The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase Read online

  But she simply looked away and busied herself scrubbing the sticky caramel off the wall with vinegar and a rag.

  He tried Max next. When their eyes met, Max gave a little hop and then scurried off to the sink to run boiling water into the caramel pot. “Sorry, Logan,” he said. “You know how it is. Once caramel hardens in the pot, it’s a bear to scrape off the bottom.”

  “Uh-huh,” Logan muttered, even though he did know that to be true. When they were all making the Harmonicandy in the early-morning hours of competition day, Daisy had to use her cut-through-anything laser pen so they could chisel the burned caramel out of the pot. A good candymaker never left a mess behind.

  Logan turned away from Max and quickly ducked under the enrobing machine. “Randall, are you going to tell me?” But Randall continued to fiddle with a knob that clearly did not need to be fiddled with. “So this is how it’s going to be,” Logan declared, turning away. Only one person was left. “Henry!” he said. “What about you? Are you going to keep me in the dark, old friend, old pal?”

  Henry shook his head. “Sorry, Logan. I don’t know any more than you do. Honest.”

  Logan assessed Henry’s answer. Eye contact, not scurrying away to do something else. He decided Henry was telling the truth. Whatever the news was, Henry didn’t know, either.

  Logan finally faced Philip, who was now using the bottom of his shirt to dry the water drops that had landed beside the sink. “Help me out here, Philip. Aren’t you curious?”

  “I’m sure Miles will be here any minute,” Philip replied, tucking his shirt back in. “Since when did you get so impatient?”

  Logan stared at his friend. “Me? You’re the most impatient person I’ve ever known!”

  “Maybe,” Philip admitted. “Guess that means you’re becoming more like me.”

  The adults in the room got quiet. Logan felt his cheeks begin to heat up. Was that true? Sure, Philip had some good qualities. He worked hard, he never gave up, he actually finished things he started. But Philip had such a hard edge to him, while Logan was so easygoing and happy. Wasn’t he? He used to lie on the great lawn and stare at a blade of grass for hours and still not tire of looking at it. Could he still do that? Would he even want to?

  Thankfully, the door opened before his self-examination went any deeper and brought down his mood. “Hey, everyone!” Miles said, bounding into the room. He waved a folded piece of paper in the air. “We did it! We came up with the top four slogans!” He turned to the Candymaker. “Once you pick the final one, Sabrina wants to announce it tomorrow at the Kickoff!”

  “Wonderful,” the Candymaker boomed. “I’ll look forward to seeing that list.”

  Everyone else remained quiet, watching Miles expectantly. Logan figured they, like himself, were waiting for Miles’s response to seeing the Harmonicandy Room for the first time.

  “What’s everyone staring at?” Miles asked, looking from person to person. He rubbed his nose and ran his tongue over his teeth. “Do I have something on my face?”

  Mrs. Sweet smiled and ruffled Miles’s hair. “No, dear. We’re just waiting for your reaction to seeing the room. It was an emotional experience for some of us.”

  Everyone’s gaze slid over to Philip, who put his hands on his hips and snapped, “Do I need to remind everyone how I found you when I arrived?”

  That got a laugh. Miles raised one eyebrow, then dutifully glanced around the room. “It looks awesome!” He said it enthusiastically, but without tears or the need to be soothed with caramel. “I heard there’s a big announcement?”

  The Candymaker smiled. “Everyone, pack your bags. We’re going on a road trip!”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  A road trip? Logan dared not breathe, afraid he’d heard wrong. What if his dad had said nose dip? Or toad lip? Or… Logan searched his brain to think of other options but had to admit they all sounded unlikely. And there was that part about packing a bag, so maybe he’d heard his father correctly after all! But other than the annual Confectionary Association’s convention, Logan’s parents had not taken him farther than the other side of town in years.

  Philip and Miles came to stand beside him as they awaited more information. Logan was grateful for their company.

