EJ re-read the password sequence.
‘Have you done that?’
EJ nodded.
‘Excellent,’ said A1, turning towards the screen. ‘Light Screen, delete exchange,’ she said, turning back to face EJ. ‘Remember: the exchange must be exactly those words.’ She held out the charms to EJ. ‘Now, EJ, here are your charms,’ said A1. ‘You will need to add them to your bracelet and get changed. Your outfit is in the change rooms. Please put the clothes you are wearing in the bag provided and bring it with you when you are ready.’
EJ went to the change rooms and smiled when she saw a chef’s outfit hanging up—blue-checked pants and a white jacket with white buttons on each side. As a finishing touch there was a chef’s hat and a red-and-white checked scarf. They were just like the ones the contestants wore on ‘Choc Chef’.
How does SHINE get all these things? wondered EJ.
EJ quickly got changed. The outfit, as always, fitted her perfectly. She attached her new charms to her bracelet and came out of the changing room with her normal clothes in the bag.
‘Perfect!’ declared A1. ‘You look ready EJ, or should I say Emma Sekac. Now, let’s get you to that chocolate bakery.’
‘What should I do with this, A1?’ asked EJ, holding up the bag of clothes.
‘Oh, you can give them to your mum,’ replied A1.
Mum? thought EJ.
‘Yes, your mum. She is waiting outside to take you to the Choc Chef competition.’
‘Oh,’ said EJ, both a little surprised and disappointed. EJ loved her mum but, really, what sort of secret agent was taken to a mission by her mother?
EJ had travelled to and from missions in some pretty unusual ways. She had parachuted out of planes, crossed seas in ice-breakers, flown in helicopters and even been chauffeur-driven in a limousine. But this time was different. As Emma opened the door of the Light Shop out into the street, there was her mother in the front seat of the family car with the window down, smiling. It was just like when Emma’s mum picked her up from school, gym and her friends’ homes, but nothing like the start of a mission.
‘Hop in, Special Agent EJ12,’ said her mum.
‘Just EJ’s fine, Mum,’ said EJ.
‘Oh, okay then. Well, EJ, put your seat belt on and let’s go.’
‘Aaarrggh,’ groaned EJ as she wondered how many other agents were reminded to put their seat belts on. Then EJ noticed a small yellow button on the steering wheel. She was sure that hadn’t been there when her mum dropped her off.
‘Has that yellow button always been there, Mum?’ asked EJ.
‘No, it’s new. I had it fitted at the Shiny Car Wash down the road while you were having your briefing,’ replied EJ’s mum. ‘And, thanks for reminding me, darling: I need to push it and you need to open the glove box and put your earphones on.’
And with that, EJ’s mum pressed the button. EJ opened the glove box. Nothing was there except the hair tie she had accused her brother Bob of stealing.
‘Mum?’ said EJ.
‘Give it a chance to warm up,’ replied her mum.
Seconds later, there was a beep and the panel at the back of the glove box slid back revealing a small screen that moved forwards. On the screen was the SHINE logo.
This is cool, thought EJ. She and her brother had always thought they should have a TV in the car. It was one of the few things they agreed on. EJ wondered whether they would be allowed to use it on normal trips.
‘Mum,’ said EJ, ‘I was just wondering...’
‘No, we can’t,’ replied her mum. ‘You know the rules. All equipment is strictly for mission use only. Now put those headphones on and have your briefing.’
EJ sighed as she plugged in the headphones and pressed Mission Briefing on the screen. As she did, the screen flickered and then A1 appeared on screen.
‘Hello again, EJ12. Let us re-cap. We believe SHADOW has invented a device, which they call S6, to create unbreakable codes and that they are preparing to distribute S6 to their agent network. Madame Ombre, the world-famous chocolate baker, seems mixed up in all this. The message you found indicates something is about to happen at her bakery. Your mission, EJ12, is to enter the bakery as one of the Junior Choc Chef finalists and find out exactly what Madame Ombre is up to. To do that, you are going to have to make sure you get through to the grand final.’
Aarrggh, thought EJ. How am I going to make it to the grand final of Junior Choc Chef? I can’t even cook simple chocolate cupcakes. SHINE couldn’t have picked someone more hopeless for this mission!
