Candy Kingdom Chaos

by Carolyn Keene

  “Say ‘Cheesy!’ ” the pal shouted before taking a flash picture.

  Nancy blinked as they floated from the dark ride into bright sunshine. After climbing out of the boat, the four friends traded high fives.

  “That was awesome,” Nadine admitted. “Aren’t you glad I made you go on it?”

  “Totally,” Nancy agreed. “Now let’s ride the Twisting Taffy Coaster.”

  “Last one to the Twisting Taffy Coaster is a rotten marshmallow!” George shouted.

  Nancy called to Hannah where they were going next. She, Bess, and George began running toward the Twisting Taffy Coaster when Nadine shouted, “You guys—stop!!!”

  The girls did stop. They turned to see Nadine standing wide-eyed and statue-still.

  “What’s wrong, Nadine?” Nancy called.

  Nadine lifted her arm and cried, “My candy-striped bracelet. It’s gone!”

  CANDY-STRIPE SWIPE

  “Gone?” Nancy gasped.

  “What do you mean it’s gone?” George asked.

  The girls crowded around Nadine’s arm. The candy-striped bracelet that had dangled around her wrist was no longer there.

  “I just noticed it was gone,” Nadine cried. “I must have lost it inside the Sour Power Pals ride.”

  “No problem then,” Nancy said with a smile. “We’ll find someone in charge of the ride to look for it—”

  “No!” Nadine cut in. “They’ll stop the ride, and everyone will hate me.”

  Nancy and Bess tried to calm Nadine, but George didn’t get it. “How could the bracelet fall off your wrist when it was double-snapped?” she asked.

  “Somewhere in the middle of the ride I felt a tug,” Nadine said, her eyes wide. “Maybe the bracelet got caught on something.”

  “Did you see what it got caught on?” Bess asked.

  “How could I?” Nadine cried. “It was dark inside!”

  Nancy didn’t know what to do. Without the bracelet Nadine wouldn’t get into Candy Kingdom every day for free.

  “It’s my fault for not being careful!” Nadine exclaimed, blinking back tears. “I’m not having fun anymore.”

  Hannah seemed to guess something was wrong. She hurried over and asked, “What’s the problem, girls?”

  “Everything!” Nadine cried. “I want to go home.”

  “But we just got here!” George groaned.

  Hannah placed a gentle hand on Nadine’s shoulder. “There’s no reason to stay if you’re upset,” she said. “I’ll drive you home.”

  “Should we go too?” Nancy asked.

  “No!” Nadine blurted. “If you leave Candy Kingdom because of me, then you’ll hate me too!”

  Hannah wasn’t sure about leaving the girls at Candy Kingdom, but they promised to stick together at all times.

  “Don’t leave the park,” Hannah reminded the girls. “And I’ll meet you back at the Sour Power Pals ride in an hour.”

  Nadine mumbled good-bye and then walked away sadly with Hannah.

  “Poor Nadine.” Bess sighed.

  “I’d be upset too if I lost my bracelet,” George agreed. “But I still don’t get how it just fell off.”

  Nancy didn’t get it either. Their bracelets were snapped on so tightly. Then she had a thought: What if someone inside the ride pulled Nadine’s bracelet off? Someone like the Sour Power Pal that Nancy overheard?

  “Nadine said she felt a tug on her wrist,” Nancy remembered. “As if something pulled it off.”

  “So?” George asked.

  “So maybe it wasn’t something that pulled off her bracelet,” Nancy went on. “Maybe it was someone.”

  “Someone stole the bracelet?” Bess gasped.

  “It wasn’t just any bracelet,” Nancy pointed out. “It was a free ticket to Candy Kingdom for a whole week.”

  “Hmmm,” George said with a sly smile. “Something tells me the Clue Crew has a brand-new case.”

  “Here?” Bess asked. “At Candy Kingdom?”

  “Mysteries can happen anywhere!” Nancy said. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her Clue Book. “Come on, Clue Crew. Let’s get to work!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George sat down on an empty bench facing the Caramel Carousel. It looked just like a giant sundae with caramel topping. Even the carousel horses were caramel-colored with chocolate-colored manes and tails.

