The Summer of Cotton Candy (25 page)

Roger gave a shout and leaped ahead, yanking the rope taut and literally propelling the rest of them forward faster. The other team began to run faster, but one of their members was limping, holding them back.

Candace and the others passed them and then raced over the finish line, shouting in victory. She held their trophy aloft and ran straight to the small cluster of Game Masters with clipboards. She presented them their trophy.

“Team 143 following Treasure Track 5B. We were in the last row, so I think we just won!”

The Game Masters were all grinning broadly. They took down the time and their team information. “We won’t know who won until all the teams have come in and the questionnaires have all been scored. But congratulations on being the first team back!” Martha said. “Go have some ice cream and relax.”

They turned in their rope and belts, and then Candace and her team staggered over to the table they had all been sitting at earlier. Roger went inside and returned holding four large glasses with ice-cream sundaes. He set them down gracefully on the table.

Pete clapped his hand on Roger’s shoulder. “Good work tonight. To all of you,” he said, including Sue and Candace in his gaze. “You really pulled together, and I’m proud to be a member of this team. I just wanted you to know that.”

“Does that mean you won’t try and run us down?” Roger asked hopefully.

“I never said that. I’m still going to try and run you down. But with the speed and grace you showed tonight, boy, I have no doubt that you’ll be able to evade me for many years to come.”

Roger turned slightly red but looked pleased.

“It turned out we didn’t need my flashlight,” Sue said, pulling it out of her pocket with a laugh.

“But we might have. Good thought bringing it,” Pete said. “You’re a smart girl.”

“And you,” he said, turning to Candace. “I think you’ll find a home here.”

Candace was surprised. “But I’m not looking for a home,” she said.

He winked. “I think you are, and you just don’t know it yet.”

“To us,” he said, raising his sundae in salute.

They all clinked glasses and then began to eat. Candace turned to watch as Josh’s team staggered across the finish line. They turned in their trophy, rope, and belts and then limped toward Candace and her team.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Josh said, eyes wide.

Ten minutes later Becca’s team crossed the finish line through what appeared to be the sheer effort of her will. It was like watching a tug of war — all of them were trying to hold her back and yet she moved forward at an alarming rate, pulling the rest of them behind her. Gib had a look of terror on his face. A closer look at Becca’s face revealed the reason. There was pink sugar all over her lips and cheeks. Strands of cotton candy seemed to be stuck in her hair, and bits of wet cotton candy were crusted on her fingertips. Becca was a cotton candy monster come to life.

It took almost two hours for the rest of the teams to trickle in. Ten minutes after that Martha was back on the bullhorn. “We’ve tallied up your times and added five minutes to it for every wrong answer on the questionnaire. A full list of results will be posted tomorrow morning in the Locker Room. However, we are ready to announce the three winning teams now.”

A loud cheer went up.

“In third place with a time of one hour ten minutes is team 7, aka We Want Pizza!”

Josh’s team jumped up and down and Josh accepted a large trophy from the Game Master next to Martha.

“In second place with a time of one hour 6 minutes is team 113, or the Please Don’t Feed Becca team!”

Becca’s team, ragged as they looked, still gave a mighty cheer. Becca ran up to accept the award and did a little curtsey. Someone had obviously managed to get her to a bathroom and had gotten most of the cotton candy off of her.

“And in first place, with an
astounding
record time of only 52 minutes, is a team with one seasoned pro, two rookies, and the klutziest guy in the whole park — team 143, We Love Cotton Candy!”

Pete gave her a shove, and Candace ran up to receive a massive trophy. Everyone cheered and applauded and she bowed and then waved the rest of her team up. They stood together and bowed. Josh’s jaw was hanging open, and all his team-mates looked dismayed. Candace held the trophy high above her head, stuck her tongue out at Josh, and did a victory dance.

Candace woke up slowly, one thought on her mind. It was her last day of work. Somehow that thought seemed so strange. How could it be over already? In many ways it seemed like the shortest summer vacation ever. She glanced toward her dresser at the little trophy that glistened there, engraved with her name. The large one her team had won was engraved with all their names and already stood in The Hall of Fame in the Home Stretch. Next to her dresser sat Happy. The huge dog was actually taller than her dresser.

She got dressed still feeling the strangeness of it all — the last time wearing the pink and white striped blouse, the last time wearing the white skirt. And as she put her fingernails through a pair of pantyhose and had to throw them away, she hoped it was her last time having to buy them in bulk.

As she headed for the front door, her dad put down his morning paper. “Candace, come here a minute,” he said.

“What is it, Dad?”

“I just wanted to say congratulations. I think you came through your first job with flying colors. It’s a big step, and it’s a hard one. You had a lot of stuff thrown at you, but I’m proud of how you handled it all.”

He stood up and gave her a big hug.

“Thanks, Dad,” she said, grinning from ear to ear.

“No problem, honey. Oh, and your mom said that tomorrow the two of you are going shopping for school clothes.”

“Awesome!”

“Have fun.”

She left the house, and as she got into her car she thought about what a strange day it was so far. She drove to the park and found herself humming “I Want Candy” nearly the whole way. All summer she had looked forward to this day with excitement. But as she parked in the employee parking lot and showed her identification to gain entrance to the park, she felt a little sad instead. “I’ve got my emotions on backward,” she said. It was something her father sometimes said, and it made sense to her for the first time.

