The 24 Hour Sleepover Club Read online

  “Oh yuk, how embarrassing!” laughed Fliss, pretending to be sick. “He’s with his girlfriend. And those must be her parents.” She pointed to the couple who were walking right behind them. I should remind you that Callum is only seven.

  “Ah! Sweet!” we laughed.

  “Must be lurve if they’ve come to the fair together!” said Kenny, pretending to go all gooey.

  “Oh, but they do everything together,” said Fliss. “It’s really weird. She goes to her dancing class on Saturdays, so Callum said that he wanted to go too. Now he actually goes dancing with her. Can you imagine? There’s just him and about twenty girls.”

  “It looks as though they’ve brought the rest of the dancing class with them as well!” laughed Dad.

  We looked over to see Callum now surrounded by about eight little girls all giggling and twirling. He was the only boy, but he didn’t seem to mind.

  We all spluttered with laughter.

  “Well I think it’s very sweet of Callum,” said Mum.

  “I think it’s kind of sweet, too,” agreed Fliss. “But he’s going to perform in some kind of concert with them tomorrow. Talk about embarrassing! I’m just glad that I’m going on the picnic with you lot. I’d die if I had to watch him prancing about in a pair of tights!”

  “Oh I don’t know, it might be a laugh,” said Kenny. “Let’s go and watch him!”

  “No way!” shouted Fliss. “We are not going to see my brother making a fool of himself. And that’s final!”

  She sounded as though she meant it, too.

  “OK, OK. Keep your hair on!” snapped Kenny.

  “We haven’t been on the Ghost Train yet,” yelled Lyndz. “Come on!” Lyndz is amazing. She always knows how to stop arguments escalating into World War III.

  Kenny, Rosie and I charged after her like a herd of stampeding buffalo. Fliss hung back with Mum and Dad. I stopped running and shouted to her, “Come on Fliss! The Ghost Train wouldn’t frighten anybody. Honest!”

  “It’s OK. I think Fliss would rather stay with us,” Mum said, running up to me. “And I don’t think your father can cope with any more excitement either! Look, here’s the money for the four of you and we’ll wait for you at the end.”

  I ran on to join the others. I paid for us all. Then we had to queue up a short ramp to wait for the train. As we shuffled forward, the ramp became darker and darker, until we couldn’t even see each other.

  “This is so lame!” I heard Kenny complaining. But I could tell by the sound of her voice that she was just the teeniest bit scared. There was something about the musty smell which hung in the air that made it feel sort of creepy.

  When it was our turn to climb on to the train, Kenny and Lyndz squashed into the front seat of one carriage and Rosie and I got into the seat behind. It was so dark that you couldn’t see the next carriage at all.

  As the train started to rumble through the doors, cobwebs hung down and brushed our faces. Kenny screamed and Lyndz started to giggle. That started me and Rosie off.

  “I dare you to touch one of those skeletons,” Rosie whispered to me. She pointed to a group of them swinging next to the train. As we passed them, I leaned out to shake one of their hands. I couldn’t believe it when its whole arm came off! I screamed so hard, I thought my lungs would burst.

  “Francesca Theresa Thomas!” boomed Kenny in her ‘Mrs Weaver’ voice. “Do calm down!”

  Of course, we all cracked up with laughter. And that’s when the train stopped.

  Everybody screamed. But really it wasn’t too much of a surprise because it happens every year. “This is so childish, I don’t know why we came.”

  That just had to be Emily Berryman. I nudged Rosie to listen too and we both turned round. It was very dark in the tunnel. But even if it had been lit up like Blackpool illuminations we wouldn’t have been able to see who was in the carriage behind us. It had stopped round a bend in the tunnel. So whoever the speaker was, she was hidden from us.

  “I know, but it’s good to see what our little baby friends get up to for fun. And we’ve already seen how much they’re enjoying the fair. Giggling and laughing like that. It’s probably the most exciting thing they’ve ever done in their lives!” Rosie and I clutched each other’s arms. There was no mistaking Emma Hughes’ voice.

  “Fancy having to be chaperoned by your parents!” laughed one M&M. “But I suppose they are only young!” They both started giggling.

