Ice

By: Alaina Elkington

Soft sunlight broke through the clouds and cast dim shadows along the cobbled

street. It was very early in the morning and almost no one was on the street.

The baker was beginning the usual baked goods and horses could be heard

braying in the fields nearby. No one would even see the figure dressed in black

gliding silently through the shadows. No one but Marie Rodriguez. She was up

at the crack of dawn holding a candle near the page of her book. She was laying

on her pillow with her golden-brown hair spread out around her. She was

worrying about her aunt's visit. Her parents had been fussing over her for days

trying to prepare her. "What if you wore this?" And "Now what will we do with

your hair?" But Marie didn’t care about any of it. After all, she was only 14.

She just wanted to get this visit over with so life could go back to the way it

was. Who cares if her aunt is a duchess and had direct bloodlines to the royal

family? Marie didn't, but apparently the rest of the town did. She would be

delivering a speech to present her Auntie Terran. Marie looked up from her

book. The candle cast a flickering light over the walls, giving everything an

eerie effect. She thought she had heard a small crash from outside. But when

she got up to look out the window, all she saw was darkness. Marie started
turning away but out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of darker black.

Her candle went out as it clattered to the floor. The dark mass moved closer

and closer to the balcony. A hook attached to a rope found its way along the

balcony railing. Marie's eyes went wide as she moved back into the shadows.

The figure climbed and climbed until it reached the top. Over the railing it

went landing on the carpet with a small thud. Marie stood with her back to the

wall scrabbling over the door. The figure lowered its hood slowing. The figure

looked up and said, "Sorry to disrupt your slumber ma'am." Marie let out a

little yelp and then a snort.

"Don't leave candles on the floor please ma'am. Even if they have burned out,

they can still be a fire hazard." The figure said. Marie let out another little

snort as the man turned and picked up her candle.

Out of curiosity, Marie said, "I hope you don't mind me asking this, but, who

exactly are you?"

"Terribly sorry about that. Where are my manners? My name is Retticus

Parker Briare. You may call me Rett. Are you by any chance Marie Clarisse

Rodriguez?"

"Well... Y-yes I am. Is there anything in particular you need or that I can help

you with Mr. Rett? Otherwise I ask you politely to leave."

"Yes. In fact, I do have something I need. I need you to come with me." Marie

was taken aback.

"Excuse me?"

"You are excused." Rett replied with a polite nod. "We had better get moving

before anyone else gets up. The sun is almost up."

"Okay. But let me get this straight, you're just going to up and take me

somewhere?"

"Yes. That is exactly what I am saying."

"Just let me change really quick please sir." Rett took one look at her full-length

dressing gown and nodded saying:

"That would probably be best. I'll wait outside at the bottom of the rope to help

you down. But be fast please."

"Okay. But before we do anything, I need to know where we are going. If it is

somewhere dangerous, I am not going. I need you to know this now."

Rett let out a long sigh. "If you insist ma'am. We are going on my ship to the

Bahamian islands. But just until the danger passes from here though."

"What danger..." Marie was cut off by Rett saying,

"With all due respect ma'am, but that does not look like getting different clothes

and shoes." After Marie changed, she climbed silently down the spiraling
staircase to the spacious floor below. The hearth was still not lit and there

wasn't the usual bustle of maids. She had never been downstairs this early in

the morning. She silently unlatched the front doors and slipped outside to the

cool night air. The rope was hanging and Rett was standing looking up at the

empty balcony. The door made a slight clunky sound as it closed and Rett

startled.

"Oh, it's just you." Rett said with a sigh of relief. He looked at my thick cloak

and traveling boots. "Much better. We should probably get going now ma'am"

Rett led Marie to a small sled that must have pulled up while she was changing.

Marie took one look at the empty front and said, "But Mr. Rett, where are the

horses?"

"Oh yes. Just one moment please ma'am." Rett whistled and a team of horses

trotted quietly along the road toward the sled. Marie climbed in the sled while

Rett harnessed the horses. Rett climbed into the front of the sled and flicked the

reins. As they sped off into the night the air around them seemed to become

colder. Rett looked up and murmured something. Then he got out and moved to

the back of the sled. Marie turned around curious. But all Rett did was walk

around the sled and murmur something. When he reached the driver's position

again, the air around them seemed to become warmer. Rett got back in and

flicked the reins. When they finally reached the dock, there wasn't a ship

waiting for them. It was a boat.

"Is that the ship?"

"Oh! No ma'am. That isn't the ship. But that is." Rett was looking over Marie's

cloaked shoulder toward something in the distance. Marie turned around and

stared at the ship in marvel.

"Are you coming ma'am?" Rett called from the boat.

"Oh. Um... yes." Marie climbed into the boat and Rett maneuvered the boat into

the water. It didn't get far before the water started to become thicker. Like the

ocean was freezing over. That's impossible. Marie thought. But apparently it

wasn’t impossible because it was happening. Rett struggled to row the boat as

the oars started freezing. Marie shivered in the cold even with her heavy cloak.

Soon the ice was thick enough to walk on. So, that's exactly what they did.

"This way ma'am." Rett said with a shiver. "The crew is waiting on the ship."

Rett helped Marie out of the ship and started making his way across the frozen

ocean. When they finally reached the ship, Rett yelled up at the top deck. Then

a ladder dropped down and they climbed up. There was a whole entourage of

people waiting for them.

"How do you do?" Marie said quietly. A girl about Marie's age pushed her way

through the crew and said:

"Hi. I'm Willow. I'm the countess from the other side of the bay."

"Hello. I'm Marie. I'm the countess from this side of the bay."
"It's nice to meet you. You look as cold as a polar bear in summer! Let's get you

settled in." Rett stepped in at that point.

