Henry glanced at me. I focused on breathing normally and not letting my inner distaste leak into my TV smile.

‘This morning, the real fun begins.’ Baxter paused for effect but every person there knew that the only one who’d be having fun today was Baxter. ‘A weather hunt!’

‘Ooh, sounds intriguing,’ Summer managed, nervously smoothing her hair.

‘It is!’ Baxter barked. ‘A treasure hunt, but with weather-based clues. This will test not only your meteorological knowledge.’

Jordan shifted uncomfortably.

‘But also your determination and passion for this role. How badly do you want this? Candidates, we are about to find out.’

At that, he swept out of the room, tweed jacket flapping behind him, and left us all sitting there wondering what on earth was about to happen. Melody soon filled us in.

‘Okay, so there are several clues in containers like this.’ She held up a silver tube which at a guess her kids had made out of an old kitchen roll wrapped in foil. ‘They also contain seven tokens, one with each of your names on it. All clues can be found within the estate grounds. None of them on the upper floor, in Baxter’s private wing, or any other areas that are locked. It’s a straightforward race, the only rule being that you must not move or remove any of the containers, clues, or tokens apart from your own. The first clue will appear on the screen shortly. I’ll hopefully see you all back here in time for lunch.’

She turned to go before coming to a sudden stop and spinning around again. ‘Oh, wait, I can’t believe I forgot this. Baxter has assigned you teams. Hang on.’ She tapped on her iPad a few times. ‘Here we go.’

The group glanced around at each other anxiously. It was probably fair to say that no one wanted to be paired with Jordan Jones in a weather hunt. Personally, I’d choose Henry’s brains over any of the weather presenters’, but failing that would be happy with Lincoln or basically anyone apart from Summer.

‘Lincoln Kim and Calvin Cotton.’

Lincoln and Calvin gave each other a high five while the rest of us sagged with disappointment. Those two would make a strong team.

‘Jordan Jones and Ben Adibisi.’

‘Ah, crap,’ Ben blurted, before catching himself. ‘No offence, Jordan.’

‘No worries, mate.’ Jordan shrugged it off. ‘I’m sick at finding things. We’ll smash it.’

That left me, Henry and Summer. For a moment I wondered if Henry would be allowed to sit it out. This thought was immediately followed by the hope that he’d come with us anyway, because I was starting to realise that was how kind he was.

But no, it wasn’t to be.

‘Driver and Summer.’

‘What?’ Summer asked, her smile freezing on her face. ‘He’s not even a candidate. How is that fair?’