Once Upon A Time Frozen Over: Shards of Secrets (Book One) [COMPLETE]

CHAPTER ELEVEN - A STOLEN KISS

Present Day

East Village

The path was narrow, just wide enough for one horse. Kristoff was riding in the front, followed by Elsa and Anna, with Evie in the back. The branches hung low, making them duck their heads as the soft, green leaves brushed through their hair.

Elsa's sleeve was snagged by a branch sticking out into the path. She looked down to see a small tear in the soft, fine velvet. She let out an exasperated sigh. Even though she could easily fix the tear with her magic, it still only added to her frustration.

The path finally widened back to the main forest road they had earlier been riding on. Elsa quickly trotted in front of Kristoff, not wanting him to be in the lead, her head raised high as she passed by him. Her horse's tail flicked Kristoff's horse in the face as she cut him off.

Anna shook her head, turned it to Kristoff and mouthed, "I'm sorry," to him.

He slightly put his hand up, while still holding on to the reins, to gesture that it was ok. "Don't worry about it," he mouthed back to her.

Elsa sped up to a gallop as she saw the sign for the East Village in the distance. Feeling prideful now, Elsa said, "We're here," as a smile spread across her face. The wooden sign read:

East Village

Population 2,208

"Look at the house up ahead!" Evie exclaimed, pointing to a large, pristine house with several townspeople gathered outside of it. "It looks like something's happened."

Everyone exchanged a look of worry as they took the path to the right of the sign and galloped towards the house. As they rode up to the house, they could hear the townspeople muttering things about a robbery.

"The thief must have struck here....I see the constable as well," Elsa announced.

"You might want to ride up the road - the constable's here," Kristoff whispered to Evie.

"Yeah...good idea," Evie whispered back with a smirk. "Maybe I'll go see if there's anymore traps...or something like that." She turned her horse around and headed back towards the sign, turning right, to continue up the path.

Elsa, Anna and Kristoff got off their horses and walked up to the house. They passed by the constable's wagon, expecting to see the thief inside, but to their dismay, the prison wagon was empty. The townspeople bowed their heads, realizing the queen and princess were coming towards the house.

The constable was speaking to the man of the house and writing notes on a small piece of parchment. He was intently listening to the details of the robbery as Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff approached. The constable turned his attention to them, bowed his head and nervously said, "Your Majesty, Your Highness, what brings you to the East Village? We were obeying the curfew you set."

"It's not about the curfew. We journeyed here looking for more information about the past robberies," Elsa explained.

"Well, you couldn't have known about this latest robbery - it just happened. Word couldn't have traveled that quickly," the constable stated.

"We didn't know about this robbery," Elsa explained. "We merely stumbled across it. We are also hunting down the beast that has been terrorizing the kingdom and investigating the traps that have been laid about the forest surrounding this village."

"Ah, the traps, do you know who's laying them?" the constable asked, stroking the long appendage to his white, perfectly groomed, waxed mustache.

"No...I'm afraid not," Elsa answered.