‘You are perfect for this mission,’ continued A1, ‘and we expect great work. Now, let’s review the choc charm.’
Yes! thought EJ, thinking the choc charm had to be something fabulous, perhaps something that involved an endless supply of chocolate.
‘The choc charm isn’t chocolate at all,’ continued A1.
Oh, sighed EJ, what a pity.
‘Inside what looks like a chocolate bar is a tiny bugging device, so you can listen in on conversations without detection. Once you have activated the charm by twisting it you will be holding what looks like four rows of chocolate. Two rows hold the listening device and the other two rows hold the receiving device. Simply leave the listening pieces where your suspect will be talking and switch it on. You will then be able to hear through the other two rows.’
‘Right,’ said EJ, still a little disappointed that there was no actual chocolate connected with the charm.
‘Finally, EJ12,’ continued A1, ‘as always, you are going to need some help on this mission. You will make contact with Agent CC12 but also ensure you upload your BESTie before you arrive at the bakery. And now I think you’d better switch to sat-nav function. Your mother has just taken a wrong turn, if I am not mistaken. SHINE out.’
A1 is never mistaken, thought EJ. The menu screen reappeared and she pressed Maps. She then pressed location and keyed in the address of the bakery. Almost immediately a bossy voice instructed them to make an immediate U-turn. While her mum, looking slightly stressed, turned the car in the opposite direction, EJ took out her phone and pressed the BESTie app.
SHINE knew that agents worked better when they had the support of others, and had created the Brains, Expertise, Support and Tips network, known as BESTies, to help agents on missions. Each agent had a list of trusted friends or family members who had been screened by SHINE and authorised for mission assist. An agent could upload one BESTie for each mission and that person would be on standby to help her.
EJ decided to upload Isi—she may not have been the greatest cook (in fact she may have been one of the worst) but she was very good at keeping things light and relaxed. In the pressure-cooker conditions of the Junior Choc Chef finals and for an important mission that will be just what I need, EJ thought. She touched Isi’s picture on her phone screen, activating the system that would send her friend an alert message.
‘Nearly there,’ said her mum, turning another corner.
EJ looked out the car window. She could see the bakery, a large brown building surrounded by a tall iron fence with two large gates at the front. If you looked closely, you could see that iron cupcakes were on the top of each of the fence posts. And, outside the gate stood a group of kids, all wearing the same chef’s uniforms. The Junior Choc Chef finalists.
‘Well this is it, EJ,’ said her mum as they pulled up outside the gates. ‘Good luck and don’t eat too much chocolate!’
‘I won’t, Mum,’ cried EJ as she got out of the car. EJ felt calm as she headed towards the gates.
That wasn’t going to last long.
EJ joined the end of the line of Junior Choc Chefs just as Madame Ombre began to speak. She was also dressed in chef’s clothes but rather than white, they were black with some beautiful white lettering stitched on her jacket.
Well, you have to agree with that, thought EJ.
Bonjour tout le monde! I am Madame Ombre, the great, if I may say so myself—the truly great chocolate baker
. Welcome mes petites Choc Chefs, welcome to the Junior Choc Chef final. You are all very lucky to be here, are you not?
Some luckier than others, thought EJ, who was wondering how she was going to pull off pretending she could cook.
‘As you all know, my signature cake is the exquisite Triple Chocolate Ripple and Choc-chip Mousse Cupcake. We will commence with each of you telling me about the cake that got you to the Junior Choc Chef finals.’
EJ gulped as Madame Ombre made her way down the line of contestants. She had to think quickly.
‘I prepared a white and dark chocolate soufflé,’ declared one girl proudly.
‘I created chocolate éclairs with white chocolate cream,’ said another, beaming.
Gee whizz, lemonfizz, thought EJ, doesn’t anyone here just cook simple cakes? I will be lucky to make it to the kitchen let alone the grand final. I can hardly say that I created lumpy mixture that oozed all over the oven! But I’d better come up with something.
‘I made a chocolate mousse tart with triple chocolate curls,’ said the girl next to EJ.
