“Humph.” Penny began to pace, her fists now tightly clenched. “I’ll tell you what started it. Candy and I are strong, independent women, but we still like to do things the old-fashioned way. That never settled well with Donald.”
“He was all about progress,” Candy said. “That’s where the trouble began. He wanted to make some major changes to our grandfather’s original recipe, and he wanted to spend money on new machinery.”
Kate couldn’t see why this should cause a problem, but didn’t say so. It wasn’t her place to interrupt.
“One thing led to another, and we eventually broke away from the family business and started our own company,” Penny said. “We wanted to do things more like our parents and grandparents had done.”
Candy dabbed at her eyes. “Unfortunately, our brothers’ business really took off after we left. They became the largest pretzel-making factory in the state. And they rubbed it in every time we were together that first year. So, after a while we just stopped spending time with them.”
“I have missed them at times,” Penny said, wiping a tear from her eye. “But they’re so…dishonest.”
“Dishonest?” Kate looked at her, confused. “How so?”
Penny wrung her hands together. “Even though they’re using the latest technology, they still claim to do things the old-fashioned way. It’s just not right. They’re not being honest with the customers.”
“They’ll do anything they can to stay on top,” Penny said. “Anything.”
“Hmm.” Kate drew in a breath, wondering if she should respond. In some ways, the Bender brothers seemed just like the sisters…they wanted to win. They wanted to be the top dog.
Kate thought about that scripture on her text reader: Don’t think you are better than you really are …
Hmm. At once her thoughts went to her situation with Phillip. She wondered if they would be like this in twenty-five years, still fighting over who was the best. Not if she had anything to do with it!
Candy kept talking, her voice growing more animated. “In some ways, our story is just like that biblical story of David and Goliath,” she said. “Our brothers are like Goliath, and we’re like little David. But remember who won in the end!” She raised her hand in the air and squeezed it shut for a triumphant shout. Then she added, “With just five little stones, David took the giant down!”
Kate watched this, feeling a little confused. Why did it matter so much whether the brothers or the sisters had the most customers? Who cared about all of their problems in the past? Why couldn’t they just forgive each other and make up? Wouldn’t that be for the best?
Kate decided to change gears once again, to tell the ladies about her other suspicions. She looked at Candy as she spoke.
“I don’t want to have to be the one to tell you this,” Kate said, “but I believe Mr. Whipple might be involved in all of this.”
“W–what?” Penny stumbled over the word. “W–what makes you think that?”
“We caught him in your office, snooping around,” Alex said.
“It’s true.” Kate nodded. “We watched him with our own eyes. I’ve got the picture to prove it.”
She reached for her camera and showed Penny the photos.
“Oh my!” Penny’s face turned pale. “I wonder what Bud was up to.”
“I don’t know,” Kate said at last. “I just know he was in there for a couple of minutes and he said something about, well…”
“Go ahead. Spit it out.” Penny’s brow wrinkled as she waited on Kate to respond.
“He said something about crazy women.”
Her eyes widened. “Did he now. He said crazy?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure he said crazy,” Alex said. “But that’s not all. He also said he was going to get you.”
“Get me?” Penny looked stunned. “What does that mean?”
“I think it means he’s trying to sabotage you,” Kate whispered. “So you’d better be careful around him, Penny. He’s a spy. I just know it.”
“Hmm.” Penny shook her head. “I don’t like to think he’s been snooping around. Why Bud Whipple has worked for us for years. He’s a faithful employee.”
She went on and on, talking about what a great man he was and how he had helped the factory grow, but Kate knew there was more to the story.
“Hmm, well…” Kate swallowed hard, then continued. “There’s more to it than that.”
“Ooh?” Penny turned pale.
“Yes. Mr. Whipple was recently photographed at your brothers’ factory.”
“No!” Penny began to fan herself. “Are you sure about that, Kate? It’s one thing to suspect our brothers, another thing altogether to suspect Bud…er, Mr. Whipple. Why, he’s worked for us for years and is our best employee!”
