Just after 3 a.m., the alarm on Wayne’s watch went off and it was time to put the plan into action.
Chloe opened up her immense rucksack, revealing about two hundred little boxes and tubs, all containing different make-up. She set to work plastering Theo and me with layers of brown and green eye shadow. By the time she was finished, our faces looked practically invisible against the trees. Of course, the fact the forest was in near-total darkness helped, too.
“Nice camouflage,” said Wayne. “Great work, Chloe. You’re really talented.”
“Yes,” said Chloe, leaning back to admire her handiwork. “I am, aren’t I?”
Chloe turned to Wayne and Evie. “OK, now...” she began but I yelped and clamped my hands over my ears so I couldn’t hear what she said next.
I knew the first part of the plan – get make-up on and follow Theo into the woods – but because I wouldn’t be able to keep the rest of it secret, I’d made sure Theo didn’t tell me any more. The last thing I wanted was to accidentally shout out the whole plan as we were sneaking into camp.
“We’ll get going,” said Theo, taking me by the arm. It was well past four o’clock by now and if we didn’t make our move soon, the sun would be starting to rise.
“Good luck, Beaky,” said Evie.
Theo stared at her expectantly.
“Uh, both of you, I mean,” she said. She blushed slightly, then quickly turned away. Theo grinned at me and waggled his eyebrows, then we flicked on our head torches and set off into the dark woods.
Mr Heft had given us a “refresher course” on using the map and compass after Theo had pointed out that I’d had neither of those things when I’d survived in the wilderness following the make-believe ferry incident.
I’d kept well out of the teacher’s way, in case I’d had the urge to spill the beans about the stolen flag. We could have told him, of course – that would have been the sensible thing to do – but Wayne was determined we were going to get it back ourselves and teach the Foxley Hill mob a lesson in the process.
Fifteen minutes of clambering through the woods later, we spotted the flickering glow of the Foxley Hill campfire and quickly switched off our torches. The camp was quiet, as you might expect given it was still the middle of the night, and there was no sign of our flag anywhere.
“OK, now what?” I whispered.
Theo patted me on the back. “Now, I’m going back to the camp and you’re going to stay here.”
“What?” I said. “Why? Wait, don’t tell me!”
“It’s OK, I wasn’t going to,” Theo said, backing off into the woods. “Just stay here and pretend to be a bush or a tree or something. That’s what the camouflage is for. Pretend you’re not here.”
“Pretend I’m...? But Theo, that’s like lying! How can I...?”
There was no point continuing. Theo had disappeared into the forest, leaving me all alone.
I looked back at the Foxley Hill camp. “Pretend to be a bush or a tree or something,” I said to myself.
My left leg took a jerky step towards the camp. Oh no.
“Pretend I’m not here.”
My right leg followed the left, then the left one pulled ahead again. Like a puppet, I began lurching faster and faster towards the Foxley Hill camp.
“I’m not a bush!” I shouted, my voice echoing through the woods as the truth escaped from my lips. “I’m not a bush or a tree. I’m definitely here!”
I stumbled out of the woods just as the zips on the Foxley Hill tents were yanked down. Malcolm dived through the door of one, kicking free of his sleeping bag. Jessica pulled off a perfect forwards roll as she emerged from the other tent, then leaped up into a fighting stance, ready for danger.
“What do you want?” Malcolm demanded. His face looked angry in the flickering glow of the campfire.
“Hello! I’ve come to steal the flag back,” I announced. “That’s why I’m wearing make-up. I don’t usually wear make-up but – between you and me – it’s actually quite fun. I’m supposed to be a tree.”
“A tree?” Malcolm frowned.
“Or a bush. One of those.”
The rest of the Foxley Hill team charged out of their tents and gathered round me. Through a gap in the door flap of the boys’ tent, the firelight picked out a corner of purple material – our flag!
“Who’s with you?” asked Malcolm. “There’s no way you came alone.”