‘And you,’ said Madame Ombre looking at EJ over the top of her glasses. ‘What was your winning chocolate creation?’
‘I made Chocolate Surprise,’ said EJ, trying to sound as confident as the other contestants.
‘Hmm, Chocolate Surprise, I do not know this one,’ said Madame Ombre. ‘Tell me...’
Ring!
‘Ah, the bell!’ exclaimed Madame Ombre.
EJ swallowed. A very loud bell had saved her, for now anyway. That was close.
Madame Ombre waved her hand. ‘Enough chitty chatty. We will now enter my bakery. I will first give you a petite tour and then we go to my master kitchen where the competition will commence. Don’t dawdle!’
Excellent, a tour, thought EJ. The perfect opportunity to look around the bakery and see what I can find out.
‘Come along, keep up,’ cried Madame Ombre. With long strides she led the ten contestants through the gates and up the steps of the bakery. It was difficult to keep up with her. They entered a long corridor and already there was a warm, sweet smell in the air. ‘First stop, the chocolate room,’ cried Madame Ombre.
That got everyone moving, and the contestants almost ran after Madame Ombre until she stopped outside a door.
‘Here is where the chocolate for my cakes is prepared and stored,’ said Madame Ombre. She opened the door to reveal three enormous chocolate fountains, one flowing with white chocolate, one with milk chocolate and one with dark chocolate. In each fountain, chocolate cascaded down three tiers before falling into a large vat that swirled the chocolate around and around. There was a little gold tap on the side of each vat.
‘The fountain keeps the chocolate moving, making it light and fluffy,’ explained Madame Ombre. ‘Here, you may try,’ and she took some plastic cups and filled them with a little of the milk chocolate before passing one to each contestant.
Trying to look professional, EJ took a sip. It was the smoothest, creamiest chocolate she had ever tasted. It was more than delicious. It was so good that she couldn’t help drinking the rest down in a few gulps.
‘C’est magnifique, non?’ said Madame Ombre. ‘And no lumps. I can’t have lumps, I detest lumps. I need lightness and lightness only in my chocolate cakes and for my chocolate icing. But let us keep moving. No chitty chatty, quick, quick.’
And with that EJ and the group reluctantly left the chocolate room and walked back into and down the corridor until they arrived at another door.
‘Ah,’ sighed Madame Ombre. ‘Here is where we create the models that we use in our theme cakes. Perhaps it will be a little white chocolate fairy on a pink-iced cupcake with tiny yellow flowers? Or maybe some little bunnies on my Easter-egg cupcake? Here is where my chefs design the shapes and create the moulds. Come quietly and watch.’
Madame Ombre opened the door to what looked more like a craft class than a kitchen. There was a group of chefs, all dressed in the same black outfit as Madame Ombre but without her top chef hat. They were sitting at pottery wheels working with plaster. As EJ and the rest of the group moved closer, they could see that the chefs were moulding little rabbits and, on a little podium in front of them all, were six live rabbits. The rabbits had tight collars around their necks and leads tying them to the podium so that they wouldn’t escape.
‘Today,’ continued Madame Ombre, ‘my trainee chefs are learning to create perfect Easter bunny chocolates. To do this, they must study real bunnies.’
EJ looked at the bunnies tied to the podium and felt sorry for them. ‘Excuse me, Madame Ombre, but do the bunnies like being inside?’
‘What?’ said Madame Ombre.
‘The rabbits,’ said another girl, smiling at EJ. ‘Do the rabbits like being kept as models?’
‘Oh, them. I do not know, I do not care,’ said Madame Ombre, giving a little shrug. ‘What is that to me? They are only rabbits. The chocolate bunnies on my Easter cakes must be perfect.’
EJ stared at Madame Ombre in surprise, as did many of the other contestants. Is nothing more important to her than her chocolate cakes? EJ wondered. Is that why she is working with SHADOW? Are they giving her something she wants for her chocolate cakes? Something she can’t get herself?
‘Enough of the bunnies. We have one more room to see before we commence our competition. Out now, enough chitty chatty.’
