Free Kerka's Book by Jan Bozarth Page B

the only other thing I had acquired since leaving the Willowood Fairies: the elf’s message.
    Could an elf have a troll or an ogre for a brother? I didn’t know, but I was out of ideas so I delivered the message.
    I shouted it, hoping he could hear through the ice. “The elf on the beach wanted me to tell you: ‘If the wind goes free, so will we.’”
    Instantly, the monster opened his hand and released my wrist. A tingly sensation coursed through my arm as my blood started circulating again, but myjoy encompassed much more than my freedom. The first elf had predicted his brother would find me if my path was true.
    We had not strayed off the trail
.
    The ice melted around the elf’s brother, forming an alcove. It turned out the second elf wasn’t huge or grotesque—the wavy ice had just wildly distorted him. Rounder than his brother, with chubby cheeks, a furrowed brow, and a dour expression, he was also two feet tall.
    I remembered my manners. “Thanks for letting go of my arm,” I said, still dangling in the air. The magical wind hovered in place, apparently waiting for a cue to start moving again.
    â€œHad to,” the elf growled, folding his arms and scowling. “My brother sent you. I didn’t want to.”
    â€œBut you did all the same.” I extended my hand. “I can take you to the top of the icefall.”
    â€œWhy would I want to go there?” he snapped.
    â€œWhy would you want to stay here?” I asked, curious.
    â€œBecause it’s not the top of Dayling Mountain,” the elf huffed. “I have no use for Dayling Mountain. No use at all.” He did not possess a smidgeon of his brother’s lyrical manner or poetic talent.
    â€œCan we go now?” Ardee moaned.
    â€œIn a minute.” I still had business with the elf. I was a bit put out by his disdain for
my
mountain, but he had let me go and I owed him a favor. I had to repay him or face worse than a few bitter words when the disagreeable little man decided to get even. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
    â€œI can hope, but I won’t count on it.” Heaving a great sigh, the elf said, “Give that same message to my brother if you see him, which you won’t.”
    â€œWhy won’t I?” I asked.
    â€œYou’re just a child,” the elf growled. “Not a bit of sense in your head, or you wouldn’t be hanging around here.”
    I guessed I’d be cranky, too, if I had been frozen on a mountain while my sister lived at the beach. Still, that didn’t make it right to be so rude. Since as far as I knew I was under no obligation to stay and take the elf’s insults, I tugged on the ribbon wind.
    Ardee screeched as the current resumed our superfast ride up the icefall. As soon as we cleared the top of the icefall, the ribbon unwound Ardee and me like toy tops and dropped us in a snowbank. I was glad to be alive and thankful that I wasn’t climbing the icefall inch by inch.
    â€œI do not want to ride that scary thing ever again,” Ardee complained as she pawed her way outof the deep drift. She shook snow off her antlers and stamped packed ice out of her hooves.
    â€œAnd what if you were cornered by the wolf with no other way out?” I teased as I peered down at the glacier.
    â€œOkay, maybe then,” Ardee admitted. “But not for anything else.”
    I didn’t laugh. Instead, I looked over the edge of the icefall to see how high we were. I inhaled softly when I saw a speck of gray; the wolf was at the base of the ice wall far below.
    I was sure the wolf couldn’t climb, but with its thick coat of fur, it could easily survive the winter weather on the mountain. When the wolf leapt onto an ice shelf and disappeared, I realized it didn’t have to follow in our footsteps to catch us. It could take alternate routes and backtrack to pick up our scent anywhere we had been.
    I decided not to tell