  “They’re talking about us! They must have seen us!” spluttered Rosie. “The cheek of it! They’re only a few months older than any of us.”

  I was getting mad, I don’t mind telling you. Who did they think they were? But then it got worse.

  “I can’t stand that Laura,” whined Emma Hughes. “She’s always got her stupid little friends round her. It’s like she thinks she’s some sort of goddess. Well I’m going to get my own back on her in the park tomorrow! There’s no way she’ll try to mess with me again!”

  They must have been talking about Kenny. Laura’s her real name but she hates it. The M&Ms are always calling her Laura because they know that it winds her up. But I really couldn’t believe that Kenny ever thought of herself as a goddess. She’d rather die! And I hadn’t realised that Kenny had got to Emma Hughes that much. But if she was talking about getting her own back, then Kenny must have upset her more than we thought.

  Anyway, Kenny is my best mate and I wasn’t going to let anyone slag her off. I made a move to get out of the carriage to go and tell those stupid M&Ms exactly what I thought of them. But Rosie held me back. She put her finger to her lips. The M&Ms were still talking.

  “We should prove to ALL of them that we’re better than they are. I think showing them up in public is just what they need!” They both started cackling like a couple of witches.

  “Oh no! They’re going to do something to us at the picnic tomorrow!” squeaked Rosie. “We’ll have to warn the others.”

  We leaned forward to tell Kenny and Lyndz but they weren’t there. They had disappeared!

  Rosie and I couldn’t believe it. Where on earth could Kenny and Lyndz have gone?

  “You don’t suppose the Ghost Train really is haunted do you?” asked Rosie. She is usually very calm, but I could see that she was starting to panic.

  “You mean ghosts have come and spirited Kenny and Lyndz away?” I said. “Come on Rosie. Who in their right mind would get involved with either of those two? You know what chaos they always cause when they’re together.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” she laughed. “Nobody would be crazy enough to mess with Kenny and Lyndz. They’d be enough to frighten any ghost!”

  Suddenly a strange, spooky sort of noise filled the tunnel. It sounded like a ghoulish moaning. Rosie and I clung to each other. We could hear the M&Ms screaming behind us. Then another, louder groan seemed to shake the train carriages.

  “I think there really must be a ghost!” whispered Rosie. I could feel her trembling beside me.

  “Oh come on Rosie! You know that there are no such things as ghosts,” I said, trying to sound brave. “It’s probably a recording that they put on when the train stops.”

  “It sounded real enough to me,” mumbled Rosie, shivering. She was digging her fingernails hard into my arm.

  “Ouch, Rosie. I think you’re piercing a vein there,” I complained.

  “Sorry,” she said quietly.

  A shriek echoed round the tunnel walls. Everybody started to scream again. Even me! My heart was pounding and I felt as though I couldn’t breathe.

  “Do you still say there aren’t any ghosts?” demanded Rosie. She was squeezing my arm harder than before.

  But then something convinced me once and for all that this was no ghost we were dealing with. The unmistakeable sound of giggling, accompanied by a loud Hic! bounced around the tunnel walls.

  “Kenny and Lyndz!” Rosie and I mouthed to each other.

  “Come on, let’s go and find them!” I yelled, leaping out of the ca
rriage.

  The sound of their giggling had come from somewhere behind all the cobwebs and ghosts which were flapping about beside the track.

  “BOO!”

  Kenny and Lyndz suddenly popped out from behind the skeletons. Rosie and I laughed so much I thought we were going to wet ourselves.

  “Look! We found a microphone hidden back here,” Kenny shouted. “They must use it for making announcements. Did you like our sound effects? Good, hah?”

  “No, they were not good, you young villains,” boomed a voice behind us.

  We spun round to see a very angry, red-faced man heading towards us. It was the owner of the Ghost Train ride.

  “How dare you tamper with private property! I’ve a good mind to call the police!”

  We stopped laughing when he said that.

  “Now get out, all of you. And don’t you dare come back on this ride ever again!”

  He pushed us towards a door marked Emergency Exit and we all stumbled out into the fresh air. We heard the Ghost Train start to rumble inside the building again. Suddenly Rosie remembered our news.

