The Candymakers

by Wendy Mass

  “Did you find out anything to disqualify the ice cream candy?” Philip asked as they ran. They all shook their heads. They couldn’t go back into their stairwell, because the crowd would just follow them. But Daisy seemed to know exactly where she was going.

  Which turned out to be the men’s room! She opened the door a few inches and called out, “Anyone in here?” When no one answered, she opened the door the rest of the way and pushed Philip inside. Logan and Miles slipped in after them, and Logan locked the door.

  “I’m pretty sure there’s a strict no-girls-allowed policy in here,” Philip said, leaning against the wall. His cheeks were flushed, but the rest of his face was unnaturally pale. His usually hidden freckles had popped out again.

  For a split second, Logan had a strange feeling, almost like déjà vu. But it quickly passed. “Are you all right?” he asked.

  Philip closed his eyes. “I’m just a little freaked out. I’ve never… played in front of anyone before.”

  Daisy stuck her hands on her hips. “Philip Ransford the Third! Here’s what I would like to know. How could you make fun of my father for being a violinist when you are obviously one yourself?”

  “But your dad isn’t actually a violinist, is he?”

  “Well, no,” Daisy sputtered. “But that’s not really the point, is it? You didn’t know that at the time.”

  Philip rolled his eyes. “I refuse to feel guilty about lying when you were lying, too. And first, I might add.”

  Daisy opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again with a sigh. “Fine.”

  Philip stepped over to the sink and began splashing water on his face. It splashed onto his suit, too, but he didn’t seem to care. Not like the time he’d spilled powdered sugar all over himself. He had really changed.

  Someone knocked hard on the bathroom door, but Daisy yelled, “Use the one downstairs!” and whoever it was went away.

  When Philip was done drying his face, he turned to Logan and Miles. “Why are you guys looking at me like that?”

  “Like what?” Miles asked.

  “Like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

  Logan glanced at Miles and then said, “You were just really, really good. Like seriously good. Like monster good. It was just a little, um, unexpected.”

  “Right,” Miles agreed. “What he said.”

  “How did you learn to play like that?”

  Philip shrugged. “It’s like Bach said: it’s easy to play any musical instrument. All you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.”

  “Trust me, it’s not that easy,” Logan said. “Your dad must be really proud of you.”

  Philip shook his head. “He doesn’t know that I play. And trust me, if he did, he wouldn’t be proud. He’d think it was a waste of time.”

  After a pause, Logan said, “Maybe he’d surprise you.”

  “Doubt it.”

  “We’ve got a situation,” Daisy said, springing into action and unlocking the door. AJ squeezed in, looking like a real grown-up in a suit and tie. He locked the door behind him.

  An official-looking badge hung around his neck, and they all leaned closer to read it:

  BO DINKLEMAN

  CONFECTIONARY ASSOCIATiON

  NEW CANDY CONTEST COORDINATOR

  They all laughed at the name he’d chosen for himself. “I won’t ask how you got the badge,” Logan said.

  “It’s best you don’t.”

  “So what’s the problem now?” Daisy asked.

  “Old Sammy wants to ask Logan if he’ll change his product description.”

  “Huh?” Logan asked. “What do you mean?”

  AJ turned to him. “He told the other judges that if you’re willing to take out the part about the ChocoRocket turning back into chocolate, he’ll declare you the winner. They sent me to find you.”

  Logan stared. “But that’s not fair to everyone else. Why would they do that? I mean, Old Sammy is a friend of my family’s…” He trailed off as another thought occurred to him. “It’s not because they… they feel sorry for me, is it?”

  AJ pulled at the collar of his shirt. It was enough of an answer.

  Logan’s head swam. He reached out for the wall and barely registered its coolness against his palm.

  “I’m really sorry,” AJ said earnestly. “I didn’t want to have to tell you.”

  “Are you all right, Logan?” Daisy asked, taking his other hand in hers.

