Emergency Sleepover Read online

  Of course, the M&Ms thought it was just the best laugh ever when I kept dropping the ball, or moving my feet before I threw it.

  “Mrs Poole must really have told you off this morning!” smirked Emma Hughes. Her stupid mate Emily Berryman just sniggered in that annoying way she has. Miss Burnie blew her whistle.

  “Come on girls, let’s get on with the game. It’s a free throw to Emma’s team – again, Kenny. Do try to concentrate, this isn’t like you at all.”

  I could see Emma and Emily pulling faces at me, and something just flipped. I still had the ball in my hand, and instead of passing it to them, I threw it as hard as I could. WHACK! It hit Emma’s arm, and she started screaming like she’d been punched by Lennox Lewis or something.

  “You’re for it now!” growled Emily, looking over my shoulder. “Here comes Mrs Poole.”

  I couldn’t believe it. Of all the times for her to appear! She definitely wasn’t going to agree to our plans now, was she?

  “Could I have a word, Laura?” she shouted. “It won’t take a moment.”

  My heart was in my boots as I went over to join her. It didn’t help that Emma hissed through her sobs:

  “You’ll be in big trouble now, McKenzie!”

  Rosie, who had been watching from the side, hobbled over to me. Frankie, Lyndz and Fliss hurried over too.

  “Girls!” called Mrs Burnie, “I don’t think Mrs Poole needs you too.”

  But Mrs Poole called them back.

  “This affects all of you!” she told us seriously. We held our breath.

  “I would just like to say, Laura…” she began slowly.

  My heart was beating like a drum.

  “… that you’ve shown great initiative!” she smiled. “You can have your fundraising ideas!”

  We all started jumping around with excitement.

  “Now, you do know that there’ll be a lot of work to do, don’t you?”

  “Oh yes, Mrs Poole!” I tried to compose myself. “We’ve got everything worked out already.”

  “Good, well, you can tell me all about it after school on Friday, can’t you? Our annual Fundraising Day is planned for the first Saturday of half-term, in two weeks’ time. So I thought we could have your Mufti Day on the Friday and the scavenger hunt on the Saturday. A double-whammy, you might say!” Mrs Poole began to chuckle. “That will give you enough time to organise everything, won’t it?”

  “Ooh yes!” I nodded seriously, ignoring the others who were starting to look rather green.

  “I’ve asked Mrs Weaver if your class can make some posters in an art lesson and she agreed. Right then, I’ll see you in my office after school on Friday. And congratulations again on showing such initiative!”

  We waited until she was out of earshot before we cracked up. When we’d calmed down Frankie said:

  “It’s going to take more than ‘great initiative’ to pull this off, you know. It’s going to take a miracle!”

  And the hugeness of what we’d promised to do suddenly hit home. It was going to take all the cunning and determination of the Sleepover Club to pull this off. And I have to be honest with you – for once, I really wasn’t at all sure that we were up to the job…

  When we were getting changed after the games lesson, panic really began to set in.

  “What are we going to do?” asked Fliss anxiously. “You lied to Mrs Poole and said that we were organised and we’re not at all!”

  “It’s going to turn into a disaster, I can tell,” moaned Rosie.

  “Look, we’ve got until Friday to come up with the goods, haven’t we?” I reassured them. “And you’re all coming back to mine now, aren’t you? So we can make a start on our plans straightaway. Simple!”

  I don’t think the others believed me, and I wasn’t sure that I really believed myself. But Mum always says that if you think positive, it helps you to act positive.

  It takes us quite a while to get anywhere these days, because we have to slow down for Rosie on her crutches. When we finally did make it home, we were all pretty thirsty. So we had a Coke break, then a crisp stop, and then we’d hardly any time left before everyone had to go home.

  “Come on, we’d better plan something,” Fliss said in exasperation. “But where do we start?”

