Mega Sleepover 2

by Rose Impey

  You could see straight away she was going to win. Everyone was saying, “Oh, what a beautiful dog! Oh, isn’t she absolutely gorgeous.” And other sickly things like that. I’m not saying she wasn’t a really cute dog, but so are Pepsi and Jenny and no one was making a fuss of them.

  Emma Hughes just stood there wearing that stoopid face of hers, smiling, as if they were talking about her! When she gave her name in she said, “Which name would you like, her pedigree name or her ordinary, everyday name?”

  “What do you usually call her?” Snowy Owl asked.

  Then Emma Hughes and Emily Berryman started to giggle. We didn’t know what was so funny, until she said. “We call her Snowball.” And then she giggled again. Oh, yuk!

  “Oh,” said Snowy Owl. “That’s a good name.”

  After that she made a big fuss of Emily Berryman’s cat. Snowy Owl’s a real cat-lover. It was a Siamese, called Smoky. It was so thin it didn’t look very well to me. It had this blue ribbon round its neck with a little bell on it and Snowy Owl thought it was lovely.

  “OK. Number twenty-one, Emily,” she said. “Room two for cats. Go straight along. They’ll be starting soon.”

  We all went off to the rooms we’d been sent to. When those of us with dogs got down to the hall, Brown Owl let us go in, a few at a time. She showed us what we’d have to do, then we had a little practice, before the judges arrived.

  It was nearly time for the whole thing to start. I kept looking out for Mum and Dad. I didn’t want them to be late and miss seeing me walk Pepsi round in front of the judges. But they came in just before three o’clock. They arrived at the same time as Rosie’s mum and Adam.

  Adam was dead excited; he kept jiggling in his chair, which got Jenny a bit excited too. Once or twice I noticed Emily Hughes staring at Adam, and I think Rosie did, but she ignored her. I think that’s the best thing to do with people like her.

  Just after three o’clock the first people went in with their dogs for the Obedience class. All the parents went in and sat on chairs round the outside of the hall to watch but Brown Owl said I couldn’t go in with Pepsi because she might distract the other dogs. I knew she wouldn’t, but there was no point arguing with Brown Owl. She was looking a bit stressed out. Instead, I went down the corridor and peeped into the small pets room. They wouldn’t let me go in there, either. I suppose they thought Pepsi might try to eat the small pets or something, so I just hung around the door.

  There were lots of little children with hamsters and gerbils and guinea pigs and rabbits, but so far Kenny was the only person who’d brought a rat. She came over to the door to talk to me and she was looking pretty pleased with herself. But then this big boy from the High School wearing a leather jacket pushed past us with a cage with two humungous black rats inside. They made Merlin look like a mouse. Kenny was fed up, but I told her what my gran always says, “It’s quality that counts, not quantity.”

  “Hmmm,” she said, not cheered up at all. “I just hope the judges know that.”

  Fliss was enjoying herself. She was sitting on a chair in the corner with two or three little girls from the Infants, letting them stroke Gazza.

  The judges were looking at the rabbits first; they hadn’t started on hamsters yet.

  One of the organisers spotted me at the door. She came over, waving her hand for me to go away. “Dogs are in the Main Hall,” she said, as if I didn’t know, so I went back to the foyer to wait until it was my turn.

  There were lots of people waiting outside the hall, including Emma Hughes. Pepsi would have liked to go and get to know her dog, Snowball, but I pulled her away. And then The Goblin came along holding her cat. I was so mad when I saw she was wearing a red rosette on hercollar. On it was a big 1st.

  Emma Hughes started squealing and then the two of them stood whispering and giggling together, looking over at me, but I pretended not to notice. Suddenly the hall door opened and out came Buster dragging Lyndz behind him. Lyndz looked really pink and she had the hiccups!

  “How did you get on?” I asked.

  “D-d-don’t ask,” Lyndz hiccupped. “He nearly bit the judges.”

  Just then, Kenny came along, waving a green rosette.

  “We won,” she squealed. “We came third.”

  I said, “Fantastic!” And it was. She’d got a rosette, which was what she wanted, but that stuck-up Emma Hughes said, “Third out of three’s nothing to brag about.”

