Chapter Six – On the Hunt

CJ volunteered to track down the beans they needed. The first person she always thought of to help her was her aunt.

"Hey Aunt DJ!" CJ greeted. "Do we have any beans?"

"Check the cupboards in the kitchen!" DJ Suki called from her deejay booth.

CJ pulled a chair into the kitchen and opened up every single cupboard. "Black beans…..white beans…green beans…purple beans…polka dot beans….chartreuse beans…yuck!" CJ hummed in thought. "None of these would make a good Rainbow Stone. I don't even eat these!" She put the chair back where she found it. "Beans….what's a good bean that could make the perfect stone for this Wishing Well?"

Gasping in realization, CJ thanked her aunt and sprinted home. She ran right to her room and dove under her bed. She pulled out a box labeled "CJ's Candy Stash – Stay out!" CJ rummaged through the chocolate bars, bags of gummi bears, and packages of fruity hard candies. She finally found the proper bag. "Jellybeans! Perfect!"

In her search for the proper apples, Clampers ran into Poppy carrying a whole basketful.

"Queen Poppy?" Clampers said in her sweetest voice. "May I have some of those apples?"

"Sorry, Clampers. I'm turning these into caramel apples for Trollzart's birthday." Poppy said. "But I do have a surplus. If you help me make the caramel apples, I'll give you enough for you and your friends."

"Deal!" Clampers followed Poppy to the castle kitchen.

"I'll get to work on the caramel we'll dip the apples into." Poppy instructed. "You take these apples and wash them off."

"Yes, Queen Poppy!" Clampers hauled the basket over to the sink and started washing. She took extra care to check for bruises, dirt, or a hole where which a worm might have crawled. She scrubbed the skins so that each apple shined. Poppy was so impressed by her work that she allowed Clampers to carefully stab sticks into each apple and arrange them on a tray for dipping.

"Watch this." Poppy picked up an apple on a stick and dipped it into the warm caramel. She pulled the apple out again, let it drip for a moment, and then set it on another empty tray. "Make sure you let it drip for a moment before you put it on the cold tray. That will help the caramel solidify. Make sense?"

"Yep!" Clampers grabbed an apple and joined Poppy in coating them in the caramel glaze. In about an hour, they had every apple covered and cooling on a tray.

Poppy packed six of the caramel apples in a box and handed it to Clampers. "You were a big help, Clampers. Thanks so much."

"Thank you for the apples!" Clampers scurried away, to Poppy's confusion and amusement.

As top music student in Symphonyville, Cadence had a special place in Trollzart's heart, and he always had time to address any questions she would have about anything. He was happy to answer her when she asked what is a Rapunzel flower.

"Well, rapunzel is actually a type of plant, sort of like lettuce or spinach." Trollzart led her to his personal garden behind the castle. "It's also the name of that princess in your fairytale book."

"But does the lettuce have flowers?" Cadence asked.

"Sometimes." Trollzart nodded. "I prefer to use them as a garnish in food." He gestured to a small plot of leafy bushes. Cadence saw several little purple-white flowers on the plants.

"They're so pretty!" Cadence cooed. "May I take some of the flowers, King Trollzart?"

"Of course. But whatever for?" Trollzart helped her pick the biggest and prettiest of the blossoms.

"A project my friends and I are doing." Cadence said.

"Ah, yes. You and those other trolls are getting along?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'm very glad to hear that. Can I still expect you at the orchestra performance next week?"

"Of course! Thank you!" Cadence flew off.

"In my opinion, the best bread is the one you make yourself!" Cooper took off his green hat and placed it on the "Everything's good hat" peg. He put on the hat that rested under the "Cooking hat" peg. "I'm making banana bread today."

"Can Ozzy and I help? And bring some bread to our friends?" Blue requested.

"Sure! Poppy and I are going to teach my bro to make it." Cooper gestured to Poppy and Prince D, who were busy in Cooper's kitchen gathering ingredients.

"I wanted to review the recipe before I teach Barb how to make it." Poppy said. "Plus, I get to spend some time with Cooper's brother!"

"And I get to bond some more with Cooper's sister." Darnell winked at Poppy. Even after finding his birth family, Cooper could not speak more highly about his surrogate sister. Ergo, Darnell and Poppy decided they were family and all three siblings needed to spend time together.

