The Candymakers

by Wendy Mass

  PATIENT: Logan Sweet

  AGE: 5

  REASON FOR ADMITTANCE: workplace accident. Burns on arms, hands, torso, left cheek.

  RECOMMENDATION: medication for pain, compress wraps, balms, skin grafts at age 14.

  DOCTOR: Vincent Orlando

  Why hadn’t this been included in her own file? Maybe her grandmother had thought it would upset her or make the assignment harder. She put everything back where she found it and leaned back in the chair. She might not know what Second Enterprises was or what exactly the client was after, but she did know one thing: anyone trying to steal a secret ingredient couldn’t be up to any good. She’d have to make some alterations to her plan.

  Fortunately, the library on the third floor of the mansion was always open. The shelves overflowed with books on every topic. If there had been more time, she would have been sent here to learn all she could about the art of candymaking in order to be more convincing in her role. She went straight to the section on foodstuffs, although it wasn’t candy she was looking for now.

  Eight hours later AJ’s voice woke her up. “Want to explain this?”

  She really had to remember to take the transceiver out of her ear before bed. Wait, she had taken it out! She rolled over and bonked her head on something hard. “Ow!” She reached up to rub her head, banging her elbow in the process. What was going on? She opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was that she was lying half underneath one of the library tables. The second was that AJ was standing above her, arms crossed.

  “Uh, hi?” she said, sliding forward to avoid hitting herself again on the leg of the table.

  “Don’t hi me. You’re up to something.” He gestured to the books splayed open on the floor. The closest one had the title Noxious, Foul-Tasting Foods and How to Cook with Them. “And by the looks of it, I’d say sabotage! Poisoning another contestant’s candy? That’s low, even for you.”

  Daisy rubbed her eyes, forcing herself to focus. Her entire body hurt from sleeping on the hard floor. “Wait, what? I’m not trying to poison anyone. Why would I do that?”

  “To win, I guess.”

  “You’re way off,” she said, getting to her feet.

  “So tell me, then.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t.”

  “Daisy, I’m your handler.”

  She straightened her pajamas. “That’s why I can’t tell you. You shouldn’t have to take the fall with me.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her but didn’t speak.

  “How’d you find me here, anyway?”

  “The twins went to your room to prep you, but you weren’t there. They’re very concerned.”

  Daisy looked up at the clock over the library door. “Ten minutes,” she said, rushing past him. “I’ll meet you out front.”

  “Make it five,” he called after her.

  With barely enough time to brush her teeth and wash her face, Daisy couldn’t worry about what to wear. She grabbed a pair of jeans, and since she knew the twins would complain that the pants weren’t bright or girly enough, she added a purple shirt and mismatched socks. No pink, though, out of respect for Miles and his strange allergies. It took only a minute to gather the material she’d need to put her new plan into action. She pushed it down deep into her pocketbook, then stuck the tiny transceiver back in her ear. AJ must not have turned his on yet, because she couldn’t hear him breathing.

  AJ was waiting on the front step when she arrived. She looked up and down the driveway. “Where’s your moped?”

  “I’m not taking you today,” he said, his mouth a thin, straight line.

  “What? Why?”

  “I’m pretty sure I know what you’re doing, and you’re right, I can’t be a part of it. In fact, I should call your grandmother.”

  Daisy knew she couldn’t blame him. She’d probably have felt the same way, even a week before. “How am I supposed to get there, then?”

  He shrugged. “Ask one of the girls to drive you.”

  “But all the ones old enough have jobs today.”

  “Mrs. Peterson, then.”

  Daisy shook her head. “She’ll know something’s up.”

  “You’re resourceful,” he said, walking back into the house. “You’ll figure it out.”

  Daisy tightened her ponytail and sat down on the steps to think. A low whinny came from the stables, and Daisy had her answer. She’d never ridden Magpie across town before, but she figured she knew the side streets and back roads well enough to make it without too much trouble.

