Chapter Ten

I asked Acer to leave me at the base of the Mountains.  I didn’t want him to have to enter into Monday if he still had business, or whatever it was he did, back in Sunday. 
I climbed off of Sir Noble, giving the horse a pat on his side and scratching his nose and promised Acer I’d visit again soon.
Knowing that I would be heading into cold and snowy mountains I’d packed my charcoal gray fur wrap and now pulled it out of my bag then slung my bag over my shoulder and pulled the wrap around me.  Looking around, I found the stony pathway leading up the mountain and began the climb as the snow fell heavier and heavier around me.
Before long I was knee deep in snow making the trudge up the mountain take longer than I remembered it taking the last time I was here.  With white all around me and the wind blowing snowflakes into my eyes, my visibility wasn’t very good so I listened carefully for the sounds of singing.  That is how I found the snow angels the first time.  Singing in their beautiful voices while lying in the meadow of soft, fluffy snow.
I walked and walked, the trail curving this way and that, around stunted pine trees and snow covered boulders and still I heard no sign of the snow angels.  Maybe they were relaxing comfortably inside their massive mansion made of ice and snow. Maybe they were sledding down the other side of the mountain.  Did snow angels sled?  I didn’t know.
My cheeks and nose were numb and my legs were aching but the rest of me was kept warm with the exertion from the hike up. I pulled my red hat down over my ears as much as I could and kept on.
 I was pretty sure the house of snow was just ahead as I’d just reached the large clearing where I’d first met the ladies.  I pushed my way through the snow, lifting my feet up, down, up, down in a marching motion to get through the drifts and stopped for a minute to take out my bottle of water.  Unscrewing the cap and tilting it up for a drink, my eye caught on movement above me. 
Standing on the edge of a cluster of rocks half way up the mountain side was a massive, muscled, snowy white mountain goat and riding on his back . . . was Splenda.  One of the three snow angel sisters.
She sat upon his back looking quite regal in a long, white fur coat, glistening with clear jewels and wore a white fur hat on her head over her braided white hair.
 She waved down to me and called out “I’ll be right down!”
I watched with amazement as the goat leaped from boulder to boulder with extreme skill and ease, Splenda calmly holding on to a tuft of white hair at the goat’s neck.  Before long, they were down the mountain and trotting through the snow across the clearing to reach me. 
“Well, it is you Justa Smidge!” said Splenda in her beautiful voice, her eyes shining and the sun glinting off of her jewels on her coat hems and pinned in her braids.  Her pale skin shimmered as she hopped off of the goat and came to lightly shake my hand.
 “I saw you approaching almost from the base of the mountain.  Fjallgeit and I go to that precipice you spotted us on as it has the best views all around this side of the Monday Mountains.  It was your bright red hat we spotted first.”  She smiled.
“Your goat is amazing!”  I exclaimed holding my hand out to the goats shiny, black nose.  “You ride him!  And how scary that must be to leap from rock to rock like that!  I would be terrified.” 
The goat peered at me through his soft, black eyes and blew hot, wet air out of his nose onto my fingers.
“This is Fjallgeit.  I’ve raised him since he was just a kid.  He’s quite gentle and very skilled at climbing.  All mountain goats are.  He roams free, like the wild goats on this mountain but every morning he starts his day bleating for me at the door.  He enjoys our climbs as much as I do.”  Splenda explained, pulling her fingers through his long, white hair on his shoulders.
“Well, am I ever glad I got to see you descend the mountain on dear Fjallgeit here.  That is not something I’ll ever forget!  I’ve been visiting with all of my friends I met last year and hoped I might see you ladies.  I’ve brought along ice cream this time and would love to share it with you in thanks for your hospitality to me last year.  I’ve also brought cones.”  I said gesturing to my bag.  “Are your sisters here?”
“They are.  I believe they are both inside.  We’ve just finished adding a balcony off of the second story of the house.  You’ll have to come see it. My sisters will be very excited about the ice cream!”  Splenda said, arms waving in the air as she led me towards the giant boulders set into the mountain.
We walked through the snow, around the boulders where the massive ice house came into view.  Fjallgeit meandered off towards the snowy pine trees at the edge of the clearing behind us.  I guess he had no interest in ice cream.
“Hope!  Glimmer!  It’s Miss Smidge again!  Justa?”  Splenda called out once she’d heaved open the heavy door made of ice.  “She’s brought ice cream!  And cones!”
I followed her into the massive white entrance and pulled off my boots caked with snow.  Removing my fur wrap, I pulled the small insulated thermos of cream out of the ice it was packed into in my bag.  Then I took out the sugar and salt and the small churn.  I was going to have to make the ice cream as pre-made ice cream would never have made it through my journey here.
Both Glimmer and Hope, the other two snow angel sisters came gracefully down the spiral staircase made of ice.  Both wore long, white fur coats and had long white hair in braids to match Splenda but Glimmer’s coat and hair was adorned with lavender gems while Hope’s sparkled with gems in blue.
“Justa Smidge you’re back again!”  Hope’s lilting voice greeted me as she rushed forward, arms waving up and down to give me a small hug. 
“I was just thinking of you Justa as I was making a few extra sets of snow shoes.  Now that you’re here, you’ll be able to put one set to good use?”  asked Glimmer as she gave me a side hug.
They had given me a pair of their snow shoes made of woven ice to use the last time I’d descended the mountain, making walking much easier by staying on top of the snow.
“Yes, I will for sure!  I was unable to keep the last pair I borrowed from melting at the bottom of the mountain.  I hope you don’t mind?”  I replied.
“Justa, we are fully aware of what ice does when it gets warm.  Now, did we hear something about ice cream?”  asked Hope clapping her hands.
“Here it is, but we have to make it so how about if we go into your kitchen and we can visit while I churn the cream?”  I said showing them the small ice cream maker.
“Oh my yes!  Where is the cow?  Is she still outside?”  asked Glimmer.
“I didn’t bring a whole cow Glimmer.  Just cream from a cow and everything we need to make it into ice cream!”  I explained.
“Well, I’ve never heard of it done that way but you show us how and we’ll enjoy eating it!”  Hope led me into their gleaming white kitchen, if you could call it that.  There was an enormous ice box with a clear door made of ice of course and carved blocks of ice as chairs around a delicately carved table, also made of ice.  Packed snow made up a wall of counters and shelves laden with dishes were positioned above them.  All of the dishes were as clear as glass and the sun coming through a large window was glinting off of them.  One thing was missing however.  A stove.  I supposed this wouldn’t be something you would want in a house made of ice.
Setting the ice cream maker on the table, I took a seat on an ice chair and then immediately changed my mind about sitting and decided to stand.  I did not need a frost bit bottom but then found my feet were freezing fast to the floor.
I toughed it out, switching from one foot to the other and continued to churn.
Once the ice cream was finished, I scooped it out into four cones and served them to the snow angels.
Would it be alright if I put my boots back on?  I’m afraid my feet aren’t as accustomed to prolonged standing on ice.”  I asked.
“Oh, yes.  Wear your boots. The worst thing you’ll do is track in more white snow onto our already white floor.  Not a problem at all.”  They assured me.
I tiptoed out to the foyer and put my boots back on, ever grateful for the warmth around my toes again.