"I'm sorry ma'am but We have some things to discuss before we do anything

else." Willow sighed but agreed. Rett led them below deck.

"Have a seat." Both girls started talking to Rett at the same time.

"Girls... We really need to... Get to the..." Rett was cut off by more talking from

the girls. Suddenly the boat lurched with a crunch. Rett stood up and walked to

the window. All he saw was blue water sloshing against the barnacled wood of

the ship.

"Okay, well now that that problem is solved you girls can go settle in I guess.

Let me show you to your room."

"Wait, Room? As in only one?" Marie said.

"Yes. Terribly sorry we just don’t have two open rooms."

Willow chimed in, "Come on Marie! Maybe we can put up a sheet or something

so it's like two separate rooms." As they walked down the hall the boat swayed

and Willow turned green. When they reached the cabin, Willow was a pale

green color. They walked in and saw that there was already someone in the

room. The person stood up from a chair in the corner and walked over.
"Hello! I am Captain Corner" Captain corner spread his arms wide and lifted his

head like a he was some kind of super hero. Willow nodded her head in

greeting, looked around and ran back out the door to the sick bay. "I suppose

that was Miss Willow."

Marie replied with a faint "Yes." Marie was very confused. "Um, I thought Mr.

Rett was the Captain."

Rett let out a chuckled and said "Oh, Heavens no. I do worse at sea than a

giraffe." Marie blushed and murmured something that sounded like, "Oh."

"Well the Ice will probably catch up to us soon. I better be getting back to the

top! Rett, you'd better come with me." As Rett and Captain Corner left the

cabin Willow came back with a cloth pressed tightly to her mouth.

"Shall we get settled?" Came Willow's muffled voice. When they finished

"claiming property", Marie said "Am I the only one curious about the ice?" But

just them the boat lurched and sent them flying across the cabin. When Willow

regained her balance, and looked through the window, her eyes went wide. Her

muffled voice came from under the cloth "The ice has caught up! There's

someone walking towards the ship!" Both girls ran up to the top deck. The cloth

flew from willows hand when they reached the top deck. The ice in the harbor

had turned into a blizzard. The crew was running around fixing things,

climbing ladders, or hacking at the ice surrounding the ship with whatever

they could find.

"Girls!" Rett came running from somewhere Marie couldn't see. "Girls, It's not

safe up here. You need to go to the sick bay. Follow me!" The girls quickly

obliged and ran after him. Through the window they could see the person on

the ice walking closer to the ship. A distant cry told them that the captain was

panicking. Rett checked the hallway of the ship then turned back to Marie and

Willow. He called to someone outside then turned back and said: "Goodbye

girls." Both girls saw the evil glint in his eye as he backed away. Marie's eyes

went wide as the figure on the ice walked through the door. Rett closed the door

and locked it. Willow started whimpering and hid behind Marie.

"Who are you?" She said trying to sound strong though she was quivering all

over.

"Oh, you shouldn't worry about that. I'm just here to take back what is mine."

His voice went from calm to angry in a blur. "Willow, you can come out dear.

It's just me. Your uncle Karkaroff. Come on Willow. I'm just here to take you

back to live with me. Haven't you always wanted to live in an ice castle."

Willow stepped from behind Marie and said, "No. I want to live in Brokesia

city. With Marie. You may have taken Mommy and daddy but you won't take

me! I am NOT part of your family. Not even though you married Marie's aunt.

So, you can just go away now! Away from here and away from my life for

good!" Marie was stunned. She didn't know exactly what to say. But Karkarroff

did.
His face contorted and he said "Fine then. I'll leave. But you will not!" He pulled

off his gloves and touched the walls of the sick bay. They immediately began to

freeze. Then he lunged for Willow and touched her arms. She let out a yelp and

tried to dodge it, but she just fell and started shivering as ice started forming

on her fingers. Marie couldn't think about anything, couldn't do anything but

want to get her hands around the throat of this guy. Nobody messed with her

friend/cousin/honorary sister. Whatever Willow was to her, no one messed

with her. Marie ran at Karkarroff and knocked him down. Then she grabbed

some chairs and pinned him down. The second she was done, she sprinted back

to Willow. Her lips were blue and she was ice cold to the touch. Marie took off

her cloak and wrapped it around Willow's shoulders. Then she grabbed a few

blankets from the beds and tucked them in around Willow. Her frail shoulders

slowly stopped shuddering but her breath got heavier. Marie needed to get out

of there. She looked towards the door but it was frozen over. Her best bet was to

get out through the window. She got up and ran with all her might at it. It

didn't budge. She looked around at her options. Not much furniture. There were

a couple extra chairs. Marie grabbed one and flung it at the window. It

shattered and glass fragments fell to the floor. Marie grabbed Willow and

climbed out of the window carefully. They got to the iced over ocean safely and

Willow got to her feet shakily. From there they started running. They were

close enough to shore that they could still see buildings and the faint outlines of

houses. The sun was rising in the sky steadily higher. When they finally reached
land, they were completely out of breath. They started walking until they

reached Marie's mansion. The maids caught sight of them and called down to

them. They got inside the warm kitchen where the maids made them a cup of

tea. Then, Marie's mother came down the stairs and Let out a cry of relief.

"Oh Marie! Where have you been? I've been worried sick! Who's this?" Marie's

mother waslooking at Willow

"Good morning ma'am. MY name is Willow. I'm the countess from across the

bay."

"Oh, Oh, Oh. Yes. Aren't you living with your uncle?" At this point Marie cut in

saying,

"He took a turn for the worse. Can she stay with us? Please mother. She has

nowhere else to go!" Marie's mother looked at the two of them then said "I guess

she can live with us. We have the room" Both girls cheered and ran up the

stairs to the start of something new.

The end