  She scribbled a note for anyone who might come looking for the horse and tacked it up in Magpie’s stall. The other horses looked on as Daisy led Magpie to the water trough and then outside. She secured her bag to the saddle, adjusted the stirrups, and climbed on.

  The ride took a lot longer on horseback than on AJ’s moped, but she made it to the factory without incident. She had hoped to slip in unnoticed, but Miles and Logan were right outside the front door. Nothing to do but keep going. As she pulled up she heard a click in her ear followed by “Okay, okay, I can’t very well abandon you. I still don’t approve of your taking matters into your own hands, but I won’t let you go alone.”

  “Thanks,” she whispered without moving her lips.

  “Leave Magpie in the barn, and I’ll come get her later. Enter the factory through the tunnel—it will give you a chance to get familiar with the layout.”

  “Roger that,” she whispered, then greeted the boys. Five minutes later, she left Magpie happily chomping hay in the barn and ducked into the tunnel. The temperature was at least ten degrees cooler in here. She could see why they’d use it to store the freshly harvested ingredients.

  She’d only gone a few feet when she heard AJ again.

  “Hide!” he yelled.

  Without turning to look back at the entrance, she dove behind a large pile of recently harvested peppermint leaves. She knew they were peppermint because she immediately felt like brushing her teeth. “How come you can see me?” she whispered.

  “I’m up a tree in the front yard.”

  “Why exactly are you in a tree?”

  She could hear the rustling of leaves as he shifted on a branch. “I wanted to make sure you got here okay. Sure took you long enough, by the way. What did you do, walk Magpie here?”

  This wasn’t the time to explain about horse hooves and paved streets and traffic, so she didn’t reply. Through gaps in the peppermint leaves she could see workers bringing in barrels of milk and buckets of grain and cartons of eggs. This went on for a few more minutes before the coast appeared to be clear. “Two men in suits are coming into the tunnel. They’re wearing visitor’s badges. Stay put.”

  She ducked lower. She couldn’t see them, but she could hear them clearly. “Great place he’s got here,” one man said to the other. “Wonder how much it’s worth.”

  The other whistled. “Who could put a price tag on it?”

  “Big Billy could!” They both laughed at that, shuffled around a bit, and headed back outside. Their words faded, and Daisy had to strain to hear.

  “I have to meet with Mrs. Sweet now to go over some arrangements for the convention,” one of the men said. “I’ll see you later in the Cocoa Room.”

  “Okay,” replied the other. “Should be interesting.”

  “I’ll say!”

  Then the voices died out. She rose from her hiding place and pulled a few sprigs of peppermint from her hair. Who was Big Billy? Could he be the man behind Second Enterprises? If those men had gotten visitor’s badges, that meant they had access to the factory. It sounded like they knew the Candymaker and his wife. Could they be planning to steal the secret ingredient from right under the Candymaker’s nose?

  Didn’t the client trust her to do her job?

  Every spy comes up against this situation now and again—clients who pay good money, then think they can do the job better on their own. It was very frustrating, and it totally messed up her plan. Not only did she stil
l have to obtain a sample of the secret ingredient, she had to do it before they did or lose her credibility.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked AJ as she made her way around all the barrels and cartons to get to the door that led to the factory.

  “Are you thinking about a ham and cheese on rye? With a pickle?”

  “No.”

  “Then no, not the same.”

  She sighed. “I’m thinking this Big Billy character is the client who hired us. Maybe he’s a rival candymaker and he’s trying to get the secret ingredient for his own factory.”

  “Anything’s possible, I guess. I’ll do some research and get back to you.”

  “Okay.” Daisy knocked one more leaf off her shoulder before pushing open the door at the end of the tunnel. She found herself in a corridor she hadn’t seen before and stood for a moment trying to decide which way to go. AJ’s blueprint would have been helpful, had she remembered to get it from him instead of falling asleep on the library floor.

