Sleepover Girls on the Range. Fiona Cummings

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ the door, just in time to see Fliss appearing.

      “Come on, Fliss!” shouted Kenny sharply. “We’re all waiting for you.”

      Fliss looked very flustered and started to run towards us. But suddenly this leg appeared from behind the door. Fliss saw it too late, tried to jump over it, but couldn’t. The next thing we knew, she was sprawling on the ground.

      “Fliss! Are you all right?” We all ran towards her.

      “Enjoy your trip, Felicity?” cackled a voice behind us. We didn’t even need to look up to know that that was Emma Hughes, M&M Number One.

      “I’m going to get you for this!” Kenny yelled at Emma and M&M Number Two Emily as they ran off cackling down the playground.

      “I should have known,” Frankie sighed. “They’re still trying to pay us back for what we did to them in the scavenger hunt, aren’t they?”

      Now you must remember what happened in the scavenger hunt! We’re still laughing about it. We didn’t think the M&Ms were going to take part in the hunt at all, so you could have knocked us down with a feather when they turned up with their mates. They were determined to win the prize, you see. We were seriously worried when we thought they actually might win the thing. We came up with loads of cunning plans to try to put them off the scent, but it was Fliss’s mum, of all people, who managed to do the job for us! They got disqualified from the competition completely. So that’s why they were planning their pay-back time.

      Anyway, just at that moment I wasn’t concerned about their stupid revenge. I was more concerned about Fliss.

      “We’d better get someone to look at you, “I told her gently, helping her to her feet.

      Poor Fliss – she was crying but trying not to. Both her palms were grazed and she had a nasty gash to her right knee which blood was starting to trickle from.

      “Ouch, that looks nasty!” said Rosie sympathetically.

      Kenny cast her eye over it. “Well you certainly need to get all the grit out of there,” she said in her best doctor’s voice. “But you’ll live!”

      “Th…thanks a lot!” sobbed Fliss, and hobbled inside with the rest of us supporting her.

      Well, so much for me telling the others my news. By the time Fliss was sorted out it was the end of break time. So that meant I had to wait until after lunch before I could tell them. We don’t all eat our lunch together, you see. At our school the people who bring packed lunches can’t eat with the people who have school dinners. Crazy I know, but there you go. And as Kenny isn’t really fussy about what she eats, she always has a cooked lunch. We tease her about eating sheeps’ eyeballs and stuff but she just says, “Yum, yum!” and licks her lips!

      Anyway, as I wanted to tell all the others my news at the same time, I had to wait. And by the time we were all settled down on the grass together, I was absolutely bursting with it.

      “You know that I had something to tell you? Well, Mrs McAllister is planning something special for the opening of her new stable block—” I began.

      “And she wants us to plan another Stable Fun Day?” asked Rosie. “Cool!”

      “Well not exactly,” I tried to continue. “I think she’s planning more of an Open Day. But the thing is—”

      “I’m not getting on a horse again!” snapped Fliss.

      “You don’t have to, Fliss, because—”

      Suddenly there were gales of laughter from the bushes behind us.

      “You got a bit carried away the last time you were on a horse, didn’t you Felicity?”

      It was the Gruesome Twosome! They’d only been earwigging, hadn’t they?

      “Right that’s it!” Kenny leapt up and dashed into the bushes.

      Branches snapped, and there were stifled screams and shouts of “Gerroff, you moron!” Then we heard the M&Ms scrambling out through the back of the bushes and running away.

      When Kenny emerged, she was holding a fistful of hair and looking very pleased with herself.

      “That should keep them quiet for a while!”

      The rest of us were kind of shocked. I mean, there was enough hair there to stuff a cushion. The M&Ms would have bald patches for sure.

      “Kenny!” Even Frankie seemed shocked. “I mean, pulling their hair out, that’s a bit strong, isn’t it?”

      Kenny snorted with laughter. “I didn’t pull it out, dumbo! It just got caught on all the branches as they tried to run away from me.”

      There’s nothing we like better than getting one over on our rivals! Except perhaps …

      “My news! I almost forgot!” I leapt up. “Mrs McAllister said that…”

      “Come on, girls!” Mrs Weaver was heading towards us. “Didn’t you hear the bell? Hurry up, you’re going to be late!”

      Talk about bad timing! Was I ever going to tell my friends my news, or was I going to end up having this treat on my own?

      It didn’t help that I had to leave school early for the dentist, so I didn’t even have the chance to tell them about it later. Talk about fed up!

      When I got to the van Mum laughed.

      “Why the long face, Lyndz? Bad day?”

      I nodded. “Something like that. I’ve got this great news to tell the others, but I just don’t think I’m ever going to have the chance.”

      Mum gave me a funny look. She knows that when I have “great news” it usually leads to trouble one way or another.

      “Well, can’t you tell them tomorrow?”

      “Not if it’s anything like today,” I explained. “The M&Ms always spoil things for us.”

      “OK,” Mum said. “What about if you invite your friends round after school? You can tell them then.”

      “YEESS!!” I punched the air. “Thanks Mum!”

      I couldn’t wait to tell the others. Thinking about it even got me through the dentist. As soon as I got home, I sat by the phone until I was sure that the others would be home too. Then I dialled Frankie’s number.

      “Hi Frankie – it’s me, Lyndz. If you want to hear about my news you’ve got to come round to my place tomorrow after school. OK?”

      I didn’t give her chance to ask any questions. I just said “bye” and put the phone down. And I did the same with the others. Those were the shortest phone conversations I’d ever had with my friends.

      The next day they were all intrigued by the mystery.

      “Can’t you tell us what this is about, Lyndz, please?” СКАЧАТЬ