by David Lewman
“I think she’s ready to come down,” DJ Suki guessed.
“Okay, Smidge,” Chenille said. “Reel her in! Time to land this Troll!”
With a tremendous effort, Smidge tugged on her hair and managed to haul Poppy down to the ground through the roaring, swirling wind. When Poppy was within reach, the Trolls pulled her into their huddle.
“Did you see it?” DJ Suki asked.
“Yes!” Poppy said, breathing hard. “I saw the field of flowers!”
“We still have to get out of this tornado field,” Poppy said. “Let’s head to the nearest edge, and then I’ll show you which way I think we should go.”
Still in their hug formation, the five Trolls carefully shuffled across the bare ground to the edge of the field. They stepped onto some grass, and the winds immediately died down.
“Well, we got out of that field,” Satin said, “but I don’t know if we’ll ever get all these tangles out of our hair.” They looked at the mess on top of each other’s heads. The tornados had whipped their hair into crazy knots and snarls.
“At least the knots will hold in the twigs and the grease,” Chenille said.
“How is that good?” her twin sister asked.
“Just trying to be positive,” Chenille said, shrugging.
“Okay, Poppy,” DJ Suki said, “which way to the flower field?”
Poppy pointed. “That way. Straight through the forest. On the other side of the woods, I saw a stream. I think it might be the one we were in before, the stream that Clay said would lead right to the field of flowers.”
“All right!” Smidge said. “What are we waiting for? Let’s get through that forest!”
They walked into the woods. There wasn’t a path, but the ground didn’t have much growing out of it besides trees. The only thing they saw on the ground was nuts.
Lots of nuts.
BONK! A nut fell right on Poppy’s head! Luckily, her hair was so matted and clumpy, the nut bounced right off.
“That’s funny,” she said to the others. “A nut just fell right on my head! What are the odds?”
BONK! BONK! BONK!
Nuts fell onto the others’ heads, too! Except Smidge’s. She laughed. “I guess I’m the only one who hasn’t had a nut fall on—” BONK! A big nut clonked her right on the head. “Ow!”
As they walked deeper into the forest, the nuts fell faster and got bigger. It seemed to be raining nuts!
“Ouch!” DJ Suki said. “This has to be the nuttiest forest I’ve ever walked through!”
“Let’s make it the nuttiest forest we’ve ever run through!” Satin suggested.
They started running through the storm of nuts. But it wasn’t easy, since the trees in the Forest of Falling Nuts had big, gnarled roots that curved up out of the ground. The Trolls had to either leap over the roots or duck under them. And more than once, they tripped and fell.
Many nuts were lodged in their hair, joining the twigs and the grease.
After tripping yet again, Chenille grew so frustrated, she looked up at the trees to scream, “Stop dropping all your nuts on us!” But her mouth quickly filled with nuts. She spat them out. “PTOOEY!”
Following right behind her attached twin, Satin stepped on the nuts and found herself running in place for a minute on the slippery pile Chenille had spat out. Chenille kept moving, so eventually Satin was jerked off her makeshift treadmill.
Feeling battered, the Trolls reached the edge of the Forest of Falling Nuts. A clear stream ran between the forest and the field of flowers.
Poppy pointed across the stream at the field. “Is that it, Smidge? Is that the field where you went with Karma so she could pick a flower for her hair?”
Smidge peered at the blooming field. She smiled. “Yes!” she bellowed. “That’s it! KARMA! ARE YOU OVER THERE?”
There was no answer.
“We’ve got to get across this stream and search that field,” Poppy said determinedly.
They looked at the stream. The water was flowing steadily, but not as swiftly as it had been before. It made a pleasant gurgling sound as it rippled through the stones and tree roots.
“Could we swim across?” DJ Suki said. “It doesn’t look dangerous.”
Poppy considered the suggestion. “I suppose we could, but I’d hate to risk anything bad happening to one of us. Remember that big fish we saw that ate the leaf from our boat?”
The others nodded. They remembered the fish with its big mouth, the perfect size for swallowing a Troll in a single bite. It wasn’t pleasant to think about a fish like that lurking in the shadowy depths of this stream.
