John stopped on a large, thick branch of the Troll Tree, near the center of it. Bergen Town was it's usual cloudiness, but not from their unhappiness this time. Poppy noticed that Bergen Town was cloudier than Pop Village, even though they aren't that far apart from each other. It was cloudy most of the year, most nights and summer days excluding.
"Is this the Troll Tree?" Demo asked, walking slowly along the branch, scanning the nearby leaves and pods, some of them occupied.
"Yep!" Poppy replied. "This is where we used to live before we escaped."
"So did you live here first or..." Demo asked.
"We lived here first," Poppy explained. "Some Bergen found us and built a whole town around the tree, trapping it in a large cage."
"Couldn't you guys have just escaped through the bars?" John asked. Poppy opened her mouth to protest, then she closed it. "I guess we could've," she said finally.
"Ah, here we are!" John exclaimed, stopping in front of a white pod. The pod has a pale yellow stripe across the center, and pale brown covered the bottom. Like most pods, it's wide with a single, round window in the center of it.
"Oh, yeah!" Poppy said. "Okay, I remember now!" Poppy ran inside, excited. "This is where I found Branch listening to BroZone records on his grandma's record player! Then I asked him if his face was okay, because he was smiling and crying at the same time, and he said it did, and then he said that we should get married and we-"
"Poppy!" Demo cried. "We're here on a mission!"
"Oh, right! Sorry!" Poppy said. "Carried away again!" Poppy checked on a chair for the cloak. Demo scanned the pictures on the wall, one of BroZone as children, another of Branch's grandma. "Hey, is this your grandma?" Demo asked.
"Oh, yeah," John said, looking at the picture. Poppy looked too. "She looks so kind," Poppy said.
"She was," John said. "At least when she wasn't trying to beat you at Poker. She was never really good at it but she liked to think she was. We used to let her win all the time."
"Sounds like dad," Poppy said.
John opened a nearby dresser and shuffled around inside. He moved around a bunch of pictures, mostly of her and Branch. He found one with grandma and all his brothers, including himself. He pulled it out and smiled at it. "Grandma really was a kind Troll. She was the kindest I ever met," John said. He smiled at the picture again and propped it up against the lamp on the dresser.
Demo checked under a table, and pulled out a knitter blanket. "Hey, look! Did she knit?"
"I don't remember her knitting," John said. "Either she took it up when Branch was living with her or she always did and I didn't know for some reason."
Demo put the blanket on a chair nearby the table and pushed it in. Demo checked on the other chairs and found more blankets but no cloak. "I got nothing," he said.
"Me neither," John agreed. "Just pictures."
"Pictures are nice though!" Poppy said. "Branch has a phot album, I bet you could copy some of those and give it to him!"
"That's a great idea!" John said enthusiastically. John grabbed the picture he propped up against the lamp and pocketed it. "I'll return you later," he whispered.
"I didn't find anything either," Poppy said. "I guess it's not here?"
"Was she wearing it when she was snatched?" John asked.
"I believe she was, but Branch seems certain he can find it," Poppy said. "I don't like doubting people..."
"It's okay, Poppy," Demo said. "We'll help you find it, even if it's the last thing we do!"
"I wouldn't go that far," John said. "I don't think we're going to die."
"Yeah, sorry," Demo said. "I got into it."