  How did she know there were only three rats? That’s another thing about the M&Ms, they seem to know everything that happens. But Rosie and Adam came out next with Jenny who’d won a blue rosette, because she’d come second for good behaviour. So that showed those two!

  Lyndz was still hiccupping and Buster was starting to jump up at Kenny’s box again.

  “Oh—hic—stop it,” Lyndz snapped at him. But he didn’t.

  “He’s a very obedient dog, isn’t he?” said Emily Berryman, sarcastically.

  Then Buster stopped jumping up and down and turned round and started pulling towards her, just as if he’d heard what she’d said, and wanted to give her a piece of his mind. But I think it was because he’d just caught sight of her cat. And then the trouble really started.

  Buster’s hackles went up and he was barking so loudly that all four feet lifted off the ground at once. And then, without any warning, he leapt forward, pulling so hard he snapped his lead, which was a pretty old one anyway, and catapulted himself forward to get at the cat. But he missed and landed on Snowball’s back. He looked like a little circus dog landing on a horse. It frightened Snowball so much that she leapt sideways, tipping Buster off, and then she panicked and charged out of the foyer, towards the front doors, pulling Emma behind her. Buster was snapping at her heels.

  There were lots of people standing near to the door and a lady with a little boy in a buggy was trying to get in, but Snowball was too panicked to wait, so the lady had to. They all collided, Emma tripped over the buggy, the lead slipped through her fingers and in a second Snowball was gone.

  Everyone ran after them shouting, “Stop that dog!” and things like that. The next minute we were all outside the building, in the rain, chasing Emma and Lyndz who were trying to catch their dogs. Emily was running, holding onto her cat; I was running with Pepsi; Rosie was running with Jenny; Kenny was running carrying Merlin in his box; even Fliss had joined us by now with Gazza in her pocket.

  We were worried at first that the dogs might run out onto the road, but luckily they headed round the side of the building instead and onto the field behind. The faster Snowball ran away, the more determined Buster was to catch her. I don’t think he was really interested in Snowball, it was the chase he was enjoying. He was so excited, he’d have chased anything on legs that was running.

  They ran right to the bottom of the field, through every puddle on the way. And then they dodged through a hole in the hedge into the sports field and disappeared for a while, although we could hear them both barking their heads off.

  Emma and Lyndz were shouting their heads off, too, and so were the rest of us, which Brown Owl told us later was the biggest mistake we made. She said that would have just made them even more excited. And it did. They were wild.

  We stopped running when we lost sight of them, but a minute later they popped back through the hedge in a different place and we all started running again.

  I don’t think we’d ever have caught up with them, if they hadn’t turned full circle and headed back towards the Village Hall. But we still weren’t quick enough to stop them heading towards the huge pile of coke that was stacked behind the Hall.

  “Oh, no! Snowball! Come back!” Emma yelled. But Snowball didn’t. She just charged up to it and then raced to the top of it and Buster followed her. The pile of coke collapsed under them and they sank into it, up to their shoulders.

  “Snowball! No! No!” It wasn’t so much a shout this time, as a wail. By the time Emma reached her, Snowball’s coat was covered with coke. And so was
Buster’s.

  Lyndz jumped into the middle and sank down to her knees, but she managed to grab Buster’s collar and yank him out with one hand, and grab Snowball with the other one. She pulled them both out. But when Emma saw the state of her dog, instead of saying thank you to Lyndz, she started screaming at her and telling her it was all her fault. Lyndz tried to say she was sorry, lots of times, but she couldn’t finish her sentence.

  “It was just an…He didn’t really mean…He’s quite a nice…dog really.”

  But Emma Hughes kept interrupting her. Emily Berryman was patting her on the shoulder and trying to calm her down but it wasn’t working.

  “You did this on purpose,” Emma screamed at Lyndz. “You planned this to stop me from winning. You were all in on it.”

  “No,” Lyndz said again. “It was an accident. Honest.”

  “I don’t believe you,” she yelled at her. She turned to Emily. “You heard them. They said they’d got something planned, didn’t they? They’re going to be in real trouble. All of them.”

