Free Whatever After #6: Cold as Ice by Sarah Mlynowski Page A

breathe, you know,” Ralph calls back to me.
    “Sorry,” I cry, but I don’t loosen my grip.
    He swoops up and down. The cold wind rushes against my cheeks like an air conditioner on high.
    I am feeling a bit carsick. Make that reindeer-sick?
    “This view is amazing!” Sharon cries. “Ralph, you’re amazing! I can’t believe I have lived with you for so long and never knew how amazing you are!”
    I feel him puff up with pride underneath me. It’s sweet, but it almost makes me lose my grip.
    The view is amazing. We’re above the snowy trees and mountains. The sun is just starting to come up, and the snow below us is covered in shades of orange and red.
    “Wasn’t it just night?” I ask.
    “The sun sets at eleven P.M. and rises at three A.M. in the summer,” Ralph says.
    “This is summer?” I ask in disbelief.
    “Of course!” he says. “Wait until you see how cold it gets in the winter.”
    No way am I dealing with a Republic of Blizzard winter. Thanks, but no thanks.
    I can’t believe I longed for snow back in Smithville.
    Whoosh!
    One of my boots flies off. I knew it was too big. Oops.
    “I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you more, Ralph,” says Sharon. “Mother told me I couldn’t, but I shouldn’t have listened to her. I was so lonely. And I hated robbing people. Why did we need so many statues, anyway?”
    While Sharon is feeling guilty about how she treated Ralph, I’m feeling guilty for letting Jonah out of my sight. I’m his big sister! It’s my responsibility to watch out for and protect him. Where is he? And where’s Gerda?
    “I don’t see them anywhere,” I say, scanning the ground below us. How far could they have gotten? We should have seen them by now.
    “I hope they didn’t freeze,” Sharon says. “Or get eaten by wolves.”
    “Oh my goodness, the wolves!” I shout. “I forgot about the wolves!”
    “Oh, don’t worry about the wolves,” Ralph says. “They spend summers in the kingdom of Subzero. They find Blizzard summers too warm.”
    Yet another reason why I don’t want to still be here in winter.
    “I’ll do another loop to look for Jonah and Gerda,” Ralph says. We circle back and then back again.
    “Maybe they’re already at the igloo castle,” I say. I don’t know how they could have gotten there that fast. Although they’re both in pretty good shape, with their rock climbing and jumping jacks.
    “I’ll fly over the castle,” Ralph says.
    The big sparkling igloo gets bigger as we get closer.
    I strain my neck to see if I can spot my brother. Something is moving on the roof! Is that them? Is that a penguin? No! Wait! It’s Jonah! In his penguin costume! And Gerda in her orange tracksuit and matching hat. She’s hard to miss.
    “Look!” I say, my body heaving in relief. “They’re on the roof! They made it!” I exhale. My brother is here! And I will never, ever let him out of my sight again.
    “Hooray!” cheers Sharon.
    “Jonah!” I call down. “Gerda!”
    Gerda lifts her arm in a wave.
    Hooray! She seems perfectly normal! Which means the Snow Queen really isn’t here and didn’t blow any kisses to her.
    Prince is on the roof, too. I feel another whoosh of relief. He’s in the exact same position he was in before, frozen in mid-gallop. They probably haven’t been able to defrost him yet.
    Kai is also on the roof. He’s lying on his back. It looks like he’s making another snow angel. I guess they haven’t cured him yet, either.
    It’s okay. I’m here now to help. We’ll have to figure out how to defrost everyone, but at least Kai and Prince are still alive .
    “So where do you want me to drop you guys off?” Ralph asks. “I’m not sure there’s enough room for me on the roof. And I weigh a lot. I don’t want to break it.”
    Kai has certainly been busy. There are three more snowmen than there were yesterday.
    “Maybe at the front door?” I suggest. I can see the staircase that leads up to the roof from inside the house.
    “No