Magic

Chapter 3: Wrong Place, Wrong Time

"If you can just—"

"OUT!"

Rapunzel gingerly raced out of the garden as Pascal clung on to her sleeve and quickly opened the gate. She turned to see that Olaf was still in the garden and gestured for him to come with her but instead, Olaf turned to the woman with a smile on his face.

"Can I have a tomato?" he asked. "I've never tried one before—"

"GET OUT OF HERE!" the woman shrilled, scaring the snowman. Olaf let out a loud yelp and scurried over to Rapunzel with the woman marching right behind him. Rapunzel allowed Olaf to run out of the garden first. "AND STAY OUT!"

As soon as Rapunzel ran out of the garden, the woman slammed the gate and snatched Olaf's nose from him. "Hey, that's mine!" Olaf said.

"No, you stole it from me!" the woman barked.

"We did no such thing!" Rapunzel snapped, glaring at the screaming woman. "You're the one who—"

"GET OUT!" the woman screamed. Rapunzel and Olaf took this as the last warning and ran away from the woman and her ruined garden. "AND DON'T YOU DARE COME BACK OR I'll REPORT YOU!"

They kept running until they were apparently in a large city. Rapunzel glanced over her shoulder to make sure that the woman wasn't chasing after her and saw no one behind her. As she turned back to Olaf, she saw that the buildings were tall and that the weather was beyond humid which surprised her because she had expected the weather to be cooler in the Northern Isles.

"Why did she think we stole my nose?" Olaf asked.

"We landed in her garden and there were carrots, Olaf," Rapunzel explained as she took out her handkerchief and coughed into it. Although she thought the woman overreacted and she didn't have to take Olaf's nose, the woman had gone through all that trouble of cultivating a garden only for it to be destroyed. Pascal chattered to her and she peered down at her little friend. "I tried to explain to her about the dust portal, Pascal, but she didn't believe me."

"You don't think the same thing happened to Elsa, do you?" Olaf asked.

"I'm sure she's had better luck than we have," Rapunzel replied. She peered around the area for her cousin. "Speaking of which, where is she? She should be around here somewhere."

"We'll find her, right?" Olaf asked nervously.

"Don't worry, Olaf. We will." Rapunzel smiled reassuringly. As she glanced over her shoulder again, she wrapped her arm around Olaf as Pascal crawled onto her shoulder and they stepped forward into the streets of the large city. The city was larger than she'd been expecting. The streets were filled with busy residents. The children were playing games with each other while the men and women were either coming out of buildings or heading towards a destination. "While we're looking for her, we should buy you a new carrot. We'll run into Elsa or she'll meet us somewhere."

As Rapunzel and Olaf explored further into the city, a woman and young boy approached a man who opened his arms and the young boy jumped into his arms. The man and boy laughed and the woman smiled as she stood by them.

"I am so happy to see you, Uncle Joseph!" the boy exclaimed.

"I haven't seen you and your mother in such a long time." Joseph smiled.

"Thank you for letting us come here to stay for a while, Joseph," the woman said. "My husband doesn't even know when he'll come back from his trip. I figured since your nephew hasn't seen you in so long, we could stop by to visit you and your wife."

"I understand." Joseph smiled. "Welcome to Mirahton!"

The loud sounds of the city carried out over the atmosphere as Rapunzel and Olaf wandered onto the streets where the citizens were doing their daily routines, bikes riding past them, and children playing ball. Although the street was filled with its residents, Rapunzel was surprised that they hadn't run into a market and most of all, she was surprised that they had yet to find her cousin. Was there a possibility that Elsa had landed in another part of the country? She doubted that Elsa would search for Lord Graham without her and she knew that she would be appalled if they decided that they would search for the Lord without her, which they would never do. When they found her, they would have to keep Elsa's identity hidden until they found Lord Graham. However, Rapunzel didn't need to keep her identity hidden and could inquire the citizens for Elsa's whereabouts without giving her away.