  Emily nodded. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go and tell Brown Owl.”

  But instead of going with her, Emma burst out crying. It was awful. We didn’t know what to do. We didn’t know what to say, either. We just stood there watching her cry in the rain.

  The truth is we hadn’t had a plan. It was an accident. Lyndz hadn’t set Buster onto Snowball, it had been entirely his own idea. Lyndz would have stopped him, if she could. And she did feel bad about it. We all did. The poor dog looked an awful mess. Her feet and legs were splashed with mud and her coat was thick with coke dust. Rosie tried to brush a bit of it off with her hand, but now Snowball’s coat was wet, it just smeared everywhere and looked even worse. Jenny and Pepsi sniffed round her sympathetically.

  “Get off!” Emma screamed. “Keep away from her.” She was nearly in hysterics. “Take those horrible…mutts away.”

  Mutts! Rosie and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. We tried not to but it just came out. Then Lyndz started and her hiccups came back.

  “I think you’re all horrible,” Emily Berryman said to us and she pulled Emma away and they went back into the Village Hall to find Brown Owl.

  “Uh, oh,” said Kenny, trying to keep a straight face. “That’s put the king in the cake.”

  “You mean that’s put The Queen in the cake,” I said. And that set us all off again.

  When we got back in everyone was shouting for us. It seems they’d called out our names for the Appearance class two or three times already. We had to go straight in, even though we were soaking wet and so were the dogs. They didn’t look their best, especially Snowball. But it was good fun and in fact, by the end of the afternoon, we’d all won at least one rosette.

  Kenny had won her green rosette for coming third with Merlin. Fliss won a special prize for “Hammy” for being the Tamest Hamster in the Show. He was very well behaved and let everyone stroke him. Jenny had already won a blue rosette for coming second in the Most Obedient Dog class and then she won another rosette for being the Dog the Judges Would Most Like to Take Home With Them. Pepsi won a rosette for the Dog With the Most Appealing Eyes. I told you she was cute, didn’t I?

  And you’ll never believe this, but Buster won two!

  He won the Most Disobedient Dog in the Show, which just made Lyndz start laughing all over again. Then he won a rosette in Novelty section for walking on his hind legs. It’s a pity there wasn’t a rosette for the Dog Who Could Jump the Highest, because he’d probably have won that, too.

  Emily won a red rosette with her cat and Emma Hughes won two. After Brown Owl had explained to the judges some of what had happened, and told them how perfect Snowball had looked when she arrived they gave her one rosette for being the Best Groomed Dog in the Show and then one for the Scruffiest Dog in the Show. All in the same afternoon.

  Afterwards, we kept wondering when the trouble was going to land, but it never really did. Brown Owl wasn’t so cross with us. Snowy Owl had seen how it had all started, so she knew it had been an accident. That was a lucky escape.

  Rosie said Adam loved it when she told him the story of what happened out on the field. She had to keep telling him over and over. He was sorry he missed it.

  When I told my mum all about it, she said we should try to keep away from the M&Ms for a while, so that’s what we’re doing. Anyway, since the Pet Show, they seem to be keeping away from us, too.

  So that’s the whole story. Come on, we’re nearly home, just round this corner. Oh, look! Come on, quick. There’s Pepsi, now, at my front gate. I’m so glad she’s OK. She looks a bit mucky, though. I wonder who brought her back this time? Uh-oh, there’s my mum at the door.

  “Francesca, about time! I think you’d better come in and clean up this dog don’t you?”

  “Coming, Mum.”

  Oh, well, no rest for the wicked as my gran says. See you again soon. Bye.

  Shall I tell you what I got for Christmas? A pair of shoes with heels. Coo-el. At first my mum said I wasn’t old enough for heels.

  “I’m ten,” I told her. “How old do you have to be?”

  Dad said, “You’re tall enough already.” But he’s just worried that one day I’m going to be taller than him.

  I really, really wanted them, you know what I mean? So I just kept on and on and in the end…I won! One-nil to me. Yeah!

  They’ve got silver buckles on them. They are drop-dead gorgeous. I told Mum and Dad, “You’re the best, most groovy parents in the whole wide world.” So it was really important to come up with something brill for them.