I shook my head. “No, I came with my mate, Theo, but he ran off into the woods somewhere and left me to spy on you.”
Felicity and a couple of the others turned to look into the woods but saw no sign of movement anywhere.
“So where are the others now?” said Malcolm.
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Malcolm growled, towering over me. He really was ridiculously tall for his age.
“If you’re trying to scare me, it’s totally working,” I squeaked.
“Then tell me where everyone is!”
“I can’t. I don’t know,” I said. “They were at our camp when me and Theo left but I don’t know if they’re still there.”
Malcolm grabbed me by the front of my jacket. The glow of the firelight flickered across his face, making him look even scarier than he actually was. “So what’s your plan, then?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “All they told me was the bit about getting my face painted and going into the woods with Theo. See, I have this ... condition, which means I can’t lie.”
The Foxley Hill pupils all glanced at each other in confusion. “D’you expect us to believe that?” asked Felicity.
“It’s true!” I babbled. “If I knew the plan, I’d already have spilled it to you. That’s why I made sure they didn’t tell me it,” I said. I couldn’t fight the grin that spread like a rash across my face. “I have literally no idea what’s going to happen next,” I said.
With a hiss, the fire went out and the camp was plunged into darkness.
I giggled. “But I bet it’s going to be exciting.”
Three floating heads emerged from the trees, their faces ghostly white and shining in the darkness. They bobbed towards us, their eyes in shadow and something that looked like blood dripping from their mouths.
“Who’s that?” whispered one of the Foxley Hill boys who wasn’t Malcolm. I’m sure he had a name but right then I was too shocked to remember it.
“It’s them, you idiot!” said Malcolm, but there was a note of something in his voice that suggested he wasn’t completely convinced.
“How can it be them?” yelped Felicity. “They’re floating heads!”
She screamed and jumped into the air. “My leg! Something touched my leg!”
Everyone, including me, looked down but it was impossible to see anything through the darkness.
“All right, calm down,” Malcolm snapped. “It’s just them trying to freak us out.”
“Where did they go?” asked the other not-Malcolm. “The faces? Where did they go?”
We all looked round. Sure enough, the floating heads had vanished! Everyone turned and searched the woods for any sign of movement. It was far too dark to see more than a few centimetres beyond our own noses, though and as the blackness pushed in on us, I could practically hear everyone’s hearts pounding.
Wayne and the others had really outdone themselves. Even I was starting to get a bit scared.
“I don’t like this,” said Felicity. “Show yourselves!”
There was a soft click behind her. A vision of pure terror appeared, floating a full two-and-a-half metres in the air. A glowing white face with dark eyes and a blood-ringed mouth peered down at us.
“Boo!” it said, and then it vanished.
That did it. Everyone but me and Malcolm shot off in different directions, stumbling blindly through the dark.
“Don’t let them get me!”
“It’s a monster!”
“H-help!”
“Come back
here, you cowards!” Malcolm roared. “It’s them. They’re playing a trick on us. There’s no such thing as...”
The face appeared again, this time nearer ground level. “Hello, Malcolm,” said Wayne, but before Malcolm could react, his sleeping bag was yanked down over his head. Off-balance, he toppled backwards and landed on the ground. Theo and Evie quickly zipped the sleeping bag round his feet as he thrashed about like an angry worm in an effort to get free.
Up close, I could see the torch tucked into the neck of Wayne’s jacket. It cast a spooky glow across his white-painted face. “Good, huh?” he said. “Told you I’m an expert at getting flags back.”
“You were huge a minute ago,” I said. “How did you do that?”
Theo’s torch clicked on, lighting up his face. “He was on my shoulders,” he said, grinning.
There was another click and Evie’s face lit up so close to me I let out a little squeal of fright. “Sorry,” she said, smirking. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I’ve got it!” said Chloe, emerging from the boys’ tent and passing the flag to Wayne.