  After the initial shock faded, Logan found that he wasn’t really that surprised. “I’m okay. It’s just… so strange. I mean, I’ve wanted to win this contest my entire life. But not like this. Not with a candy that isn’t ready yet. I don’t understand why anyone would feel sorry for me. Some people have scars on the inside, and other people’s are on the outside. It shouldn’t matter.”

  “I don’t think everyone realizes that,” Miles said. “I think they just care about you.”

  AJ nodded. “Old Sammy thinks you deserve to win for being so brave.”

  “Brave?” Logan repeated, confused. “How am I brave?”

  “You’re brave,” Daisy said, “because you never stopped being you. And a lot of people would have.”

  Logan’s eyes stung. “Really?”

  She nodded. Philip and Miles did, too.

  “So what should I tell them?” AJ asked.

  Logan took a deep, shaky breath. “Tell them I appreciate the thought, but one day the Bubbletastic ChocoRocket will do what it’s supposed to do. Turn from chocolate to gum… and back again!”

  “You got it,” AJ said, slipping back out.

  Now it was Logan’s turn to splash water on his face. He felt the scars as his hands brushed over them. Why was everyone else more bothered by them than he was? The faucet wouldn’t turn all the way off, and the water dribbled into the metal sink.

  “Time to go,” Daisy announced. “AJ said the judges are coming out.”

  “Does he know who won?” Philip asked.

  She shook her head. “It’s in a sealed envelope.”

  “If I lose,” Philip said, “I promise I’ll do my best to keep my father away from Life Is Sweet.”

  “You could say they’ve got rats!” Miles suggested.

  “Whatever it takes,” Philip promised.

  They reached the main room to find it even more crowded than when Philip had been playing his violin. Word of the judges’ arrival had spread fast. Rows of folding chairs had been set up, and they were all filled. People leaned against walls and sat in the aisle. Logan spotted AJ in a chair near the podium. Someday he’d have to explain how he’d gotten the judges to believe he was part of the Confectionary Association. He really was an excellent spy.

  “There you are!” Mrs. Sweet said, appearing before them. “We heard the strangest rumor downstairs.”

  “Really?” Logan glanced uneasily at the others. He hoped they hadn’t heard about the judges’ offer… and that he’d turned it down.

  She put her arm around Philip’s shoulders as they walked toward the rows of seats. “We heard that one of the contestants—a young man—just played the most beautiful violin concerto. Would you happen to know anything about that?”

  “I never listen to rumors,” Philip replied.

  They joined the Candymaker and Max and Henry, who had saved seats for them in a row near the back. Logan sat down next to his father, and the others filed in after him. The Candymaker dug through a canvas bag full of candies and pulled out a grape Blast-o-Bit. He offered it to Logan. Never one to turn down candy, Logan accepted. The familiar flavor was comforting. He felt a pang of homesickness for the factory, as he always did when away from it even for a few hours.

  “We had thirty-one outstanding entries,” Judge Edgar said from the podium. The buzzing of the crowd instantly stopped. Logan knew the people in his row weren’t the only ones holding their breath right now. He wondered where Alex Gruber was sitting. If only he could have figured out what that fin
al ingredient was in the I Scream. If there even was one.

  “But in the end,” Edgar continued, “we were able to narrow it down to two candies that fulfilled everything we were looking for. Something truly innovative, something never seen before.”

  Logan would bet everything that those two were the Harmonicandy and the I Scream.

  Judge Edgar handed the mike over to Judge Carol. “How did we choose between them?” she said. “Well, one of them had a special something that we couldn’t put our finger on.”

  Logan’s heart sank. He knew they were about to announce that I Scream had won. He knew it as well as he knew his own nose. On the other side of the Candymaker, he noticed Henry’s leg jiggling up and down. The only time he’d ever seen the usually unruffled Marshmallow Man do that was after he’d had too many cups of coffee at the factory’s holiday party. Logan glanced away and then nearly sprang straight up out of his chair.

  He knew what was in the I Scream!

  He grabbed Daisy and whispered straight into her ear, “AJ! It’s caffeine! Alex Gruber put caffeine in the I Scream!”