  My dad was easy, I always buy him a big bar of Toblerone. It’s his fave chocolate. Then I found the perfect present for Mum: this fat little pig lying down in the mud with all her babies round her. It was so cute. My mum adores pigs, she’s got a whole collection. The only trouble was it cost four pounds fifty!

  I’m always broke, are you? Kenny is too, money goes through her fingers like water. So we came up with this brilliant idea to earn some, and we got the rest of the Sleepover Club to help us. It was a great plan and we could have been seriously rich, if Kenny’s horrible sister, Molly The Monster, hadn’t spoiled everything. But don’t worry, we got our own back. When we had our last sleepover at Kenny’s house we gave her a real scare. It was excellent.

  I know, I know, we got grounded again, but listen, it was worth it. She nearly went haywire. And I had the best part in it.

  Come on. Let’s go up to my room and I’ll tell you all about it. But remember, this is Sleepover Club business, so don’t tell the others I told you.

  Can you remember everyone? Laura McKenzie, otherwise known as Kenny. Fliss – her real name – Felicity Sidebotham. Lyndsey Collins – we call her Lyndz, we’ve been friends since we first started school. And Rosie Cartwright. And me, of course: Francesca Theresa Thomas, but everyone calls me Frankie.

  Now where should I start?

  I suppose it really started early in December, the day we were helping our teacher, Mrs Weaver, put up the Christmas decorations in the hall. It was a great skive, it took all afternoon. She kept having to go out to check on the rest of the class so we spent most of the time wrapping ourselves up in paper chains and Chinese lanterns. It was such a laugh. Then we started talking about Christmas presents and what we were going to buy each other. After that I didn’t feel like laughing.

  “I’ve got all your presents and they’re already wrapped,” said Fliss.

  I couldn’t believe it.

  “What’ve you got us?” said Kenny, straight out, just like that.

  “The new Oasis tape.” Fliss looked so pleased with herself.

  “What, all of us?” said Rosie. “Wowsers!”

  The others were dead excited but at first all I could think was: it’s just not fair. Fliss has so much more money than the rest of us. She gets loads of pocket money. Even Lyndz can earn extra by helping her mum with Spike, their baby, but Rosie and Kenny and me just get regular
pocket money and it’s never enough, especially at Christmas. Fliss had spent nearly as much money on each of us as I had to spend on everyone put together.

  When I went home I tried to talk to my mum and dad about it but it was a waste of time. My mum and dad are lawyers; they have an answer for everything.

  “Please, can I have some extra money? I really need it. Fliss has spent pounds on my Christmas present.”

  “How do you know that?” said Dad. “Did she leave the price on?”

  “Of course not. But everyone knows what tapes cost.”

  “Well, perhaps Felicity can afford to spend that much on her friends, but it’s no reason why you need to,” said Mum.

  “Remember it’s Christmas,” said Dad. “It’s not a competition.”

  Well, I knew that. My grandma’s always telling me, it’s not the gift that counts, it’s the thought behind it. But it wasn’t just Fliss’s present I was worried about. I needed money for everyone’s. I went upstairs and emptied my purse and counted my money. But I’d only counted it half an hour earlier and it still only came to £8.43. If I spent £4.50 on my mum’s pig I’d have less than £4 to spend on everyone else put together. I wrote a list of the people I wanted to give presents to: Mum & Dad, Grandma, Grandad, Kenny, Fliss, Lyndz, Rosie and some chews for Pepsi, my dog. It just wasn’t enough and you didn’t have to be Mastermind to work that out.

  I needed a good moan, so I got on the phone to Kenny. She’s my best friend after all and that’s what best friends are for.

  “Hiya. It’s me, Frankie.”

  “Oh, hi, Frankie.”

  “I am so broke. I’ve only got £8.43 in all the world.”

  “Well, that’s more than I’ve got.”

  “I don’t know how I can possibly be expected to get all my Christmas presents with a measly £8.43.”

  “No, nor me.”

  “And now Fliss has spent pounds on us I feel terrible only spending 50p on her.”