Minutes later as we ate and talked, I glanced at Hope and noticed her taking tiny pieces of cone, putting them into her mouth then making odd faces.
“Is everything alright with your cone?”  I asked
“Yes.  The ice cream is wonderful, it’s just that, well, with cones . . . they never seem to melt away the way other food does before you are to swallow it.”  Hope answered while grimacing as she choked down the piece of cone.
“Well, no, you’re meant to chew some foods first before you swallow.”  I said.
“Ugh.”  She shuddered “Chewing is just so ghastly.”
“I quite agree.”  said Glimmer “Chewing is so bad for ones teeth, getting things stuck between them and then the stains!  I’d rather avoid it altogether.”
I looked closer at Glimmer’s flawless, gleaming white smile and had to agree that she had a point.
I glanced at all three of them with their pale skin, icy blue eyes, beautiful, white hair and clothing.
“You don’t get off the mountain much do you?”  I asked.
“Oh my frosted snowflakes no!”  Exclaimed Hope as if leaving the mountain was an insult.  “It’s just too hot and sticky and the air is so thick and the bugs!  No, we love it right here.  Not to mention this is the most lovely place in the whole world.”  She said spinning around, arms still waving gracefully up and down.
  (This was a normal thing for snow angels I’d been told when I first met them.  Arm waving was just something snow angels do. )
“Speaking of the bottom of the mountain, did Karo bring you over again?”  Asked Glimmer.
“Uh, no.  Acer brought me this time.  Karo has had an accident.”  I recounted the story of the joust for them.
“Karo is hurt?  This is very sad.”  Hope’s face fell.
“Yes, but I’m hopeful he’ll be alright and with no permanent damage.”  I said, taking a bite of my ice cream.
“Oh, I hope so.”  Hope’s smile returned “It would be sad if we could no longer release our avalanche onto him!”
“Ah, yes, I remember how you like to torment the corn colonel by covering him with snow from your avalanche whenever you spot him at the base of the mountain.”  I said.
“So, someone called Acer brought you to the mountain this time?”  Asked Splenda  “Which one is he?  I’m afraid we only know of Karo.”
“He’s the only one who comes to visit us up here.”  Glimmer injected, now finished with her ice cream and peering into the ice cream maker for any remnants left.
“Karo comes up the mountain to visit you?”  I asked.
“Oh, yes.  Mostly he just likes to stare at our Splenda though.”  Said Hope tilting her head towards Splenda and giggling.
“Now, that’s quite enough of that.”  Splenda reprimanded sternly.  “Even if he can be cold hearted at times, he wouldn’t make for a very good snowman.”
“I do think he imagines staying up here though.  He comes up with some good ideas for additions to our house.”  Said Glimmer.
“I think he’d find it difficult.”  I added.  “Knowing how much he loves breakfast foods.  I mean, you don’t even have a stove to cook on.”
“This is true.  He’d need to live on snow cakes and popsicles.  Not many men can do that.”  sighed Hope.
“So, who is this Acer then?”  Asked Splenda as she began tidying up the table.
“He doesn’t work with Karo.  He’s the Royal Mounty.  Or, he used to be.  I believe he rides around Sunday helping people but I’m not really sure what else he does.  Haven’t you seen him?  Red coat?  Blue pants?”  I asked.
“Oh!  He’s the tiny man!”  Exclaimed Hope flapping her arms.
“The - tiny man?”  I asked squinting one eye at her questioningly.  “What do you mean?  He’s taller than I am.”
“Hmm.  Must not be the same one then.”   Hope said waving a hand at me.  “The tiny man also wears a red coat and blue pants and rides around on his tiny horse with the toothpick legs.”
“I assure you.  I’ve just spent all day with Acer and he’s of a normal size and his horse is actually quite tall.  So tall, in fact, that you need a ladder just to get up to his saddle.”  I said matter of factly.
“Well, the man you describe as Acer seems to look just like the man I’ve seen, only mine can fit inside my telescope.”  Said Hope pinching her fingers an inch apart to show the size of the man she’d seen.
“You have a telescope?”  I asked  “With a little man inside of it?”  This I had to see.
“Right!”  Glimmer jumped up from her seat “Time to give you the tour!  Follow me.” 

