The Fall of Candy Corn (23 page)

Candace blushed. “It was no big.”

“Yeah right. I know you're terrified of mazes. You chased him through one — that's big in my book. If it hadn't been for you, Scare might have been ruined.”

“Thanks,” Candace said.

“No problem. You need to learn to take more pride in your accomplishments.”

“I guess I just feel like they're not really mine, you know? It's like the Party Zone. That name was a no-brainer. I have a hard time believing I was the first one to come up with it, and yet everyone makes a big deal. Now this. I was in the right place at the right time to help, that's all.”

“But you did help. That's the huge part. A lot of people wouldn't. A lot of people don't care enough to try and make a difference. You do.”

Candace smiled. “Okay, so I need a few lessons in tooting my own horn. I'll work on it.”

“Thank you. You know, I heard they're thinking of turning your latest adventure into another maze next year,” Josh said with a sly grin.

Candace threw a piece of ice from her water glass at him.

“Joking, joking,” Josh said, hands raised in front of him. “Call off your missiles.”

19

Halloween, or Shock Day, as Candace had started calling it, arrived. She woke in the morning. The skies were light without a cloud in them. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. The rain the weatherman had predicted had decided to cut her some slack.

She dressed and got to The Zone as quickly as she could. Martha was already waiting for her in the Comfort Zone with a dozen other referees to whom she was giving assignments. It would be the base of operations for the entire event and as such was going to see heavy traffic from key referees.

“I'm coordinating the parade,” Josh said with a grin.

“I'm helping with the prizes for the costume contest,” Roger told her.

“I'm keeping the candy stations stocked,” Megan added.

“I'm taking tickets at the gate,” Becca said, a sad look in her eyes.

“I promised Gib you wouldn't even be here,” Candace blurted out before she could stop herself.

Gib, it turned out, was behind her. “The Muffin Mansion crew are here, all of us. We figure it's the least we could do after you saved the park.”

“Thank you,” Candace said, humbled by the show of support.

Martha handled the briefing before sending everyone out to do their assigned jobs. “Let's move, people. One hour to Shock!”

“And you are going to be running the costume contest,” Martha said. “We'll be using the stage at the Party Zone.”

“But I need to help run things,” Candace protested.

“You're the woman of the hour, and we need you where everyone can see you.”

“You mean, I'm not going to be directing things from up here?” Candace asked.

“That's right. I'm kicking you out of your comfort zone.”

From the look on Martha's face, Candace knew she had intended the pun. She sighed and headed out into the park.

Sugar Shock officially started at eleven, and the costume contest was scheduled to begin at twelve thirty. Candace ran around checking that everyone had what they needed before the park opened.

Finally the moment of truth arrived. The gates opened and Becca took the first ticket.

Candace roamed the park, overseeing everything that was going on and trying to find Sue. At last she spotted her friend in between a little boy dressed like a Jedi and a little girl dressed like a princess. They had to be Sue's siblings.

Candace ran up to them, and before Sue could say anything, she dropped down on one knee. “You wouldn't be Gus and Mary, would you?” she asked the two children, both of whom were staring at her wide-eyed.

They both nodded. “How did you know?” Gus challenged.

“I'm a friend of your sister's,” Candace admitted.

“This is Candace,” Sue told them.

“Cotton Candy!” Mary said. “We've heard all about you!”

“Sorry,” Sue said, looking embarrassed.

“Don't worry about it,” Candace said. To Mary she said, “I used to be Cotton Candy over the summer, but now I'm Candy Corn.”

“Why is that?” Gus asked.

“Because I'm so corny,” Candace joked. “Either that, or it's because I have special treats for kids like you.” From behind her back she produced two giant candy-corn-shaped lollipops. “Don't let the other kids see. It will make them jealous,” she said.

Gus and Mary took the lollipops and stuffed them quickly into their bags, both quivering with excitement.

“So cool,” Mary cooed.

Candace stood up.

“Thank you,” Sue said. “That was really sweet.”

“Don't mention it. You're the only person I know who was bringing kids. I had to spoil somebody. One of the perks of helping organize this thing.”

“You've done a great job,” Sue said.

“It's even better than last year,” Gus said solemnly.

“Why, thank you,” Candace told him.

“We've already got twice as much candy,” Mary said.

“Then everything is going according to plan,” Candace said.

In truth, the whole thing was going better than she could have hoped. She was especially happy that she had found Sue so she could give away the special treats she'd found for Gus and Mary.

“Well, we should go get the rest of the candy,” Sue said.

“Thank you, Candy Corn,” Gus and Mary chorused together.

“You're welcome,” she said.

“I'll see you tonight,” Sue said.

“You bet.”

Candace watched as Gus and Mary started running, dragging Sue with them. Everywhere she looked she saw kids doing the same thing to parents, grandparents, and older siblings. Everyone was laughing and having a good time.

