Choc Shock (7 page)

EJ sent CC a text.

Madame Ombre got up from the table and moved to the other side of the room. There, in the corner, was a large safe. EJ and CC hadn't noticed it in the dark but now they watched as Madame Ombre keyed in a code and opened a thick black door. Madame Ombre took out a gold box, almost cradling it as if it were a baby.

‘My beautiful gold flakes,' said Madame Ombre, gently lifting out what looked like thin gold paper. ‘Soon I will have enough for the golden chocolate cake that will make me the most famous chef in the world. But enough chitty chatty, I must check my final delivery of flakes has arrived, and I need more cakes. I must have them all finished before I have
to go back to those pesky kids and watch their no doubt awful decorating work.'

And with that Madame Ombre left. EJ and CC heard the door shutting and then footsteps walking away.

The girls climbed back out over the boxes, EJ picking up the cupcake-cam cherry as she did.

‘She's crazy,' said EJ. ‘Helping
SHADOW
so she can make a cake? But she is clever. There are six components to make one S6 and she is hiding one component in each cake. A full tray of cakes makes one S6.'

‘Let's make sure,' said CC and they broke open one of the cupcakes. Then another, and another until they had opened all six cupcakes in a pack. ‘Yes! Look, there is a small part in each cake but you would never know it was there if you didn't know what to look for. It just looks as if a pack of chociced cupcakes are being delivered. And they are delicious,' she added, taking a pinch of cake.

‘They are,' agreed EJ, also taking a pinch. ‘We thought the ‘6' just stood for the six words,
SHADOW
Secret Scramble Send and Spy System, but it also means it comes in six parts.'

‘And she is sending out all these trays,' said CC, indicating the piles of cupcake trays on the table. ‘That's a lot of
SHADOW
agents.'

‘We need a plan to stop these cupcakes going out,' said EJ.

‘And quickly,' replied CC. ‘Madame Ombre will soon be back with the last batch of cakes and then they'll be sent out. Let's call
SHINE.'

EJ had barely finished keying in the number when A1 answered. EJ quickly told her what she and CC had learned.

‘You have done well, girls, but we still have a bit to do. We need the S6 but we also need to see where it is being delivered. CC?'

‘Yes A1?'

‘You need to bring us S6. Our chopper will be waiting for you on the roof of the bakery. Use the escape route.'

‘Check,' replied CC confidently.

‘EJ,' said A1, ‘you need to stay there for just a
little longer. You can't suddenly leave. It will look suspicious if you don't compete in the final. We also need you to do a few more things. First, we need you to put the cherry on top of Madame Ombre's cupcakes.'

‘Pardon?' asked EJ, confused.

‘The cherry from the cupcake-cam is also a homing device. If you can put that on a cupcake containing S6 we will be able to follow the delivery truck as it leaves the bakery.'

‘I can do that,' said EJ, just as confidently as CC. ‘I can do it now with a pack here. What next?'

‘This one might be a bit harder. We need the gold flakes that
SHADOW
is paying Madame Ombre with.
SHADOW
stole them from the Institute of Cookery and we should return them.'

‘Okay,' said EJ, sounding a little less sure. That would be harder. She would have to wait for the new delivery and then get the box of flakes out of the safe, a safe that could only be opened with a code. A code she didn't know.

‘And EJ?' continued A1.

‘Yes A1,' said EJ.
There can't be more, can there?
she thought.

‘Good luck for the final. Good luck to both of you.
SHINE
out.'

EJ carefully unsealed one of the packs of cupcakes and slid out the tray. She took the cherry from the cupcake-cam and placed it on a cupcake before re-sealing the pack. She then put a couple of other packs on top of the pack.

‘No one will ever know it's there,' she said to CC. ‘
SHINE
will be able to follow the delivery truck all the way to
SHADOW.'

‘Good job, now let's go EJ,' said CC grabbing the one complete pack of cupcakes. ‘We need to go to the toilet!'

‘I don't think I need to,' replied EJ.

‘No, not for that,' said CC, giggling. ‘The escape route is in the toilet.'