“It’s true,” Alex said. “I found the photograph online. He was shaking hands with your brother Donald in the photo.”
“I can’t believe we never saw the picture in the paper,” Candy said, shaking her head.
“Well, we’re so busy,” Penny responded. “Who has time to read the paper?” She looked even more upset. “Still, I can’t believe Bud would do anything to hurt us. He’s been so loyal, so faithful.”
“Do you suppose he’s been working for Donald and Steve all along?” Candy asked. “As a spy?”
Penny’s eyes grew wide. “Impossible!”
“It’s more than possible, sister,” Candy said, putting her hands on her hips. “And to think he knows everything about our business—from the type of machinery we use to the recipes for the pretzels. Why, he’s the most logical suspect of all. I can’t believe we didn’t think of it before.”
“Well, we thought of it,” Kate said. “And he’s the reason we came back to your factory this morning. We wanted to find out if our suspicions about him were right.”
“We don’t have any proof,” Alex added. “But he said…and did…some suspicious things.”
“If there’s nothing wrong with the machinery, then maybe he has altered the recipe in some way,” Kate suggested. “Perhaps he’s deliberately left out the yeast.”
“Maybe.” Candy shook her head. “There’s only one way to know. Let’s get him out of the factory by sending him on some sort of errand over the next couple of days and see if this problem continues, even when he’s not around.”
Kate sighed. “I’ll be going home tomorrow after the festival ends, so I guess I won’t be able to help you figure this out. That’s a bummer.”
“Yes.” Candy shrugged. “But honey, you don’t need this distraction right now, anyway. Didn’t you come to Hershey to win this competition? You should be focusing on that, not on our problem.”
Kate nodded. “I suppose. But I always like to help.”
Through the crowd, she saw a familiar face. He came nearer, nearer …
“Um, ladies…” Kate whispered. “We might have a bit of a problem on our hands.”
“Oh?” Penny looked confused.
Kate pointed in Mr. Whipple’s direction. “It looks like our number one suspect is headed right for us!”
Mr. Whipple’s Secret!
Kate turned to Candy and Penny, her hands trembling. “Quick! You need to hide!”
“But where?” Candy asked, looking around. “And he’s supposed to be working at the factory now.”
“Behind the booth,” Alex suggested.
The two sisters did just that, slipping behind Kate’s booth just as Mr. Whipple approached. Thankfully, he only paused long enough to look at the TWISTED TWINS sign. Kate was grateful he didn’t ask about the women. Instead, he just nodded and kept on walking.
“I think it’s safe,” Kate whispered. “You ladies can come out now.”
Candy stepped out first, running her fingers through her now-messy hair. “Whew! That was a close one.”
Penny came next with a sad look on her face.
“Are you okay, sister?” Candy asked.
Penny shrugged. “I guess. I’m
just really disappointed to think that Bud might be involved in this. I’ve always, well…” She shook her head. “I always thought he was such a nice man.”
“Me too,” Candy said. “And maybe we’re wrong about all of this. I hope so, anyway.”
“I hope so too,” Kate added.
“We could use a distraction,” Candy said. “I’d like to look around at the other entries. Would you like that, sister?”
“Sure.” Penny shrugged. “Looking around the exhibition hall will be just the thing to get my mind off of my problems.”
The sisters gave Kate and Alex a little wave, then went off on their way.
For a while Kate tried to talk to people as they stopped by, but her heart wasn’t really in it. Besides, the Turbo Heat-Freeze still wasn’t working properly. She couldn’t figure out why the chocolate wasn’t hardening like it should. After a few minutes, Kate gave up trying. She decided to clean up her area and pack up the candies.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked, giving her a concerned look. “What’s on your mind?”
“I don’t know.” Kate shrugged. “This trip is just turning out to be so complicated. And not much fun.”
