Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull Read Free Book Online Page B

talking about,” Summer said.
     
    “I’m sure some crazy people are very sincere,” Pigeon observed.
     
    “This is the only way to really find out,” Trevor said. “If the bugs don’t show, we’ll know she’s a little senile. One of my great aunts was like that. Very nice, but she talked to the people on TV like they were her friends. She’d get dressed up for them to come over, introduce us to them, that sort of thing.”
     
    The last of the sun sank below the horizon, and they waited, watching the maroon paste. Insects clicked and rattled in the brush, but no beetles appeared.
     
    “If this doesn’t work,” Nate said, “maybe we can still bag some mushrooms and get some special candy.”
     
    “No way!” Summer said. “I’m not taking advantage of that sweet old lady.”
     
    Pigeon chucked a pebble into the stream. “Besides, would you really want special candy from a woman with delusions about beetle eggs?”
     
    “Good point,” Trevor said. “How long do we wait?”
     
    “Hold on,” Summer said. “Look who just showed up.”
     
    A shiny black beetle crawled over the lip of the tin and began wallowing in the maroon paste.
     
    “Get out the pouch,” Pigeon said.
     
    As Nate opened the pouch, a second beetle joined the first. By the time he sprinkled the fine gray powder on them, a third beetle had appeared. The sprinkled beetles left the paste and wandered toward the mushrooms, and several more took their place in the open shoe polish can. Nate sprinkled the new beetles. One of the beetles scaled a mushroom and began burrowing into it.
     
    “Would you look at that?” Pigeon breathed. “To tell the truth, I didn’t think there was any chance it would actually happen.”
     
    More beetles entered the shoe polish can, and more sprinkled beetles dug their way into nearby mushrooms. “How many do we need?” Nate asked, pinching powder onto the new arrivals.
     
    “We should be fine with these,” Summer said. “But keep sprinkling the newcomers just in case.”
     
    A few more beetles arrived, stragglers, and Nate powdered them. After no new beetles showed up for several minutes, Trevor picked up the can and put on the lid.
     
    The sunset faded. Finally the first beetle emerged from a mushroom, and Summer placed the fungus in a jar. Soon, more beetles crawled out. Before long the kids had a bunch of mushrooms in each jar.
     
    Stars were becoming visible as Summer zipped one jar into her backpack and Trevor tucked the other into his. The kids pedaled quickly down the dirt road, then onto Greenway. The four of them paused where the jogging path met Greenway, the point where Summer would split off from the rest of them.
     
    “Mission accomplished,” Summer said.
     
    Trevor picked at a peeling sticker on the frame of his bike. “Who would have guessed it would actually work?”
     
    “Which means Mrs. White isn’t crazy,” Nate said. “I wonder what her special candy is like?”
     
    “I can’t wait to find out,” Pigeon exclaimed.
     
    “See you guys tomorrow,” Summer said.
     
    They went their separate ways.
     
*****
     
    When Nate, Summer, Trevor, and Pigeon arrived at the candy shop the next day, Mrs. White stood at the register bagging a box of chocolates for a woman in a large red wig. The woman paid and exited the store.
     
    “Well?” Mrs. White asked. “Was last night a success?”
     
    In answer, Summer unzipped her backpack and held up the jar of mushrooms. Trevor did likewise.
     
    “So many?” Mrs. White asked, sounding delighted. “Follow me into the back.” She lifted a hinged segment of the counter, and the kids followed her through the batwing doors into the rear of the store. Barrels and crates dominated the gloomy room. Shelves loaded with bags and cartons and unnamed ingredients lined the walls. Various delicacies were in development on a trio of sizable worktables. Mrs. White escorted the children to a small, square table in the corner