Once again the group bustled out of the room and into the corridor. The next door they came to was not the same plain door as the others. This one was festooned with ribbons, tiny bells, flowers, streamers, balloons and even fairy lights. EJ was not surprised when she read the sign on the door.
‘And this, this is where we make every cake a party!’ cried Madame Ombre. ‘The cake itself is merely a base, a delicious canvas on which to paint a story, and in here are the ingredients for those paintings.’
With a flourish, Madame Ombre opened the door to a room lined with shelves stacked with glass jars. All of them were filled with the most beautiful and delicious little things you could imagine putting on a cake. There were sprinkles and jelly-beans, a jar for every colour and shade. There were silver balls, gold balls, chocolate balls, jelly snakes, jelly babies, tiny sugar flowers, liquorice, chocolate buttons, chocolate curls, chocolate stars and candy canes. There was candy fruit: bananas, cherries, pineapples, pears and even tiny, tiny watermelons. There were tubes of icing and marshmallows of different sizes and colours. Then there were the little figurines and objects, some in chocolate, some in marzipan, of fairies, guitars and pianos, footballers, brides and grooms and animals, including the chocolate bunnies.
‘Some of you will have a chance to use these decorations in the grand final, but who?’ declared Madame Ombre as she closed the door. ‘And so, off to the Choc Chef kitchen!’
Just before they reached the kitchen, which was at the end of the corridor, they passed one more door, a plain door with plain writing.
‘Excuse me, Madame Ombre,’ EJ called out, ‘may we look in this room?’
‘Non! Don’t go in there!’ shouted Madame Ombre. ‘No one, no one but moi ever enters.’
And me, said EJ12 to herself. She knew she would have to get inside that room.
But first she was going to have to bake the best cakes of her short, and so far unsuccessful, cooking career. Could she do it?
The competition was about to begin. Madame Ombre had led the junior choc chefs into the huge bakery kitchen where there was a workbench for each contestant. EJ’s was at the front of the room. Each bench was laid out with ingredients, had a store cupboard underneath holding pots and pans and held a stove and oven.
Madame Ombre stood at the front of the kitchen, close to EJ, to address the girls. ‘So you think you can cook? We will see. In front of you are the ingredients for a simple cupcake. But do not be fooled, often the simplest thing is the hardest to perfect, and I want perfection. If I don’t get it, you will go home. Now, enough chitty chatty, commence!’
> EJ was nervous. She must not lose. She must not be sent home. She hadn’t even begun her mission. She looked at the ingredients: flour, eggs, sugar, cream, chocolate, pretty much the same as at Isi’s house. She looked at the recipe. Simple enough. Certainly the other contestants seemed to think so for they were all well underway with their mixing.
First she needed to melt some chocolate and cream. How hard can that be? she thought. She followed the instructions, putting some water in a saucepan and bringing it to the boil. She then tipped the cream and chocolate into a bowl and put the bowl into the saucepan, being careful that the water did not touch the sides. Soon, the boiling water began melting the chocolate. So far, so good.
A phone rang in Madame Ombre’s office, at the front of the kitchen.
‘Keep cooking and no chitty chatty, I can see you all,’ cried Madame Ombre as she strode into the office. Through the glass, EJ could see Madame Ombre talking animatedly, angrily.
Hmm, something has really whipped her into an even worse temper, thought EJ. I need to find out what. EJ took her chocolate charm from her bracelet and twisted. Seconds later she was holding what looked like a little chocolate bar. Remembering her briefing, EJ separated the first two rows. But how was she going to get the transmitter into Madame Ombre’s office?
Suddenly, and luckily, for EJ at least, there was a crash as one of the contestants dropped a glass bowl. Madame Ombre had slammed the phone down and was out of her office in a flash.
‘Who is making such a noise in my kitchen?’ she fumed as she stormed to the back of the kitchen where the poor girl was desperately trying to pick up pieces of glass.
EJ took her chance. She had only seconds. While Madame Ombre, with her back turned, began to berate the girl in front of the other shocked contestants, EJ slipped in to the office. She left the choc charm on Madam Ombre’s desk. She placed it next to some other chocolates already lying there—the choc charm would go unnoticed. She hoped.
Choc Shock Page 3