"What are bananas?" Ozzy asked as he and Blue pushed a couple stools to the kitchen island.

"These are." Poppy handed the yellow fruit to Ozzy. "But we won't be using those. We'll be using these one-month-old ones Cooper found in the freezer." She held up a bowl of bananas, but these were completely brown, looked mushy, and even had a few ice spots still on the skins.

"Are those even edible?" Blue asked.

"Maybe not as they are, but they're going to make great banana bread!" Cooper said. "Poppy and Ozzy, you combine the wet ingredients. D and Blue, you put together the dry ingredients. I'm going to preheat the oven and mash the bananas!"

Only Poppy had the foresight to duck when Cooper peeled the bananas, took out a mallet, and started literally mashing them. Everyone else got a little banana mush on them. Luckily, there was still enough for the bread batter itself. Each baker added an extra ingredient to the tops of their loaf to label them: Poppy used cinnamon, Darnell used extra bananas, Cooper added walnuts, Ozzy sprinkled chocolate chips on top, and Blue lined his loaf with three neat rows of gumdrops. The pod filled with the warm aroma of bread baking while Ozzy and Blue helped the adults clean up. Once the bread finished, everyone taste-tested each other's breads.

"This is so good!" Ozzy said with his mouth full.

"Don't eat all of it." Blue quietly reminded him. "We still need breadcrumbs."

"Yeah, but just the crumbs." Ozzy whispered back. "Not the entire loaf."

"Good point." Blue mused. He and Ozzy packed up their bread, thanked Cooper, Poppy, and Prince D, and then hurried off to meet up with their friends.

"What do you suppose they're up to?" Poppy wondered. Prince D and Cooper shrugged.

"Hey Poppy!" Barb called from outside the pod. Poppy, Cooper, and Darnell poked their heads out the door and saw the Queen of Rock with the King of Techno, waving them down. The two of them held an envelope twice Cooper's size.

"Letter came for you." Trollex announced as Barb handed a large envelope to Poppy.

"Who writes letters this big?" Barb asked.

"Probably Bridget." Poppy used her scrapbooking scissors to cut the envelope open and unfolded the letter. She checked the signature. "Yep, from Bridget and Gristle." Poppy read over the entire letter. Trollex, Barb, Cooper, and Darnell watched as Poppy's bright smile morphed to a mildly confused frown, and then to wide eyes in horror, and finally to furrowed eyebrows of worry.

Cooper took the letter from her and read it to the others. "'Dear Poppy. We don't mean to concern you, but we thought it would be better safe than sorry. While our farmers in Bergen Town were tending to their fields, they caught someone trying to steal from them. We managed to catch the culprit, who wouldn't identify themselves. However, we both recognized this bergen as Chef herself. I know this sounds crazy, considering her banishment several years ago. Not to mention the rumors that went around saying she had been eaten by a hill monster. But we are very certain it was Chef, and we locked her in the dungeon. Unfortunately, we found out she escaped sometime during the night. Like we said, we didn't want to worry you, but we all remember what Chef did the last time she showed up, and we wanted to make sure our troll friends were aware should any potential danger come your way. Hope to see you soon. Bridget and Gristle. P.S. Tell Branch he still owes Gristle a rematch of Bergen Ball.' That last line is crossed out. I guess Bridget told Gristle to stop with all the rematches."

"Wait, isn't Chef the crazy bergen who got all the Pop Trolls captured?" Barb asked.

"Essentially tried to manipulate the bergens into thinking they depended on her making them happy." Poppy nibbled on her finger nervously. "She's a horrible, nasty person. How could she be alive? After everything that happened?"

Cooper put an arm around Poppy. "It's okay. Maybe they made a mistake."

"Even if they didn't, we'd probably see a big, bad bergen coming, right?" Trollex pointed out.

"That's true." Darnell agreed. "What do you think, Poppy?"

Poppy jumped, apparently lost in her thoughts. "I….uh….."

Only Cooper really understood Poppy's fear, especially since he had been captured the last time Chef came to Pop Village. "Maybe we can bring it up at the next meeting? Tell trolls to keep an eye out."

