Strawberry Shortcake kept walking. Strawberry Stream was very spread out. Blueberry said that Orange Blossom lived right next door, but she hadn't seen anything that looked like a house since she left. Custard struggled to take a nap in the wagon, while Strawberry started to get tired of walking. She got slower and slower and breathed heavily. It wasn't hot outside at all, and the wind was blowing more gently now, but Strawberry's usual energy had disappeared. She was worn out and sluggish. Custard gave her owner a weird look.

"Strawberry?" she asked, "are you OK?"

Strawberry didn't answer the question. She just kept moving forward, slower than molasses. She was almost completely out of energy. Someone noticed her struggling, but she ran off. Strawberry Shortcake reached her hand out, but she couldn't stop her. Strawberry desperately needed to rest. She sat on the ground and exhaled. The wind picked up a little and almost blew her hat off again, but Strawberry reached for her hat and pulled it back on. Suddenly, she noticed the girl who noticed her before. She had dark skin and dark eyes. Her hair was black, curly, and tied up into buns. She wore a yellow shirt covered by a pair of orange overalls. She was carrying a tray with a pitcher of orange juice and a few glasses on it. She set the tray on the ground and tapped Strawberry on the shoulder.

"Hey." She picked up the pitcher and poured some juice into one of the glasses. "Need a drink?"

Strawberry Shortcake nodded. The girl handed Strawberry a glass, and she downed it in one gulp. Custard's jaw dropped.

"Thank you berry much!" Strawberry said with a smile.

"Hey, no problem!" the girl replied.

"Say, what's your name?" Strawberry asked.

"I'm Orange Blossom, what's yours?"

"I'm Strawberry Shortcake! It's berry nice to meet you!"

"Berry nice to meet you too, Strawberry!" Orange Blossom took Strawberry's hand and helped her up.

"You know," Orange began, "you remind me of my friend Blueberry Muffin. She says 'berry' a lot too."

"Oh," Strawberry said, "I met her earlier! She told me to visit you for some help."

"Help?" Orange asked, "what kind of help?"

"I just moved to Strawberry Stream, and I can't find my house."

"Oh, well, welcome to Strawberry Stream!" Orange exclaimed, "I'll see what I can do about the map. Follow me!"

Strawberry Shortcake followed Orange Blossom, pulling the wagon behind her. They went into an orchard filled with fruit trees. Strawberry and Custard hadn't seen a bigger orchard in their lives. Most of the trees had bright, juicy oranges growing on them, but there were also some trees with apples or lemons or cherries. Strawberry and Custard noticed that one of the orange trees was much bigger than the others. It had tons of oranges growing on it. Strawberry stopped and stared, as did Custard. When Orange noticed that her new friends weren't following her, she went back and tapped Strawberry on the shoulder.

"What's up?" Orange asked.

"That tree," Strawberry said, "it's so berry beautiful!"

"Oh!" Orange said with a laugh, "that's my house!"

"You live in a treehouse, Orange Blossom?"

"I sure do, Strawberry!"

Custard smiled at the house. It looked like the orange she saw on the map earlier before it blew away. Orange Blossom and Strawberry Shortcake kept walking through the orchard, until eventually, Orange decided to take Strawberry and Custard into her treehouse. She began walking up the staircase to her treehouse, while Strawberry took Custard out of the wagon and followed Orange up. They all went inside. Strawberry set down Custard, and she went straight to Orange Blossom's sofa. Strawberry then decided to look out the window, and she was amazed by the view. She could see the entire orchard from the window.

"You have such a lovely house!" Strawberry exclaimed.

"Thanks!" Orange replied.

Strawberry Shortcake sat down with Custard on the sofa. Custard crawled into her lap, and Strawberry began to pet her. She noticed a few paintings on the wall. There were garden landscapes, trees, butterflies, and fruit. Strawberry smiled.

"Orange," Strawberry began, "where did you get these paintings from?"

"Oh, I painted all of them myself," she said.

"They look wonderful!" Strawberry exclaimed.

"Thank you so much! I really enjoy painting. It's so calming."

Strawberry giggled and looked at Orange Blossom. Orange was pacing across the floor, opening and shutting cabinets and drawers. Strawberry stopped petting Custard.

"Hey, why'd you stop?" Custard asked.

"Orange?" Strawberry asked, "are you OK?"

