, was what his snort meant. They had just chosen not to use it because it was too close to Marshmallow's territory.

Olaf smiled at Sven. He knew exactly what the reindeer's snort had meant. “That's just silly,” he said. “It is a perfectly perfect lake and Marshmallow is not such a bad guy. I bet he would be so happy to see us now! He is probably pretty lonely, you know. I mean, the big guy is up here all alone now that Elsa is in Arendelle. He has no one to play games with or talk to or sit and read with.” Olaf put a hand to his chest in sympathy. “Sven, I feel bad for Marshmallow. I think we should go and find him and invite him to join us.”

Sven shook his head.

“Fine,” Olaf said. “I'll just come back by myself sometime.” Then he added, “I bet someday you, Marshmallow, and I will get together, though. We could have an amazing snowball fight—or better yet…we can all go to the beach together!”

Sven shook his head and then began to pull the sleigh a little farther away from the lake.

“No, no!” Olaf cried. “Come on, pal! We will just take a quick break and you can have your much-needed snack.”

Together Olaf and Sven made their way to the lake. The snowman whistled as they went, not a care in the world. But Sven walked very slowly and very softly. When Olaf made a particularly high-pitched whistle, Sven cringed. And when he heard a twig snap in the nearby woods, he nearly jumped out of his skin. He was sure that at any minute, a very angry Marshmallow would appear. He even thought he saw Marshmallow in the distance looking down from the ice palace. He wasn't positive, but he certainly quickened his pace.

After what felt like an eternity to Sven, the pair arrived at the shore of the lovely lake. Olaf hopped off Sven's back. Then he clapped his little stick hands together. “Time to relax!”

The sun was beginning its descent toward the horizon. They had to get their final deliveries made before it was dark. Still, Olaf wanted to make sure Sven ate. He didn't want his friend getting too hungry. Being the reindeer helper for the Official Substitute Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer was hard work.

He wobbled to the back of the sleigh and pulled out a little sack filled with treats from the cook. He had made sure to stop in the kitchen before leaving the palace. Olaf always liked to be prepared.

“Look, Sven! I made sure Cook gave you some carrots and a loaf of bread, and she packed another extra treat—a carrot snowflake! Isn't she clever?” The reindeer's big ears perked up. “She made a snowflake out of carrots. She definitely deserves a great birthday gift.”

Sven's belly let out a loud rumble. Maybe a snack stop wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Olaf rummaged around in his sack. Pulling out the hunk of bread, he smiled. “Now, I'm just going to start a little fire. Kristoff says Cook's bread always tastes better toasted.”

“Harrumph?” Sven replied.

“Of course I know how to build a fire,” Olaf answered. “You'll see. I love a nice fire. It is almost as great as lying on a sandy beach. All warm and toasty.”

As Sven watched, the tiny snowman collected some twigs and leaves and built a small fire. He couldn't find a match, so he rubbed two little sticks together until he started to see smoke. When the flames were flickering merrily, Olaf sat down. Then he inched closer to the fire. Then closer still. Soon he was right next to the hot flames.

Sven snorted a warning.

“What's wrong?” Olaf asked. “Marshmallow is nowhere to be found. We are perfectly safe and I'm perfectly toasty by the fire. I just have to remember not to get too…whoa, too close, too close!” Olaf yelled as he looked down and realized his nose was where his mouth used to be, and his mouth was where his buttons had been. He was melting!

Hopping up, Olaf tried to hold his face together before he completely melted. He started dancing around, trying to save his buttons! Fortunately, his flurry was there to keep him cold. Unfortunately, as he danced about, he got too close to the flames and one of his stick arms caught fire!

“This is really hot!” Olaf shouted.

“HARRUMPHHHH!” Sven snorted. “Hara! Um! PHHH!” Quickly, Sven stepped forward and pushed the little snowman down with his nose so that Olaf was rolling in the snow. The flames were extinguished, but Olaf continued to roll. Then he began to roll faster. And faster. And faster still!

As Sven watched, the tiny snowman grew into a large snowman. Then he grew into a really, really large snowman!

With a loud
THUNK
, Olaf reached the bottom of the hill and hit a small fir tree. His new layers of snow fell off and he sat there, once again small and now a little bit dazed. Looking down, he saw that his arm was singed a bit, but luckily, the snow had put out the fire before it could do any real damage.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Olaf said. Then he laughed. “Let's do it again!”

Sighing, Sven kicked some snow onto the fire and walked down toward Olaf. It seemed like a good time to move on to Troll Valley.