  With the usual twinkle in his eyes turned up a few notches, the Candymaker announced, “I’ve already gotten Miles’s mother’s blessing and left messages for Philip’s father and Daisy’s grandmother. Mrs. Sweet and I would like to take the four of you on a week-long publicity tour to introduce the Harmonicandy before it launches! We are expected at three of the country’s biggest and most famous candy stores to give them samples. It will give me and Mrs. Sweet a good chance to visit with the store owners to discuss product placement, shelf life, and other grown-up business while you guys have fun showing off the candy bar to what will no doubt be a lot of interested folks. Max and Randall and Henry will hold down the fort here. What do you think so far?”

  Logan and Miles hesitated for about a second before jumping up and down. They grabbed each other by the wrists, then jumped up and down some more.

  “I’ll take your enthusiastic response as a yes,” Logan’s father said.

  “Yes!” Logan shouted. “Definitely yes! How will we get there?”

  “We’ll take one of the factory’s vans,” his dad replied. “I wouldn’t call it roomy, but everyone will be comfortable. A few members of the publicity department and the sales team will be going as well, in their own vehicle.”

  “Will we eat at truck stops with real truckers?” asked Miles. “Will we stay in hotels? Can we go geocaching on the way?”

  The Candymaker ticked the answers off on his fingers. “Probably, yes, and I don’t know what that is.” Then he turned to Philip, who had been very quiet. “How about you, Philip? You in? You’re the main attraction.”

  “Isn’t the candy bar the main attraction?” Philip snapped, his old personality coming back. “That’s what people want to see, not me.”

  “Yes, of course,” the Candymaker said patiently. “But people want to meet the boy behind it.”

  Logan’s mother chimed in. “And the boys and girl behind him.”

  “That’s us and Daisy!” Miles said. He and Logan high-fived.

  In the time since the candymaking contest, Logan’s parents, Max, and Randall had pieced together much of what had happened leading up to Philip’s win. They didn’t know Daisy and AJ’s role, or Philip’s father’s plans to take over the factory, or that Henry knew more of what really happened than the other grown-ups did. But they did know that the four contestants had worked as a team. Inviting them all on this trip proved it.

  “Don’t you want to go, Philip?” Logan asked. “Five minutes ago you were running around here making sure everything was perfect for the Harmonicandy’s big entrance into the candy world. This would be your chance to make sure all the store owners display it exactly right.”

  “Of course I want to go,” Philip snapped. “And proper placement on store shelves is very important.” He looked down at his feet. “But there’s no way my father would allow it.”

  Logan hadn’t expected that response and couldn’t think of what to say.

  Miles had no trouble jumping right in, though. “Why not? Isn’t he the one who always wants to win all the time? Why wouldn’t he want your candy to be successful?”

  Philip glanced around the room. He pressed his lips together and shook his head. Miles grabbed him by the arm and dragged him toward the door. Philip, being much larger, could have stopped him, but he let Miles lead him away. When Miles sensed an injustice, his size didn’t hold him back. Logan quickly hurried after them.

  “Boys, wait,” the Candymaker called after them. “Let’s see how it plays out when we hear back from Mr. Ransford.”

  Henry put his hand on Logan’s dad’s arm. “Let them go,” he said calmly.

  “We’ll be right back, Dad,” Logan promised, closing the door behind him. Whatever was going on, Philip clear
ly wouldn’t say it in front of the grown-ups, and Logan didn’t want to miss it.

  “What’s the problem?” Miles asked Philip when the three of them were alone in the hall. “We can’t do this without you, and I really want to go.”

  Logan nodded in agreement. “If my parents are letting me go out into the world, your dad has to let you. He just has to!”

  Philip shook his head again. “You don’t understand. My dad hates this place and anything to do with it. He doesn’t care what happens to the Harmonicandy.”

  Logan felt his face grow hot. His first thought was to worry about the factory’s candy becoming unstable in the heat; then he realized the temperature had only risen in him.

  “Philip!” Miles said, stomping his foot.

  “Sorry,” Philip said to Logan. “Nothing personal.”