  The nearest door suddenly swung open, missing her nose by mere inches. An elderly man backed out, wheeling a Pepsicle cart behind him. Frost covered the sides of the cart.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, young lady,” he said, catching sight of her. “Didn’t see you there. Are you lost?”

  She put on her friendliest smile and said, “Yup! Can you tell me which way to the lab?”

  He gave her the directions and asked, “Would you like a Pepsicle?”

  “My friend Magpie loves these,” she gushed, accepting the one he held out to her. AJ laughed. “Leave it by the door and I’ll bring it to her. But I’m doing this for her, not you.”

  The Pepsicle man strode away, pushing the cart and whistling. Daisy left the frozen treat by the door and hurried off to the lab. As she reached the door, AJ said, “It’s more important than ever to keep up the act.”

  Daisy found it funny that with all he knew, AJ would think she was just acting as if she cared about being there. Fortunately, the others were too mesmerized by all the cool things Max had set up in the center of the room to notice her delay. Who wouldn’t be captivated by the spongy appearance of the insides of the jelly beans and the Oozing Crunchoramas?

  She stifled a laugh when Max gave Philip the cup of sugary red liquid and he tossed the whole cup at the machine. He seemed truly shaken up by the incident. It was the first time he’d shown any emotion other than annoyance. It didn’t last long, of course, but it showed he was human.

  “Ready to dress those Crunchoramas, Daisy?” Max asked, handing her a container of chocolate with a funnel at the end.

  “Now?”

  “Good a time as any,” he replied.

  She nodded, took a deep breath, and began to pour the chocolate into the top of the machine. A simple thing, but something happened when she did it. She suddenly became a real part of the candymaking process. She watched as the chocolate looped through the tubes, then flowed along a flat surface until it cascaded over the edge, creating a chocolate waterfall so smooth and shiny she could see her reflection in it.

  The candy moved along underneath, each piece emerging cloaked in chocolate. She watched in awe as a blast of cold air made a perfect S pattern on top of each piece.

  During the course of an ordinary day, she never got to actually create anything. But doing this, making candy, it felt as if a little bit of herself—her real self—had become a part of that chocolate. She’d had the same feeling stretching taffy the day before, only she hadn’t been able to put it in words.

  She understood now why everyone at the factory seemed so happy. They weren’t just making candy. They were making candy. How could Big Billy or anyone else want to take that away from them? This place was worth protecting at any cost.

  Nowhere was this more apparent than when the Candymaker himself walked in. He and his wife had a kind of glow to them. They radiated the same kind of energy that Logan did. When Mrs. Sweet told them other candymakers would be visiting the factory that day, Daisy knew her suspicions had been correct. These men were definitely rival candymakers, and they were up to no good.

  “Don’t even think about telling her,” AJ warned.

  She had to remind herself that even though AJ couldn’t read her mind, he could still tell what she was thinking. She’d never tell Mrs. Sweet the truth and risk destroying her grandmother’s entire organization. She’d just have to hope her plan worked. And for her plan to work, she needed to get to that tin before they did.

  She was trying to figure out if she should use the bathroom excuse again when Max dismissed them all to go do research. She pretended to walk toward the Taffy Room, then doubled back to the Cocoa Room once Miles and Logan were out of sight. Ugh. The two men in suits were already in there, joking with the Candymaker. The poor man didn’t suspect a thing. Daisy took a deep breath, put on a smile, and entered the room.

  “Hi!” she said, as cheerily as she could muster. “Mind if I watch a little bit?”

  “Not at all,” the Candymaker boomed. “Fellas, this is one of the lucky contestants in the contest tomorrow.”

  “Wonderful, congratulations!” they replied in unison, then laughed.

  “We’ve been working together too long,” the older of the two explained. That elicited a round of laughter from all three men.

  “He’s my dad,” the younger one explained.

  “Ah, I see the resemblance,” Daisy said, not seeing it at all. The father was round, like the Candymaker, while the son was tall and thin and shaped kind of like a bowling pin.

