The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase Read online

  “Until we know if there will even be a Harmonicandy,” Logan said, “we shouldn’t talk about it more than necessary.”

  Philip grunted in agreement.

  “Hey, cheer up,” Daisy said, bumping him with her hip. “You made a friend tonight, too. That’s huge for you. What does that make, four in about thirteen years now?”

  “Sounds about right.”

  AJ had pulled down their beds for the night and was lounging on the couch, chomping on a sandwich when they filed in. He gestured to the computer screen in the lab. Another name had indeed popped up on the photograph. Evelyn Sheinblatt, the other woman in the photo.

  They all looked at Logan, who peered more closely at the picture. “I don’t remember meeting her,” he said. “But her name sounds familiar. I think my grandpa mentioned his friend Evy once or twice. That must be her.” He wished he’d paid more attention to everything his grandfather had ever said.

  Unable to hold it back, he yawned, feeling the weight of the long, insane day catch up with him. Had the Kickoff really only been that morning? Some days went by in the blink of an eye, and others felt like they lasted for a month. Today had lasted for a year.

  Daisy was about to suggest heading to bed, when they heard a dog barking outside the RV. It was too dark out to see anything.

  “Maybe the drone has arrived!” Miles suggested.

  AJ cautiously opened the main door and peered out. In a flash, a small, fat multicolored cat ran up the stairs and down the aisle before leaping into a stunned Philip’s arms.

  Daisy grinned. “Make that five friends in thirteen years.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  It felt like he’d only been asleep for five minutes, but when Logan checked the clock, it said 3:00 a.m. He wasn’t sure what had awoken him until he heard the scratching. It sounded like it was coming from the roof above him. His first, sleep-addled thought was… Santa? But he dismissed that one quickly.

  He peered over the side of his bunk bed to check whether Philip’s cat was scratching the furniture. But the cat lay curled up in the crook of Philip’s arm, both of them sound asleep.

  The light in the back bedroom flickered on, and AJ walked out a few seconds later. Logan sat up and saw that Daisy was also awake and standing in the middle of the RV. She was fully dressed. He had the feeling she slept with one eye open. She switched on a flashlight.

  “What’s going on?” he whispered, blinking.

  She pointed the beam of light at the sunroof over her head. “The drone is here.”

  “The drone is here?” Miles repeated, suddenly wide awake. He hopped out of bed.

  AJ pulled one of the levers on the climbing wall, and the sunroof slid open. Seconds later a steel-gray robot-bird thingy with four octopus-like tentacles flew inside and descended silently toward the floor. Logan thought it was about the size of one of the warming ovens in the Some More S’mores Room. Or maybe he just had s’mores on the brain!

  Philip woke up last and groggily propped himself up on one arm. The cat stretched and pushed her paws on his chest. Startled, Philip scooted backward in his bunk before looking down to find Aurora. Why had he allowed the others to talk him into letting the cat sleep in the RV with him? Then he saw the drone.

  “My violin?” he asked, squeezing himself around the cat and out of the bed. He ignored the rope ladder and landed on the floor at the same time as the drone.

  They all knelt around it. Instinctively, Logan and Miles reached out to touch it. “Warm!” Logan said. “Smooth!” Miles said at the same time.

  “Yes,” AJ said. “It is warm and smooth. It’s also worth more money than any of us—well, except maybe Philip—will ever earn in a lifetime, so let’s not touch it. Or, you know, breathe on it too much.”

  The boys backed up an inch. AJ turned the drone over and slid open a hidden compartment to reveal a small keypad. Daisy leaned over and typed in a series of numbers and letters. For a few seconds nothing happened, and then a whirring sound came from the drone’s belly, followed by a single click. Daisy could now easily lift the top off. She reached in and took out the candy bar, which Courtney had wrapped in tissues. She unwrapped it and handed it to Logan, who, out of all of them, was the closest to its rightful owner.

  Logan let the Magic Bar rest in his palm. It weighed more than he’d have expected—about as much as two Harmonicandies, and those had cookie harmonicas in the middle. He hadn’t seen a real Magic Bar since he was very small, in Spring Haven’s only candy shop. Miss Paulina of Miss Paulina’s Candy Palace had kept one as a souvenir on a high shelf. That one looked pretty banged up, and he hadn’t been allowed to touch it. Now that he thought of it, she must have gotten rid of it, because he hadn’t noticed it there in years. This one was in much better condition. Its shiny blue wrapper still shone, the edges only slightly frayed.

  He raised the Magic Bar to his nose but couldn’t smell anything. Not that he’d really expected to. Even though the wrapper had held up so well, after fifty years the chocolate itself would have long ago turned bad. The fat and sugar would have separated from the cocoa, covering it all in a dried-up gray-white slime called bloom. Any nuts inside would have gone rancid, and the bar would have crumbled into pieces. Keeping it at a cool temperature inside the safe would have protected it in the beginning, but at this point, the tight wrapper would be the only thing holding the bar together. He laid it gently on the laboratory counter, where he and Miles could admire it from afar.

  Philip grabbed for his violin. He turned his back to the others and opened the case. He slipped the passport into the waistband of his pajamas, then inspected the instrument and gave a grunt of satisfaction when he didn’t see any obvious injuries. He handed the case to AJ, commanded, “Put this somewhere safe,” and climbed up the rope ladder into bed. The cat climbed right up after him, turned in a tight circle, then lay down on Philip’s back. A few seconds later, they were both breathing steadily.

  “Wow,” Daisy exclaimed. “He’s even more charming in the middle of the night. Who’d have guessed it?”

  “Can we start analyzing the candy bar and the bean right now?” Miles asked.

  Daisy shook her head. “It’ll be delicate work, and waiting five more hours isn’t going to change anything.”

  Reluctantly, Logan and Miles returned to their beds. It took a while before either of them could stop thinking about that Magic Bar just sitting there on the counter, holding all its secrets inside.

  Miles woke first and headed straight for the Magic Bar. Daisy had put it on a paper plate, covered the plate with a plastic bowl, and stuck a sticky note on the side that read:

  Do not touch or the Magic Bar will self-destruct.

  He grumbled when he saw it but had to admit it was probably a good idea. The candy bar had to be incredibly fragile after all this time.

  Plus he was pretty sure Daisy could actually make it self-destruct if she wanted to.

  Aurora started pawing at the door to be let out. She turned and rubbed against Miles’s ankle. “Oh, I see how it is,” he whispered, bending down. “You’re only going to pay attention to me when you need something.” She let him scratch under her chin for a few seconds, and then when she’d had enough, he could swear she began glaring at him.

  “Okay, okay,” he said, pushing the door open wide enough for the cat to squeeze out. The fresh morning air blew in the open door like an invitation. He glanced back at his sleeping friends and reached over the side of the booth to grab his backpack. He hurried outside before he changed his mind.

  Even though the sun had already risen, most of the campground was still asleep. He knew AJ would have a cow if he wandered off, so he sat at the picnic table beside Harvey and pulled out Arthur’s geocaching book. The red envelope peeked out from inside the cover, and he realized that in all the excitement yesterday he’d never opened it.

  He traced the curves of the Aramaic letters that spelled out his name, then tore open the envelope. He smiled as he pulled out the hand