Oh Say Can You Fudge Read Free Page B

stretched her long legs out in front of her. “Kind of have a knack for that, don’t you?”
    “It’s a newfound talent.” I sighed. “I’d much rather be making fudge right now.”
    “I heard you hired Sandy Everheart as your assistant. That was good. She’s one of the best chocolatiers I’ve ever met. And living on the island, I’ve met more than my fair share.”
    I turned my gaze from the goings on at the warehouse to Sophie. “Sandy is good. She should have her own shop.”
    “Well, some of us don’t have family businesses to go into.”
    “Ouch.”
    Sophie sighed and leaned back onto her hands. “Sorry. That didn’t come out right.” She straightened. “I’m glad you gave her a chance. No one else would.”
    “I needed the help and she’s good . . . better than me with the chocolate sculpture.” I studied the building. “Do you think the warehouse will really blow up?”
    “No, not unless the bomb guys come across something they haven’t seen before.”
    I winced. “I hope they don’t blow up. I’ve seen enough death in the last few months.”
    “I’m sure it’s just Rex being overly cautious—”
    Sudden motion from the emergency guys caught our attention. They were running and hopping into the vehicles and moving them away from the warehouse.
    “Where are they going?” I stood and drew my eyebrows together in concern.
    Sophie stood with me. “This does not look good.” She took my arm and pulled me back to the woods.
    Rex sent a quick shout to the last responder and ran at us. “Get back!” He waved his hands and Sophie linked her arm in mine and ran headfirst into the woods.
    Panic had my heart racing and my feet pounding over uneven ground. We jumped over fallen logs. Ferns and scrub and wild raspberries ripped at our pants and tore at our shirts. Rex caught up with us and pushed us even faster until we hit the top of a hill and half ran, half slid at least one hundred feet down.
    The loudest explosion I’d ever heard erupted from the trees above us. Rex shoved us into the earth, shielding us with as much of his body as possible as dust and rocks rolled over us. I inhaled dust and dry pine needle bits and coughed, my eyes watering. Pushing to sit up and get some fresh air, I watched in amazement as fireworks whistled into the air, exploding at low angles. Their color and sparkles lost in the daylight, they showered the dry woods.
    “Get down!” Rex ordered, dragging me back into the dirt as a second loud explosion rumbled, raining more rocks and dust.
    The walkie-talkie on his shoulder squawked. “Rex, what’s going on? Are you all right?” Charlene sounded more worried than usual.
    “Call everyone you can,” he barked into the communicator. “We’ve got a potential wildfire at the airport.”
    “Roger,” Charlene said. “I’m calling up the volunteers.”
    “What about the airport?” Sophie asked. Her blue eyes shone in her dirt-covered face. “What about my plane?”
    Another explosion filled the air. We ducked. I covered my head with my hands as rocks and branches rained down. We were lucky the small ridge above us sheltered us from most of the blast.
    The scent of smoke and dirt and fireworks filled my senses. Falling ash burned my hand and I shook it off. Rex moved and I looked up to see him stomping out sparks as they threatened the dry pine needles.
    Sophie and I got up. She tore off her over shirt, leaving her white athletic T-shirt on and used the shirt to beat out small fires. I kicked dirt over the sparks that fell near me. The fireworks continued to scream overhead. Their whistles and winding patterns drove them to various heights through the air, showering the area in ear-shattering explosions and sparkles of red, white, and blue.
    My first Star Spangled Fourth had just become the worst disaster Mackinac Island had ever seen. Considering the War of 1812, that was saying a lot.

Chapter 2
    “We were lucky that it rained all last week,” Ed Goodfoot