  “So, young lady, what’s it like going up against the Candymaker’s son?” the older man asked. “After all, he’s got some mighty big footsteps to follow in.”

  “Hey, my feet aren’t that big!” the Candymaker said, raising his leg to show them a surprisingly ordinary-sized foot.

  This got them all laughing again. Daisy looked from one man to the other. They must be very good actors, because they didn’t seem like the kind of men to double-cross a friend. And it was clear they were friends with the Candymaker. Maybe Big Billy had given them no choice. “You guys are visiting from another candy factory?”

  “That’s right,” the older man said. “Although ours isn’t anywhere near as grand as this.”

  “Ah,” said the Candymaker, “but you make the best nougat I’ve ever tasted.”

  “Must be that secret ingredient we sprinkle on at the end,” the bowling-pin son said, nudging his dad. This started them all laughing again.

  “Certainly a jolly bunch,” AJ muttered.

  Daisy agreed. Joking about the secret ingredient? These guys had nerve!

  “Doesn’t look like they’re going anywhere soon,” AJ said. “Come meet me outside. I did a little research.”

  “Well, see you all later,” Daisy said.

  “That’s it?” the Candymaker asked. “Don’t you want to watch us whip up a new batch?”

  “Aw, let her go,” the son said. “Who’d want to hang around us boring old guys when she could play with the other kids?”

  Daisy gave a weak smile. Of course he’d be trying to kick her out. Fewer witnesses. She lingered by the door to make sure the Candymaker didn’t leave them alone in there.

  When it was clear that all three men were staying put, she hurried down to the cafeteria, where she left a note for Miles and Logan telling them not to wait for her. A good spy always has good manners.

  She met AJ outside on a bench by the pond. If anyone asked, she’d say he was her cousin, and he’d come to pick up the horse. He handed her a ham and cheese on rye.

  “I should have guessed,” she said, taking a big bite. She hadn’t eaten since dinner the night before and probably could have eaten the bark off the trees in the Tropical Room at that point.

  “I did a little research on the visiting candymakers,” AJ said. “They seem legit. Worst thing either of them has ever done is ignore a parking ticket.”

  “Phreeally?” Daisy asked, her mouth full of sandwic
h. She swallowed. “Even the one who looks like a bowling pin?”

  “How can someone look like a bowling pin?”

  “You know, long neck, thick legs. A bowling pin!” Daisy dug into her sandwich again.

  “Yes,” AJ said with a sigh that meant he was only barely tolerating her. “Even that one. I did find the name Billy Foster though, who could be the Big Billy they were talking about. He’s the owner of the candy company Mmm Mmm Good.”

  “Your sandwich is that good?” Daisy asked, looking down at her own. “I mean, mine’s okay, but nothing to go on about.”

  He sighed. “Very funny. Mmm Mmm Good is the name of Billy’s company.”

  “I know. Just trying to lighten the mood. So these two guys work for him?”

  AJ shook his head. “I can’t find a connection. I’ll keep looking. But I think at this point you need to tell me exactly what you’re planning.”

  Daisy swallowed and nodded. “I’m going to mix something that tastes really bad into the secret ingredient. Then, whatever the client is planning to do with it, it’ll backfire on him.”

  AJ didn’t say anything for a full minute, and Daisy began to squirm. Now that she had said her plan out loud, it sounded like what it was—sabotage. Of their own client! “Am I crazy to do this?” she whispered.

  “Yes.”

  Daisy’s face fell. “Don’t you even want to think about your answer first?”

  He chuckled. “You really care about this place, don’t you?”

  She nodded and returned a wave from Fran the taffy maker, who had settled on a nearby blanket. Softly, so that Fran couldn’t hear, she said, “Everyone here is so happy. They love their jobs. And being here, I don’t know, I feel like a part of something. Don’t get me wrong. I love what we do. It’s just that I don’t ever feel that way normally, you know, going from one job to the next, always pretending to be someone else.”