Nancy and Bess followed George back to the balloon line. When Antonio saw the girls, he rolled his eyes.
“What do you want now?” Antonio asked.
“A challenge,” George stated. She folded her arms across her chest. “We challenge you to ride the Flipping Fudge Pops Ferris Wheel.”
Antonio and Tommy turned their faces to the ride.
“Unless,” George said in a singsong voice, “you’re too scared?”
“Who are you calling scared?” Antonio snapped. “My middle name is Danger!”
“I thought it was Harold,” Tommy said.
Tommy stayed in line for their balloons. Antonio lagged a few feet behind the girls as they made their way to the Flipping Fudge Pops Ferris Wheel.
“Why are we going on a ride with Antonio?” Bess whispered.
“You’ll see,” George whispered back. “Just hold on to your pockets.”
Nancy still didn’t know what George had in mind, but she zipped the pocket that held her Clue Book. Bess snapped the pockets on her jackets too.
When all four kids were at the Flipping Fudge Pops gate, the attendant checked their heights. They were all tall enough to go on the ride.
A popsicle-shaped cage stood open. The Clue Crew and Antonio slipped inside. Two benches faced each other on opposite ends of the cage.
Nancy and Bess sat on one bench. George and Antonio sat on the other.
“Let’s do this!” George declared.
“Yeah,” Antonio growled. “Bring it!”
The door to the cage snapped shut. A bell rang. Steel safety bars lowered above the kids’ laps.
“Woo-hoo!” Antonio cheered as their cage lifted off the ground. “This is going to be sick!”
“So am I!” Bess groaned as the cage began rocking back and forth. As the Ferris wheel turned, the cage rocked faster and faster—until it flipped all the way over!
Upside down, Antonio yelped. The stuff inside his pockets was spilling out all over the cage!
“Yes!” George cheered. “It worked! It worked!”
TOWER OF SOUR
Nancy and Bess shrieked as Antonio’s stuff rained all over them. The cage flipped back, and it all tumbled to the floor.
“Oh, no!” Antonio wailed.
When the ride came to a stop, Nancy’s head was still spinning as she, Bess, and George looked at everything that had fallen. There was no candy-striped bracelet. Just a balled-up used tissue, a few crumpled dollar bills, a plastic toy magnifying glass, and lots of squirmy—
“Gummy Pests?” Nancy asked. “Was this the proof you were talking about?”
“Correct-o!” Antonio confirmed with a mischievous grin. “I dropped a gummy spider in Nadine’s pocket when we were on the Sour Power Pals ride.”
“Because Nadine got our fourth bracelet and not you?” Bess asked.
“Nah,” Antonio said. “Because it was funny.”
Nancy, Bess, and George weren’t laughing.
The safety bars rose and the door swung open. Antonio scooped his stuff off the floor at once.
“You can keep the Gummy Pests,” Antonio said as he left the cage. “They’re on me.”
“You mean they’re on us,” complained Bess as she pulled an icky gummy worm from her hair. “All over us!”
Nancy picked up something Antonio forgot. It was the plastic toy magnifying glass.
“I’ll give it back to Antonio when we see him at school,” Nancy decided. “Nobody should have to lose their stuff—even pests.”
As they walked away from the ride, Nancy crossed off Antonio’s name from her suspect list. “That leaves us with only one suspect.”
“Or suspects,” Bess said, sticking out her tongue. “Those Sour Power Pals!”
The Clue Crew made their way through Candy Kingdom toward the World of the Sour Power Pals. As they neared the ride, a booming voice made them jump: “Huzzah! Yonder roams our royal winners!”
Nancy, Bess, and George whirled around and smiled. It was the king and queen of Candy Kingdom!
“We see three of thee,” the queen declared. “Where is Lady Gumdrop?”
“You mean Nadine?” Bess asked. “Oh, she went home because she lost—”
“She lost her lunch!” George cut in. “On one of the rides.”
The king and queen blinked. “Oh.”
Good save, Nancy thought. Nadine had asked the girls not to tell anyone about the missing bracelet. To change the subject she pointed to a small blue tower in the near distance. “Is that your castle?” Nancy asked.