  Nancy opened her Clue Book to a clean page. Using her favorite pencil topped with a cupcake eraser, she wrote the word “Suspects” on a new page. A few lines under that she wrote: “Sour Power Pals.”

  “Sour Power Pals?” George asked.

  “Why would the pals want a free week at Candy Kingdom?” Bess asked. “They work there every day.”

  “I heard the pals talking,” Nancy explained. “One said that any of his friends would love a free week at Candy Kingdom.”

  “We saw lots of Sour Power Pals inside the ride too,” Bess recalled. “That’s where Nadine said she lost the bracelet.”

  “Those pals are bad news on their TV show,” George said with a shrug. “They could be bad news in real life, too.”

  “Maybe,” Nancy agreed. “And until we find out more, the Sour Power Pals are our first suspects.”

  Nancy looked up from her Clue Book, wondering who else could have taken Nadine’s bracelet. Watching the carousel spin, Nancy saw someone she knew ride by on a caramel-colored horse. It was Andrea!

  “Andrea is on the carousel,” Nancy told Bess and George. “Let’s wave hi when she comes around again.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George stood up to wait as the carousel turned. After a few more seconds Andrea’s horse came around the bend, but as she got closer Nancy noticed something else. Something familiar!

  “Andrea’s wearing a bracelet!” Nancy exclaimed. “A red-and-white bracelet!”

  BRACELET CHASE-LET

  “Are you sure, Nancy?” George asked.

  “See for yourself,” Nancy said as they waited for Andrea’s carousel horse to come around again. This time they all saw Andrea’s bracelet. It was red and white, just like theirs!

  “I couldn’t see if it was striped,” Nancy said.

  “Red and white is close enough,” George said as Andrea’s horse turned out of sight. “But how could Andrea have gotten the missing bracelet?”

  “We didn’t see her inside the Sour Power Pals ride,” Bess said.

  “But we did see Andrea before the ride,” Nancy pointed out, “when she shook Nadine’s hand.” After placing her Clue Book on the bench, she showed them. “Andrea used both hands to shake.” She grabbed Bess’s hand. “One of Andrea’s hands might have covered Nadine’s wrist while the other hand pulled off her bracelet.”

  “I get it,” George said.

  “So do I,” Bess said with a small smile. “Now can I have my hand back?”

  The carousel slowed down. Nancy scribbled Andrea’s name on her suspect list. Next to Andrea’s name she added the words “double handshake.”

  “I hope Andrea didn’t take Nadine’s bracelet.” Bess sighed. “She’s our friend.”

  “I know,” Nancy agreed. “But my dad says even friends make mistakes sometimes.”

  The carousel came to a complete stop. While kids climbed off the caramel-colored horses, the girls looked for Andrea. They saw her walking away from the carousel.

  After saying something to her mother, Andrea began running in the opposite direction. Nancy, Bess, and George ran too—after Andrea!

  “Andrea, wait!” Nancy shouted.

  Andrea stopped and turned around. When she saw the girls, she called, “I told my mom I’d be right back. What do you want?”

  “We want that bracelet you’re wearing!” George shouted. “That’s what!”

  Andrea stared at the bracelet on her wrist. She then shook her head and said, “No way! This bracelet is mine!” Andrea raced off again—this time to what looked like a forest of giant colorful lollipops. A sign next to the entrance read LOLLIPOP LABYRINTH.

/>   “What’s a lab-er-inth?” Bess asked after Andrea darted straight into it.

  “There’s only way to find out,” George said. “We’re going in!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George slipped under the arch-entrance. They froze when they found themselves between rows and rows of giant lollipops. Between the rows was a maze of paths leading in all different directions!

  “Where did Andrea go?” Nancy wondered.

  “I have a better question,” Bess said, looking around. “Where do we go?”

  The girls flitted down different paths, but not one led to Andrea. They just led to more giant lollipops!

  “I don’t care about finding Andrea anymore!” Bess wailed. “I just want to get out of here!”

  Nancy watched as more kids got lost inside the Lollipop Labyrinth. She wanted to get out too. But how?

  “Peter Patino had a hamster maze at the science fair,” George told Nancy and Bess. “His hamster, Nibbles, sniffed his way out to food at the other end.”