"No, not really," Orange said, sweating a little bit.

"What's the matter?" Strawberry said.

"We're having a party tonight for someone who's moving to Strawberry Stream, and I promised I'd make juice for everyone, but I'm really far behind!"

That was the second time she heard about the party. Strawberry Shortcake knew that Orange Blossom needed help, and when somebody needed help, she just couldn't say no.

"Would you like me to help you?" Strawberry asked.

"No, I can do this," Orange said with a stutter.

"You need help," Strawberry stated.

Orange Blossom wasn't big on letting others help her with her responsibilities, especially people she didn't know all that well, but Strawberry was right: she did need help. If she didn't get help, the party could be disaster

"Can you juice an orange?" Orange asked.

"Sure can!" Strawberry nodded.

Strawberry Shortcake ran over to Orange Blossom. Orange explained to Strawberry what she needed to do, and they instantly got to work. They chopped up fruit, juiced oranges and lemons, blended fruit together, and poured the juice into glasses for quite a while. Strawberry made a few mistakes along the way, but the two of them were able to laugh it off. They made juice in almost every color of the rainbow. After they finished cleaning up Strawberry's mess, Strawberry opened up the fridge. To her surprise, it was already filled to the brim with trays with glasses of juice on them.

"Oh, my goodness!" Strawberry exclaimed, "Orange Blossom, how are you going to keep all this juice fresh?"

"Don't worry," she said, "I have some more fridges."

Orange Blossom motioned to Strawberry to follow her. Orange led her to another room, filled with fridges. Strawberry's jaw dropped.

"You have that many fridges?" she asked.

"It comes in handy for someone who makes as much juice as I do," Orange replied.

Strawberry laughed. She went to get a tray to put some of the juice on. Custard had been taking a nap, but once she heard Strawberry's footsteps, she woke up. When Strawberry walked off with the cups on a tray, Custard leaped off the sofa and followed her. Orange Blossom opened one of the fridges in the room, while Strawberry put the juice inside. Orange shut the fridge, but before Strawberry could get another tray, she saw Custard underneath her feet.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "sorry Custard! I didn't know you were here!"

"I wasn't a minute ago," Custard said, "but we still don't know how to get to our house."

"I didn't know cats could talk!" Orange interrupted.

"Most of them can't," Strawberry said, "but Custard here can, and she does! A lot!"

Orange Blossom and Custard laughed.

"Oh, um, Custard," Orange said, "I'm Orange Blossom, by the way. Sorry I didn't introduce myself to you."

"Hey," Custard said, "no worries."

Orange Blossom offered Custard her hand. Custard put her paw in Orange's hand and they shook. Strawberry giggled. Custard felt a little bit awkward.

"So," Orange said, "what's up?"

"Do you have a map we could use?" Custard asked, "the wind blew ours away earlier and we don't know where we're going."

Orange Blossom took a deep breath.

"I just did some cleaning the other day," she said, "if I had a map, I would've given it to you already. Sorry Strawberry, sorry Custard."

"That's OK Orange Blossom!" Strawberry replied.

"Maybe you could give us some directions?" Custard asked.

"That I can do," Orange said, "so, when you leave the orchards, keep going straight until you see the house that looks like a torte, the one that has the river going under it. Then, turn right and keep going until you see a strange purple house. That's where Plum Pudding lives. She's a genius. If anyone can help you out, it's her."

"Go straight, turn right at the torte, and keep going until I see a purple house?" Strawberry asked.

"You got it!" Orange exclaimed.

"Thank you, Orange Blossom!" Strawberry said.

"No problem, but before you go, I need to give you something!"

Orange Blossom ran off and pulled out a thermos with strawberries on it. She poured some orange juice into it and gave it to Strawberry.

"Take this with you," Orange said, "I don't want you passing out in the middle of the road."

"Oh, Orange, you're so thoughtful!" Strawberry responded. "Thank you berry much!"

Strawberry Shortcake picked up Custard and waved goodbye to Orange Blossom.

"Goodbye Strawberry! Goodbye Custard!" Orange waved back.

"Goodbye Orange Blossom!"

The two made their way down the stairs. Strawberry put Custard in the wagon along with her new thermos and began pulling them straight ahead. Orange went to the balcony of her treehouse and waved one last time. Strawberry knew what she had to do now: go straight, turn right at the torte, and keep going until she saw a purple house.