The Frozen Rainbow by Astrid Foss

Author:Astrid Foss [Astrid Foss]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788000185
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Published: 2019-03-25T04:00:00+00:00

She cried out in frustration. Aunt Veronika must have used magic to fix it there – magic that was stronger than Hanna’s own. Despair swept through her. Now what were they going to do?

She heard a small groan behind her and swung round. Ida and Magda were both starting to sit up. They were blinking dazedly. Hanna hurried over to them.

“What’s… What’s going on?” said Magda.

“Where are we?” asked Ida. She struggled. “Why are we tied up?”

“Aunt Veronika did it,” Hanna said heavily.

She sat down beside her sisters and told them what had just happened. “She must have tied us up, dragged us in here and blocked the cave entrance with ice. We’re trapped. I’ve tried to move the ice but I think Aunt Veronika has placed a spell that stops my magic from moving it.”

“And I can’t draw anything with my hands tied up,” said Ida.

“And there are no animals for me to turn into,” said Magda. “We really are trapped here.” She shivered. “It’s so cold. We’re going to freeze to death.”

“Or starve,” said Ida.

Even Hanna couldn’t find anything positive to say. She shuffled closer to her sisters. “We can’t do anything about being hungry but we can keep each other warm,” she said.

They huddled together in the dark.

“I’m sorry we argued earlier,” said Ida shakily.

“Me too,” said Hanna, glancing apologetically at her sisters. “And I’m sorry I was the one who told Aunt Veronika where we were going.”

“You didn’t mean to,” said Magda. “You couldn’t have known she would be there in disguise!”

“I should have said something to you both,” admitted Ida. “I saw her earlier in the market and I knew there was something strange about her.” She hung her head. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I should have worked it out and told you both. Mother told us to beware of a stranger. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine, not yours, Hanna.”

“You couldn’t have guessed that old lady was Aunt Veronika,” said Hanna. “And if we’d had a proper plan like you’d wanted, then maybe none of it would have happened and we’d be safely on our way by now.”

They bent their heads together – red touching brown touching blonde.

“I wouldn’t like to be on my own in here,” said Magda, shivering. “I’m glad we’re together.”

Her sisters nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, there was a snuffling, scrabbling noise at the entrance to the cave. “What’s that?” said Ida in alarm.

The scrabbling got louder.

“It’s an animal!” said Magda. “It’s trying to get through the ice into the cave.”

“What sort of animal?” said Hanna in alarm. “And why’s it trying to get in?”

“Do you think it’s something sent by Aunt Veronika?” Ida said, her eyes widening.

They edged cautiously to the entrance. The scrabbling got louder and then they heard a whining. What was going on? The girls gasped as a white hairy foot with long sharp claws appeared through the ice. Then another paw appeared and a familiar head with soft brown eyes poked through.

“Oskar!” the girls cried in amazement. The polar bear had used his strong claws to carve a narrow tunnel through the block of ice.

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