The Adventures of Azalea and Twig (book 5)

Chapter 3

At the tree house, Poppy was sitting at the table, watching her dad play peek-a-boo with Twig.

"Peek-a-boo," he said, covering and uncovering his eyes. Twig laughed, clapping his little hands. "Peek-a-boo!"

"Look who I found," Pansy said, walking in with Branch behind her.
"Branch!" Poppy said, joyfully, as she ran over to hug him. "You made it!"
"Yeah... didn't really have much of a say in the matter..." Branch grumbled. "What are we doing here anyways?"

"I need your help," Pansy said. "There have been hunters sneaking around the forest lately. If they find their way into the grove, they'll kill all the Synathins."

     "Oh no..." Poppy gasped, covering her mouth. "That's awful."
"So? What do you want us to do?"
"Well... I heard you are good at setting traps, Branch..."

     Branch looked away, blushing a little.

     "Well... I guess I am pretty good at setting traps," he admitted.
"I need you to set traps to keep the hunters out of here."
"On it," Branch said, putting Azalea down, as he ran out to set as many traps as he could.

     "Poppy... I need your crafting skills to make some signs to deter the hunters from coming anywhere near her."
"Ok, mom. I've got this," she said, pulling construction paper, and glitter out of her hair.

     "What about us!? What about us!?" Azalea asked, as she bounced up and down with twig, excitedly.

     "You two are going to spend some time with grandma," Pansy replied smiling. "Nope! No. No. No. No. No. No. No," Branch said, suddenly walking back in.
"Branch? I thought you went to set traps," Pansy said.
"I did. And then I realized... I don't trust you to be anywhere near my kids alone."

     She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.

     "Oh come on Branch. They're my grandkids. I wouldn't hurt them."
"Really? What where you planning on doing with them, then?"
"I was just gonna take them for a ride on Uueeka," she responded.
"Exactly why I don't trust you. Come on kids. You're coming with me, so you stay safe."