The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase

by Wendy Mass

  Evy stood and began to pace the room in her stockings. “Can you please give us a moment?” she asked her assistants. They protested and pointed to the clock, but Evy shook her head firmly. “Polly’s Prancing Poodles can wait. And if we miss the train, we’ll catch the next one.” When they were alone, she took off her cape and draped a sweater over her shoulders. “I’d like to know why you want the beans.”

  Philip launched into an explanation about the candymaking contest, and the Harmonicandy, and the rules, while Miles filled in the parts about the Magic Bar.

  She took it all in and nodded slowly when they’d finished. “Thank you for sharing your story. I wish I could tell you where we found the beans, but I can’t.” When they opened their mouths to protest, she held up her hand. “But I can tell you that you wouldn’t be able to make your candy bar with them anyway. Sam learned that the hard way. It was heartbreaking for him to launch the Magic Bar and then to have to pull it a week later.”

  “But why?” Philip pleaded. “Why did he have to pull it?”

  She sighed. “You know how magicians are never supposed to reveal the secrets of their tricks?”

  They all nodded.

  “I’d tell you all I know about the art of magic before I tell you the answer to that question. I’m so sorry.”

  Logan looked around at his friends’ disappointed faces. They’d promised to help him find the beans, and he hadn’t been completely forthcoming with them. He had to get her to change her mind. “Henry’s going blind,” he blurted out.

  His friends all turned to look at him, no doubt wondering why he’d chosen that moment to bring up the topic. Evy didn’t say anything for a minute. When she finally spoke, she simply said, “I know.”

  “You do?” Logan said, his turn to be surprised now.

  She nodded and waved the contract in her hand again. “Bound for life, remember?”

  “But that’s why we need it,” he said. “To help him.”

  Miles, Philip, and Daisy called out variations of “What?” and “Huh?” and “We do?”

  But Evy didn’t ask any questions. She only tilted her head at him thoughtfully. This time he got the distinct impression that she was looking at his scars. “You tried the chocolate,” she said confidently. “But your friends don’t know what happened.” It was an observation, not a question. He didn’t know if he was supposed to nod or say yes or say no, so he just stood there.

  “Don’t know what?” Philip demanded. Miles and Daisy just looked confused. AJ leaned against the back wall, checking his messages.

  Her face softened as she shook her head. “My dear boy. Henry would not take the beans, even if you were to offer them.” She held up the contract again. “Never for ourselves.”

  Philip threw up his hands. “What are you guys talking about?”

  Daisy had watched the exchange carefully. Suddenly she knew, or at least thought she knew, something. “It’s his scars,” she said, coming forward. She reached out her hand and gently touched his arm. She felt that same warmth, that aliveness. But the scar under her fingers was just the tiniest bit flatter against his olive-colored skin. Years of training allowed her to see what others would miss.

  He looked down at his arm. “What do you mean, my scars?”

  “Don’t you notice a difference?” she asked.

  Logan hesitated, then shook his head. Miles ran up and looked at Logan’s arm, turning it this way and that.

  Evy laid her hand lightly on Logan’s chest. “You felt it inside, right?”

  A lump formed in his throat at the memory of his one bite of the Magic Bar. He nodded, feeling his heart beat faster. She gave a little nod and lifted her hand.

  Philip was about to explode. “Will someone please tell me what’s going on?”

  Logan took a deep breath. “When I ate the Magic Bar, I felt something I’ve never felt before, or at least I don’t think I have. It was like… the cells in my body kind of… pulsed? And then I felt… stronger. Like, better.” He looked at Evy. “Is that how you’d describe it?”

  She smiled, but it was a sad smile. “I never felt it. None of us did.”

  “None of you ever tasted a Magic Bar?” Miles asked. “How is that possible? Sam must have tasted it a million times while making it.”