  “Well, I reckon we should concentrate on the scavenger hunt,” suggested Frankie. “As long as everyone knows about Mufti Day, all we’ll have to do is collect the money.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” I agreed. “And Pooley said that we were going to make posters in our art class. So as soon as they’re put up around school, everyone will know about it anyway.”

  “OK then, what about the scavenger hunt?” asked Lyndz.

  We all looked blank. When I said that in the past we’ve always suggested having a scavenger hunt, well – that’s as far as we’ve ever got. We’ve never actually thought about the route it should take, or clues or anything.

  “We could just use our gardens, I suppose,” suggested Rosie. “You know, plant clues in each one, like Lyndz’s brothers did last term.”

  “Only without the joke bit thrown in,” groaned Lyndz. Her brothers had scared us silly with a stupid ghost trick – but that’s another story, I guess!

  “I think we need to send everyone to lots of different places to keep them guessing,” said Frankie thoughtfully. “That’s where the clues come in.”

  “But what if no-one wants to take part anyway?” said Lyndz.

  “We’ll need a big prize to attract people, “Fliss piped up.

  “Hey, good thinking, Batman!” I laughed, slapping her on the back and making her cough. “What we need is a prize which doesn’t cost us any money!”

  “You don’t ask for very much, do you?” Frankie grimaced. “We could all donate something of our own, I suppose.”

  “Nah!” I shook my head. “We need a prize that will appeal to everybody. There might be some adults who want to take part, and I don’t suppose a couple of old CDs and a football magazine would interest them.”

  “We ought to get a big company to sponsor the scavenger hunt,” Frankie announced after a few minutes’ pause.

  “What, you mean sponsor people to take part in it?” asked Fliss. She looked ever so confused.

  “No dummy, they’d provide the prize!” laughed Frankie.

  We all sat around racking our brains trying to think who could help us out. Then I spotted a carrier bag in the corner.

  “I know, I know!”

  I leapt to my feet, climbed on to the sofa and started bouncing around.

  “What about Pricebusters supermarket? They’re always supporting local charities. I’m sure they’d help. And they could provide the baked beans for my bath too!”

  The others whooped and joined me on the sofa. Apart from Rosie, of course. She just sort of hopped around on the carpet.

  My horrible sister Molly the Monster suddenly burst into the room.

  “MUM!” she bellowed at the top of her voice. “Kenny’s bouncing on the sofa again. Shall I make her get off before she wrecks it?”

  We all scrambled down. And by the time Mum came in, we were sitting quietly, pretending to make notes about the scavenger hunt. Mum looked at our flushed faces and wasn’t taken in at all.

  “Don’t tell tales, Molly!” she scolded, ushering her out of the room. “And Kenny, it’s bad enough you ruining your bed by bouncing on it without spoiling this furniture for the rest of us as well.”

  “Sorry Mum,” I mumbled. Then I smiled at her ever so sweetly. “Will it be OK if I go to the supermarket after school tomorrow? There’s something I’ve got to ask the manager. And can we have a sleepover here in a couple of weeks’ time? It’s for a sort of celebration, you see.”

  Mum looked at us slowly.

  “Well you’d better tell me what all this is about first, Kenny. But I don’t see why you can’t have a sleepover.”

  “Yes-s!” the others all cheered.

  “But,” Mum continued ser
iously, “if you’re planning another of your harebrained schemes, I suggest you other girls get approval from your parents too. Speaking of which…” She looked at her watch. “I think it’s probably time you were making tracks home now.”

  And with that, Mum went out.

  “Right, this is the plan,” I told the others before they left. “We mention the scavenger hunt to our parents tonight and see if they can help us out.”

  “But I thought we were organising this?” Fliss complained.

  “We’re going to do as much as we can, but we can’t do everything, can we?” I reasoned. “And we don’t want it turning into a total disaster. Just lay it on thick that we’re raising money for the Children’s Ward, and our parents are bound to help. OK?”

  The others nodded, even Fliss.