  “We’re not hamsters,” Nancy argued. “We’re humans.”

  “True,” George said. “But my human nose smells cheese popcorn.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George followed their noses through the Lollipop Labyrinth until the strong cheesy smell led them outside. Standing nearby were snack booths called the Sugar Shacks. A sign on one booth read CORNY-POP.

  “We found the popcorn.” Nancy sighed. “But we didn’t find Andrea.”

  “What do you mean?” Bess said, pointing. “There she is buying cotton candy!”

  The Clue Crew crept up behind Andrea at the cotton-candy stand. Her back was to the girls as she paid for a cone of pink-and-blue cotton candy.

  Nancy nodded toward Andrea’s outstretched arm. Dangling from her wrist was a red-and-white bracelet. A red-and-white candy-striped bracelet—just like Nadine’s!

  “Andrea?” George blurted as she tapped Andrea’s shoulder.

  “Huh?” Andrea spun around with surprise, ramming a wad of cotton candy in George’s face!

  “Yuck-o!” George cried. “You got cotton candy in my face, Andrea!”

  “And you got your face in my cotton candy—Georgia!” Andrea complained.

  George glowered at the sound of her real name.

  As George pulled sticky strands off of her cheek and chin, Nancy pointed to Andrea’s bracelet. “Let us see that, Andrea,” Nancy urged.

  “Please?” Bess added.

  “As if that’s ever going to happen,” Andrea snapped. “Leave me alone!”

  As Andrea pulled her hand all the way back, the bracelet flew off her wrist. It hovered in the air before dropping to the ground with a loud CLUNK!

  George pointed to the bracelet as it began rolling away. “What are we waiting for?” she cried. “Let’s get it.”

  “Let’s not,” Nancy said.

  “Nancy, why not?” Bess asked.

  “Because,” Nancy replied, “I don’t think that’s Nadine’s missing bracelet.”

  GUEST PEST

  “What do you mean it’s not the missing bracelet, Nancy?” George asked.

  “Our bracelets are rubber,” Nancy explained. “And rubber doesn’t clunk.”

  “Nancy’s right,” Bess agreed. “It’s more like a boing. Then it bounces.”

  Nancy picked up the bracelet and handed it to Andrea. “I’m sorry, Andrea,” she said. “This really is yours.”

  “I told you it was!” Andrea insisted. She picked up the red-and-white bracelet and said, “I won it fair and square, okay?”

  “Okay,” Nancy agreed before Andrea hurried off.

  “Are you sure that wasn’t Nadine’s bracelet?” George asked. “Where else would she get a candy-striped bracelet?”

  Bess’s eyes lit up. “Unless it wasn’t a bracelet,” she said.

  “What do you mean?” Nancy asked.

  “Andrea said she won it,” Bess explained. “So come with me.”

  Bess led Nancy and George to the busy, noisy game booths. She pointed to the Ring the Peppermint Sticks and said, “The rings the kids are tossing are red and white and candy-striped.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George watched kids try their luck tossing rings around the peppermint sticks. Each ring made a loud CLANG as it dropped.

  “Noisy much?” Bess asked with a smile. “Noisy like metal?”

  “And Andrea’s bracelet!” George declared.

  “Good work, Bess,” Nancy praised. “But if Andrea was wearing one of those rings—how did she get it?”

  “Let’s figure that out later,” Bess said with a smile. “I want to play and win a stuffed purple unicorn!”

  Bess stepped up to the booth where a teenage girl named Darcy handed her three metal rings to toss. Bess did her best tossing the rings, but they missed the peppermint sticks one by one.

  “Bummer, Bess,” George said.

  “That’s for sure.” Bess sighed. “I really wanted that purple unicorn.”

  “But you do get something,” Darcy said.

  “I do?” Bess asked excitedly. “What?”

  “You get one of the rings you tossed as a souvenir,” Darcy replied, placing a ring on the ledge. “They make cool bracelets, you know.”

  Bess smiled and said, “Oh, we know!”

  Nancy and George smiled. So that’s how Andrea got her red-and-white candy-striped bracelet.

  Bess thanked Darcy, but she left the metal ring on the ledge. They already had the best prize they could get from the game: a clue!