“Great work, Chloe! That was really helpful,” Wayne said. He tried to give her a celebratory hug but she ducked past him and set off towards the trees.
“Come on, let’s get back to camp!” she said. “I forgot to pack away the make-up and I’m scared the squirrels might get it.”
As the others headed back to camp, I clicked on my head torch and aimed it down at Malcolm. He was still flopping about in his sleeping bag, desperately trying to break free.
“D’you know, I really enjoyed this,” I said, completely truthfully. “Let’s do it again some time!”
After a few wrong turns, we made it back to camp just as the sun was coming up. We collapsed on to the grass, exhausted but happy. We’d done it! We’d got our flag back! Now we could get a couple of hours’ rest before...
HOOOOOOOOONK!
“What’s that noise?” asked Theo, looking around.
“A massive goose?” I guessed.
“It’s the alarm,” Evie realized. “It means we’re supposed to race to the obstacle course!”
“What, now?” Chloe groaned. “But look at the state of my hair. OMG, how am I supposed to face people like this? Proper people who matter, I mean, not you lot. No offence.”
“Loads taken,” I said, clambering to my feet. My legs had been aching ever since the climb up and down the tree. All the rest of me ached, too, now that I thought about it. “I really want to have a lie down,” I said. “And maybe some light medical assistance. But I’m not going to.”
Wayne was still on the ground, catching his breath. Despite everything that had ever happened between us, I held a hand out to him. “Because we’ve got a contest to win.”
We scrambled into the assault course clearing in time to see the Foxley Hill pupils all darting across the first obstacle – a narrow balance beam over a large muddy puddle.
Their PE teacher, Mr Mann, jogged along beside them, his voice snapping like a whip. “Faster. Move. Go. Now.”
Meanwhile our PE teacher, Mrs Moir, was trying with very little success to get up from her camping chair. “On you go,” she urged, waving us on. “I’ll be right behind you. Be careful!”
Evie leaped on to the balance beam and raced across it without any problems. Chloe went next, wobbling unsteadily. Her trainers didn’t look very new any more, thanks to the layer of mud covering them.
Theo, Wayne and I all followed and by the time I jumped down, Evie was throwing herself at the rope swing and swooping across the water obstacle like Tarzan.
“Move. Move. Faster. Swing.” Mr Mann was roaring at the Foxley Hill kids, driving them on.
Evie threw back the rope and Chloe caught it. She stared down at the puddle. “What if I fall in?”
“You won’t,” Wayne soothed.
“I might!” Chloe argued.
“Let’s find out,” I said, stepping forwards and giving her a shove. She screamed as she went soaring over the water, then Evie caught her on the other side.
“We’re catching them,” said Wayne, grabbing the rope. “Come on, hurry up, we can do this!”
He swung across. Theo went next, then me. I let go of the rope swing and turned to find Wayne at the foot of the next obstacle, his face white with fear.
It was a net.
A very high net.
And Chloe and Evie were already halfway to the top.
Theo hurled himself after them and scrambled up. The Foxley Hill team were already up and over and running towards the final obstacle. “Come on, Wayne, you can do it,” I said.
Wayne shook his head. His mouth moved but no sound came out. His face was pale, and not just because of the ghost make-up still plastered on his face.
Taking my life in my hands, I grabbed him by his collar, like he’d done to me so many times before. “Move!” I barked, dragging him towards the net. At first, he tried to push back but then he grabbed the net with both hands. The only way we could win is if he got over that thing and he knew it.
“Now climb, Wayne!” I told him. “Climb like the wind! Only, you know, with arms and legs and stuff.”
“I ... I can’t.”
“Just do what I do. Watch!” I said.
I put a foot on the net and immediately slipped right through. My groin met the rope at high speed, then I fell backwards, dangling from the net.
“OK,” I wheezed. “Not exactly like that.”
With help from Wayne, I pulled myself free. Theo and Evie dropped down on to the other side of the net. “Hurry up,” Evie said. “Come on!”