The king shook his head. “Yonder stands the majestic Tower of Sour.”
“Tower of Sour?” George repeated.
“It is for Sour Power Pals only!” the queen added.
Nancy, Bess, and George traded puzzled looks. A tower just for Sour Power? What was up with that?
“Alas, we must bid thee farewell,” the king declared.
“We have a royal bubble-gum-blowing contest to judge,” the queen told them.
Nancy, Bess, and George turned to examine the tower.
“Maybe the pals go there when they’re not working on the ride,” George suggested.
“Then that’s where we’re going next,” Nancy stated. “To find clues and hopefully Nadine’s missing bracelet.”
Nancy, Bess, and George walked up to the blue tower. The walls looked like they were dusted with fake powdered sugar. Over the door was a sign that read KIDS OUT! THIS MEANS YOU!
“Even their sign is rude,” Bess complained. “I don’t think I want to go in there.”
“Why, Bess?” George asked.
“What if the Sour Power Pals are inside right now?” Bess asked. “If they were mean on the ride, they’ll be supermean when they find us snooping around.”
The door also had a small round window. Nancy pointed up to it and said, “Let’s peek through that window. If we see Sour Power Pals, we won’t go inside.”
The window was high. George was the highest jumper, so she jumped once, twice, three times to reach it. But on the fourth jump, she landed hard against the door, pushing it wide open!
“Whoa!” George cried as she tumbled inside.
Nancy and Bess hurried in after her. They were standing in a small entrance hall; a winding staircase was straight ahead.
“Does anyone see Sour Power Pals?” Bess whispered.
“No,” Nancy whispered. “But I do see their costumes.”
Nancy pointed to three Sour Power Pals costumes, hanging from hooks on a wall. They were the same colors as the pals who had helped them into the boat—yellow, red, and blue.
“If the costumes have pockets,” Nancy went on, “maybe Nadine’s bracelet is in one.”
“Pockets again?” Bess groaned. “After what we found in Antonio’s, I’m afraid to look.”
The Clue Crew headed straight to the hooks and the costumes. Each costume had a mask attached but no pockets.
If they did take Nadine’s bracelet, Nancy wondered, where would they put it? Nancy’s thoughts were interrupted by voices. They seemed to be coming from outside the door.
“It’s got to be Sour Power Pals!” Bess squeaked. “They can’t catch us snooping in here.”
“Okay, we’ll hide,” Nancy said, looking around. “But where?”
“Up the stairs,” George said. “Quick!”
The Clue Crew filed up the winding staircase. When they reached the top they received an unwelcome surprise.
Standing at the top of the stairs were the three pals—red, yellow, and blue. Nancy gulped as the pals stared icily at the girls. Things were about to get sour—and fast!
ROBO-RIOT
“Um . . . we weren’t snooping,” Bess told the pals. “We were looking for the way out.”
The three pals didn’t move. They just stood silently and stared.
“We weren’t looking for a way out,” George said bravely. “We were looking for our friend’s missing prize bracelet.” Braver and braver, she stepped
forward. “Well? Do you know where it is?”
The yellow pal finally blinked. Then—WHIR, WHIR, WHIRRRRR! Its eyes glowed red and then flashed several times. The red pal’s head whirled around and around on its neck. Out of the blue, the blue pal sang the Sour Power Pals song, repeating the same word over again: “Who needs sweet when you can have sour, sour, sour, sour, sour. . . .”
“They’re not just mean,” Bess cried. “They’re out of control!”
“Let’s get out of here,” Nancy decided.
The girls turned to leave. They froze when they saw what was coming up the winding staircase—three more Sour Power Pals—red, yellow, and blue!
“News flash,” George gulped. “We’re surrounded.”
The girls thought they were toast until one by one the Sour Power Pals pulled off their masks. Underneath were three teenage faces, two boys and a girl. They looked past Nancy, Bess, and George and sighed.
“Oh, great,” one boy said.
“Here they go again,” the girl said.
“Again?” George asked.
“Footsteps can activate them,” the other boy explained, walking to the head-spinning pal. “It’s happened before.” He lifted a hidden panel on the pal’s chest. After flipping a switch, the pal’s whirling head came to a stop.