  A squeaky sound escaped Logan’s lips. He swallowed and tried again. “Why?” he managed to get out. “Why would he… hate us?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know.” Philip checked the door behind him before continuing. “I think it’s because he lost this one. He had to promise not to take over the factory if I won the contest. You may have figured out that my father doesn’t like to lose. And he especially doesn’t like to lose to his youngest son.”

  Neither Logan nor Miles could argue with that. “Maybe he’s over it,” Miles suggested. “He lets you come here all the time.”

  Philip shook his head. “My father doesn’t know I come here. Reggie brings me on his own.”

  Logan searched for something to say, and again nothing came. He could tell his own father anything. Not that he always wanted to, but he could. Finally he said, “So what are we going to do? We’re not going without you.”

  “We’re not?” Miles said.

  Logan shot him a look.

  “Fine, we’re not,” Miles agreed.

  The door to the Harmonicandy Room opened, and the Candymaker stuck his head out. “Big news, Philip!” he boomed so loudly Logan bet they could hear him in the Taffy Room, clear across the factory. “Your father said yes!”

  Philip couldn’t have looked more surprised if he’d just learned a spaceship had landed on the great lawn. His eyebrows rose so high they almost disappeared under his hair. “He did?”

  The Candymaker nodded. “He just returned our call. He was funny, actually.”

  “My father was… funny?” Philip repeated. His brows rose even higher, if that was possible.

  “Yup. He said to make sure to bring some yarn with you for the long drive. Said you’d have time to knit a whole blanket!” The Candymaker chuckled. “You don’t strike me as the knitting type. Still, you never can tell with people’s hobbies, I suppose.”

  Philip’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again, exactly the way it had earlier, when he’d first seen the Harmonicandy Room. Logan considered himself better than average at reading people’s faces. It was his way of making up for all the years when he’d paid more attention to what people were saying than how they were saying it. Philip’s face was going through a range of emotions now, almost faster than Logan could register them. First had been the shock, and then he’d looked puzzled, then angry, then amused. Finally his features settled back into something that looked like acceptance, with a hint of defiance and gratitude. A bizarre combination, but somehow on Philip it worked.

  “You okay?” Logan asked. “This is good news, right?”

  Philip let out a long breath, straightened his shoulders, and nodded. “Looks like I’m in!”

  “What are you boys standing around for, then?” the Candymaker asked. “You’ve got packing to do! I know this is short notice, but the timing of the trip will work out well. It will take two weeks for Max and his team to gather the necessary supplies to get the Harmonicandy production under way, so it will be ready to go when we return. Plus, as you recall, at the contest Big Billy announced his retirement and the end of the Mmm Mmm Good candy factory. He will arrive in two weeks to announce which of their candy recipes he’s going to give us.”

  Personally, Logan hoped they’d be inheriting the EnchantMints. That was his favorite Mmm Mmm Good product. Soft peppermints with sparkles on the surface that made tiny pops on your tongue when you sucked on them. Refreshing and entertaining!

  “But, Mr. Sweet,” Miles said, “you haven’t told us when we’re leaving.”

  “I didn’t? Oops. Sorry about that. We leave tomorrow as soon as the Kickoff is over.”

  Miles and Logan began jumping up and down again. Tomorrow!

  “Wait,” Miles said, landing on one foot. “What about Daisy? We can’t go without her.”

  “We may have to,” the Candymaker said. “She might not want to leave sleepaway camp.”

  Miles’s eyes widened. “Daisy’s at sleepaway camp?”

  Logan leaned over and whispered, “No! Philip made it up before. We couldn’t tell my parents Daisy’s on a mission.”

  “Right!” Miles said loudly. “Camp! Probably braiding some girl’s hair right now and telling ghost stories around the fire.”

  Logan cringed. “I don’t think Daisy’s the hair-braiding type.”

  “Too much?” Miles whispered.

  Logan nodded.

  “Anyway,” the Candymaker said, “I mean it about packing. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day for all of us. Let’s have our bags ready to be loaded onto the van before the Kickoff.”