Smidge had an idea. “How about a zoom rope?” she suggested.
“A zoom rope!” Poppy enthused. “That’s a GREAT idea!”
Trolls loved to string a rope between two trees and flip their hair over it, then grab the ends of their hair and slide down. They usually rode zoom ropes for fun and transport around Troll Village, but it could also be a handy way to cross a stream full of hungry fish.
“What’ll we use for the rope?” DJ Suki asked.
“Our hair’s way too messed up with sticks and nuts and grease—” Satin started.
“—for us to make a rope long enough to cross this stream,” Chenille finished.
Poppy nodded. “That’s true. But maybe we can find a vine.”
“Back in that forest with all the nuts bonking us on the head?” Chenille asked, making a face.
“Let’s look around,” Poppy suggested. “Maybe we can find a vine without getting bonked again.”
They scanned the ground and nearby trees.
“Found one!” Satin said, pointing at a tree near the stream. A vine dangled from a branch high above them.
“And it looks long enough!” Chenille added.
“Smidge, do you think you could pull that vine down?” Poppy asked.
“You got it,” Smidge said, spitting on her hands and rubbing them together. She strode over to the vine, jumped up, and gave it a good strong yank. The vine fell at her feet, piling itself into a neat coil.
“Chenille, Satin—with all your sewing, you’re the experts at tying knots,” Poppy said, handing them the vine. “Can you tie the right kind of knot for us to lasso a tree branch across the stream?”
“Totes!” Chenille exclaimed.
“No doubt!” Satin agreed. The twins went to work and tied a perfect lasso onto the end of the vine.
Since Smidge was the strongest, they picked her to toss the vine across the stream. She swung the vine around her head three times and then threw it at a branch on the other side.
She missed.
“That’s okay!” Poppy said, clapping her hands. “Try it again! The first throw’s just for measuring the distance, anyway.”
With a quick flick of her wrist, Smidge snapped the vine back to their side of the stream. Then she swung it around her head again and whipped it at the thick broken branch across the water.
The vine lasso looped around the branch!
“All right! Way to go, Smidge!” the other Trolls cheered.
Smidge pulled on the vine, and the twins’ knot tightened and held. Holding the other end, she quickly climbed a tree on their side of the stream and tied it to a sturdy branch.
The zoom rope was ready.
ZOOM! ZOOM! ZOOM! One at a time, the Trolls flipped their hair over the line, grabbed on to it, and slid to the other side of the stream.
Poppy went last. As she zipped over the middle of the creek, a big fish leapt out of the water, snapping its jaws at her feet! “YAAAH!” Poppy screamed, lifting her feet as high as she could.
SPLASH! The big fish flopped back into the stream, spraying water to the bank and soaking the other Trolls. Poppy dropped to the grass, shaking a little from her close call with the leaping fish.
“Really glad we didn’t try to swim across,” Chenille said.
Poppy didn’t stay shaken for long. She walked toward the field of flowers.
; “KARMA!” she called. “WHERE ARE YOU?”
They all shouted Karma’s name as they made their way deeper into the field.
But there was no answer.
“Are you sure this is the right field of flowers, Smidge?” Poppy asked.
“Positive!” Smidge insisted. “And that’s the buzzing I heard just before Karma disappeared!”
They all heard it—a buzzing that got louder and louder…
“Where is that noise coming from?” DJ Suki asked.
“There!” Chenille shouted, pointing to the sky.
It was a huge Stingerbug, bigger than three Trolls put together! Bigger than Biggie! And it was diving straight at them! BZZZZZZ!
“HIT THE DIRT!” Smidge yelled. The Trolls dove just as the Stingerbug swooped down where they’d been standing. Just before he reached the ground, he pulled up, climbing back into the sky.
But he circled around again.
“HERE HE COMES!” Satin warned.
The Stingerbug went into another deep dive. BZZZZZZ! He was heading right for them!
“Spread out!” Chenille hissed. “Hide!”
The Trolls separated, scrambling to hide underneath the tall flowers. The Stingerbug skimmed the tops of the flowers, just inches above the Trolls’ heads. His buzz was furiously loud. BZZZZZZ!
