Kristoff brought his pile of supplies to the front counter.

 

"That'll be forty, ja?" Oaken said. "Forty?" Kristoff barked. "No, ten."

 

"No, see, these are from our winter stock," Oaken told him. "Where supply and demand have a big problem."

 

"You want to talk about a supply-and-demand problem?" Kristoff asked. "I sell ice for a living!"

 

Anna walked over to the counter and smiled at Kristoff. "Ice. Really?" she said. "That's a rough business to be in right now."

 

"Forty," Oaken repeated. "But I will throw in a visit to Oaken's sauna. Hoo, hoo!"

 

Kristoff and Anna both peered over Oaken's shoulder to see a family waving from a toasty sauna in a room behind him.

 

"Ten's all I got," Kristoff told him. "Help me out, ja?"

 

Oaken held up the bag of carrots. "Ten will get you this and no more."

 

Kristoff glared at Oaken, seething¹.

 

"Just tell me one thing," Anna said, moving closer to Kristoff. "What was happening on the North Mountain? Did it seem... magical?"

 

Kristoff pulled down his scarf, revealing his face. He looked down sharply at Anna. "Yes!" he shouted. "Now back up while I deal with this crook² here."

 

Oaken rose from his chair. He did not appreciate being called a crook. "What did you call me?" he said. He was much taller and wider than Kristoff had expected. Oaken loomed³ over the counter. Then, with a frown, Oaken swiftly threw Kristoff out of the shop.

 

Kristoff went flying out the door and landed face-first in a mound⁴ of snow next to Sven, who had been waiting patiently outside. Kristoff pulled his head out of the snow. "Ow!" he moaned.

 

"Goodbye!" Oaken said pleasantly, and slammed the door.

 

The reindeer⁵ snorted and moved over to Kristoff, snuffling and searching in the snow.

 

"No, Sven," Kristoff told him. "I didn't get your carrots."

 

The hungry reindeer huffed in his face. Then Kristoff turned his head and spotted⁶ something that made him brighten. There was a barn behind the trading post — a warm place to spend the night.

 

"But I did find us a place to sleep," he added. "And it's free."

 

Back in the shop, Oaken returned to his other customer. "I'm sorry about this violence," he told Anna. "I will add a quart of lutefisk so we have good feelings." He looked over at what she had selected. "Just the outfit⁸ and the boots, ja?"

 

Anna looked at her supplies, and then over at the bag Kristoff had left on the counter. She smiled as an idea occurred to her.

 

Shortly afterward⁹, Anna left Oaken's shop and looked around. She could hear singing coming from the barn. She pushed open the door quietly and peered inside. Kristoff was lying against a bale of hay, playing his lute⁷. He was singing to his reindeer... and then, singing as Sven, he finished the song from the reindeer's point of view.

 

"Ahem." Anna cleared her throat. When Kristoff looked over, she smiled. "Nice duet," she said.

 

"Oh, it's just you," he said when he saw Anna standing¹⁰ in front of him. "What do you want?"

 

"I want you to take me up the North Mountain," she declared.

 

"I don't take people places," Kristoff replied. He closed his eyes and lay back in the hay.

 

"Let me rephrase that," Anna said. She threw the sack of supplies she had just bought over to Kristoff. They were exactly the items he'd wanted.

 

"Umph!" he grunted¹¹ as the heavy bag landed on his chest.

 

"Take me up the North Mountain," she ordered. Kristoff regarded her carefully. He was not used to taking orders. And he especially couldn't see any reason to follow Anna's.

 

"Look," Anna said. "I know how to stop this winter."

 

Kristoff hesitated. If the cold weather stopped, he might be able to sell his ice down in Arendelle again. "We leave at dawn," he said finally. "And you forgot the carrots for Sven."

 

Anna dropped a bag of carrots on Kristoff's face.

 

"Ooh!" he said.

 

"Oops, sorry, sorry," Anna said. Then she caught herself. She was trying to take charge, after all. "We leave now," she declared. "Right now!"

 

Kristoff looked over at Sven and offered him a carrot. Sven took a healthy bite. So did Kristoff. They looked at the stranger before them as they chewed. They both knew she had no clue what was ahead.

 

克斯托夫将选好的补给品放在了柜台上。

 

“一共40块。”奥肯说。“40?”克斯托夫还价说，“不，最多10块。”

 

“哦，亲，这可不行。这是从冬季库存里拿出来的，”奥肯告诉他，“现在冬季物品紧缺，供求很不平衡。”

 

“你跟我谈供求问题?”克斯托夫说，“我还是卖冰的呢!”

