“We can make some with Freya today,” her mother said.
“Good idea!” Anna took a swipe of batter with her finger and licked it. Her mother rapped her lightly with a spoon. “Sorry! But you always say a cook should taste what they make.”
Her mother chuckled. “True. You certainly keep me on my toes, Anna Bear.”
Anna kissed her mom on the cheek. “That’s a good thing, right? Can you imagine life without me, Ma?”
Her mother stopped mixing and looked at her, the smile slipping off her face. She touched Anna’s chin. “No, I cannot. But that day is coming, I’m sure.”
Anna didn’t say anything. She felt bad when her mother talked like that. That was why she didn’t tell her about her plan to leave Harmon and move to Arendelle when she turned eighteen. She loved Harmon and its people, but it was small compared to other villages, and the world was a big place. She longed to see what life was like where the royal family lived.
“Can you see if we have enough tea?” her mother asked.
Anna checked the pantry, where they kept their dry goods. “I don’t see any tea.”
“Why don’t you run to the market, then?” Her mother measured a scoop of sugar out of a container and added it to the bowl. “I always like to have tea on when she arrives. Freya has such a long journey. Can you think of anything else we need?”
Freya liked to set out early for her visits. She left Arendelle before dawn, so she usually hadn’t yet had breakfast when she arrived. “Ma, do you think she’d like eggs?”
Her mother smiled. “That’s a lovely idea.”
Anna slipped off her shoes and put on her boots before her mother even finished the sentence. She grabbed her violet cape by the door. “I’ll be fast.”
“Anna, you are never fast,” her mother said with a chuckle.
“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?”
Erling produced two stems of golden crocuses. The yellow flowers were as bright as the sun. Anna inhaled their sweet aroma. “Thank you! Come by later for some fresh bread. First batch should be out of the oven midmorning.”
“Thank you, Anna! I will!” he said, and Anna hurried along, trying not to crack the eggs or stop again. She had a habit of stopping to talk. A lot.
“Ma! I got the eggs and the tea! Is Freya here yet?” Anna called, walking through the door. Before she could close it, a carriage pulled up in front of the house. Freya had arrived.
Anna and her mother hurried to greet their guest. As always, her mom’s best friend had arrived in a carriage with two men who waited while she visited. Freya had explained to Anna once that she felt safer traveling with trusted drivers, since she didn’t have her husband or her daughter accompanying her.
The pair watched as the first driver helped the woman in a dark hooded cape out of the carriage. She quickly walked inside the bakery and shut the door, removing her hood.
“Tomally!” Freya said warmly, embracing her friend. The two always hugged for so long when they saw each other Anna worried she’d never get a turn.
Anna’s mother had told her that when Anna was adopted as a baby, Freya was the first one she’d called to come see her. Anna and Freya had spent so much time together over the years that Anna considered her an aunt. She couldn’t imagine life without her.