“Help!”
We all looked up to see Chloe flapping around at the top of the net. Her foot had slipped through just like mine and she was hanging by one leg, several metres above the ground.
Evie moved to climb back up but I shook my head. “No, you keep going. I’ll get her,” I said. I was about to climb when I felt Wayne’s hand on my shoulder.
“No,” he said. “I’ll get her.”
Wayne began to climb. For a moment, it was like I was seeing him clamber up in dramatic slow-motion, but then I realized that he actually was moving at that speed. I hurried past him, looped over the top, and flashed the upside-down Chloe a smile. “Help’s on the way!” I told her, then I dropped down and set off after Theo and Evie.
The final obstacle was made up of six tractor tyres, all hanging from ropes and positioned at different heights. Theo and Evie were squeezing themselves through the tyres but the Foxley Hill team had almost finished now. Malcolm was already racing towards the finish line, with Felicity not far behind.
I glanced back at the net. Wayne was at the top, sitting astride the wooden rail. He pulled Chloe back up and together they unhooked her leg.
“You saved me!” she gasped. “Wayne, you saved me!”
Wayne beamed from ear to ear. “I did it! I climbed the net!”
He threw his arms in the air. “I’m unstoppable!” he cried, before he immediately fell off and landed with a splut in the mud.
It took us just a couple of minutes to get everyone through the tyres but by then it was too late. The finish line was about a third of a kilometre up ahead and a cheer went up as one of the non-Malcolms crossed it.
“Well, that’s it, then,” I said.
It was over.
Foxley Hill had won.
“Might as well just walk it now,” said Wayne.
“No way! Are you kidding?” said Chloe. We all turned to look at her and she blushed, just a little, beneath her ghostly-white make-up. We hadn’t had a chance to wash the stuff off before the alarm sounded. “I mean ... we’ve come this far, right? We might as well finish properly.”
We all considered this for a moment.
“Sounds good to me,” said Theo.
“I’m in,” Evie said.
“I’ll give it a go but I’m really tired and I might be sick,” I said.
“Yeah, let’s do it,” sa
id Wayne. We all began to move but he stopped us. “Wait!” he said, looking a little embarrassed. He held his hand out in front of him, palm down.
It took me a second to figure out what he was doing, then I stepped in and put my hand on top of his. “This is probably the worst team I’ve ever been in for anything,” I said. “But I’m glad I’m part of it.”
“Shut up, you big girl,” Wayne said, but the way he grinned told me he didn’t mean it. Probably.
Evie put her hand on top of mine, then Theo and Chloe joined in. “Everyone ready?” said Theo.
“Ready,” we all said.
“Hello, everyone!” panted Mrs Moir, staggering up to join us just as we all broke into a run. “Oh! Very good. Off you go. Right behind you,” she wheezed.
We ran together to the finish line, linking arms just before we crossed it. A half-hearted cheer went up from a small group of supporters who had turned up to watch. Mr Lawson was there, of course, with my mum and dad standing beside him. Even Jodie had come to see us finish, but she had been given Destructo to look after and was standing well back from everyone else in case he tried to eat them.
Chloe and Theo’s parents were there, too. Evie’s mum stood on the opposite side of Mr Lawson to my mum and dad. Mrs Green and Mum swapped dirty looks behind the head teacher’s back, as they each tried to clap louder than the other.
“Well done, team!” said Mum.
“Yes, congratulations,” said Mrs Green. “On behalf of—”
“Theparentteacherassociation,” Mum quickly blurted over her, all in one breath.
There were only a couple of Foxley Hill parents there, along with the elf-like Miss Garden and the terrifying Mr Mann. They’d won the contest every year since it started, so it probably wasn’t even a big deal to them any more, I guessed.
Mr Heft smiled and gave us a thumbs up. “Great work, guys,” he said. At first, I assumed he was being sarcastic but on closer inspection I realized he actually meant it.
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