We left the kitchen and headed to a wide spiral  staircase leading to the second floor.  It was made of ice so I had to grip the rail and try not to put too much pressure on my feet as I found out that that only caused me to attempt the chinese splits. Not on purpose!
“First, our balcony!”  announced Glimmer as she opened  a set of double doors made of ice so thin I made sure not to touch them for fear they would shatter.  Once out on the balcony the view was breathtaking.  Snow peaks surrounded us and the sun shining out of a blue sky onto the snow capped pine trees below made them sparkle.  I ran my hand along the elaborately carved rail of, yes, more ice as Glimmer tilted a large telescope in my direction and motioned for me to peer through the lens.
I turned it toward the the pathway I had climbed to get up the mountain and could indeed see the bottom where it spread out into grassy hills and fields and the edge of Sunday.  I did not see any tiny man riding a horse inside the telescope and just as I was about to say so, Hope came up behind me bouncing with excitement. 
“Is he in there?  Do you see him?”  She asked.
“Nope, there’s no one there at the moment.”  I turned the telescope over to her.
“Hmm.  He was in there awhile ago.  Maybe he’s hopped out to get something to eat?”  She let go of the telescope and crouched down looking along the edge of the railing along the floor.
“So, you only see him in there sometimes?  Is it perhaps when you have the telescope looking in the direction of Sunday?”  I asked.
“Mmm, yes!”  She gripped the telescope again and swung it around to peer through it towards Sunday.
I then realized she most likely did not have a tiny man riding around inside of her telescope but was instead seeing Acer and Sir Noble through it and didn’t understand the workings of a telescope.  I, however, had no problem with Hope believing there was a tiny man riding a horse inside her telescope, in fact, I once believed there was an entire orchestra actually set up and playing inside the radio box in the dash of my father’s automobile.

