The Snow Queen by Eileen Kernaghan Read Free Book Online Page B

mile of pine forest, and then the trees thinned, and they came to a desolate country of swamps and tangled, stunted birch trees, with snow still lying in patches on the ground. Near Boden, under a leaden sky, the road once again disappeared into forest, with mist hanging low in the branches.
    But inside the gilded coach, Gerda had rabbit skins to rest her feet on, and cashmere shawls to wrap around her shoulders. As the weather grew colder, she put on the ermine-trimmed hat the princess had given her, and thrust her hands into the princess’s grey squirrel-skin muff.
    By now she had grown used to the creaking and jouncing of the coach over the rough forest road. She dug through her basket of provisions for fruit and butter-rolls, then, weary of watching the endless grey miles slide by, fell into a comfortable doze.
    She was dreaming that she had found Kai, and that they were sitting together in the princess’s coach, on their way to the princess’s manor. Kai’s arm was around her; she could feel his warm breath stirring her hair. “Thank heavens you came for me, my brave Gerda,” he was whispering. “I knew one day you would rescue me from that woman’s vile ensorcelment.”
    And suddenly, in her dream, the coach lurched to a spine-jolting stop. Her sleep was shattered by a confusion of sounds — loud male voices, the shrill whinnying of the horses, the coachman shouting.
    Someone wrenched open the door of the carriage, seized Gerda and dragged her to the ground. Her captor smelled of sweat, and musty skins, and woodsmoke. She could not scream; a large dirty hand was clapped over her mouth.
    â€œLet her go,” a voice said, in heavily accented Swedish: a self-assured, commanding female voice.
    Hastily released, Gerda staggered. She reached out for the door handle, clung to it for support.
    The bandit who had seized Gerda sidestepped out of the way as a young woman strode forward. She was an inch or two taller than Gerda, and in her leather shirt and breeches looked as strong and broad-shouldered as a man. Her lank black hair hung raggedly to her shoulders. She had a bone-handled hunting knife stuck through her belt.
    Gerda shrank against the carriage. Close at hand she heard a shrill, surprised cry, abruptly cut short.
    She looked into the robber-girl’s black, mocking eyes. Her stomach twisted with cramp. Her throat had seized up so that it was hard to get her breath.
    The robber-girl’s strong brown hand closed around Gerda’s wrist and squeezed hard, grinding the bones together. She put her foot on the wheel and climbed onto the coachman’s seat, dragging Gerda up beside her. Then she gathered the reins and cracked the whip with a flourish. Two bandits who had been holding the horses’ heads jumped out of the way with grunts of surprise. The horses set off at a trot, and the carriage went careening along the rough track through the pinewoods. Behind her, Gerda could hear someone bellowing at them to stop.

C HAPTER E LEVEN
    R itva felt like a prince up there on the coachman’s seat. On the floor by her feet was a wicker basket full of sausages and white bread. She concentrated on driving one-handed while she delved into the basket wih the other. Then, with her mouth full of sausage, she turned her attention to the girl.
    She was dressed like a princess — or like Ritva imagined a princess must dress — in a fur-collared velvet coat and fur-lined boots of embroidered felt. “What are you going to give me for saving your life?” Ritva asked her in Finnish.
    For answer the girl made a whimpering noise in her throat.
    â€œDon’t start blubbering,” said Ritva, reaching for another sausage. “You’ll ruin that coat.”
    The girl clutched her squirrel-skin muff to her chest and stared straight ahead over the rumps of the horses. Angry red blotches flared on her pale cheeks. Her mouth trembled.
    â€œYou can give me those