  Things began happening quickly. Judge Carol handed the mike over to Old Sammy, who held the envelope in front of him. AJ jumped up and reached for Old Sammy’s arm. Surprised, Sammy almost toppled sideways. AJ steadied him, then whispered into his ear.

  “Are you certain?” Old Sammy said after hearing him out.

  AJ nodded.

  Turning back to the audience, Old Sammy said, “I’m sorry for the delay. But the judges will need to see all the contestants who trained this week at Mmm Mmm Good.”

  A murmur ran through the crowd. Four kids stood up, two boys and two girls. Logan didn’t know which of the boys was Alex. If he had to guess, he’d say it was the one who had gone as pale as a sheet of paper.

  Judge Carol picked up the mike. “Big Billy, we’d like you to come, too.”

  The murmurs intensified as Big Billy pushed up from his chair and followed the kids into the Judges’ Room. The door shut behind them. Logan’s dad and the other candymakers gathered in the aisle to try to figure out what was going on.

  “Now what?” Logan whispered.

  “Now we wait,” Daisy said. “And hope he admits it.”

  Philip leaned over. “Do you think Big Billy is the guy working with my dad after all? Maybe that was the backup plan—have someone from his group win and become more powerful that way.”

  “It’s possible,” Daisy said, “but I don’t get that sense from him.”

  Logan was relieved to hear her say that. He hoped that Big Billy didn’t have a part in the I Scream plot. Slipping caffeine or any other substance like that into candy was a very serious offense. Logan wondered why Alex Gruber would have taken such a huge chance, especially when the I Scream would still have been great without it. He must have really wanted to win.

  It seemed like forever, but it was probably only ten minutes until the group came back out. Everyone except Alex and Big Billy. Logan watched the door for a minute until Judge Edgar cleared his throat into the microphone.

  “Pardon the interruption, everyone,” he said. “Some unexpected excitement. I won’t keep you waiting any longer. The winner of the Confectionary Association’s annual New Candy Contest is…”

  “… Kimberly Bowker and her Bacon Pop!”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Logan’s heart stopped as a single thought sped at top speed into his brain. The factory is gone! We’ve lost it! Then, in almost the same instant, he realized it was Miles who had fed that last line into his ear while Judge Edgar had paused.

  “Very funny!” Logan whispered, elbowing him.

  “Philip Ransford the Third, with the Harmonicandy!” Judge Edgar shouted.

  Logan jumped out of his chair, along with everyone else from Life Is Sweet, whooping and shouting. The rest of the audience applauded loudly. Logan knew a lot of kids were disappointed that their entries didn’t win, but that’s what he loved about the candy business. Everyone supported everyone else.

  The Life Is Sweet group took turns hugging one another. The Candymaker leaned close to Logan and whispered, “I’m sorry, son. I know how much winning this contest meant to you.”

  “But I did win, Dad. Trust me, we all won as soon as the Harmonicandy played its first note.”

  His father clapped him on the back. “Spoken like a true candymaker!”

  And as his dad spoke the words, Logan believed them for the first time. He truly was a candymaker. They all were. He knew that the next time he stepped into the lab it would feel different. He wouldn’t doubt himself anymore. He couldn’t wait.

  “You’ve got to go up there,” Logan’s mom told Philip.

  “Will you come with me?” he asked, sounding younger than Logan had ever heard him. In his suit, it was sometimes hard to remember he was only twelve.

  She hesitated for a second and glanced at Logan, who nodded. The crowd kept clapping as the two of them made their way to the front.

  “Hey, that’s the kid who was playing the violin!” a girl in the middle called out. Everyone started buzzing about that, then clapped even louder.

  By the time Philip reached the podium, his face was as red as when he had his hiccupping fit the first day.

  Judge Carol had the mike now. “Our newest staff member, Mr. Bo Dinkleman, will now present the winner with his prize.”

