The Candymakers Read online

  Logan wrinkled his nose at the marshy smell of the reddish purple seaweed, which wafted all the way out to the hall. After being processed, carrageen produced the gel for all the Candymaker’s gummy products, including Gummzilla and Gummysaurus Rex, which, at thirteen inches tall, were the world’s largest commercially sold gummy dinosaurs. The gel was also used on products that required a sugar coating (like the High-Jumping Jelly Beans) or a chocolate coating (like the Oozing Crunchorama). Logan had spent many a messy afternoon coating caramel balls with carrageen before rolling them in chocolate.

  He could watch the scientists all day, but he knew it would be rude to keep the other kids waiting any longer. So he turned away, breathing deeply. His lungs expanded with the fresh air that was constantly pumped into this section of the factory to keep the temperature in the ideal 70- to 72-degree candymaking range. Refreshed, he ran without stopping to the large front entryway.

  He heard the bell ring a few times as he approached the thick wooden door. But when he reached it, his hand lingered on the brass doorknob. What would he say to the newcomers? Why hadn’t he prepared a welcome speech like those he’d heard his dad give to new employees on their first day?

  Well, he might not have a speech, but at least he had a poem. He reached into his pocket, took a deep breath, and swung open the door in time to hear the boy in the suit say, “And that’s just the way it is.” Then three faces turned expectantly toward his.

  In that moment, all their fates were sealed. They just didn’t know it yet.

  CHAPTER TWO

  It’s about time,” said the boy in the suit. The other boy pushed up his glasses, reddened, and smiled shyly. The girl grinned brightly and pulled her ponytail tighter.

  Logan cleared his throat, held up the notepaper, and read, “ ‘Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.’ ” Then he refolded the note (not as gracefully as he would have liked) and stuck it in his pocket. He knew he could rely on Mom to pick out the perfect quote for any occasion.

  The girl clasped her hands together. “Lovely!” she exclaimed.

  The shorter boy beamed.

  The boy in the suit rolled his eyes, looked at his watch, and said, “We’re losing daylight here. Let’s get this show on the road.” He picked up a large brown leather briefcase and strode past Logan into the factory.

  “Hi, I’m Daisy Carpenter,” the girl said, sticking out her hand.

  Logan stared at it for a second before reaching out to shake it. He’d never shaken hands with someone his own age before. It made him feel very mature. He again found himself distracted by her yellow dress, which glowed even brighter up close. He couldn’t help noticing that one of her socks was pink and the other blue with white spots. Maybe she was color-blind. He’d never met someone who was color-blind before. What if you thought you were choosing blue cotton candy but it turned out to be pink?

  “I’m Logan,” he replied, forcing his gaze away from her feet. “I’m, uh, the Candymaker’s son.”

  “Nice to meet you,” she said, then tilted her head toward the boy in the suit, who was already a few feet inside. “That charmer is Philip.”

  The short boy with the big backpack stepped up next to Daisy. “I’m Miles.” He didn’t extend his hand, though, so Logan gave a little wave and said hello.

  Miles flashed a smile and seemed about to say more. Instead, he just shuffled his feet. Logan was glad to see that someone else felt as shy as he did. He stepped aside to let them enter. The square white pocketbook slung over Daisy’s right shoulder hit him on the arm as she passed. He rubbed his arm quickly so she wouldn’t notice. What could be in there, bricks? He was about to ask, when he remembered that his mother had taught him never to ask what was inside a lady’s purse.

  “Wow!” Miles exclaimed as he crossed the threshold. “This place is amazing!”

  “Utterly!” Daisy added in an awed tone.

  Logan closed the door and smiled. He always liked watching people’s faces when they first entered the factory. Philip had turned toward the window of the Cocoa Room, so Logan couldn’t see his face. But Miles and Daisy were wearing similar expressions: eyes wide and shining, jaws slightly open, heads bobbing around to soak it all in. The glass ceiling overhead threw sunlight onto the white floors and bounced it off the silver fixtures, making everything shimmer and glow as though lit from within. The bronze statue of his grandfather loomed over the entryway, his kind and welcoming smile the first thing guests saw when they entered.

  Logan watched Miles and Daisy slowly turn in a circle, taking in the chocolate fountain, with its continuous stream of smooth chocolate, the barrels of taffy in every color of the rainbow, the gleaming machines behind the long windows of the Cocoa Room.

  “Look!” Miles said, pointing to a large display case. “It’s a giant Gummysaurus Rex! That’s my favorite candy!”

  “That one was the prototype,” Logan explained. “The first of its kind, I mean. If you look closely, you can see where the tail broke off in the mold. We had to keep adding more acacia-tree gum until we got it right.”

  “So cool,” Miles said, leaning forward eagerly to get a better look at the broken tail.

  “And look at this!” Daisy exclaimed, running up to a gold plaque on the wall. She read off the words that Logan could recite in his sleep: “The Confectionary Association is proud to bestow the honor of Best New Candy to Samuel Sweet, for his invention of the Pepsicle.” Then she hurried over to the next one.

  Logan felt his stomach twist but managed to keep a pleasant smile on his face as she read the plaque. “The Confectionary Association is proud to bestow the honor of Best New Candy to Richard Sweet, for his invention of the Neon Yellow Lightning Chew.” She turned to Logan, a look of admiration on her face. “That’s your grandpa and your dad, right?”

  Logan nodded, his stomach twisting again.

  “Must be a lot of pressure on you, huh?” Philip asked, joining them. He tapped the empty space next to the Candymaker’s plaque. “I bet your parents expect to see your name right here. Too bad you have to be up against me. I don’t lose.”

  Logan took a step backward. He wasn’t used to having anyone talk to him this way. The need for him to win was his own, not his parents’. “No, it’s… it’s not like that,” he insisted. “They only wanted me to enter if it’s what I wanted. They don’t care if I win.”

  But Philip wasn’t listening. He was reading the first plaque again. “The Pepsicle? Your grandfather won the candy world’s biggest honor for a peppermint ice pop? ”

  “Things were, um, different back then,” Logan stammered, still feeling off balance from the boy’s mocking tone. “I mean, people were just starting to have freezers in their houses. Creating the first frozen candy was a big deal.”

  “Boy,” Philip muttered. “Competition must have been slim pickings that year.”

  “I happen to love Pepsicles,” Daisy said, turning her back on Philip. “So does my best friend, Magpie, and she’s very particular.”

  Logan threw her a grateful smile.

  “What kind of girl is named Magpie?” asked Philip.

  “What kind of boy is named Philip?” replied Daisy.

  “Sooo…,” Miles said, turning toward Logan. “Is Sweet really your last name?”

  Logan nodded, hoping he wasn’t going to get teased about that, too.

  Miles grinned, and his glasses rode up a bit on his nose. “I guess with a name like that it’s no wonder your grandfather opened a candy factory!”

  “Yeah,” Daisy added. “If your last name was Carpenter, like mine, you might be the Cabinetmaker’s son instead of the Candymaker’s son!”

  The three of them laughed. Philip rolled his eyes yet again. Logan wondered if all that eye-rolling would give Philip a headache one day. He turned to Daisy. “Is that what your dad does? Makes cabinets?”

  She shook her head, her long ponytail actually skimming Philip’s nose. “Oops,” Dais