 

安娜走向柜台，对克斯托夫微笑道。“卖冰，真的吗?”她说。“现在这生意可不好做啊。”

 

“40，”奥肯重复了一遍，“我还免费送一次奥肯桑拿浴哦，呼呼!“

 

克斯托夫和安娜的目光越过奥肯，瞟见他身后的房间里一大家子人挥着手，正在享受暖和的桑拿。

 

“我只有10块，”克斯托夫说，“帮个忙吧。”

 

奥肯拿起一袋胡萝卜，“10块就只能给你这个，别的不行。”

 

克斯托夫气呼呼地瞪奥肯。

 

“跟我说说吧，”安娜凑近克斯托夫说道，“北山到底出了什么事?它看上去……像魔法吗?”

 

克斯托夫一把扯下围巾，露出了脸，严肃地上下打量着安娜。“是的!”他大声说道，“麻烦你退后，我要收拾这个奸商。”

 

奥肯从椅子上站了起来。听到这个称呼他可不太高兴。“你叫我什么?”他说。他的身材比克斯托夫想象中要高大强壮得多。奥肯从柜台后面怒气冲冲地走了出来，一把就将克斯托夫扔出了小店。

 

克斯托夫飞出了门外，一头摔到了斯特旁边的雪地里，斯特正满怀期待地等在门外。克斯托夫从雪地里探出了头，哀叹道：“哎哟!”

 

“再见!”奥肯一边得意地说道，一边重重地关上了门。

 

驯鹿嗅了嗅，凑近克斯托夫，在雪地里寻找着什么。

 

“没有，斯特，”克斯托夫对他说，“我没买到胡萝卜。”

 

饥肠辘辘的驯鹿显得有些沮丧。克斯托夫扭头一看，心头一喜。小栈后面有个谷仓——至少有个温暖的地方可以过夜了。

 

“不过我找到睡觉的地方了，”他补充道，“还是免费的。”

 

奥肯回到店里，有礼貌地对安娜说：“抱歉让您受惊了。我送亲一夸脱腌鳕鱼作为补偿。”他看了看安娜选的东西，问道：“只要外套和靴子是吗?”

 

安娜看着自己的补给品，又看了看克斯托夫留在柜台上的那袋胡萝卜。她灵机一动，想到了一个好主意，脸上露出了微笑。

 

很快，安娜走出了奥肯的小店，环顾四周。她听到了谷仓传来的歌声，她轻轻地推开门往里瞄。克斯托夫正坐在松软的干草上，弹着鲁特琴。他对着驯鹿唱着歌。然后，他压低嗓音，学着斯特的声音唱完了整首歌。

 

“嗯哼。”安娜清了清嗓子。克斯托夫打量着，安娜笑着说：“二重唱唱得不错。”

 

“是你啊，”他看到安娜走到跟前，问道，“你要干吗?”

 

“我想请你带我上北山。”她说。

 

“我可不是什么车夫，”克斯托夫回答道。他闭上眼睛，躺在了草堆上。

 

“那我换个说法吧。”安娜说。她把刚买来的一袋子补给品扔给克斯托夫，这些正是他想要的。

 

“哼!”他咕哝着，袋子重重地落在了他胸前。

 

“带我上北山。”她命令道。克斯托夫凝视着安娜。他不习惯接受别人的命令。而且他也找不到任何理由要听安娜的话。

 

“听着，”安娜说，“我知道怎么结束眼前的寒冬。”

 

克斯托夫有些犹豫。如果冬天结束的话，他就又可以回到艾伦戴尔卖冰了。“天亮出发，”他最终答应了，“你好像忘了给斯特买胡萝卜。”

 

安娜把一袋子胡萝卜扔给克斯托夫，正好击中了他的脸。

 

“哦!”他叫道。

 

“哦，对不起，对不起。”安娜说。但她发觉自己说错了，毕竟，她要尽力掌握主动权。“我们现在就出发，”她宣布道，“马上!”

 

克斯托夫看着斯特，递给他一根胡萝卜。斯特咬了一小口，克斯托夫吃掉了剩下的。他们一边嚼，一边打量着眼前这个陌生的女孩。他们都觉得她一定不知道等待她的将是怎样的危险。

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