Chapter 16
Peppy: she...betrayed us...
Poppy: (pauses) what? What'd you mean betrayed us...you said she-
Peppy: I haven't told you the truth...
Poppy: well what is the truth?!
Peppy: 20 years ago...every year we knew the bergens would select a troll for trollstice and we made a plan to leave the troll tree a few days before trollstice so we could escape the bergens forever but...a day before we were about to make our escape plan into action...the troll tree was caged...and there on the shoulder of the Bergen chef..was your mother..she revealed she was taken by one earlier in the day..she had convinced the chef to let her go free in return for the other trolls...I don't know what happened to her afterwards...I didn't want to believe it but...she betrayed us to save herself..
(All the trolls who hadn't been there on the escape 20 years ago were in complete shock but it was nothing compared to poppy)
Poppy: no...it's not true! Tell me it isn't true!
Peppy: I'm afraid it is...
Poppy: no you're lying!
Peppy: poppy...
Poppy: why? Why would you lie to me like that?!
Peppy: I didn't want to hurt you with the truth...I wanted you to be the happiest you could be...I thought you were better off not knowing
Poppy: well...it certainly didn't work...(starts to walk away)
Peppy: poppy...please don't walk away
Poppy: (stops and doesn't look at him) I have nothing more to say to you...why should I believe anything you say? Are you really my father?
Branch: (gasps) poppy why would you ask something like that?
Poppy: gee branch I don't know! Maybe because everything I know is based on lies now! Heck! Do you even love me? Or is that a lie too? What other lies should I know about? What dad? Do I have a brother or sister I don't know about?
Peppy: (says nothing)
Poppy: yeah that's what I thought (takes off her crown)
Peppy: (looks hurt) poppy what'd you doing?
Poppy: you probably don't even think I can handle being queen if you couldn't tell me the truth all those years (throws it on the ground and storms off in her house)
Berry: don't beat yourself up peppy...she just needs some time to process this...
Peppy: she's right...I should've told her...
Berry: we can only do what's right for our children...she'll come around
(Everyone in the village tries to check on poppy...but she won't let anyone in...even branch)
Branch: poppy..please talk to me...
(No answer)
Berry: branch...she'll talk when she's ready...
(Unknowing to everyone else it hurt poppy that she didn't answer...she wanted to but she just couldn't even if it was Branch...she just couldn't swallow the truth..her own mother betrayed the village? It just didn't seem right to her...this was creek all over again...only this hurt even worse...)
(The whole night no one hears a word from poppy until the morning when Branch discovers a note on her door)
Branch: everyone! Everyone!
Peppy: what? What happened?
Branch: (holds up the note) poppys gone...
(Well now we know the truth...but where has poppy gone? Hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to review! ~Ash)