  “Oh, we all tasted it, all right, but none of us ever felt what Logan’s describing. A few days after it was on the market, we started getting calls and letters from people who reported feeling better, or healthier, or healed in some small way after eating it. It didn’t cure cancer or make the deaf suddenly hear, but for people with an illness or an affliction of some sort, it did something. The four of us always knew the beans were… special… but we didn’t know why. To us it tasted like the best chocolate you’d ever had, but that’s all. It looked like the Magic Bar was living up to its name.” She gave a small regretful chuckle.

  She turned to Logan and sighed. “I guess I’m going to reveal some of my secrets after all. It took only days before the government got involved. Claims of miracles tend to get the attention of people in high places. Your grandfather made the decision to withdraw the Magic Bar from the market immediately. Without understanding what was happening, we couldn’t be sure it was safe. We all agreed it was best to keep it out of the news. Today, of course, that wouldn’t have been possible.”

  Miles couldn’t believe he was finally learning the mystery of the Magic Bar! He hung on her every word.

  “You have to understand,” Evy continued, “Life Is Sweet was in the business of making candy, candy without surprises, even good ones.” She rubbed her temples, then sighed wearily. “And honestly, we knew that we weren’t supposed to use the beans to make the chocolate. But who could resist when they tasted that good? We were all to blame, really. Sam and Frank and Henry and me—we were a team.” She looked at the four of them. “Like you are.” She focused on Daisy. “Not easy being the only girl, am I right?”

  “You know it, sistah.” Daisy held up her hand for a high-five. Evy gave her an awkward one.

  “So that was it?” Miles asked. “You just shut down production and moved on?”

  Evy nodded. “Essentially, yes. Sam had an offer from a man who’d just opened a cocoa bean–processing plant to buy out the remaining stock of beans, but of course he turned it down.”

  “So you never investigated the beans?” Philip asked. “You never tried to find out what made the Magic Bar so special?”

  She shook her head. “Remember, this was a long time ago, without the benefits of modern technology. We weren’t doctors or scientists. Heck, we couldn’t even say for sure it was the beans causing these side effects. Life moved on. Frank was hiding in his parents’ basement drawing his maps all day, Sam had his hands full with his new business, and all Henry wanted to do was make marshmallows and watch over the factory.”

  Logan smiled at her description of Henry. “He still does.”

  “I know,” she said. “Getting to spend your life doing what you love is a gift. At that time I was just a young girl making sneezing powder out of black pepper, dreaming of bringing people unexpected moments of wonder and surprise, of making grand illusions onstage one day.”

  “Hey, I read an article about you!” Miles said.

  Logan grinned. “My grandfather loved that sneezing powder. And the itching powder. And the handshake buzzer. That was you?”

  “Here, have a brochure,” Evy said, reaching over to grab a thick pamphlet titled Hocus Pocus Gags & Novelties out of one of the piles of boxes. “Order anything you want, on the house.”

  Miles and Logan took them eagerly.

  But Philip wasn’t ready to let it go. “So you don’t know that there’s a micro—”

  AJ chose that moment to rejoin them. Cutting Philip off midsentence, he began gently rounding them up and pushing them toward the door. “We’ve taken up more than our fair share of Ms. Shoudini’s time.”

  Philip got the message that AJ didn’t want him to talk about
the test results, but he needed to know one very important thing, even though he felt ridiculous asking it. “Just tell us this—did the beans come from outer space?”

  She burst out laughing. “Where did you get that idea?”

  Philip reddened, then glared at Daisy and AJ. It was their laboratory, after all. “Nowhere,” he muttered. “Never mind.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, walking them to the door. “I don’t mean to tease you. But no, we may have gotten lost on that camping trip, but we didn’t wind up off the planet.”

  Daisy made a mental addition to her file—two clues to follow up on. First, the friends had been on a camping trip when they found the beans, and second, Evy said Sam knew they shouldn’t use the beans to make the chocolate, but she didn’t say how he knew.

