The Cat-Astrophe (7 page)

B’s charmed adventures continue in

Read on for a sneak peek!

“Pinch me, B.”

Beatrix Cicely, called B for short, looked in surprise at her best friend, George, who had pulled back his sleeve and thrust his arm out in front of her.

“Seriously. Pinch me! I must be dreaming. There’s no other possible explanation for today.”

B gave George’s arm a harmless pinch. “Don’t be silly, George! I told you that sooner or later, my dad would let you have a tour of Enchanted Chocolates. It was just a matter of time.”

George leaned back in Mr. Cicely’s office chair and spun around. He inhaled, long and deep. “Just smell that chocolate!” He sat up and pointed at B. “I’ll bet I buy more Enchanted Chocolates than anybody else in the world. I’ll bet I do. That makes me their number one customer.”

“I don’t doubt it,” B said, grinning at her friend. She tossed a dart at the dartboard on the wall. It had the logo for Pluto Candies, her father’s biggest competitor, taped right at the indent of the bull’s-eye. She missed. “Thanks for keeping my dad’s job secure.”

George looked out the window onto the large factory room where workers packed cases of candy. “There goes a truckload of Caramelicious Cremes. And that lady? She’s loading a pallet full of Mint Fizzes. That guy’s got Peanut Butter Pillows.” George slumped down in the office chair. “Oh, man. I’m in heaven.”

“No, you’re in my chair,” B’s dad said, entering at just that moment. “C’mon, George. If you think the pallet loading’s good, you haven’t seen anything yet. You, too, B. I’ve got a surprise for you both.”

They followed Mr. Cicely down the corridor onto an elevator. George tugged on his sleeve. “Wanna hear my idea for what your next new chocolate should be? You’ll love this.”

“Actually, today …”

“It’s a candy bar. You start with a simple, flat cracker base. A rectangle. Then you coat it with a layer of peanut brittle. See what I mean? A nice, crunchy, sweet layer of peanut brittle. Drizzle a little caramel over that, then dunk it in chocolate.”

“Thanks George, I …” B could tell her dad had other things on his mind. But then he paused. “Wait. Did you say, peanut brittle over a cracker?”

George nodded.

“With caramel? Then chocolate?”

“That’s right.” George’s chest was sticking out a mile.

The elevator doors opened, and they stepped out onto a shiny new wing of the factory that B had never seen before. Her dad was still mentally forming that new candy bar. His voice sounded far away. “The perfect combination of salty and sweet … crunchy and smooth … And nobody else has done it yet.” He whipped out his Crystal Ballphone — any nonwitch would think it was a cell phone — and started punching buttons with his thumbs.

“What’re you doing, Dad?” B asked.

“Just texting myself a note to have the kitchens try this out.” He finished and snapped the phone shut, then ruffled George’s hair. “Keep it under your hats, okay, guys? I may have to put you on the payroll, George.”

B feared her friend might faint with happiness. “Better not,” she said. “He’d eat sweets all day long.
After a couple of weeks, you’d have to roll him out the door.”

They came to a door, and B’s dad swiped a pass-card, which let them through. A second door, moments later, required a numeric code, and a third scanned his fingerprint.

“Where are you taking us, to meet the president?” George asked.

“Better than that,” Mr. Cicely said. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “You will both get to see the dipping debut for our brand-new, top secret line of chocolates.” He paused for impact.

George shook his head in wonder. “This is a day to remember for the rest of my
life.”

Special thanks to Julie Berry

B Magical #1: The Missing Magic
B Magical #2: The Trouble with Secrets
B Magical #3: The Runaway Spell
B Magical #4: The Cat-Astrophe

LEXI CONNOR
loves word searches, crosswords, and word puzzles. When she was younger, she won her county bee and traveled to the regional competition, where, in a moment of extreme stage fright, she misspelled “C-E-M-E-T-E-R-Y.” She lives with her black cat named Abbey in Massachusetts.

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Copyright © 2010 by Working Partners Ltd.
Cover art by Tuesday Mourning
Cover design by Yaffa Jaskoll

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This edition first printing, May 2011

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e-ISBN 978-0-545-32231-7