Married Life

Chapter 21: Frantically Searching

Practically running home, Branch quickly closed the door and searched around the house, looking for any kind of clue to where the missing father-in-law had gone. He frantically searched through some random papers, looking for something, anything to get him a lead.

A cup was placed on the counter, making a clanking sound. Jumping in his spot, he looked over to find the pink troll in a white robe. Her hair was in a towel drying off.

"Poppy! You scared me.. I thought you were napping.."

"Well, I was. But I thought the steam would help my head, and it did! I feel great!" She said enthusiastically. Noticing her husband's odd behavior of digging through paper piles and making a complete mess of things, she questioned him.

"So.. whatcha doing..?"

"Oh, nothing. Just.. looking for.." he pulled out a random paper from the pile, reading the top of it.

"Glitter Central: The best place to get some glitter. Found it. Guess I don't have to look anymore."

Poppy raised her eyebrows, noticing his sudden interest in arts and crafts. She smiled and kissed his cheek. Then walked into another room. From there, she called out to him.

"I'm gonna go out and see how the gang is doing. They probably have it ten times worse than I did."

Of course she wants to go out. He didn't have time to think of a plan. He needed to do something fast. Looking outside, he saw a young girl walking along outside. Quietly, the teal troll made his way outside and towards the little girl.

"Hey, wanna spend some time with Queen Poppy?" Quickly nodding her head, he smiled.

"Okay. Here's what you gotta do." Whispering the plan to her, she nodded and did just as she was told. The trolling screamed and cried, causing the pink troll to run outside in a panic.

"What happened??" She said, clinging to the child's side.

"I-I was walking, and- and I tripped, and I think I h-hurt my ankle!!" The crying girl spoke, Poppy then saying calming phrases to try and help.

Branch winked at the girl and looked up at Poppy.

"Pops, maybe you should bring her inside and put something on that ankle. I'll go and get some bandages for it."

"Good idea." Using her hair, the child was lifted and Poppy began to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"It's gonna be alright.. We'll put some ice on it, alright Pumpkin?" She spoke, her motherly instincts kicking in. Branch gave the girl a thumbs up as he went out to look for Peppy.

     He went all over town, to almost every troll, asking if they had seen the retired king. After an hour, he was starting to doubt places he had already been to. As Branch paced back and forth, the snack pack was walking by from a shopping trip and noticed their frantic friend.

     "What's he doing?" Asked Biggie, holding Mr. Dinkles close by.

     "Well something's obviously wrong. Maybe we should ask if he's okay." Suki suggested. The two twins whined in their heads, but walked over with the group to the teal troll.

     "Hey Branch!" Shouted Guy Diamond, Branch almost having a heart attack from their entrance.

     "Oh hey guys.. What's up?"

     "We were just about to ask the same thing. Where's Poppy?" Suki chimed.

     "Listen, I have a major problem that Poppy cannot know about. Earlier she was sick but said she felt better after some steam. She's currently at home with a kid that said she'd help me if she could stay with Pops." His eyebrows rose as he looked at the gang.

     "Wait, shouldn't you guys be in bed probably with huge headaches or something?"

     "No way man, it takes a little more than a few bubbly beverages to get us how Poppy was. She was getting crazy out there!" Cooper said with a smile, remembering the night before. Branch rolled his eyes.

     "Anyway, get to the point." Suki spoke with a smile.

     Branch gulped, kinda afraid to tell them for they might tell their pink friend. But he put a lot of trust in them. They all leaned forward as he spoke.

     "Peppy is no where to be found."