  Logan wanted to hug Evy goodbye but didn’t want to be too bold. Luckily, she made it easy by holding out her arms. He went in for the hug, and she held him tight. “You smell like sugar,” she said, breathing in deep. “Just like your grandpa.” They stayed that way for a long minute. “There was only one more time Sam used those beans,” she whispered into his ear. “He got our permission first, of course. I think we made the right choice.”

  Logan had no idea what she meant; he was just enjoying being held by someone who cared about his grandfather so much. Plus it made him a little less homesick for his mom’s hugs.

  When he pulled away, they both had tears in their eyes. She ushered him back to the door, where the others were waiting. AJ opened it, and Evy’s relieved and annoyed assistants rushed back in and began attacking the boxes and props again.

  “Thank you,” Miles said, pumping her hand fervently. “For your time and the show and the brochure. Hey, since you won’t tell us where you found the beans, maybe you can tell me where you hid those doves?” Then he added, “Ow!” as Daisy pinched him.

  Evy stood at the doorway as they filed past her into the hall. “I’ll tell you this much. The magic doesn’t happen in the magician’s hands. It happens in the mind of the spectator. It’s about misdirection. Making you look over there so I can do something over here. And remember, more often than not, the best place to hide something is in plain sight.” Then she winked, pulled a giant silver dollar from Miles’s ear, dropped it into his hand, and closed the door behind them.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Snacks in the lobby on me!” Miles declared, holding up his silver dollar.

  “I don’t think that’s gonna cover it,” Daisy said.

  Miles dug into his pocket. “I also have this fifty-dollar bill! I found it in the factory.”

  Philip, who had been silently brooding, turned his head at that. “Where exactly did you find that?”

  Miles told him about the guy spilling the big bag of lollypop sticks. Philip opened his mouth to comment but then shook his head. “Never mind,” he snapped. “It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters anymore.” He turned away and began running down the steps of the theater.

  The rest of them looked at each other. “Was it something I said?” Miles asked.

  Daisy shook her head. “It was something Evy said. She basically gave the Harmonicandy the death knell.”

  “The death knell?” Logan asked.

  “It means the last hope is gone,” AJ explained. “Philip knows for sure the factory can’t use the chocolate, and now he knows why.”

  “I’ll go after him,” Daisy said. “We’ll meet you back at Harvey.”

  She’d expected to find Philip halfway across the parking lot, but instead he was sitting on the curb in front of a pizza place two doors down. Most of the crowd from the theater had already left.

  “I know you’re upset,” she said. “But—”

  He cut her off. “Logan could have told us what happened to him when he tasted it. He didn’t need to hide it.”

  “Maybe he did need to,” she said. “It must have felt really, I don’t know, personal. You of all people should know about keeping stuff inside. You do it more than anyone I know.”

  “Except for you,” he pointed out.

  “Okay, anyone who isn’t a spy.”

  “Whatever,” Philip said, kicking at the ground with his heels. “I guess I just didn’t believe it was over until now.”

  “I know,” she said. “But you don’t have to take it out on Miles or Logan. The Harmonicandy is as big a loss for them as it is for you. For the whole factory, really. And the whole candy-eating community!”

  Philip shook his head. “It’s worse for me, much worse. You don’t understand.”

  “I understand,” Miles said from behind them. Philip and Daisy turned to see the others standing there on the sidewalk. “You think it’s worse for you because you’ll lose the money you would have made on the sale of every Harmonicandy.”

  “That’s not really fair,” Logan said to Miles. “Philip tried to insist that we split his share of the profits, but the three of us agreed he should have it.”

  Miles didn’t answer. He was too surprised that Logan had taken Philip’s side in an argument over his. Plus he still thought he was right.

  Philip didn’t answer, either. He just glowered at everyone. AJ finally spoke. “You’re right,” he said to Miles. “Philip is upset about the money. But it’s not for the reason you think.”

  Philip tried to protest, but AJ went ahead. “He was planning to use his profits to provide a mobile burn unit for communities without one. I know because he asked me to sign the contract for him right before we left the factory.”