“This is ridiculous!” Poppy said, standing up. “I’m not hiding anymore!”
Overhead, the gigantic flying creature was preparing to dive at the Trolls again.
“Poppy, get down!” Satin whispered. “That thing’ll sting you, or bite you, or knock your head off!”
“Or maybe,” she said bravely, “it’ll answer my questions!”
She looked up at the diving critter, cupped her hands around her mouth, and called, “Hello! My name is Poppy! Why are you trying to drive us away? And have you seen our friend Karma?”
The huge bug pulled up abruptly and hovered over Poppy, still buzzing angrily. “Begone!” it commanded. “Access to this place is strictly restricted! You have no right to be here!”
Poppy looked confused. “No right to be in a field full of beautiful flowers? Why?”
“Because,” the Stingerbug growled, “these beautiful flowers belong to the queen! You are FORBIDDEN to walk among them! And you are ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN to pick them! Anyone caught picking these flowers will be carried off to the palace!”
“That must be what happened to Karma!” Smidge whispered. “She probably picked a flower!”
That gave Poppy an idea. Staring defiantly into the Stingerbug’s big dark eyes, she reached out and seized the stem of the nearest tall flower.
The Stingerbug looked alarmed. “Don’t you dare!” he warned.
SNAP! Poppy picked the flower!
The critter gasped! “You dare?”
“Oh, yeah,” Poppy said calmly, “I dare.”
The other Trolls exchanged a quick look. Following Poppy’s lead, they each picked a flower and pulled. SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!
“THAT’S IT!” the Stingerbug roared. “YOU’RE ALL GOING TO THE PALACE!”
At the sound of his buzz, now louder and higher-pitched, four more Stingerbugs swooped in over the field. The first Stingerbug picked up Poppy, and the new arrivals swept up Satin, Chenille, DJ Suki, and Smidge.
They were all headed to the palace—which was exactly what Poppy wanted.
The Stingerbug queen’s palace hung high in the branches of an enormous tree. As the Stingerbugs carried them up to it, the Trolls saw that the palace was shaped like a Troll pod, only upside down, with the thickest part at the top and the pointy part at the bottom. But it wasn’t soft and colorful. The palace looked as if it were made from a hard, drab-colored material, like dried mud. And it was much, much bigger than any Troll pod.
“Some palace,” Chenille murmured to Satin.
“They could definitely use some help with their design and outside decor,” Satin agreed.
The Stingerbugs flew through an arched entrance near the bottom of the palace. Once inside, they flew through long, wide halls, which were filled with buzzing bugs.
“Make way! Make way!” the biggest Stingerbug growled. “We are carrying prisoners for the queen! FLOWER-PICKERS!”
Angry buzzes of disapproval came from the Stingerbug crowd.
At the top of the palace, the Stingerbugs flew past some guards and into the queen’s royal chamber. The queen was not present. The Stingerbugs put the Trolls down and ushered them into a cage. As the cage door slammed closed behind them, the Trolls saw…Karma!
“Karma!” they cried. “Are you all right?”
“Poppy! Smidge! DJ Suki! Satin! Chenille!” Karma called joyfully as she ran over and hugged them. “Yes, I’m all right! But these Stingerbugs are very mad at me for picking one of their flowers.”
“They’re mad at us, too,” Poppy said.
“Why?” Karma asked.
“Same reason,” Poppy said. “But don’t worry. We’re going to get out of here!”
“How?” Karma asked.
Poppy hesitated. She didn’t actually know how the Trolls would escape the Stingerbugs’ palace, but she was confident that they would.
“ALL RISE FOR THE QUEEN!” one of the Stingerbugs ordered. The Stingerbugs in the royal chamber vibrated their transparent wings, rising slightly off the floor.
The queen flew into the chamber.
She was even bigger than the Stingerbugs who had carried the Trolls to the palace. She wore a long, dark cape decorated with the petals of the same flowers the Trolls had picked. The Trolls could see a long, sharp stinger behind her cape.