Alex nodded. “I know what you mean. I can’t stop thinking about what happened at the pretzel factory. Do you think Mr. Whipple is to blame?”
Kate sighed. “I don’t know.” She paused, deep in thought. “The law says a person is innocent until proven guilty, and we don’t have any proof. Not yet, anyway. So we have to assume he’s innocent.”
“I guess so.” Alex sighed.
“If he’s innocent, then there must be some logical explanation for why the pretzels are flat,” Kate said. “Maybe it’s something simple.” She paused, thinking of the problems she’d had with her Turbo Heat-Freeze today. Hmm. An interesting idea occurred. One she hadn’t thought of before. She was just about to share it when Penny and Candy came running back into the booth, breathless.
“He…he…he saw us!” Candy’s eyes were wide in fear. She ducked behind the booth.
“I thought we lost him on that last aisle, but I’m pretty sure he noticed us!” Penny said as she dove under the table.
“What? Who?” Kate looked down the aisle, shocked to find Mr. Whipple headed their way in a hurry!
From underneath the table, she felt Penny moving around. In fact, the whole table began to shake.
Mr. Whipple arrived looking a little winded. “Girls…have you seen Penny and Candy?”
“Oh, well, I…” Kate felt Penny’s fingernails in her leg. She couldn’t help but let out a little cry of “Ouch!”
The table continued to jiggle. Mr. Whipple stared at it, his eyes narrowing into slits. “Hmm.” He looked down at the table, then up at Kate and Alex. “What’s going on here?”
“Oh, well, to be honest…” Kate didn’t know what to say next.
At that very moment, Penny let out a loud sneeze. Make that two loud sneezes. No, three.
“Aha.” Mr. Whipple dropped to his knees then lifted the edge of the tablecloth, peering underneath the table. “Penny Bender! What are you doing under there?”
She crawled out, covered in dust bunnies, which she brushed off with her palms. “I was just, well, checking under the table to see if Kate had dropped anything.”
“Sure you were.” He shook his head. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think you and your sister were avoiding me.”
At this point, Candy stuck her head out from behind the booth.
“Who me?” she said.
“Yes, you.” He gave them both puzzled looks. “What’s going on here?”
Candy came out from behind the booth and stood next to her sister. Both had worried looks on their faces.
“Bud, I need to ask you a question,” Penny said at last. “What in the world were you doing in my office this morning?”
“Your office?” His face turned a rosy shade. “Who, um, who told you I was in your office?”
“Never mind that.” She crossed her arms at her chest and stared him down. “We can talk about that later. Right now I just need to know what you were doing in there. Were you snooping around?”
“Snooping around?” He shook his head. “Now, why would I want to be doing that, Penny? After all these years of working for you?”
“That’s what I want to know,” she countered. “So, fess up, Bud. What’s up here? You’re up to something.”
His gaze shifted to the ground. “Well, you’re right about that.”
As he spoke, Kate’s heart began to thump madly. Maybe he would confess right here and now! He would tell them what they all suspected…that he worked for the Benders and had been spying on the twins.
“Here’s the truth, Penny,” Mr. Whipple said. “I snuck into your office to leave a little present on your desk.”
“A present?” She shook her head, the suddenly her eyes lit with recognition. “Oh, wait! Did you leave a little note on my desk? Something about having a happy day?”
His cheeks turned redder than before. “I did.”
For a second he looked into her eyes, then his gaze shifted again and Kate could sense his embarrassment. “If you want the truth of it, Penny, I had another note I wanted to leave, but I chickened out, so I left that one instead.”
“Another note?” She looked confused.
He nodded, then reached into his pocket and came out with a folded piece of paper. “This is it.”
“Oh?” She reached out her hand and Kate watched as he placed the paper in her open palm. She noticed the trembling in his hand and wondered what the note said. Not that it was really any of her business, after all.