“Well, I’m sure he’ll be bac k sooner or later.”  I patted her on the shoulder  “I am looking forward to the rest of the tour of your lovely home though.”  I gestured back into the house.  “Your balcony and view do not disappoint!  I’ve never seen one finer.”
“Yes, of course!”  Glimmer glided back through the double doors.

Pointing at three other doors on the second floor she said “Those are our powder rooms.  We each have our own.  We fill them with the powderiest snow.  It’s not good for packing or sculpting but is the greatest, most soft thing in the world to lie down on for a nap don’t you agree?”
“Powder rooms?  You sleep in them? Powder room are something quite different where I’m from.”  I shouldn’t have been surprised by this.  I peeked inside one of the doors and sure enough, it was filled with several inches of very fine, powdery snow.  I sifted some through my hand.  “It is very soft!  A bit cold though for a nap in my opinion but I’m sure it’s lovely for all of you.”  I commented.
Glimmer nodded and led me slowly back down the stairs so I wouldn’t slip. 
“You’ve already seen the kitchen and the sitting room the last time you were here.”  She gestured towards both of those rooms and led me down a large hallway with carved swans sitting on packed snow pedestals on either side.  She began pointing out doors as we walked down the hallway “Here we have the igloo room where we like to sit and read, over here we have the game room for when we feel like we need to blow off some steam - not literally of course! - and have a snowball fight, this door here is the ice rink ballroom and at the end we practice our ice sculpting!  I’ve just finished a narwhal!  I haven’t thought of a name for him yet but..” 
“Hold on!”  I stopped her.  “You have an ice rink?”  I slid over to the door and grasped the frozen handle.
“Yes.  We use it for dancing.”  said Glimmer following me.
“And singing!”  chimed in Hope “It has the best acoustics!”
Opening the door revealed a large, circular, perfect sheet of ice lit by a domed glass, er, ice ceiling. 
“So you can go ice skating anytime you like?”  I asked, my eyes taking in the space with amazement.
“Well, sure.  You wouldn’t have a house of snow without an ice rink would you?” asked Hope.
“I don’t .. no.  No, of course not.  I would absolutely have an ice rink if I had a house of snow.”  I replied.  “I only wish I’d known and brought along my ice skates!”
“Well, we just glide around like this - it’s easy!”  Hope called as she swept out onto the ice and perfectly managed spins, spirals and flip jumps like she’d been doing this her whole life!  Well ... she probably had.
I walked out onto the ice and tried to glide around gracefully on my boots but they kept skidding and grabbing on the ice and I spent most of those few minutes pushing myself back up from my back side. 

Sighing, I brushed myself off and stepped back into the hallway where the floor was a grainy, packed snow which made for some less slippery tread.   I stifled a yawn and realized it had been hours, if not days since I’d come through the door to Thursday.  I needed a nap if I was going to get through the rest of my journey and be coherent enough to be a decent guest to the rest of the people I hoped to visit. 
“I am amazed by your home and appreciate this tour so much!”  I complimented Glimmer and Hope as they joined me in the hallway.  “I hope it’s not too inconvenient of me to ask, but I’ve had a very long day and still have a ways to go and am getting very tired.  Would it be alright if I took a short nap? Maybe in your sitting room - I could lie on one of those fluffy fur rugs you’ve got in there?” 
“Of course you are!  Come right along and have a rest.”  Glimmer took my elbow with one hand and continued waving the other in the air like she was trying to fly.

They set me up in the sitting room, where I piled two large, white fur rugs on top of each other, took off my boots and pulled my fur wrap around me.  Hope had told me to come find them when I awoke so they could help me get off the mountain as it seemed they were having some troubles with the lift that I’d ridden down last time.  She said the cables had frozen up and it had been stuck at the bottom of the other side of the mountain for awhile now.

I don’t know how long I slept as I had not worn a watch but when I woke I’d forgotten that I was not in my own bed and wondered why I was covered in fur.  I had to open my eyes slowly as the bright whiteness of my surroundings were blinding, but as soon as my hands felt the icy floor, I remembered that I was in the snow house of the snow angels and I jumped up wide awake like it were Christmas morning.  It’s not every day you get to nap in a snow mansion.  One with an ice rink inside!