“The queen rules over these Stingerbugs,” Karma told the other Trolls. “They do whatever she says. It’s a fascinating system. I don’t know whether she’s elected, or inherits the throne—”
“SILENCE!” roared a Stingerbug.
The queen took her place on a throne next to a large column that had fallen to the floor. The Stingerbug who had first dive-bombed the Trolls in the flower field approached the throne.
“Your Majesty,” he buzzed. “We present to you these Flower-Pickers, whom we caught in the very act of picking your flowers.”
“Shameful!” the queen said. “And criminal! Picking my beautiful flowers is strictly against the Law of the Stingerbugs!”
Poppy stepped forward, grabbed the bars of the cage, and stuck her head through. “Your Majesty, we didn’t know anything about your law. We only wanted to—”
“Ignorance is no excuse!” the queen interrupted. “And how dare you address me directly! You are a mere commoner!”
Satin stepped forward. “Poppy just happens to be OUR queen! The queen of the Trolls!”
The Stingerbugs made a strange buzzing sound—short buzzes with spaces in between. The Trolls realized they were laughing.
“You?” the queen sneered. “A queen? I hardly think so!”
“What are you going to do to us?” Poppy asked.
“Hmm,” the queen said, thinking it over. “I’m not sure. Perhaps we shall eat you!”
Now it was Karma’s turn to laugh. “Eat us? She’s bluffing. Stingerbugs only eat nectar and honey. They’d never eat us!”
The queen looked angry. “Perhaps not. But we could sting you. Tell me that Stingerbugs don’t sting!”
Poppy turned to Karma. “Do they?” she whispered. “Do stingerbugs sting?”
“Oh, yes,” Karma whispered back, nodding. “But Stingerbugs can’t resist a challenge. They never turn one down! Never!”
“Interesting,” Poppy whispered.
“What are you Flower-Pickers whispering about?” the queen demanded.
“Oh, nothing, Your Majesty,” Poppy said. “It’s just that this is the time of day when we Trolls usually challenge whoever we’re with to a contest. You wouldn’t be interested.”
All the Stingerbugs looked intrigued. “What sort of a contest?” the queen asked.
Poppy thought fast. “Let’s see…what day is it? Oh, ye
s—well, on this day of the week, we always challenge someone to a contest of…strength. But you wouldn’t be interested in that. On with our punishment!”
“Just a moment,” the queen said. “I will decide when it’s time for punishment! First, let’s have a contest of strength! Buzzer, step forward!”
From the shadows at the back of the chamber, a huge Stingerbug came forward. He was the biggest of all the Stingerbugs.
The queen smiled. “Buzzer shall serve as our champion. Who will compete for the Flower-Pickers?”
“Oh, we don’t care,” Poppy said casually. “We’ll let you pick. But when we win, will you let us go?”
“Certainly,” the queen said, sure of her victory. “But you won’t win. Because I choose THAT ONE!”
Just as Poppy had anticipated, the queen pointed at Smidge, the smallest of the trapped Trolls.
The Stingerbugs laughed their strange, buzzing laughs again.
“An excellent choice, Your Majesty!” said the big Stingerbug who had captured Poppy. “We are sure to win!”
“Thank you,” the queen said. “And now, Buzzer, show these criminals what true strength looks like!”
The huge Stingerbug walked up to the massive throne. “Pardon me,” he said in a deep buzz, gesturing for her to move off her throne.
The queen stepped down and stood next to the fallen column. Buzzer lifted the heavy throne over his head, grunting loudly. The Stingerbugs cheered. Buzzer dropped the throne back down to the floor. WHAM!
“Your turn,” the queen said, sitting on her throne. “What would you like to lift? An acorn, perhaps? We could probably find a nice little one.” The Stingerbugs laughed.
“I think I’ll try that throne,” Smidge said. The Stingerbugs laughed even harder.
“Excellent! This should be good!” the queen said. “Let her out of the cage!”
As the guards opened the cage door, the queen started to get off her throne again.
“Oh, that’s all right,” Smidge said. “You can stay on it.”
The Stingerbugs looked confused. The queen slowly settled back onto her throne. Smidge walked across the chamber, slipped her hair under the throne…and lifted it high in the air with the queen sitting on it!