She checked in and found that her cart was over in the Splash Zone. She hoped Josh was working; she had forgot to ask him if he would be. It would be nice to say good-bye to some of her friends. Of course, it was silly to think that way. Some of them, like Becca and Martha, worked at the park year round and she could see them anytime. Josh didn’t, though, and she didn’t want to miss saying good-bye to him.

Walking toward the Splash Zone, she came to the railroad tracks. She looked and saw the train coming. She dashed across. It might have been her imagination, but she could have sworn that Pete slowed down slightly.

“Strange day,” she said to herself.

“Cotton Candy, wait up!”

She turned and saw Roger running toward her. She cringed, waiting for him to trip over something. He didn’t, though, and he came to a standstill next to her, grinning from ear to ear.

“What’s up?” she asked him.

“I tried out for my school’s soccer team and I made it!”

“Roger, that’s wonderful!” she said, giving him a quick hug. “Congratulations! I told you you could do anything you put your mind to.”

“I know, thanks. It’s weird. Ever since the Scavenger Hunt, everything just seems, I don’t know, different somehow.”

“That’s really great.”

“Is today your last day?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Mine too. But I’m coming back to work at the Scare Zone. You should totally do it too. You’d have so much fun as a maze monster.”

“Yeah, I could just see that,” she said, pretending to bare her teeth and claws.

“Perfect! You have to do it.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said with a laugh. “At the very least I’ll come see you.”

“It’s a deal. Gotta run.”

He hurried off, and Candace watched him go, amazed at the transformation. Maybe it was true that sometimes all people needed was a little self-confidence or a little encouragement. She just prayed he didn’t get hit in the head with a ball and end up permanently damaged. “Strange day indeed.”

When Candace got to her cart, Martha was there waiting for her.

“Something came for you today,” Martha said.

“What is it?” Candace asked.

Martha opened her hand, and there was a brand-new name tag that said
Candace
. Candace stared at it for a second and then began to laugh. “You have got to be kidding me! On my last day? That is just so wrong!”

Martha was laughing too and wiping at her eyes. “I thought you’d appreciate that. I mean, better late than never!”

“Oh my,” Candace said trying to catch her breath. “That’s a good one.”

“You want to wear it?” Martha suggested.

“No, I don’t think so. I’ve been Cotton Candy all summer, and it just seems wrong somehow to try and change now. I will keep them both, though, to remind me.”

“Of your time here?”

“No, that sometimes it takes time to get what you want.”

“Sometimes you don’t even know what you really want until you get what you thought you wanted,” Martha added.

It was a solemn moment. Too solemn. They both started laughing again. Candace took the pin and slipped it into the pocket of her skirt. “Believe me, I’m going to treasure this.”

“I’m going to miss you,” Martha said.

“For a while there I wasn’t sure I was going to make it,” Candace confessed. “In fact, I’m sure I wouldn’t have without all your encouragement and good advice.”

“For a while
I
wasn’t sure you were going to make it,” Martha said with a smile. “But I knew you could, and you stuck with it and really made a great go of it here. We could use more like you.”

“Who knows, maybe I’ll be back next summer,” Candace said. It was strange to admit that out loud, but she had been thinking about it all week.

“That would be just fine. We would certainly be glad to have you back, and I’ll make sure and say so on your end-of-play evaluation.”

“Thanks.”

They embraced and Candace felt her throat start to constrict. It was going to be harder leaving The Zone than she had thought. “Well, I’ll be back to visit,” Candace said when they pulled apart.

“You better. We’ve got all the great events coming up, especially for Halloween and Christmas.”

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Candace said.

Martha nodded, smiling, and then turned to go. It was just as well because Candace was afraid she might start crying otherwise.

It was a good thing it was a slow day, because she seemed to be all thumbs as she wound up a cone for a harried mother of three. The woman didn’t seem to notice or care, though, and went on her way with sticky candy tendrils dangling everywhere.

Candace turned away and saw a familiar figure marching resolutely toward her. It was Becca with a bakery bag clutched in her hand.

“I’m sorry it’s your last day and not just because of the cotton candy,” Becca said. “I brought you this — chocolate with chocolate chips.”

“No poppy seeds?” Candace joked.

Becca rolled her eyes. “We’ve done thorough testing and modified the recipe so you should be able to eat five a day without a problem. Still, just to be on the safe side, I thought you’d like the chocolate.”

“Thanks, that was sweet.”

Becca shrugged. “So, what are your big post-Zone plans?”

Candace laughed. “Sleep in for the next week before school starts and get some shopping in. I was working here to earn money for summer, and I didn’t have the time to spend much of it.”

“Still, you had fun, right?”

“Yeah, I did. Crazy, strange, scary fun.”

“Then you’re an official Zoner.”

“What does that mean?” Candace asked.

Becca leaned close. “It means you’ll be back,” she said with a wink.

She turned to go and Candace stopped her. “Wait. Don’t you want some cotton candy?”

Becca’s eyes went wide and her lips began to twitch. “You don’t have to,” she said.

“It would be my pleasure. Besides, I won’t be here tomorrow for your co-workers to yell at.”

“Thanks,” Becca said.

Candace wrapped as much cotton candy around the cone as she possibly could. It was the biggest, stickiest work of art she had ever created, and Becca took it from her gently, reverently, with a crazed look in her eye.

“You are my hero,” Becca said before turning and running off.

Josh finally showed up, and he looked serious. “What’s up?” she asked him.

“I don’t want to get involved, but I think you should talk to Kurt before you go.”

Her heart skipped a beat. “Why?”

“He’s going nuts. He wants to talk to you pretty bad, but I think he’s afraid to,” Josh said.