  “We’re pretty sure Andrea didn’t take Nadine’s bracelet,” Nancy said as they walked away from the game booths. “Our only suspects left are the Sour Power Pals.”

  Just then two kids walked by. On their heads were twisted balloons shaped like bugs!

  “Where did you get those?” George asked them.

  “A guy is twisting balloons in the shape of Gummy Pests,” the girl said excitedly.

  “He just started if you want your own,” the boy added.

  As the kids walked away, Bess said, “I had enough of Gummy Pests yesterday, thanks to Antonio.”

  “At least Antonio isn’t here today!” Nancy said.

  The girls walked through Candy Kingdom until they reached the World of the Sour Power Pals. The same red, blue, and yellow pals from before were helping kids into boats. Nancy and George were about to approach them when Bess said, “Wait!”

  “Now what?” George asked. “Don’t tell me you want to play another game.”

  “No,” Bess said, pointing to a nearby board covered with photos. “I want to see our picture from the Sour Power Pals ride!”

  “Could we do that later, please?” Nancy asked Bess. “We should look for clues.”

  “I know, Nancy,” Bess said, staring at the board. “But I think I just found one.”

  “What do you mean?” George asked.

  Nancy and George joined Bess around the picture of them inside the boat. They could see who was sitting in the third seat. It was—

  “Antonio Elefano!” Nancy exclaimed.

  “With Tommy Maron from school,” Bess pointed out. “They were right behind us, and we didn’t even know it!”

  “If Antonio was behind Nadine,” Nancy said, “he could have reached over and taken her bracelet.”

  “Antonio was mad that I got the winning candy bar,” Bess recalled, “and that we picked Nadine for Candy Kingdom instead of him.”

  “You know what this means,” George said, narrowing her eyes at the picture. “Antonio Elefano is somewhere in Candy Kingdom today.”

  “He’s also our next suspect,” Nancy said as she wrote Antonio’s name in her Clue Book. “And we have to find him!”

  “Where, Nancy?” Bess asked. “Antonio and Tommy could be anywhere in Candy Kingdom!”

  Nancy didn’t know where to look first. But as she glanced up from her Clue Book, she spotted another kid with a twisted balloon on her head—a Gummy Pests balloon!

  “Bess, George,” Nancy said with a sm
ile. “I think I know where to find Antonio.”

  FERRIS SQUEAL

  Nancy, Bess, and George looked around Candy Kingdom until they found the balloon-twister. A long line of kids wanting Gummy Pests balloons had already formed.

  “There’s Antonio and Tommy,” George pointed out, “right in the middle of the line.”

  “I can’t see if Antonio is wearing the bracelet,” Bess said. “His sleeves are too long.”

  “Let’s question him,” Nancy suggested. She knew Antonio would not cooperate, but they had to try!

  “You again?” Antonio said when he saw the girls.

  “You were in our boat on the Sour Power Pals ride,” Nancy told him. “Weren’t you?”

  “You mean you were in our boat!” Antonio snapped.

  “Yeah—our boat!” Tommy parroted.

  “Who cares whose boat it was?” George argued. “Did you trick Nadine on it or what?”

  “You bet I tricked her,” Antonio boasted, “and the proof is in my pocket!”

  Antonio patted his jacket pocket. Was Nadine’s missing bracelet inside?

  “Show us what’s in your pocket, Antonio,” Nancy said. Pointing to Antonio’s pocket she took a small step forward.

  Antonio took a giant step back. He then began shouting, “Hey! These girls are trying to jump the line!”

  The kids behind them shouted too:

  “Get at the end of the line!”

  “Wait your turn!”

  “We want Gummy Pests balloons too, you know!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George didn’t want Gummy Pests balloons. They wanted to know what was in Antonio’s pocket.

  “Antonio will never let us look in his pocket,” Bess complained as the girls walked away from the line. “Not in a million years!”

  The sound of happy shrieks suddenly filled the air. They were coming from the Flipping Fudge Pops Ferris Wheel, just a few feet away.

  Nancy, Bess, and George smiled, watching the ride in action. Kids sat inside cages shaped like fudge pops. As the Ferris wheel turned—the cages flipped upside down!

  “That gives me an idea!” George said with a grin.