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

the moment, what with trying to get your new sister’s bedroom finished off as well –’
    Mum’s comment is like a red rag to a bull. I see Honey’s eyes flash with anger.
    ‘Cherry will never be my sister … wedding or no wedding,’ she bites out. ‘And right now, my money’s on no wedding.’
    ‘Honey, don’t be so mean!’ I argue. It’s not like me to getin the middle of a family drama, but I feel so sorry for Mum, and for Cherry, I have to say something. ‘Don’t you want Mum to be happy again, after everything Dad put her through? Don’t you want to be a part of this family?’
    Honey glares at me, her blue eyes icy cold.
    ‘My family fell apart,’ she bites out. ‘A while ago now. I thought we could put it back together, but I was wrong, because you all had other ideas. Now I’m stuck with a whole different set-up, and no, I don’t want to be a part of it, Skye, now that you ask.’
    I feel like I’ve been slapped.
    An awkward silence settles around us. Paddy’s bright smile slips and Cherry looks down at her soup bowl as if she would like to be anywhere at all but here. The rest of us struggle for a way out of the embarrassment, a way to put it all right, but there isn’t one.
    It strikes me suddenly that I do not like my big sister very much at all. I’m sick of creeping around her, trying to coax a smile or a friendly word. I’m sick of trying to be the peacemaker because if she saw a white flag she’d most likely tear it in two. Honey is pulling my family to pieces.
    ‘You never used to be like this,’ I say quietly. ‘I used tolook up to you, Honey, you know? I thought you were the coolest big sister in the world, but I was wrong. You’re not cool at all … you’re shallow and spiteful and cruel!’
    ‘Skye, hush!’ Mum says, but it’s too late – Honey is on her feet, her lips trembling, eyes misted with tears. She slams out of the kitchen and runs up the stairs to her room.

15
    I stood up to my sister and told her the things that have been whirling around in my head, but instead of feeling better I feel as if I am the one in the wrong. Sadness settles inside my chest like a stone.
    Summer digs me in the ribs. ‘What did you have to go and say that for?’ she whispers. ‘She’ll be even worse now!’
    I bite my lip. ‘I just … I couldn’t believe she’d say that stuff … oh, I don’t know. I’m sorry!’
    Mum sighs. ‘Maybe you actually got through to her? I’m not getting things right with Honey at the moment, I know that. Perhaps we need to take a harder line … for her own sake.’
    ‘Worth a try,’ Paddy nods. ‘And, Skye, I think it’s goodyou challenged her. Maybe it’ll be the wake-up call she needs?’
    ‘Maybe,’ I say, but I don’t believe it, not really. I don’t think Honey wants a wake-up call. And what if Summer is right, and my words push her still further away?
    My twin shoots me a cold look and heads off to the village to meet Tia for a trip into town. I head out to help in the workshop with Cherry, Coco and Paddy, but I can’t focus and end up getting the orders wrong. I keep thinking of Honey’s eyes, misted with tears, of Summer’s accusing glare. I feel like the worst sister in the world.
    When Paddy suggests I take some packages down to the post office and then call in at the bakery to buy cream cakes for tea, I jump at the chance.
    I am in the post office handing over a whole heap of parcels when Mrs Lee, the post office lady, stops what she is doing and stares at me, hard. Mrs Lee is pretty eccentric, and styles herself as some kind of gypsy fortune-teller. She has been telling me that I’m a little bit psychic ever since I was six years old, which used to make me feel very important and special because she never said anything like that to Summer.
    She’s always coming out with some crazy prediction, which can be very unsettling when you’ve only gone in to buy a second-class stamp or a roll of