The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase Read online

  Bending down, she pressed a nearly invisible button below the lab table. A shallow drawer slid open, breaking the airtight seal and revealing the half-burned contract. It had been easy to find where Miles had stashed it. She’d liberated it from its hiding spot the previous night while everyone else had slept. She should probably teach the boys her sleeping-with-one-eye-open trick. She could have danced on their heads in high heels and they wouldn’t have awoken.

  One light touch with her fingertip told her the starch she’d sprayed on it had done its job and hardened the paper. Step one, complete. Working quickly, she spritzed the paper with a solution of glycerin and water and sealed it back up in the drawer. It shouldn’t take long for the solution to do its job. Unless it turned the contract into a soggy mess, which she still couldn’t rule out.

  When she rejoined the boys by the fire, Miles handed her a burger and said, “AJ told us not to bug you about why you went inside because girls need privacy and we should be respectful of that.”

  “And don’t you forget it, mister,” she said, throwing AJ a grateful look. “So what’d I miss? Miles still arguing in favor of his little-green-aliens theory? Philip find any more girls to serenade?”

  “No on both,” Miles said, “but we saw four shooting stars.”

  “Oh yeah, I saw some the other night,” Daisy said, her arm darting out to easily catch the water bottle AJ tossed to her.

  “I saw them, too,” Logan said. “Supercool.”

  “You did?” Miles asked. “I figured you’d have been asleep. I took a video to show you.”

  “I drew a picture to show you,” Logan replied.

  The boys grinned at each other while Philip rolled his eyes without looking up from where he was recording the lie from the candy store in his notebook. Making up that speech had maxed out his lying allowance for the day—maybe even the week.

  “I wandered outside to get something,” Logan said, “and just stumbled across it. Henry was there, too, but he couldn’t see them.”

  Philip’s head snapped up when he heard that. He stuck his pen into the notebook and closed it. “You ran into Henry outside the factory in the middle of the night?” he asked.

  Logan nodded. Now that he mentioned it, he could see how odd it sounded. “He said he was out for a walk or something. At least I think that’s what he said.”

  Philip shook his head. “He couldn’t have been out for a walk.”

  “Why not?” Miles asked. “Lots of people actually enjoy being out in nature, remember?”

  “Yes, I know that,” Philip said. “But since Henry can’t…” He trailed off. What could he say that would make sense now? He’d cornered himself.

  “Since Henry can’t see,” AJ said from behind them. “Not well enough to walk around on his own in the dark.”

  All four heads wheeled around to stare at him. Philip’s surprise quickly turned to anger. Who was AJ to reveal something like that? How had he even known? Logan jumped up so fast he almost toppled forward into the fire. Daisy quickly blocked him.

  “What do you mean, Henry can’t see?” Logan demanded, his voice a little shaky.

  “He still didn’t tell you?” AJ asked. He looked around at their surprised faces and realized they truly didn’t know. Everyone except Philip, that is, who was throwing daggers at him with his eyes. “Sorry,” AJ said. “I’ll stay out of this.” He backed away toward Harvey.

  “Not so fast,” Daisy said, instantly appearing in front of him. When had she gotten faster than him? The boys hurried over. “Spill,” Daisy demanded.

  “Please tell us what you’re talking about,” Logan pleaded.

  AJ sighed. “Henry told me he was going to tell you,” he said. “That’s why he couldn’t drive you on this trip.”

  “How long have you known?” Philip asked.

  “A few months,” AJ replied.

  “Months?” Philip repeated.

  AJ nodded. “I ran into him at a doctor’s office where I was… getting a checkup.” He didn’t dare glance at Daisy. He had no intention of revealing his own health issues. He hadn’t planned to reveal Henry’s, either. “Occasionally I would drive him to his appointments when he couldn’t drive anymore. That’s really all I know.” He turned to Logan, who had begun running his fingers through his hair at a fitful pace. “I’m sorry you didn’t know. And I’m sorry he’s losing his sight. There’s nothing to be done anymore. It won’t be long now till it’s all gone.”

  “I’ve got to call him,” Logan said, turning away from the group.

  “Wait,” Philip said, grabbing Logan’s arm. “He doesn’t want you to know yet. This is hard enough on him.”

  “But you knew?” Logan asked. For the first time, jealousy really did begin to bubble up in him.

  Reluctantly, Philip nodded. “It wasn’t on purpose. I figured it out.”

  “I should have figured it out, too,” Miles said. “His glasses were getting huge.”

  Daisy remained quiet. She hadn’t been around the factory enough to have seen any change. But it sure did explain why Henry hadn’t said anything to Courtney yesterday by the safe. He hadn’t seen her!

  Logan’s head swam. Memories of Henry bumping into things or being unable to read small—and not so small—print. The way he swiveled his head all the way around to see something that wasn’t right in front of him. His frequent absences and the paperwork piling up on his desk. There were probably more signs, too. How had he missed all of them? His shoulders sank. He knew how. It was because all he’d been thinking about was himself and his own problems, which seemed very small and insignificant at the moment. His eyes filled with tears. “I need to talk to him.”

  Miles grabbed Logan’s other arm—the one Philip wasn’t holding. “Don’t call him. That’s not what Henry wanted for you on this trip.”

  “Then what was?”

  Miles hesitated, then replied, “He wanted all of us to have an adventure.”

  “Hard to do that when he’s home getting blinder every day,” Logan insisted.

  Miles shook his head sadly. “I know.”

  “I have something that will make everyone feel better,” Daisy said. “Don’t go anywhere.” She ran back into the RV. AJ followed. Miles didn’t let go of Logan’s arm, in case he tried to make a break for it. But Logan wasn’t thinking of running, or of waking up Henry, or even about being homesick. He was thinking about the Magic Bar, and about what his friends didn’t know about how it made him feel, and about how he could maybe help Henry.

  “Guys,” he said, in a low whisper, “I know Daisy wants to help us with the Harmonicandy, but as you know, she can’t get too involved because she can’t risk blowing her cover.”

  Miles nodded. “So?” Philip asked.

  “So I need you two to promise me something.” His voice took on an urgent tone. “Maybe the organism found in the bean just isn’t in the database, so the computer can’t match it with anything on Earth. Or maybe it really is from outer space, as unlikely as that sounds. But either way, promise me we won’t give up on finding the beans.”

  Philip’s eyebrows rose. “But you said we couldn’t use them, even if we could find them.”

  “I might be changing my mind.”

  Miles and Philip exchanged a look of surprise. Then Miles stuck his hand out in front of him, palm down. Logan gratefully placed his on top. They both turned toward Philip, who, after a second’s hesitation, added his own. “No giving up,” he said.

  “No giving up,” Logan and Miles repeated.

  “But where do we even start?” Logan asked.

  “We should start by asking Henry what he knows about that bean,” Miles said.

  It was at that moment that Daisy emerged from the RV, holding two things that they couldn’t make out in the dark. “We can’t ask Henry,” she said.

  “Darn those supersonic ears of hers,” Miles muttered.

  “Why not?” Philip asked. “It’s the best plan. He obviously knows more than we do.”