Free 2: Chocolate Box Girls: Marshmallow Skye by Cathy Cassidy

sitting round the kitchen table eating tomato soup and freshly baked bread rolls, when Summer gets back from ballet. I know she won’t like me asking, but I have to know.
    ‘Summer, you know those old letters from the trunk?’ I ask. ‘Have you seen them at all? I left them on the desk a week or so ago and they seem to have vanished into thin air …’
    ‘What letters?’ Summer says blankly.
    ‘You know … the bundle of letters addressed to Clara Travers. I thought you might have moved them or something.’
    Summer frowns. ‘I don’t know … I might have put them back in the trunk …’
    ‘They’re not there, though,’ I sigh. ‘I’ve looked. Could you have put them somewhere else?’
    Summer looks annoyed. ‘Look, I can’t remember – I probably didn’t move them at all, Skye. Why would I touch her spooky old letters?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ I shrug. ‘I’m not blaming you, Summer, it’s just that I’ve lost them and it’s bugging me, that’s all. Mum … have you seen the letters from the trunk? Tidied them up or something?’
    ‘I don’t know, love,’ she says. ‘Sorry. I don’t think so – but to be honest we’re so manic with the chocolate orders it’s all I can do to keep on top of the B&B stuff lately. I haven’t tidied your rooms in a while. We’re busier with guests as well as the Chocolate Box, thanks to that article.’
    ‘If things stay this way after Christmas, we might have to look into employing an assistant,’ Paddy comments.
    ‘Wow,’ Coco grins. ‘That’s a good sign, isn’t it?’
    ‘Brilliant,’ Mum agrees. ‘Right now, though, we’re run off our feet. I don’t know what we’d do without your help, girls!’
    We’ve got into a routine of helping out in the workshop after school, assembling boxes and selecting chocolates and tying up the ribbon bows. Then we slide them into jiffy bags and Paddy takes everything down to the post office in timeto catch the last pickup, and we get to eat any leftover truffles. Obviously, that is the best bit.
    Honey, who has made a rare lunchtime appearance, rolls her eyes. ‘It’s child labour,’ she says scathingly. ‘We do enough already, helping Mum with the guest rooms and breakfasts. What are we, slaves?’
    ‘You haven’t helped with the B&B stuff for ages,’ I say. ‘So you are definitely not a slave, anyway. The rest of us don’t mind. It’s fun!’
    ‘You think?’ Summer asks. I know she is only sticking up for Honey, but it’s not like my twin actually helps out as much as the rest of us anyhow. She always has ballet practice or dance-show rehearsal or something. Cherry, Coco and I do most of the work, and we are not complaining.
    ‘A few more chocolate orders won’t help us much anyhow.’ Honey shrugs. ‘How many thousands do you owe the bank again, Paddy?’
    ‘Actually …’ Paddy begins, but my big sister ignores him.
    ‘When the business falls flat on its face, how are you going to pay the debt?’ she demands. ‘Maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll leave Mum to sort that out –’
    ‘Honey!’ Mum snaps. ‘That’s enough!’
    Paddy sighs. ‘She’s only trying to watch out for you,’ he says patiently. ‘You can’t really blame her for that.’
    ‘If it makes her rude, I can,’ Mum sighs. ‘I wish I could believe that Honey was just watching out for me, but sometimes I think she just likes to stir up trouble –’
    ‘Er, hello?’ Honey cuts in. ‘Who’s being rude now? You’re talking about me as if I’m not even here.’
    ‘You hardly ever are,’ I say, and Summer shoots me an angry look. She is fiercely loyal to Honey – but surely even she can see now that our big sister is out to make trouble?
    ‘Enough,’ Mum says. ‘If business stays brisk we’ll look into employing an assistant in the spring, but right now your help is much appreciated, all of you. That’s what families do – help each other. It won’t be for long, but we’re up to our eyes at