  “Hey, you’ll never guess what we heard in the Ghost Train!” she said excitedly.

  “Erm, let me guess. Could it have been… Oooooooh…” Kenny started to moan and groan.

  “No stupid, something much more exciting than that,” I said.

  “Oh thanks very much. I thought I was rather good, actually,” grumbled Kenny.

  “Oh shut up and listen, will you!” I shouted. “This is really important.”

  “Yes, we heard the M&Ms – and they’re going to sabotage our picnic tomorrow!” blurted out Rosie.

  “No way!” shouted Lyndz. Her hiccups seemed to have stopped.

  “Yes way!” I said. “Come on, let’s find Fliss. We ought to get home to start planning our revenge!”

  Mum and Dad couldn’t believe it when we met them and insisted that we went home straight away.

  “Aw, that’s not fair!” moaned Fliss. “You’ve been on more rides than me.”

  “Yes well, whose choice was that?” I asked crossly.

  “Francesca!” Mum reprimanded me.

  “I’m sorry, Fliss,” I said. I was sorry too, but sometimes she winds me up, always moaning about things not being fair.

  “We’ve got some news,” Rosie told Fliss. “And believe me, when you’ve heard it, you won’t bother about missing a few rides. Anyway, you’ve got a furry octopus and we haven’t.”

  I was impressed. Rosie had made Fliss smile again.

  “I hope you’re not going to be hatching one of your silly plans,” Dad said in his stern lawyer’s voice.

  “Course not, Dad, what do you take us for?” I lied.

  In my room we all flopped down on the bed.

  “OK, what have I missed?” demanded Fliss.

  “Well, me and Lyndz did this brilliant thing. We got off the Ghost Train and made lots of spooky noises and Frankie and Rosie found us and then we got thrown out!” spluttered Kenny.

  “You mean that’s it?” yelled Fliss. “You dragged me home just to tell me that I’ve missed all the fun. Some friends you are!”

  “Calm down, Fliss!” said Rosie. “What we wanted to tell you was that whilst those two were acting like Bart Simpson, Frankie and I heard the M&Ms. They must have been sitting behind us on the Ghost Train. Anyway, they’re going to try to do something to us at our picnic tomorrow!”

  “What?” screeched Fliss. “How do you know? What did they say? Did they threaten you or something?”

  “No, nothing like that,” I admitted. “They didn’t even know we were there. We just overheard them going on about the babies having to be chaperoned at the fair.”

  “They must have been talking about us,” Rosie butted in, “because that’s what they always call us these days.”

  “Yes, and they said that Laura was the worst,” I continued, “and that they were going to teach us all a lesson tomorrow.”

  “Laura?” shrieked Kenny. “I hate it when they call me that! Anyway, you never told me that they mentioned me in particular. What did they say?” Her face was getting redder and redder. Kenny is not a pretty sight when she’s angry. I looked to Rosie for assistance.

  “Well,” she said slowly, “I can’t remember exactly. It was something about you thinking you’re a goddess!”

  Lyndz laughed so hard I thought she was going to choke.

  “A goddess!” she spluttered. “Kenny a goddess! Do me a favour! When was the last time you saw a picture of a goddess wearing a football shirt?”

  “That’s not the point!” yelled Kenny. “What did they mean? They were saying I’m soft, weren’t they? I’ll show them!”

  “Calm down, Kenny! Maybe we got that bit wrong,” I said. “What Emma Hughes did say was that she was going to get her own back on you. So something you’ve done must have got her worried.” Kenny cheered up a bit when she heard that.

  “The most important thing is how are we going to stop them sabotaging our picnic?” I asked the others.

  “We could give the park a miss and go somewhere else,” suggested Fliss. “Then they won’t be able to do anything to us because we won’t be there.”

  “That’s typical of you,” snapped Kenny. “You always run away because you’re so terrified of doing anything wrong. I don’t know why we even let you become a member of the Sleepover Club in the first place!”

  We all went quiet. What Kenny had just said was true. Not the bit about her being a member of the Sleepover Club. The bit about Fliss running away. When the going gets tough, Fliss gets going in the opposite direction! But hearing somebody say it out loud somehow made it sound so much worse. It was like a big hairy spider that we’d been keeping in a box. Once it was let out in the open, it was impossible to ignore it.