"Better yet, let's make sure there are no unauthorized trips into the forest." Trollex suggested.

Poppy finally relaxed. "Yeah. Yeah, good idea. I'm sure it'll be fine."

As the Mashups gathered the materials needed for the spell, they placed the ingredients in a box that Clampers stored in her room at the castle.

"We're doing great, guys!" CJ cheered. "But there's still much to gather."

"I think I know where to find a shoe and some mermaid scales." Coral Blush said. "Techno Trolls shed their tail scales, kind of like snakes. Mine's due for a shedding soon, and I'll save the scales for the spell."

"Clampers and I can get wolf hair." Ozzy offered. "Remember that pack we passed while we were camping with Branch?"

"We may have to sneak out to get that." Clampers pointed out. "Nobody's gonna let us go looking for wolves if we ask."

"Cadence, why don't you help me with the rose?" CJ suggested. "I know a book in the library that will help us grow one quickly."

"I'll find the gold." Blue offered. "I think I know where to get some. What about the bird feathers?"

"Why don't we each find a feather from our favorite bird?" Ozzy said. "If the book didn't say which bird, maybe it doesn't matter. What matters is getting this done before the full moon."

"Let's go!" Clampers urged.

Coral Blush hurried to Trollex's room in the castle and smiled when he heard the music coming from inside. He knocked loud enough for Trollex to hear, and the Techno King opened the door.

"What's up, Gup?" Trollex called over the music. He shut off the sound and hugged Coral Blush.

"I was wondering if you could help me find something." Coral Blush said. "I know you collect a lot of stuff."

"Well, as you can see from my Neat Stuff Collection," Trollex gestured around his room, where a variety of tchotchkes were arranged on shelves, the floor, and the ceiling in a sort of organized chaos only Trollex could understand. "I have quite the assortment of gadgets, gizmos, whozits, whatzits, and thingamabobs. What are you looking for?"

"A shoe." Coral Blush said. "One shoe that doesn't have a pair."

Trollex scratched his head. "A bit of an odd request, but okay!" He led Coral Blush to one of the boxes lining the room. "Unfortunately, I've got all sorts of different shoes, but they're all singles. No pairs in here…oh, except for these." Trollex held up a pair of what looked like clogs, but with holes in the top.

"What are those?" Coral Blush asked.

"I think they're called crocodiles? For some reason?" Trollex shrugged. "What do you want with one of my collection pieces, anyway?"

"A project my friends and I are working on." Coral Blush said. "Please, King Trollex? Is there something I can give you to trade?"

Trollex thought for a moment. "You know, there is something you could do. See, I'm making a mixtape for the party we're having to celebrate the new sculpture. I got so wrapped up in my music-making that I forgot to get groceries for my contribution to dinner tonight. If you take a little wagon, you should have no problem getting this list of stuff back to me. Think you can do that?"

"And I get a shoe?" Coral Blush asked hopefully.

"Sure, you can take one of the croc shoes." Trollex said.

"Deal!" Coral Blush took the list from Trollex, borrowed a wagon from Poppy, and hurried to the market. He read the list carefully, locating the exact right stall for everything he needed. A couple trolls offered to help Coral Blush carry the items or even just deliver them to Trollex, but Coral Blush was determined. He pulled the wagon with little difficulty. He carefully arranged the groceries in the wagon so nothing would fall or rattle and risk breakage. The market patrons often complimented him on his hard work and kindness. He even got a brownie from the bakery stall owner, which Coral Blush was happy to munch on as he returned to the castle.

Trollex checked the clock when Coral Blush rolled into his room with the wagon of food. "Wow. Record time. You really want that shoe, huh?"

"Yes, please." Coral Blush said with his best pleading eyes.

Trollex laughed. "Okay, okay. Help me put this stuff in the kitchen. Good job, Coral Blush."

When he finished with Trollex, Coral Blush hugged the single shoe without a pair to his chest and rushed from the castle. He only got so far before something jumped out in front of him and roared, and the little Techno Troll fell right out the air.

