Scrimps! Not now! Branch thought in panic.

What was he going to do?

He had several people under his watch, including a little less than a dozen children, one of whom had not answered his call! They'd traveled on foot, so there was no wagon or vehicle of any kind to transport them together out of the berry patch! They'd have to run, but there was no time for that! And where the heck was Jenny?

What was he going to do? What?

The sounds he had heard seconds ago, albeit far away-not too far away-, had been the hungry growls of the creatures known as Scrimps. The size of a cater-bus, thick bodies coated with black fur and red stripes. They had beady little eyes, stubby snouts and evil fangs. Not to mention their lethal claws! And they preyed heavily on any creature smaller than them, troll or not. He'd had a run-in with them a couple years back. They were creatures that he detested almost as much as he had the Bergens!

If he was the only one in question, Branch would've run for it then and there! But he wasn't the only one here! There was no way they'd outrun the dreadful beasts, especially once they'd picked up the scent of troll! His ears twitched anxiously. They were getting closer!

Branch ruthlessly blew his whistle. His friends gaped at him. "Everybody, stop!" He yelled urgently. "I need you all to climb up into the cloud berry trees as fast as you can! Right now!" He explained breathlessly.

"Branch-" Chenille began to shake her head.

"NOW!" Branch repeated more forcefully. Then the loud, hungry growls of the horrible beasts could be heard by all! "Grab the little ones! Everybody, in the trees now! Hurry!" The other trolls ran, screaming, grabbing onto each other as they fearfully obeyed. Branch speedily counted heads as he helped them all to safety.

"Jenny! Where's Jenny?! JENNY!" Branch shouted.

"Jenny! Jenny!" The kids began screeching anxiously.

"Branch! What's coming?" Guy Diamond asked.

"Scrimps! Everybody stay where you are! Do NOT come down! You hear me?!" Branch commanded.

"But what about Jenny?!" Biggie asked as he held Mr. Dinkles close to his chest.

"I'll find her! Everybody, stay in the trees!" Branch told them.

"Jenny?! Jenny! Where are you?! Answer me!" Branch called out, running around the patch like a chicken with its head cut off, whipping his head back and forth trying to spot the purple little redhead. Then he saw her sketchbook behind the blackberry bush. He ran to it, and picked it up. It wasn't torn, so Jenny couldn't have been attacked. But why didn't she answer him? Why was her book on the ground? She was inseparable from it! "Jenny?!" Branch called out again.

The Scrimps were getting closer, he could feel the pounding of their paw pads vibrating the ground underneath his feet. His pulse was racing and his heart was pounding.

Then he heard a whistle! A whistle! He followed it until the sound led him to a small duvet, a weasel sized ditch in the ground. He hurried over, calling for the little girl. "Jenny? Is that you?! I'm coming!" He called. He peered over the edge, and there was Jenny!

The hole was about three feet in height so for a troll, it was deep. Jenny was lying on her side at the bottom, her puny body trembling violently. She was covered in welts, pale, her breathing was ragged, and her eyes were darting back and forth. She was seizing.

"JENNY!" Branch gasped, horrified. He'd seen this before. All of the trolls had, though it was only a handful of times through the years. Bludger venom! Bludgers were small bug-like creatures that had claws like lobsters and scuttled on the ground like insects. Their horned tails were loaded with deadly venom and it was their main defense mechanism against enemies and prey. She'd obviously been stung by one of the six-legged devils! They were known to live underground but they usually ventured out into the open, not a crowded place like the berry patch.

Branch's heart sank. "Jenny!" He cried and quickly rummaged through his First Aid kit inside his pack, searching desperately for the emergency stim pen. He unrolled his long dark hair, shot it down into the hole, grabbed Jenny, and reeled her small form back to himself. "I got ya." He told her. He snatched the cap off of the pen in his hand and plunged it into Jenny's flailing arm sending adrenaline through her system. Within seconds, she was conscious, her eyes focused, and she wasn't seizing wildly anymore. But her breathing was still heavy, and her limbs still trembled badly. "Jenny?" Branch gulped, hoping it had done the trick. She didn't seem to hear him. I'm sorry, kid, Branch thought grimly as he roughly injected her again.

"Oooww!" She cried, drawing her arms to her chest.

"Jenny?" Branch met her eyes.

"I feel...sick! My arm hurts." She moaned pitifully, tears forming in her eyes.

"I know. I'm sorry." Branch said sympathetically. "Come on! We gotta get out of here!"

"Aaaahhh!" Jenny shrieked, paralyzed with terror.

Branch looked up. To his horror, the Scrimps were nearly upon them. Jenny screamed hysterically. Branch grabbed her up into his arms and ran for all he was worth.

As he raced back to the cloud berry trees, he used his hair to quickly scoop up Jenny's sketchbook. He frantically whistled to the others as he neared them. "Biggie! I found her! Take her! Hurry!" Branch yelled, rolling the little girl and her precious book into his hair and thrusting them both up to the rotund blue troll who held them to his chest.

"Got her, Branch!" Biggie assured him.

"Branch! Get up here!" Satin yelled down to him.

"Blow your whistles!" Branch told them. "Scrimps hate high-pitched sounds. Blow! Blow!"

"Branch! Behind you-" Guy Diamond called. Branch glanced over his shoulder as the huge, stampeding beasts charged at him. He had no time to react! The ground under him shook violently, throwing him off balance. He would've pulled out his spiked club, if he'd had the chance.

Suddenly, he felt streaks of hot pain as a Scrimp's claws slashed across his abdomen.

"BRANCH!"