Candace glanced at her watch. She had fifteen minutes before the costume contest was set to start. She walked slowly toward the Party Zone, enjoying seeing all the kids filling their bags with more candy than they could eat in a month.

Roger joined her in the Party Zone, a huge bag of prizes at the ready. They had broken the contestants up by age and category, including: funniest, prettiest, scariest, most original, and best replica. Stuffed animals, T-shirts, stickers, DVDs, and more came out of the sack. There were enough prizes for each child that entered the competition. Four jumbo stuffed animals were awarded to the ‘best of show' in each age group. Candace was having the time of her life. It was way better than just handing out bite-size pieces of candy. At three o'clock Sugar Shock came to a close. The janitorial staff swept in to clean up the candy wrappers and spilled sodas. The leftover candy was distributed at the End Zone to the children as they left, but not before Gib had escorted Becca to her car.

Within an hour the entire thing was cleaned up. Candace walked through The Zone, amazed at how hard and how fast everyone had worked. Sugar Shock had been a success, and she was grateful. With only two and a half hours left before she would have to get her cart ready for Scare, she climbed back to the Comfort Zone.

Martha waved at her, and Candace staggered into one of the side rooms to lie down on a cot. “All I need is two hours,” she muttered to herself as she flipped onto her side.

She had just drifted to sleep when she heard someone walk into the room. “Hey, Candace.”

She opened her eyes and saw Kurt. He sat down on one of the other cots.

“Hey. How did you get in here?”

“Lots of people coming in and out, and one of them didn't know I wasn't supposed to be here.”

“Oh.”

“I hear Sugar Shock went well.”

“Very well,” she said, unsuccessfully stifling a yawn.

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

“I just wanted to apologize.”

“For what?” she asked. He had to be talking about the party.

“For not talking to you about the other night when you caught those guys.”

“Oh.” Candace struggled to sit up a little.

“I play a hero every day in this park, but when my girlfriend was in real danger, I was nowhere around.”

“Kurt, that's not your fault.”

“I keep telling myself that, but it doesn't make me feel any better. To tell the truth, I'm not sure if I could have been all heroic and saved you even if I had known.”

“Don't beat yourself up about it,” she urged.

“A little late for that.”

“Well, I forgive you, if that helps. But I never expected you to come riding in on a white horse and rescue me.”

“I would have liked to.”

“That means a lot,” she said. “Is that why you were acting weird at the party?”

“I don't know, I guess,” he said with a shrug.

Well, that was better than nothing.

Kurt just sat there, brooding silently. Finally Candace had to break the silence. She needed to get some rest, and she wasn't going to be able to as long as he was sitting there staring.

“Is there anything else?”

He shook his head and stood up. “No. Happy Scare.”

“Happy Scare to you too,” she said with a smile.

He walked out, and after a moment she lay back down. She wished she could tell what he had been thinking, but he'd tell her when he was ready.

She had just drifted away again when someone else called her name.

She opened her eyes and saw that it was now Roger who was sitting on the cot across from her. “I need to ask you a question,” he said.

“At least you're supposed to be here,” she said.

“What?”

“Nothing. What was it you wanted?”

“A question answered.”

“What am I, the guru of The Zone?” she joked.

He didn't answer. “I want to ask out Becca. Do you think she would say yes?”

She looked at him for a moment. It seemed like an unlikely pairing, but obviously he had been thinking about her quite a lot. “Go for it!”

“You think?”

“Yeah. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? She says no and you guys have the same relationship you do now.”

“You're right,” he said, jumping to his feet. “I'm going to ask her tonight.”

“Good for you.”

Roger rushed out and her head hit the pillow hard.

Candace got a total of maybe fifteen minutes of sleep. After Roger, at least a dozen other people had come in to say something or ask her something. As she staggered, bleary eyed, toward the carts, she wondered if she would have been better off just staying up.

“Candace!”

She turned and saw Sue jogging up.

“I don't have any more advice left in me,” Candace said.

“Okay. I wasn't looking for any.”

“Oh good. What's up?”

“We have to meet at the Holiday Zone tonight before taking our places. Didn't you see the flyers?

In truth she hadn't. She followed Sue over to the Holiday Zone where everyone had gathered. A minute later several referees appeared, carrying a throne on which John Hanson sat. He was dressed as a scarecrow and wore a crown on top of his head.

“Who's he supposed to be?” Candace asked.

“The Scare King,” someone whispered.

“Another year, another Scare!” he shouted.

The crowd cheered and whistled.

“In a few minutes Halloween night will be upon us and with it the howling monsters, the crazy witches, and the ravenous wolves. Of course, I'm talking about the players!”

Everyone cheered and laughed.

“Tonight, enjoy yourselves, have fun, and most of all Scare the living daylights out of them!”

The crowd roared and the Scare King stepped down off his throne and walked amongst his people.

“You have to admire his style,” Candace said to Sue.

“You really do,” she agreed. “Thank you, by the way, for the special treats for Gus and Mary. They loved them.”

“I was just glad I could do it,” Candace said.