  “And you’d better ask for permission to go to the supermarket after school tomorrow as well. Because if we don’t get any joy from there, we might as well give up on the whole idea,” I told them very firmly.

  “But we’ll still have the sleepover, right?” asked Rosie.

  “Of course!” I snorted. “We’d need a major disaster before we called that off!”

  Fortunately for me, the others all came to school the next day with lots of positive news. It goes without saying that everyone was up for the sleepover, and they were allowed to come to the supermarket with me after school too. What’s more, their parents seemed keen on helping out with the scavenger hunt as well. My Dad even agreed to us having a clue at the surgery on a piece of his headed notepaper. Which was very brave of him, considering that his receptionist is a real battleaxe who was going to be furious about being invaded!

  “Dad says we can have some of his misshapen pottery to stick clues in if we want,” Lyndz announced. Her Dad’s an art teacher, and even has a workshop at home where he makes pots and stuff.

  “And Mum said we could plant clues in our garden too. As long as we steer clear of the old pile of junk, that is!” Rosie giggled. “Adam would love it, actually. He’s quite excited about it already!”

  “Mum and Dad said they’d help where they could, depending on Izzy of course,” Frankie told us. “What about your mum, Fliss?”

  “Well, she’s kind of busy getting ready for the wedding and everything,” she said.

  The rest of us pulled faces at each other. Her mum’s getting married in a couple of months’ time, and Fliss goes on about it endlessly.

  “But,” Fliss went on, “I told Auntie Jill, and she said she was sure that we could use the church hall for one of the clues. She said that if we pinned them to Brownie leaflets we might encourage more girls to join our pack. She’s even going to hand them out herself.”

  “Fliss, that’s brilliant!” we all laughed. “What a great idea!”

  We were all really pumped up when we went into school. And it just got better. The M&Ms were still mad with us about the netball incident the previous day, and they got even madder when Mrs Weaver told the class about the project we were going to be doing in art.

  “It’s very special, because the posters we design are going to be promoting fundraising activities organised by students in this class. Perhaps you’d like to tell everyone about them, Laura?”

  I hate it when she calls me Laura. But even that couldn’t spoil my pleasure when I clocked the M&Ms’ faces – they were FURIOUS! And I just had to rub it in by telling them how enthusiastic Mrs Poole had been about our ideas. Both Emily and Emma looked so sick with jealousy when I’d finished that I thought they were going to barf right there in the classroom!

  We all worked in our groups and designed posters for Mufti Day. Ours was well cool. But surprise, surprise – the M&Ms kept spilling paint over theirs so they didn’t have anything to hand in. Childish or what? We couldn’t help laughing about how sad they were as we walked to the supermarket after school.

  “At least they won’t be taking part in the scavenger hunt,” grinned Lyndz. “They’ll be too jealous!”

  Our high spirits calmed down a bit as we approached Pricebusters. You know me, I’m never really nervous about anything (well, hardly ever), but when we got to the supermarket, butterflies were flying relays in my tummy.

  “If the manager doesn’t agree to our plans, we’re done for,” said Fliss grimly.

  “What if he’s a real ogre too?” Rosie shuddered. “He might be really nasty!”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys!” I tried to sound much sparkier than I felt.

  We were just standing inside the doorway trying to decide where the manager’s office would be, when a big bear of a man came up to us. He was absolutely ginormous.

  “Can I help you, girls?” he boomed. “You’re looking a little lost.”

  “W-w-we were looking for the manager’s office,” I stammered.

  The man flashed this enormous grin. “Well, you’re in luck. I’m going there myself.”

  We all trooped behind him down a maze of corridors, Rosie clicking along on her crutches. We eventually stopped in front of a door with a sign saying MANAGER. The man opened the door and ushered us all in.

  “Now then what can I do for you?” he asked, still grinning. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Ian Hicks, manager of this establishment!”

  “W-well, erm the thing is…” I spluttered.