  The three of them nodded. The Candymaker went back into the Harmonicandy Room, leaving them alone in the hall again. Miles turned to Logan. “I’m going to bring my road maps and my swag bag—that’s a geocaching thing I’ll teach you all about—and some books and my travel chess set and…”

  Miles paused to take a breath and Logan jumped in. “And I’ll bring my sketchpads and pencils and puzzles and we can share my comics and I can bring the painting Daisy sent me and we can hang it up at each hotel room and—”

  “Hold on there, boys,” Logan’s mother said. Logan looked up, surprised to see that his mom had appeared and Philip had slipped away. When did that happen? She handed them each a sheet of paper. “Before you start packing all your earthly belongings, I thought you might have trouble figuring out what to bring. This is all you’ll need.”

  Logan glanced at the very, very short typewritten list. “That’s it?”

  “Yup. Think one van, six people, eight days. You do the math.”

  Logan looked the list over again. “So no seashell collection from when I was three and we went to the beach with Grandpa and he had the idea for Sour Fingers when I spilled my orange juice on the sand?”

  His mom shook her head.

  “And I can’t bring the giant stuffed whale my dad won for me at a carnival two years ago that may or may not sleep on my bed at night?” Miles asked.

  Mrs. Sweet smiled. “Not unless you want it to take someone else’s seat.”

  Miles looked thoughtful. “Hmm, Philip or Whaley… Can you give me a minute to decide?”

  “Where is Philip, anyway?” Logan asked, looking behind him.

  “I thought he was out here with you,” his mother said, “but clearly he’s not anymore. Hopefully he went home to pack. Miles, I think Mr. Sweet is ready to take a look at the list you gave him. Logan, let’s head up to the apartment to get our stuff together before we run out of time.”

  Without another word, Miles shot past them and into the Harmonicandy Room.

  “And then there were two,” Mrs. Sweet said, putting her arm around Logan.

  “Thanks, Mom,” Logan said as they moved together down the hall. “For letting me go. I know you think people will stare at—”

  “Ugh, what’s this?” Logan’s mom broke away. She bent down to pick up a blue Sour Finger wrapper. A few grains of blue sugar spilled out. “Great,” she muttered, sweeping it into her hand. “I’ve got to get this place cleaned again before tomorrow.”

  “Mom, the factory looks great,” Logan insisted. “It’s one wrapper—don’t worry.” As soon as
the words were out, he spotted two Leapin’ Lolly sticks on the floor behind the heel of his mom’s shoe. If she saw them, she’d freak out over more trash, and who knew where it would lead. He had to act fast.

  Hoping the sticks didn’t harbor any spit from whoever had eaten the lollypops off them, he pretended to tie his shoe, then grabbed the sticks and slipped them into his back pocket. Usually something that skinny would be hard for him to pick up, but his fingers had a little caramel stuck to them, which allowed him to grasp the sticks with no problem. He’d have to remember that in the future!

  “Like I was saying,” Logan continued as though nothing had happened, “I know you and Dad have always tried to—”

  His mom stood back up, spun around, and gave him a tight hug. “I know what you’re trying to say, honey. We’ve been protecting you all this time, and you’ve proven you’re ready to face the world. We’ll be right there with you, and if you feel uncomfortable at any point, you’ll let one of us know. But right now I’ve got to call a meeting of the cleaning crew.” She planted a kiss on his cheek and hurried off. Just before turning the corner, she called out, “Now go pack!”

  Now go pack, he repeated to himself. He couldn’t remember ever hearing those words before today. He really liked the way they sounded.

  Once he was sure he was alone, he pulled out Daisy’s vid com. He pressed all the right buttons, but a light just flashed NOT AVAILABLE over and over. When it offered the chance to leave a video message, he told her honestly how much he wanted her to go on the trip. With a sigh, he pressed the Off button. Daisy was probably out saving the world or something else really exciting. He couldn’t expect her to drop everything.

  Sure would be nice, though.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Logan stared down at the sunshine-yellow suitcase his mother had left on his bed. He hadn’t seen it in years—not since his last hospital stay, seven years ago. His mother had picked out the color because she thought it was cheery. Just seeing it made him think of the big-as-his-head sunflowers in the field out back that would reach their full height just in time for the picnic next month.