Anna walked through the gap in the trees until she came to the edge of a tall bluff overlooking the fjord. She gazed at the wharf below. She watched as the moonlight danced on the village rooftops. This was one of Anna’s favorite places in all of Arendelle. It was quiet and peaceful. She came here whenever she needed time to just sit and think.

Anna took a seat on the ground, resting her back against the smooth bark of an ancient tree. She tucked her feet beneath her and smoothed her skirt. She ran her fingers over a few blades of grass poking through the snow. She replayed the conversation with Grand Pabbie over and over in her head.

Grand Pabbie said polar bears spend most of their time drifting on ice floes, she thought. He said polar bears travel long distances. He said they rarely, if ever, head south. How could the polar bears have traveled to Arendelle by mistake? She rested her head against the tree and closed her eyes. Then she took a deep, calming breath.

CRASH!

Anna’s eyes popped open. “What was that?” she said. She stood and walked to the edge of the cliff. She heard a low rumbling sound. She looked to her right just in time to see a large pile of snow slide off the mountain and tumble into the sea. CRASH!

Anna gazed down at the harbor, then farther out to sea. She scanned the horizon. She squinted and peered into the distance. Not an ice floe in sight.

That’s odd, she thought. From this height, she could usually see hundreds of icebergs bobbing in the water. I guess it has been a little warm lately. And Elin did mention that some of the ice in the harbor had thawed.

Anna looked back at the cliff face. She watched as a few snow-covered rocks slid and crashed into the sea. Grand Pabbie’s voice came back to her, reminding her that polar bears travel with the help of floating ice.

“I’ve got it!” she yelled triumphantly. She turned back to the forest and dashed toward the palace.

Anna raced across the royal gardens and burst through the palace doors. She walked quickly down the hall to the audience chamber, where Elsa and Olaf were waiting.

“Anna!” Elsa said, rising from her throne. “I was worried about you. You were gone a long time!” She threw her arms around her sister and gave her a tight squeeze.

“I’m sorry,” Anna said. She patted Olaf’s head and smiled. “I just needed some time to think. And guess what? I think I’ve finally figured out our polar bear problem!”

Anna explained to Elsa all she had seen at the bluff. She described the snow melting off the cliff faces and crashing into the fjord. She reported that there weren’t any ice floes in the water. She reminded Elsa and Olaf what Elin had said about the thawing ice in the harbor. Finally, she recapped what Grand Pabbie had told them about the ways polar bears live.

“See, Elsa?” Anna said. “It all adds up!”

She pulled out her evidence notebook and flipped through the pages. “Our polar bears were probably drifting on an ice floe, since that’s what polar bears usually do. But for some reason, they drifted south instead of north.”

Anna paused. She wanted to make sure Elsa was following her.

“Uh-huh,” Olaf said, nodding. “Go on.”

Anna continued. “By the time our bears reached the shores of Arendelle, this unusually warm weather we’ve been having must have melted their ice floe, stranding them here on the mainland.”

Anna flipped the page and glanced at her notes. “With no way to get back home, and no food, the bears started stealing fish from the wharf and pies from the bakery to survive. For our polar bears, the trash heap must have become a kind of home away from home.”

Anna finished making her case and snapped her evidence book shut. She waited patiently for Elsa to take in this new information.

Elsa sat back down in her throne and rested her chin in her hand. After a few quiet moments, she spoke up.

“That’s great work, Anna. We finally know how the polar bears got to Arendelle. What I’m not sure about, though, is how exactly we get them home.”

Anna smiled. “The same way they got here in the first place,” she said. “Come on, Elsa. There’s no time to lose. Let’s go to the wharf.”