12 CANDY

CHAPTER 12 CANDY Back at the house, I sat at the kitchen table and wrote in my science journal: I think candy can work like a trap plant for grumplets! Sassafras jumped up and snuggled into my lap. "OK, I think it could work! We just need to put candy in the forest. Or… give our friends candy to throw when they start feeling grumpy? Or…?" I looked down at Sassafras. He bumped my chin with his head. "Meow." "Yeah, there's no way we can actually use candy. It would get all gross in the forest. It works, but it's still not actually a solution. Great." I crossed my arms on the table and lay my head down.

"Hey, kiddo!" I felt a hand on my head. "Hey, Dad," I grumbled. "It sounds like you could use a snack, huh?" "Mrrowww!" Sassafras leapt down from my lap and wove between my dad's legs. Dad laughed and went to the fridge. "OK, buddy, a snack for you too." When I heard the sound of a plate being set in front of me, I finally lifted my head. "Thanks." He frowned. "You OK?" "Yeah." I leaned my head on my hand. "Just stuck on a problem." "Want any help?" "I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually," I said. And then I crossed my fingers under the table because I really hoped I was right about that.

Dad grabbed a can of cat food from the pantry. I heard the grating sound of the electric can opener whirring. Sassafras also heard it, and began prancing with joy. At least someone was happy. "Ugh. Why can't I just plant candy!?!" I exclaimed. I popped a strawberry in my mouth. Dad chuckled. "Good one, Zoey! Plant candy!" "Huh?" I said through a mouthful of berry. "Isn't that what you said?" Dad set Sassafras's snack down. "I couldn't hear over the can opener. I thought you called your berries 'plant candy,' which is pretty clever! I mean, they are sort of exactly that, right?" Plant candy! That was it!!! I leapt up and gave him a big squeeze. "You're a genius, Dad!" "Uh, thanks?" said Dad with one eyebrow raised as he headed back to his office. A head peeked in the kitchen. "What did I miss?" asked Mom.

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I gave her a quick summary of everything I'd figured out. "Interesting hypothesis!" she said. "What are you going to do next?" Hmmm. I looked at the notes in my science journal. "Well, I think I'll try what I did last time with Pip, but maybe this time I'll have him throw the food toward the grumplets from the start. That way maybe they'll eat the berries right away and leave Pip's happiness alone!" "That sounds like a great plan," said Mom. "Meow!" added Sassafras. "Oh! And if that works, then we need to find berries in the forest. Or could we plant them in a part of the forest farther away? The monsters said the grumplets eventually move on to other places. Maybe if we get them to start heading somewhere else, we can have the rest of the summer to play without grumpiness!" Sassafras purred. "I'll get Pip to run another test with me, but this time with berries," I said. "While we do that, could you figure out if there's a patch of forest berries

somewhere at the edge of the forest away from my friends?" Mom smiled. "I'd be happy to." "All right, Sass, let's go find—" I was about to say "Pip" when the magic doorbell rang. Sassafras and I exchanged a look and ran off to the barn.