  “We’re organising a scavenger hunt to raise money for the Children’s Ward at Queen Mary’s,” Frankie continued calmly. “And we were wondering if you, that is, if Pricebusters would be able to help us out.”

  “I see,” Mr Hicks was still grinning. “You mean you want me to provide the carrier bags to collect your clues in?”

  “Well, no…” Frankie looked a bit flustered. “I meant…”

  “Well yes, that’s a great idea!” I leapt in, thinking on my feet. “The first clue could send people here and then they could collect a carrier bag to put the rest of their clues in.”

  “What about the prize?” I could hear Fliss whispering to Lyndz. “I thought we wanted him to donate a prize.”

  Now Fliss’s whispering was about as quiet as an elephant walking through a packet of cornflakes. We all looked dead embarrassed when we realised that Mr Hicks had heard her as well, but he just guffawed.

  “I see! I thought I was getting away a bit lightly just having to provide carrier bags,” he laughed. “Well, I think we can arrange something. What about a minute’s trolley dash for the winning team? How does that sound?”

  “Cool!”

  As we were all giving each other thumbs-up signs, I noticed Mr Hicks looking at a photograph on his desk. It showed a little girl in a pretty dress grinning at the camera.

  “Is that your daughter?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he smiled, but he suddenly seemed a bit sad. “It’s funny you should come here today to tell me about your fundraising for the Children’s Ward, because Katie’s in Queen Mary’s at the moment.”

  “What’s wrong with her?” asked Rosie.

  “She has a few problems with her liver and has to go into hospital every few weeks for tests. They’re to make sure that she’s OK while she waits for an operation.”

  We all went very quiet and didn’t know what to say.

  “That’s why it’s so great that you’re raising this money,” Mr Hicks perked up again. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

  The others all shook their heads.

  “Well there is one more thing actually,” I told him. “I’m going to sit in a bath of baked beans to raise money too, and I wondered…”

  “… whether Pricebusters could provide the beans, right?” he grinned.

  I nodded. He was dead quick off the mark, this guy.

  “You know, I’ve always wanted to do that myself,” he told us seriously. “I’m sure we can stump up enough baked beans to give you a decent bath. I can even provide the bath if you want. We’ve got a couple at the back left over from a promotion for a new bubble bath which we ran last month.”

  “C
an we finish the scavenger hunt here, then?” I asked eagerly. “Pricebusters is always packed on Saturdays, isn’t it? And if I had my baked-bean bath here, we’d be sure to raise loads of money. Oh, did we tell you the scavenger hunt’s going to be in two weeks’ time?”

  I knew that I was gabbling, but I was just so excited that everything was coming together so well.

  “That’s fine. Just let me have a few posters to put up and let me know what your plans are,” Mr Hicks told us. “Now, if you’ll excuse me girls, I’ve got a mound of paperwork that needs attending to. Let me show you out first.”

  He led us down the maze of corridors to the front door and waved to us as we left.

  When we were out of sight we all started leaping around.

  “Well that was easy enough!” giggled Fliss.

  “Yeah! This whole fundraising lark is going to be easier than we thought!” Frankie shouted, leaping on to my shoulders.

  Yes Frankie, and pigs might fly!

  Do you fancy doing a few cartwheels? Come on, let’s do five and I bet I get the furthest.

  WHEEE! That’s better!

  Cartwheels are easy-peasy when you know how, aren’t they? Well, after our meeting with Mr Hicks, we figured that organising Mufti Day and the scavenger hunt was going to be dead easy too. Then reality hit home.

  Firstly we had to make sure that the whole school knew about Mufti Day. It wouldn’t be any good if some people turned up in their own clothes and some were still in their uniform, would it? And you couldn’t rely on everybody reading the posters either. At least, that’s what Mrs Poole said when we had our first meeting with her. Rosie suggested that all the staff should keep reminding their classes about it. But Mrs Poole had a better idea. She said that we had to stand up in assembly and tell everybody about it.