"Damion!" another troll stepped from the bushes to scold the first troll who had scared Coral Blush. "What did we talk about?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." The first troll scoffed. Once Coral Blush caught his breath, he got a better look at these trolls. They were teenagers and had the grey-toned skin of Rock Trolls. Both of them had grey-blue skin, much more on the greyscale side of the spectrum. One teen had dark red hair with black streaks and the other had hair so blonde it almost looked white. Coral Blush noticed these trolls seemed to have more wolfish features: pointier ears, sharper teeth, and a bit scruffier. It reminded Coral Blush of Queen Barb, who arguably had a few wolflike traits herself.

"Um…..who are you?" Coral Blush asked.

"I'm Landon." The blonde-haired Rock Troll said.

"Name's Damion." The red-and-black-haired troll introduced. The similarities in the features led to Coral Blush's assumption that these were twins. In fact, Damion and Landon wore jeans, boots, black T-shirts, and black choker necklaces. The only difference in clothing was Landon wore a vest with spikes on the shoulders and Damion wore a blood red trench coat.

"I'm Coral Blush. Excuse me." Coral Blush tried to float around the teens, but Landon snatched the shoe from his arms.

"What are you doing with this?" Landon asked. "You don't even have feet."

"It's for a project! Give it!" Coral Blush tried to grab the shoe back, but Landon tossed it to Damion. The teens laughed as they began their game of keep-away. Coral Blush chased the shoe back and forth between the twins, voicing his protests. He didn't get the shoe back until he shot straight up and intercepted a high toss between the twins.

"Hey, don't pout." Damion shrugged. "We were just playing."

"I don't like being scared. And I don't like people stealing my stuff." Coral Blush frowned.

"We're sorry." Landon said sincerely. "It was all in good fun. We won't do it again."

"Promise?" Coral Blush demanded.

"Promise." Damion and Landon said.

"Besides, there are other trolls in this town who are more fun to scare." Damion laughed.

Landon shoved his brother. "Ignore him. Run along, kid. We'll see you around."

Coral Blush waved and then floated away. He glanced back once to see Damion and Landon laughing good-naturedly on their way to the market. Coral Blush rolled his eyes. "When I'm their size, I won't be such a meanie."

Clampers and Ozzy peered over the rock they hid behind. Ahead of them was the wolf den. It was calm, with birds chirping in the trees above them.

"Okay, I think the coast is clear." Ozzy whispered. "It's been five minutes since the pack left to hunt."

"Let's hope these guys shed hair as much as I do." Clampers whispered. She and Ozzy tiptoed into the den. They searched the ground and walls for bits of wolf hair the canines might have shed.

Ozzy froze, and he gripped Clampers by the arm. She followed his gaze and stifled a gasp.

The wolf pack left the pups behind. A litter of wolf pups cuddled in a dogpile, napping peacefully.

"Very slowly back out of the den." Ozzy whispered to Clampers. They tried to tiptoe backwards out of the den. Unfortunately, one of the pups yawned and opened their eyes. The pup barked excitedly, waking their packmates, and the wolf pups suddenly pounced on Ozzy and Clampers. But the kids' screams of terror turned to squeals and giggles of delight as the wolf pups assaulted them with doggy kisses. By the time they escaped and bid their new friends goodbye, Clampers and Ozzy were covered in dog slobber and hair.

"Well, we got the wolf hair." Clampers laughed.

Ozzy sniffed her and then himself. He stuck out his tongue. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really want a bath."

"When I was in the Troll Rangers, we had to learn all these cool skills to earn patches." CJ explained to Cadence as they journeyed to the library. "One of the things I learned was how to grow a plant bridge using a special formula to make it grow faster. Maybe there's a fertilizer or something we can use to quickly grow a rose."

"It is worth a try." Cadence said. "I searched everywhere, but nobody seems to be growing roses right now."

"I think Branch has talked about it." CJ said. "He wants to build a wall of thorns around Music Central, and I think he thinks suggesting rose bushes is the compromise." The girls giggled.

"Good afternoon, girls." Essence greeted them.

"Hello, Queen Essence." CJ and Cadence said simultaneously.

"We are heading to the gardening section." Cadence announced.

"While you're over there, can you keep an eye out for a book called Alchemical Plants Found in Your Backyard?" Essence requested.

"What do you need that for?" CJ asked.

"It's my turn to take inventory of the books, and I'm finding many that are just missing." Essence said. "I have to track down any books that aren't checked out to other trolls."