Penny unfolded the note, her mouth falling open as she read. Her eyes filled with tears, and she looked over at Mr. Whipple with the strangest expression.
“Bud…” Her voice cracked. “Did you really write this…for me?”
Now his eyes filled with tears. “I did, Penny. And it’s long overdue. I should’ve written it years ago.”
A smile as bright as the midafternoon sunshine lit Penny’s face. She pressed the note to her chest and gazed at him with a hopeful expression. “And you really mean what you said here?”
“I do.”
“Well then, I have something to say to you too!” She raced across the room and flung her arms around his neck, giving him a kiss on each cheek. “I love you too, Bud Whipple! I always have, and I always will!”
Kate’s mouth flew open at this revelation. Mr. Whipple had left a love note in Penny’s office? She started giggling and couldn’t stop. Before long, Alex joined her. Then Penny and Bud followed.
Candy looked back and forth between them and then grinned. “Well, it’s about time you two came to your senses. I’ve been telling you both for years that you were meant for each other. What took you so long?”
“I’m just old and foolish, I guess,” Mr. Whipple said, raking his fingers through his thinning hair. “Don’t know what took me so long, to be honest.”
“I’m just set in my ways,” Penny added. “Change has never been easy for me. I guess I thought that falling in love would change my life.”
“Oh, it will.” Mr. Whipple winked and she blushed. “But I hope you’ll like the changes.”
“Well, forever more.” Candy leaned against the table, looking back and forth between Kate and Alex. “So, this explains what he was doing in Penny’s office. Bud is officially off your list as a suspect, girls.”
“A suspect?” He looked at them with wide eyes. “Has a crime been committed? Something I don’t know about?”
“Well, we thought maybe you had something to do with the pretzels going flat,” Alex explained.
“What makes you think that?”
“Oh, well, I…” Kate paused, wondering if the time had finally come to share what they knew. She finally worked up the courage. “Mr. Whipple, we found a picture of you in the newspaper, taken with the Bender brothers.”
Penny gave him a concerned look. “Y
es, you have some explaining to do, Bud. What’s up with that? What are you doing conspiring with the enemy?”
“No, no, no. It’s not like that at all. Let me explain…” His eyes filled with tears. “Ladies, I’ve known you both since we were kids. Known your brothers too. We all played together as children. Why, it breaks my heart that you aren’t speaking to one another. It’s just not right.”
“So, you’ve been talking to our brothers?” Candy put her hands on her hips.
“And working for them behind our backs?” Penny glared at him.
He shook his head, looking more tired than ever. “If you want the truth of the matter, I’ve just been running interference. I’ve been praying about a way to see your family come back together again—to forget about the arguments of the past and start over.”
“Start over?” Candy began to pace the room. “After what they did to us?”
Mr. Whipple shook his head. “Ladies, you might remember that I lost my sister a few months ago. She passed away after a long battle with cancer. I miss her so much. I’d do anything to have her back so we could have one more chat…one more hug.” His eyes filled with tears. “Sometimes you don’t realize how much you love someone until you don’t have them anymore.”
“Well, the door works both ways. If the boys wanted to talk to us, they would come here,” Candy announced.
“That’s why I’ve been going over there,” Mr. Whipple said, gazing down. “I’ve been trying to convince them to make the first move. To come to you.”
For a moment, Penny had a hopeful look in her eye. Just for a moment. It faded quickly as Mr. Whipple added, “But they’re as stubborn as you two are.”
“Well, how do you like that.” Candy began to pace the room. “Now one of our employees calls us stubborn.”
Kate wanted to chime in, but didn’t. It wasn’t her place. If the Lord wanted to teach the Twisted Twins a lesson about stubbornness, He could do it without her help! And it seemed like Mr. Whipple was doing a fine job on his own.
“I’m just asking that the two of you pray about this,” he said. “Go ahead and fire me if you like. I’m old. I’d planned to retire soon, anyway.”
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