Switches were flipped on the other two pals. The singing and eye flashing stopped too. Soon all three Sour Power Pals stood silent and statue-still.
“No wonder these three were taken off the ride,” the girl told the boys. “They’ve totally malfunctioned.”
“You mean like robots?” Nancy asked.
“Here we call them animatronics,” the girl explained.
“I like Robo-Pals better,” George decided.
The teens introduced themselves. The girl was Bella. The boys were Jaden and Mike.
“And as you can see by our costumes,” Jaden said, “we’re also Sour Power Pals.”
“You mean the ones from the ride?” Bess asked. “You’re too nice to be those creepy pals.”
Jaden chuckled and said, “Thanks. I guess that means we’re good actors.”
“We have to act sour when we work on the ride,” Bella explained, “or we wouldn’t be Sour Power Pals.”
“If you’re so nice,” George asked the pals, “why did our friend Nadine’s prize bracelet go missing inside your ride?”
“Missing?” Bella repeated.
“I heard two Sour Power Pals talking,” Nancy explained. “One said his friends would love a free week at Candy Kingdom.”
“Who wouldn’t?” Mike admitted with a grin. “But we would never steal anyone’s prize bracelet.”
“We wouldn’t steal anything,” Jaden added.
“Sour Power Pals may be sour on the outside,” Bella said with a smile, “but we’re totally sweet on the inside.”
Nancy and Bess smiled too, but George wasn’t convinced. She tilted her head as she studied the pals.
“Nobody was inside that ride,” George said, “except us kids and you sweet-and-sour people!”
“You mean these guys,” Jaden said, pointing to the Robo-Pals. “The only pals inside the ride are animatronics.”
Nancy, Bess, and George stared at the teens and then at the Robo-Pals.
“You mean the pals blasting sugar and hurling marshmallows,” Nancy asked, “are all robots?”
Suddenly—WHIRRRRR!!! Boing! Boing!
Bess shrieked as the blue Robo-Pal’s eyes popped out straight at the girls.
“I’m outta here,” Bess cried, before racing down the stairs.
“Thanks for your help, but we have to run!” Nancy told the pals. Then she winded down the twisty staircase after Bess. She could hear George’s footsteps behind her.
At the bottom of the staircase, George turned to Nancy and Bess. “Why did we have to leave? I still think those sour suckers took Nadine’s bracelet.”
“But they were so nice,” Bess argued.
“And I believed them when they said they would never steal Nadine’s bracelet,” Nancy added.
“I didn’t mean the teenagers,” George said. “I meant the Robo-Pals.” She pointed up the staircase. “You saw how crazy they get when they’re on the blink. Maybe crazy enough to steal a bracelet!”
Nancy had to admit that George knew a thing or two about gadgets, and that’s what the Robo-Pals upstairs were—big out-of-control gadgets!
“Okay,” Nancy said, “but how do we question robots?”
“We don’t!” Bess declared. “Instead we leave this Tower of Sour now!”
Bess yanked a door open, but it wasn’t the door leading outside. Instead, it led into a very small office. In it was a desk, a file cabinet, and a miniature model of the Sour Power Pals ride.
“Neat,” George said. “Let’s check it out!”
Nancy, Bess, and George gathered around the colorful mini model. It looked just like the real ride, only tiny.
“There are the boats on the lime-soda stream,” Bess pointed out. “And the pink cotton-candy whirlpool.”
“There are the Robo-Pals, too,” George said, pointing at the model, “on those rock-candy mountains.”
Nancy studied the model. Something about the Robo-Pals and the boats stood out.
“Look how far the pals are from the stream,” Nancy told Bess and George. “Their arms can’t be long enough to reach the boats.”
“Or Nadine’s bracelet,” Bess agreed.
George shrugged and said, “So I guess the Robo-Pals are clean.”
“And the real Sour Power Pals,” Bess said with a smile, “are not really mean!”
The Clue Crew found their way outside. As they walked away from the tower, Nancy crossed out the Sour Power Pals from her suspect list.