"We'll keep an eye out." CJ promised. She and Cadence hurried to the gardening section. They scanned the shelves for books about instantaneous flowers while also looking for the book Essence mentioned.

"Is this what we need, CJ?" Cadence pulled down a book and showed it to her friend.

"'Instant bouquet.'" CJ read from the passage. "'For trolls who need a quick arrangement without going to the florist.' Yeah, I think this will work."

"It looks like we only need a single rose seed, which we will then modify with a special solution." Cadence perused the passage. "Got it! Let's go!"

"You remember it all after reading it only once?" CJ asked incredulously.

"My parents called it an 'eidetic memory.'" Cadence explained with a blush. "I guess it means I remember everything I see? Or read? I am not sure."

"That's so cool!" CJ squealed. "Come on! Let's go find a rose seed and the stuff for the solution! We got a rose to plant!"

The next time The Mashups got together in Clampers's room, they finally had every ingredient they needed. Just in time, too. The full moon was tomorrow.

"Okay, let's review." Coral Blush had the encyclopedia open to the Wishing Well page. "Beans? Check. Apple? Check. Rapunzel flowers? Breadcrumbs? One shoe? Wolf hair? Rose petals and thorns? Mermaid scales? Blue, did you find a bit of gold?"

"I earned these in a dance battle with Prince D." Blue held up a handful of the gold tinsel clip-ons the hip-hop prince was known to wear. "Although, I think he let me win. Do you think these will work?"

"Will any of our ingredients work?" CJ wondered. It certainly was an odd assortment of materials.

"The recipe doesn't say anything specific." Coral Blush reminded them.

"It also says the wrong combination could make the spell go wrong." Ozzy pointed out. "What if we end up with some old lady zombie or something?" The images that manifested in their minds was equal parts funny and creepy, and the kids shuddered.

"I think it will work." Clampers said. "We did the best we could, and we're doing this for Branch. It's a good wish, a nice wish, for someone else. That will help it stick, right?" Her friends nodded in agreement. "Everyone got their feathers?" Each of the six kids held up a feather from their favorite bird.

"I chose a songbird." Cadence said. "What about the rest of you?"

"An owl." Clampers said.

"A wingdingle." CJ announced.

"A duck!" Coral Blush hugged his feather.

"A raven." Ozzy held up the black feather.

"A peacock." Blue said.

"Where did you find a peacock?" CJ asked Blue curiously.

"Don't ask. Too weird." Blue said.

"This will work." Ozzy said. "I'm sure of it. I even found this rock!" He pulled a large rock, half the size of the kids' heads, from his hair and plopped it down before them.

"That's a perfect size!" Coral Blush said. "This Rainbow Stone is going to have a lot of magic!"

"Tomorrow night is the full moon." Cadence reminded them. "We need to find a cauldron and a safe place to put the stone while the magic is working."

"I can probably get one from the kitchens here in the castle." Clampers said. "Why don't we set it up in CJ's pod? You've got that nice big window and you're high up in the trees."

"You got it!" CJ nodded. "This is so exciting!"

"Fingers crossed." All of them crossed their fingers, sharing the hope that their hard work would be realized.

For once, none of the troll leaders were excited to start a meeting. When Trollex called for an emergency meeting after most of Music Central had gone to sleep, few assumed it was for something good. The troll leaders filed into the room with minimal chatter, murmuring to one another about the reason for this impromptu gathering. Darnell, Cooper, and Clampers did not attend, already asleep in their rooms.

"Okay, everyone!" Trollex spoke up. "Quiet down. We're all here. I'd like to get started."

"What's the word, Fish Boy?" Quincy asked. "You look worried."

"I am. Something weird has been going on." Trollex explained. "It started with that letter Poppy told us about regarding that evil bergen named Chef. I also received a letter from Techno Reef, saying they've been avoiding the beach lately because of strange creatures prowling about. I wanted to know if any of you noticed anything out of the ordinary."

"Actually, I also got a letter from back home." Barb said. "Something about some sketchy characters sneaking around on the outskirts of our borders."

"I got a similar letter." Delta Dawn confirmed. "Creatures that sort of looked like trolls, but were acting all skittish, and disappeared before anyone could get a good look at them."