  Daisy, Miles, and Logan collapsed in giggles as AJ stepped up to the podium. “As a newcomer to your wonderful organization, I am thrilled to present this plaque to Philip Ransford the Third, for his invention of the Harmonicandy! The first chocolate harmonica that really plays!”

  The crowd rose to its feet.

  “And here is a check for one thousand dollars,” AJ/Bo said, handing Philip an envelope. “I was told that Mmm Mmm Good had been selected to produce the winning candy this year, but Big Billy has an announcement he’d like to make.”

  The audience instantly started whispering. Clutching his envelope awkwardly, Philip stepped aside as Big Billy slowly made his way up to the podium. He took the mike, and the room quieted.

  “Hello, my old friends. Well, not as old as me, but still plenty old!”

  Everyone laughed.

  “I had planned to announce this next month, but something happened today that made me realize the time is right. A few things occurred under my roof that didn’t make me proud, and I realize that Mmm Mmm Good has grown too large, and I have grown too old. Mmm Mmm Good will be closing its doors, and I will be splitting up my candy production among the other factories represented here today. If they’ll accept them, that is.”

  A shocked hush fell across the room.

  “We can discuss the details at the Factory Owners’ Dinner later today. Being a member of the candymaking community has brought me decades of joy, and I know that my old friends will take as good care of our candy as I would. I’d like to congratulate our newest winner here, even though I lost my bet!”

  The audience laughed. Logan swallowed hard against the knot in his throat. One of the world’s greatest candy factories would soon be gone. To think how close Life Is Sweet had come to sharing the same fate. He had to remind himself that this was Big Billy’s choice and that he’d found a way to keep his candies alive.

  Billy handed the mike back to AJ and made his way to his seat. AJ said, “Well, you heard it here first, folks. Big changes are afoot!”

  “Someone better get that mike away from him,” Daisy whispered to Logan and Miles. “I think he might actually believe he works here!”

  “Everyone enjoy the rest of the convention, and remember our motto, ‘We’re nuts about sweets!’ ”

  By this time the crowd had begun to move, the grown-ups toward Big Billy, the kids toward the candy table. The contest entries were now fair game for anyone to try.

  The organizers of the contest whisked Philip away to get his picture taken alongside a Harmonicandy, which they had put aside before anyone finished them all off.

&n
bsp; “Let’s go make fun of him so he messes up the picture,” Daisy said.

  They made their way through the crowd to find Philip posing in front of the plate. He stood so stiffly he almost looked like a cardboard cutout of himself.

  When he saw the other three, he visibly relaxed, and the photographer snapped his picture.

  “Got it!” the man said, lowering the camera.

  “Bummer,” Daisy said. “I missed my chance to make you mess up!”

  “I’m sure it won’t be your last chance,” Philip said dryly.

  Just then his phone rang.

  “The fame begins already!” Miles said. “Probably Hollywood calling to make a movie about your life story.”

  “Hello?” Philip said loudly, pressing the phone tight against his ear. “What?” He looked around the room, panic clear in his voice. “He’s here? Like in the building? All right. Thanks for letting me know.”

  He closed the phone and said, “My father’s here. Well, he’ll be here in ten minutes.”

  “Do you think…” Logan began. “Do you think he might still go ahead with his plan?”

  Philip didn’t hesitate. “No. I’m sure he only came to verify the win.”

  Logan could see from Miles’s and Daisy’s faces that they weren’t so sure. After all, the man had put a lot of planning into this takeover. Maybe he wouldn’t be put off as easily as he’d promised. Fortunately, Philip was too worked up to notice their worried expressions. He turned to Logan. “I need to speak to your dad, okay?”

  So once again they had to act as Philip’s bodyguards. He graciously accepted everyone’s praise as they crossed the room, but it was obvious he wasn’t comfortable with the attention.

  Logan pulled his dad away from the group surrounding Big Billy. “We need to talk to you for a minute. Out in the stairwell.”

  Once they were sure no one had followed them there, Philip reached into his jacket pocket and took out the secret ingredient. He handed the tin to the Candymaker, whose eyes grew large.