I put my boots back on and placed the fur rugs back where I’d found found them, then, straightening my hair and trying my best to pull the wrinkles out of my crumpled skirt from sleeping in it, I pulled the handles of my bag over my shoulder and made my way to the grand entrance of the house.  I could hear singing, wonderful, beautiful, angelic sounding voices, singing in perfect harmony coming from outside.
Stepping out the enormous front door, I looked around to see where the voices were coming from.  I followed the sound around to the side of the house where I saw the three ladies, standing at the base of an amphitheater carved into the mountain side, with snow covered stone benches curving around a small stage. 
I watched as the ladies sang and acted out some type of dance, acting out the words like an opera.  They were quite good and I sat on the top bench and watched for a few minutes until Splenda noticed me sitting there and then holding up her hand, she halted the other ladies and glided towards me on her toes. 

“Are you well rested Justa?  We didn’t wake you did we?”  she asked.
“No.  I’m fine.  I had a nice nap and really loved the production you’re putting on here!”  I said clapping my hands.
The other two ladies bowed.
“Thank you.  We’ve never performed for an audience.  I guess that makes you our first!  Hope has explained to you about the lift yes?”  Splenda asked.
“Yes.  It’s not working so you’ll help me get down the mountain some other way?” 
“She could take the avalanche this time!”  Glimmer called up from the stage.
“No.  She might lose her bag and her lovely red hat if she takes the avalanche.  We can’t send her off losing her belongings.”  chided Splenda  “But, she could take Fjallgeit.  He’s very gentle and very skilled.” 
She nodded at me and quickly walked to the back of the house and came back with a large horn that looked like it came off of an animal.  She held it to her mouth and blew into it sending out a long forlorn call through the mountain.  She looked around for a moment and then laughed.  “Ah!  There he is.  C’mon boy!” 
Fjallgeit the mountain goat came bounding out of the trees towards her, steam coming off his nostrils. 
Splenda hugged his neck and scratched behind his ear and then whispered something to him.
“Alright, you’ll just sit on his back and hold on here.”  She instructed showing me a thatch of white fur on his neck.
Glimmer and Hope joined us and both gave me a hug, Glimmer telling me to make sure to come again soon and Hope, thanking me for the ice cream, ‘it was much better that what we got from our cow that one time.’ and ‘maybe next time you come the tiny man will be back inside the telescope.’  She smiled showing off her gleaming, perfect teeth.

I climbed onto the goat, not taking a moment to realize I was about to ride a mountain goat down a mountain as I didn’t want to scare myself out of the idea, and gripped the fur tightly.

“Alright Fjallgeit.  I know you don’t know me, but I trust you and if you could get me safely to the bottom of this mountain, I’ll be ever so grateful and I might even have a treat for you!”  I said, remembering the apple I still had in my bag.
Splenda sent him off and told me all I had to do was hang on, he would do the rest.
“Thank you!”  I called over my shoulder, trying not to lose my balance “I’ve had the best time and I’ll bring my ice skates next time!”
They all waved at me as we headed off, or maybe they were just doing their usual arm waving as snow angles do, and Fjallgeit expertly began descending the mountain, one boulder to the next. 

I leaned back most of the way, because of the steep incline and my thighs became sore from trying to keep my balance on the back of a mountain goat.  Also, my nose was red and chapped and my hands were frozen around the clump of fur I was clutching, never loosening my grip. 
At last we were at the base of the mountain and I climbed off on wobbly legs and took a moment to rub some feeling back into my hands and straighten my clothes. 
Fjallgeit started snuffling the flap on my bag and pulling at it with his little goat teeth and lips.
“Yes, yes.  Alright.  You’ve been a good goat.  Here’s that apple I promised.”  I gave him the apple from my bag and he started nibbling at it, his tail wagging excitedly and his ears twitching.  It’s funny how an excited goat, always looks like an excited goat.  There’s no other way to describe it.  I only hoped he wouldn’t follow me for more as that was the only apple I had. 
Quickly, I flung the bag back over my shoulder and headed off down the path before he could finish the apple or notice I’d left.
Taking off my fur wrap and shoving it back into my bag I thought of all the stories I would have to tell Polly when I got back to my shop! Flying in a hot air balloon, seeing the Gardens of Gnome, giant shelves turned into actual living quarters, the joust ending with Karo getting knocked unconscious and now, riding a mountain goat down a mountain!  I wonder how many could say they’d done that!