‘Right,' said EJ, feeling a little embarrassed. ‘Let's go then.'

EJ should have known. One way or another, she always seemed to spend some mission time in the
toilets. The girls ran quickly down the corridor and into the toilets. While CC checked that no one else was there, EJ turned on the hand-dryers. CC went into the last cubicle on the left.

‘Come on,' she called to EJ. ‘In here!' EJ followed CC in.

‘Okay, this is the escape route. Look up, there's a ventilation fan. I am going to remove the fan and climb up through the hole, then crawl through the ventilation shaft and up onto the roof. The
SHINE
helicopter will pick me up from the roof.'

‘Cool, CC,' replied EJ, ‘Hey, CC with cc!'

‘Pardon?' said CC.

‘CC with cupcakes,' replied EJ.

‘You code girls think too much!' laughed CC. ‘Hey, you do have a rope-climbing charm don't you?'

‘Only a glow-rope, I think,' said EJ, quickly checking her bracelet.

‘Okay, wait for me to climb up and then you can borrow mine. You'll need to escape this way once you have the gold.'

CC took a charm from her bracelet, twisted it,
and was soon holding a rope with a hook on the end. She stood up on the toilet cistern and pushed the fan out with the toilet brush holder.

‘It's glamorous this spy business isn't it?' said CC as she threw her rope up through the fan hole. She heard the hook catch, gave the rope a tug to make sure it was firmly in place, and then began to climb up the cubicle wall. Once up through the hole, she stuck her head back down and held out the rope charm to EJ. ‘Here's the charm. Good luck, EJ12.'

‘You too, CC12. See you soon,' replied EJ.

CC put the fan back over the hole and was gone. EJ flushed the toilet, just in case anyone was coming in, opened the cubicle door and walked out of the toilets. She checked the time on her phone. She had been gone for nearly an hour. The film would soon finish. EJ needed to hurry.

EJ sneaked back into the theatrette, sitting down just as the film was ending. Madame Ombre appeared
at the door.
That was close,
EJ thought.

‘And so,' Madame Ombre cried, ‘let the finals begin. To the Choc Chef kitchen!'

She led EJ and the three other finalists back into the kitchen where their cakes were laid out ready for the final. At the back of the kitchen a TV crew was setting up their equipment.

‘And so,' said Madame Ombre, ‘you have just thirty minutes to decorate your cakes and arrange them on the display. I will then decide who will be the Junior Choc Chef, live on TV.'

The girls looked at each other, smiling.

‘Your time starts now!'

Madame Ombre went into her office and came out holding a package. She then left the kitchen.

That could be the gold,
thought EJ.
She's taking it to add to the box in the safe. I need to deco
rate
these cakes and get back there too. But when?

She started on her cakes but had no time to worry about what they looked like. EJ quickly iced the cakes with the chocolate icing on the table and began almost throwing decorations onto them—sprinkles,
snakes, chocolate stars, anything.

Madame Ombre returned to the kitchen and began pacing the workstations. She glanced at EJ's cakes and frowned. She then looked at EJ and frowned again.

Somehow I don't think I am going to win,
thought EJ, but she wasn't worried, she had her mind on a much bigger prize.

Madame Ombre returned to her office and picked up her phone. EJ switched on the choc charm receiver. The transmitter was still in Madame Ombre's office.

‘Yes, rubbish disposal? Make sure you take the rabbits when you clean tonight. I will leave them in the corridor. What to do with them? I do not know what to do with them. I am a baker not a rabbit farmer. I needed them to model for Easter bunnies and now I don't need them anymore. Take them away!
Au revoir.'

EJ could hear Madame Ombre slam her phone down.
How could she simply throw out the rabbits? They were live animals, not rubbish.
EJ couldn't let
that happen and started to think of a rescue plan as she placed the cakes on the tiered display plates. Then she felt her phone vibrate. Pretending to look for something in the cupboard, she checked her phone. It was a message from
SHINE.

Just as Madame Ombre opened the door of her office to leave, the phone rang again. She shut the door and turned towards the phone. EJ knew that Emma Sekac's time in the Junior Choc Chef finals was up. She ran.