  Everyone’s head swiveled back to Philip. “Is this true?” Logan asked.

  Philip didn’t know what to say, which was not a position he enjoyed being in. He stood up and headed toward the RV, not looking back. Logan glanced at the others, then ran after Philip.

  Miles and AJ started to follow. Daisy pulled them back. “Let’s give them a few minutes to be alone.”

  “I feel bad,” Miles said. “I should apologize.”

  “You didn’t know,” AJ said. “It’s not your fault.”

  They watched across the parking lot as Logan and Philip went inside the RV. “It sounds like his plan would have helped a lot of people,” Miles said, “but not Logan, you know? I was reading about things you can do for scars, like honey, or maybe we can find some specialist he hasn’t seen before, or—”

  Daisy stopped him. “I know, but there’s nothing we can do. When he was younger, there wasn’t enough undamaged skin to use for skin grafts. That’s why he has so many scars. The problem is that sugar retains heat very well, and it sticks to the skin. That caused his burns to go really deep. I don’t think he even knows how bad the accident really was.”

  Miles stared at her. “How do you know all this?”

  “I may have hacked into his hospital records,” she admitted.

  Miles was quiet. Then he said, “Now I know why he made us promise last night to still look for the beans. Maybe he thinks he can use them to get better?”

  Daisy shook her head. “More likely he wanted to use them to help Henry get better.”

  “That does sound more like him,” Miles agreed. “But there’s no reason he can’t use them, too, right?”

  “I don’t know,” Daisy said. “He’d probably come up with some excuse not to.”

  “That’s why we’re here,” Miles said. “To let him know it’s okay.”

  Logan suddenly burst out of the RV and waved for them to hurry up. “Guys!” he shouted. “You won’t believe this!”

  They started running.

  “What?” Daisy asked when they got closer. “Is everything okay?”

  “The lab results!” he said, stepping aside so they could run in. “We got a match!”

  Daisy’s eyes almost bugged out of her head. “What?”

  “You were right before,” he said. “The computer is broken! That’s why it gave us that alien reading, and that’s why it says there’s a match when we know there can’t be! It’s good news! I mean, it doesn’t tell us where
the beans are, but at least we know for sure that Evy was telling the truth.”

  Daisy shook her head. “No. It means that AJ and I are brother and sister after all!”

  The others gasped.

  Daisy’s heart pounded. She didn’t know how to feel. Relieved to have the mystery solved? Ashamed for not being nicer to AJ all these years?

  “What?” AJ said, pushing his way through to see the screen. “No, we aren’t! I know who my parents are, and they are not your parents.” He skimmed through the report on the screen. “This doesn’t say we’re related,” he insisted. “It just says the computer found one match. It doesn’t say who matched whom. Daisy! Are you even listening?”

  “Huh?” she said, thinking that she should have gotten him better birthday presents.

  He shook her until she focused on him. “Daisy! The computer is matching each sample against every other sample. It says it’s found a match, but we don’t know which pair it is.”

  Finally hearing him, Daisy ran over to read the screen herself. “Okay, so in theory, you’re right. But c’mon, who else would the match be? Philip and the cat?”

  “Hey now!” Philip said. He put his hands over Aurora’s ears. Truthfully, he was glad for the change in everyone’s focus. Logan had thanked him for what he’d tried to do, and that felt good, but not as good as actually being able to do it would have felt. It would have helped a lot of people, and it would have proven that he’d changed. “How long will it take to finish all the tests?” he asked.

  Daisy looked at the screen and groaned. “There are fifty-five combinations. At twenty-two minutes a pair, that’s over twenty hours from when we started, and it pauses while we’re driving! Ugh!”

  “I can tell you the results right now,” AJ insisted. “Maybe the equipment was damaged when we went over a pothole or something, but it is giving inaccurate readings.”

  “Look at the two of them,” Miles said, shaking his head. “Fighting just like siblings would.”

  Daisy glared. “I’m glad you’re enjoying this, Miles O’Leary!”