"And they only ever showed up in the evenings or at night." Trollzart added as every other Major Genre leader confirmed they received similar messages.

"I don't know if this is related, but we have a lot of books missing from the library." Essence said. "Not just any books either. Books about magic and alchemy."

"The last time the Reggaeton Trolls came back from a rave at Techno Reef, we found something odd." Tambora piped up. "A cottage not that far from here. Looked sort of abandoned, and the location in general was pretty creepy."

Dickory raised his hand to speak. "My brother and I found many dead animals, all of them pups and chicks and little baby critters. I say it is witchcraft."

"I say it was those freaky dog things we saw." Hickory said. "But I'm starting to lean towards Dickory's explanation. Those dead animals looked like they died from something other than a predator attack or sickness."

Poppy nibbled on her thumb. Branch put a hand on her shoulder. "Poppy?"

"None of this really makes sense; and, yet, I can't stop thinking about what Gristle and Bridget said." Poppy said. "In fact, most of what everyone has said sounds like something Chef might have done. Trolls have a natural magic to them, whether or not we know or want it. Think about what our hair can do. Think about the Six Strings and the transformations at Barb's world tour concert. If it is some form of magic or witchcraft, and Chef managed to harness it—"

"Poppy, Chef is gone." Branch reassured her. "She can't hurt us anymore."

"I thought so, too. But what are the odds Bridget and Gristle were mistaken?" Poppy asked. "They caught the bergen thief and were ablet to get a good look at her. If Chef managed to escape from them, she's probably on her way to Pop Village or to any of the other kingdoms!"

"Queen Poppy, calm down." Wani soothed. "We cannot find a solution if we are too busy panicking."

Poppy shook her head. "I'm sorry. But none of you have any experience with how the bergens used to be, especially Chef. She's horrible and cruel and manipulative. She would do anything—and I mean anything—to get what she wants. She wants power, and she will do horrible, unspeakable things to all of us if she gets her way."

Branch pulled his fiancée into a comforting embrace. The other troll leaders were shocked to see the normally cheerful queen so distressed. "You have to understand," Branch continued, speaking to the other trolls in the room. "Chef was the Keeper of the Trolls when the bergens used to eat us. She encouraged it. She made them all believe they couldn't be happy without killing us off. Chef is the reason so many families were torn apart, including my own."

"We understand your fear, Branch." Hickory said. "Miss Poppy, we heard the stories of the bergens. More importantly, we know your story of how you became friends with them."

"Why are you not concerned about this?" Trollzart asked.

"Because we are forgetting something important." Hickory said. "We're all together now. We have rebuilt the bond that was broken by our ancestors years ago. If Chef ever comes back, if she discovers all the other kingdoms, she's going to be in for a nasty surprise. Poppy, we will not let you and the Pop Trolls deal with this on your own. We got your backs."

"I doubt this Chef has ever tangled with a Country Troll." Delta Dawn punched her palm.

"Dad always said I was a biter growing up." Barb bared her teeth.

"Plus, if the bergens are truly your friends, as Queen Bridget's letter states, then that means Chef no longer has the backing of the public." Trollex added.

"Without support from a lot of bergens, she can't do as much damage." Essence agreed.

Poppy calmed at last. "I am so happy we're all friends. But you shouldn't have to put yourselves at risk for a problem that's—"

"That's what friends do." Quincy insisted. "We look out for each other."

"If Chef wants a fight, we will give it to her." Trollzart declared.

"Doubt she's ever messed with the likes of us." Tresillo scoffed.

Poppy exhaled slowly. She smiled. "Thank you. All of you. You're right. We're together again, our clans united once more. We cannot take these signs lightly. Something is happening in the land with these weird creatures and bizarre animal deaths, and I think Chef is behind it. We should each write to our kingdoms. Let them know to look out for her."

"I say we go the extra mile and set up a watch around Music Central." Gomdori said.

"She's right." Wani agreed. "Let's not risk a troll being caught or our borders being invaded."

"All in favor?" Branch counted every hand in the room going up. "Good. I'll get to work on the schedule immediately."

"The rest of us should start recruiting trolls to take up the positions." Trollex suggested. "For the sake of our kingdom's safety."