“That’s it, you guys,” Nancy said as she closed her Clue Book. “We have no more suspects. Zero. Zip. Zilch.”
“What next?” George asked.
“Let’s go back to the photo board,” Bess said. “Now that I like the Sour Power Pals, I want to buy our picture.”
The girls returned to the photo board. They found their picture in the exact same place.
“It is a good picture,” Nancy said as they looked it over again. “Even Nadine looks happy in it.”
“No wonder Nadine was happy,” Bess said. “She didn’t know she lost her bracelet yet.”
George tilted her head as she studied the picture.
“Then what’s that thing around her wrist?” she asked.
Nancy studied Nadine in the picture. That’s when her eyes popped wide open. It was a bracelet!
THE BIG PICTURE
Bess looked at it too. “Is it a bracelet?” she asked. “Is it red and white and candy-striped? Can anyone tell?”
“I can’t,” George said, shaking her head. “The bracelet is way too small in the picture.”
“Phooey,” Bess said. “Too bad we don’t have robotic magnifying eyes.”
Nancy smiled to herself. She didn’t have magnifying eyes, but she did have the next best thing. . . .
“Ta-da!” Nancy declared as she pulled out Antonio’s magnifying glass. “This ought to do the trick.”
Bess and George watched as Nancy positioned the small round glass over the picture. After moving it a few times over Nadine’s arm, the bracelet popped into view.
“Boom!” George declared. “Red and white and candy stripes all around!”
“Who knew Antonio would save the day?” Bess said.
Nancy nodded and said, “This is a game changer. The picture was taken at the end of the ride, right before we all got out of the boat.”
“So Nadine couldn’t have lost it earlier in the ride,” George added, “like she said she did.”
“But Nadine showed us that she didn’t have the bracelet after the ride,” Bess remembered. “If she didn’t lose it inside the ride, how did she lose it?”
“I don’t know,” Nancy admitted. “But maybe Nadine does.”
Bess was ab
out to buy the picture as a souvenir and a clue when someone called, “Hi, girls. Having fun?”
Nancy knew that voice anywhere. It was her dad!
“Hi, Daddy!” Nancy said as Mr. Drew walked over with a wave and a smile. “Where’s Hannah?”
“Hannah decided to shop for dinner,” Mr. Drew explained. He lifted his sleeve to show the guest bracelet. “She lent me this so I could join you at Candy Kingdom.”
“Awesome, Daddy,” Nancy said excitedly. “You’re just in time to drive us to Nadine’s house!”
“Nadine’s house?” Mr. Drew asked with surprise.
“We can get back into Candy Kingdom later,” Bess explained. “All we have to do is show our bracelets.”
“Thanks, Mr. Drew!” George said.
Mr. Drew stared at the girls. “But I just got here,” he told them. “And I couldn’t wait to ride the Marshmallow Mix-Up.”
Nancy giggled to herself. Her dad may have been a lawyer, but most of the time he acted just like a big kid.
“We’re working on a case, Daddy,” Nancy explained. “Nadine was wearing her candy-striped bracelet—”
“A case?” Mr. Drew interrupted. “Why didn’t you tell me? To the car, Clue Crew!”
“Are you sure, Mr. Drew?” Bess asked.
“Sure, I’m sure,” Mr. Drew said with a grin. “Who needs the Marshmallow Mix-Up when your mysteries are such a wild ride?”
Bess bought their picture from a snarky Sour Power Pal. Then Mr. Drew drove the girls straight to Nadine’s house.
“Thanks, Daddy,” Nancy said. “Can we walk home after we talk to Nadine?”
“Sure thing,” Mr. Drew said out the window. “As long as you’re—”
“Together!” Nancy, Bess, and George chorused.
All three girls had the same rule. They could walk anywhere in the neighborhood as long as it was no more than five blocks and as long as they were together.
Mr. Drew drove away. The Clue Crew stood on the sidewalk facing Nadine’s house.
“What do we ask Nadine when we see her?” Bess asked.
But they didn’t get a chance to make a plan, because the front door opened when they got to the driveway. Nadine stepped outside wearing the same jacket she’d worn to Candy Kingdom.