Purple Pop's Arc

Chapter 11 of 16

By the next morning, Purple Pop's two kitchens were already out of step. Rosalind had finished a tin of caramels by dawn. Purple Pop was still stirring berry drops at her cottage. They needed a way to trade notes without losing half a day walking back and forth. She trained a small lilac squirrel to run the route. The squirrel wore a flowered pouch across its chest, just big enough for folded paper. Purple Pop tucked each task list inside and tied the flap shut. At the flowered tea house in town, she fixed a little wooden box to the front post under the eaves. The squirrel learned to drop notes inside and wait for a reply. Rosalind checked the box each morning before her oven warmed. That afternoon, they met at the small table beside the tea house door. Rosalind set down two tins of caramels. Purple Pop set down a list of new orders. "Six dozen by Friday," Rosalind said. "I can do four. You take the rest." They split the work cleanly, line by line. Purple Pop walked home lighter than she had in weeks. The squirrel darted ahead along the branches, pouch flat and empty. For the first time, two kitchens moved as one.