The Sleepover Club Down Under. Narinder Dhami

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СКАЧАТЬ you hear me?” she began. “I said—”

      “Oh, we heard what you said all right,” Kenny interrupted her. “We just don’t believe it, that’s all!”

      “Yeah, nice try, Rosie,” I added. “You really had us going there – for about two seconds!”

      Rosie turned red. “I’m not winding you up,” she snapped. “I really did see Brad Martin!”

      “So what did you do? Ask him where his surfboard was?” Fliss asked sarcastically.

      “Oh, give up, Rosie!” Kenny snorted. “Nobody believes you!”

      “You must’ve made a mistake,” Lyndz said kindly.

      Rosie looked absolutely furious, and that was what made me stop and think. I mean, Rosie likes the odd wind-up, but she’d never tried to pull anything like this before.

      “OK, Rosie, tell us exactly what happened,” I said, glaring at Kenny and the others to make sure they got the message. Kenny rolled her eyes as if to say You’re as barmy as she is! But she didn’t say anything out loud.

      “Well, Mum’s car broke down in Riverside Avenue,” Rosie explained, “and she went to the phonebox to call the AA. I was sitting in the car, and I saw Brad go past—”

      Kenny couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “Oh, pull the other one – it’s got ten million bells on it!” she exclaimed.

      “Are you sure it was Brad, Rosie?” I asked. “It could have been someone who looked like him.”

      “No, it was him,” Rosie replied immediately, “I know it was!”

      She sounded pretty convincing. I looked at Fliss and Lyndz. They were both looking doubtful, as if they didn’t know what to believe. Meanwhile, Kenny was still certain that it was a wind-up.

      “OK, so what was he wearing?” she asked.

      “Jeans, a black fleece and a black baseball cap,” Rosie snapped.

      Kenny pounced straight away. “If he was wearing a baseball cap, how do you know it was Brad?” she pointed out triumphantly.

      “I got a good look at his face as he walked towards the car,” Rosie retorted.

      We all looked at each other. Rosie was obviously convinced that she had seen Brad Martin.

      “Why didn’t you get out and run after him?” Kenny asked suspiciously.

      “Because my mum was coming back by then, and she stopped me,” Rosie said sulkily.

      “Oh!” Fliss squealed all of a sudden.

      “What is it?” we all chorused.

      “Well, what if—?” Fliss stopped. “No, he couldn’t be!”

      “Couldn’t what?” we all repeated impatiently.

      “Well…” Fliss hopped from one foot to the other. “I suppose he might be…”

      “MIGHT BE WHAT?” the rest of us repeated. I was beginning to feel like Polly the Parrot!

      “Well, we were saying before that Brad must be staying nearby if he’s in the panto,” Fliss finally managed to get the words out. “Maybe he’s staying in Cuddington!”

      Rosie nearly fainted away on the spot. “He can’t be! Can he?”

      “Yes! That must be it!” Lyndz agreed, looking excited.

      “But if he is in Cuddington, where would he be staying?” I asked doubtfully.

      Before anyone could reply, Fliss’s mum came in with a cup of tea and a magazine.

      “Still here, girls?” she asked brightly. “I thought you were going upstairs to Fliss’s room.”

      “We are.” I jumped to my feet, dragging Kenny with me. “Come on, you lot.”

      We all legged it upstairs and into Fliss’s bedroom. Once we were inside, Fliss closed the door and we all piled on to the bed and started whispering to each other. We were getting really excited by this time, although Kenny still wasn’t totally convinced.

      “Do you really think Brad’s in Cuddington?” Lyndz asked.

      “I know he is!” Rosie replied.

      “Maybe we should go and look for him,” I suggested.

      “I’ll die if I see him!” Fliss added.

      “Why are we whispering?” Kenny wanted to know.

      “In case anyone else finds out!” I told her. “This is one big secret!”

      Kenny frowned. “Hey, hang on a minute,” she said. “If Rosie’s seen Brad in Cuddington, how come no-one else has?”

      “What do you mean?” Fliss asked.

      “Well, other people must have seen him too,” Kenny pointed out, “and no-one at school’s mentioned it. It’d be all over the place in five minutes flat if they had!”

      “The panto only started a week or two ago,” Fliss pointed out. “He might only just have moved in.”

      “Yeah, we’ll get the latest when we go back to school on Monday,” I said. “Someone else might have seen him – we just haven’t heard about it yet.”

      “Well, if Brad is here, where would he be staying?” Kenny wasn’t giving in that easily. “There aren’t any really posh hotels in Cuddington.”

      That threw us a bit.

      “He might be staying at Buckingham House,” Rosie suggested.

      Kenny burst out laughing. “What, with Mrs Windsor? He’d have to be desperate!”

      Buckingham House is a B&B in Cuddington, and it’s probably the poshest guest house in the village. But the lady who runs it, Mrs Windsor, is a right old snob – I reckon she called it Buckingham House because she thinks she’s the queen of Cuddington!

      “I’ve got it!” Fliss suddenly bounced off the bed. “Why don’t we ring the theatre? They’ll be able to tell us where Brad’s staying!”

      “Good idea.” Kenny jumped up too. “Give me the phone!”

      Fliss has just got her own girly pink phone in her bedroom and she’s dead proud of it. Anyway, Kenny grabbed the receiver, and Fliss went to get the phone book, but she started moaning when she came back.

      “It’s my phone, Kenny. I ought to make the call!”

      Kenny raised her eyebrows at her. “Can you do a posh grown-up voice?”

      “No,” СКАЧАТЬ