  Fliss went very pink and tears welled up in her eyes.

  “Kenny! That wasn’t very nice,” said Lyndz crossly.

  Rosie already had her arm around Fliss’s shoulder. “Are you all right?” she asked gently.

  It was awful. We are always having disagreements within the Sleepover Club, but this was different somehow.

  “I’ll go then, shall I?” mumbled Fliss. She made an effort to get up from the bed, but we all pulled her back down again. All of us except Kenny.

  “Don’t be stupid Fliss. How could we have a sleepover without you?” I asked. Fliss sort of smiled through her tears.

  Kenny glowered. She knew that she was in the wrong, but sometimes she finds it hard to admit.

  “I know that I’m not as brave as the rest of you… ” said Fliss.

  Kenny snorted.

  “…but I can’t help it,” Fliss started to cry again.

  “Look Fliss,” I said, “my gran always says that it takes all sorts to make a world. We’re all different and that’s probably why we all get along so well. Usually.”

  “Why don’t you just say sorry, Kenny?” asked Lyndz, who is always the peacemaker. “Then we can get back to the fun. This is supposed to be out special sleepover.”

  We all glared at Kenny. We had looked forward to the sleepover for so long, and now it looked as though it was all going to end in tears.

  “OK, I’m sorry,” mumbled Kenny. Fliss just nodded but she still seemed very upset.

  “Do you know what I’m thinking?” asked Rosie.

  “Er yes, like we’ve all suddenly become mind-readers!” I laughed. I was desperate to lighten things up again.

  “I was just thinking that the M&Ms have probably got what they wanted. They would have loved it if they’d seen us all falling out with each other because of them.” We all nodded.

  “Yes, you’re right! Give the girl a banana!” I said. “What we need now is a cunning plan to sort them out once and for all!”

  “But first we should have a pillow fight to get rid of all our aggression,” suggested Lyndz. “And I think Fliss should use a squishy-poo to get back at Kenny!” Fliss stopped crying and wiped her tears
away with the back of her hand. Her face was all red and blotchy, but at least she was smiling again.

  Before we knew what was happening, Fliss had swung her squishy-poo behind her head and thwacked Kenny so hard with it that she crumpled on to the floor.

  We all stared at her in horror. Kenny wasn’t moving.

  “Oh my God, Kenny, are you all right?” I gasped, kneeling beside her on the floor.

  “I’ve killed her, haven’t I?” wailed Fliss. “I didn’t mean to. I’ve killed her and I’ll have to go to prison.” She started to sob again. Loud, miserable sobs.

  “Don’t be stupid, Fliss, of course you haven’t killed her!” said Rosie sternly. “But maybe you ought to get your parents, Frankie, just in case.”

  Fliss began to howl again. I could hear Mum and Dad coming up the stairs. They must have heard all the noise. My heart started to pound. They would never let me have another sleepover after this.

  Lyndz meanwhile had straddled Kenny’s body.

  “I’ve seen them do this on the telly,” she said, and slapped Kenny hard around her face a couple of times.

  “Oi!” yelled Kenny, struggling to get free of Lyndz. “I was only pretending. There’s no need to get nasty!” She had gone very red in the face, but she was laughing. She and Lyndz were rolling around on the floor in a play-fight when Mum and Dad burst into my room.

  “What on earth is going on in here?” asked my dad.

  Kenny and Lyndz stopped ripping chunks out of each other and scrambled to their feet.

  “Didn’t I tell you not to get hyper?” said Mum in her weary, I-knew-this-would-happen tone of voice.

  “It always ends in tears, doesn’t it?” grumbled Dad looking from Fliss to me.

  “I’m all-all right,” stammered Fliss. “I didn’t mean to… ”

  “She didn’t mean to make you rush upstairs like that,” I said quickly. “She’s still a bit excited after the fair, aren’t you, Fliss?”

  Fliss nodded. Mum and Dad looked very doubtful.

  “Well, maybe it’s time you thought about settling down for the night,” said Mum.