About the Book
Kira Cove Public School is hosting a talent quest. Cici, Meg and Charlie couldn’t be more excited to perform, but Pippa gets butterflies at the thought of singing on stage. After a disastrous audition the girls get a second chance, but can Pippa find a way to smash her stage fright before the VIP concert?
Meanwhile, at the Beach Shack Cafe a mysterious visitor is causing havoc when backs are turned. When Pippa finds a clue, she is determined to track down the mischievous cafe thief.
CONTENTS
COVER
ABOUT THE BOOK
TITLE PAGE
DEDICATION
A LETTER FROM PIPPA
CHAPTER 1: CICI’S BRILLIANT IDEA
CHAPTER 2: MYSTERY THIEF
CHAPTER 3: A FLOWER-THROWING POLTERGEIST
CHAPTER 4: SUMMER’S RUMPUS
CHAPTER 5: PREPARATIONS
CHAPTER 6: AUDITIONS
CHAPTER 7: KIRA DREAMING DISASTER
CHAPTER 8: THE MANGO MADNESS BURGLAR
CHAPTER 9: CAPTURING THE CULPRIT
CHAPTER 10: TUTU TIME
CHAPTER 11: HARRY’S MAGIC BOX
CHAPTER 12: THE CONCERT
CHAPTER 13: TOWER-WARMING PARTY
BELLA’S MANGO MADNESS SMOOTHIE RECIPE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BOOKS BY BELINDA MURRELL
CAMP CASTAWAY
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
For the best brother ever – Nick Humphrey.
A big thank you for all your love, inspiration, and support.
It was Friday afternoon. My favourite time of the week. The four of us joked and laughed as we walked home from school to Charlie’s house for our weekly Sassy Sisters club meeting. We took it in turns to meet at our different homes. On Meg’s yacht, bobbing in the harbour. In Cici’s sweet-smelling kitchen. And, of course, at the Beach Shack Cafe with our favourite mango smoothies and cupcakes for afternoon tea.
Charlie lived in a sprawling house on top of the island’s plateau, surrounded by gardens and paddocks. The house had to be big because there were five kids in her family. Charlie has a sister, Sophia, two step-brothers, Sebastian and Oscar, and a half-sister called Daisy. Seb is in year six, Sophia and Oscar are both in year four, and Daisy is in year one. Charlie’s family also has a menagerie of pets – two donkeys, two dogs, five chickens, a cat called Trixie and a lamb called Maisie. Charlie warned us about how noisy her place could get. She wasn’t wrong.
Cici, Meg and I were sitting around the kitchen table. Trixie, the calico cat, was rubbing her head against my leg. I leaned down and picked her up for a cuddle. She purred and rubbed her cheek against my chin. Trixie is the prettiest cat with her fur coloured in patches of white, black and ginger.
Charlie was looking in the fridge for some snacks for afternoon tea.
‘Mum?’ called Charlie. ‘Do you know where the hummus is?’
‘In the fridge,’ called back her mum, Jodie, from the office where she was working. ‘Top shelf.’
Jodie is a graphic designer and helped my mum design all the menus and signage for the cafe.
‘It’s not there,’ said Charlie, rummaging through the containers on the top shelf.
‘I bought it this morning,’ said Jodie, sticking her head around the corner. ‘It should be there on the right-hand side.’
Charlie shook her head. ‘I can’t find it.’
‘Let me have a look,’ said Jodie. But the hummus had disappeared.
Sophia, Seb and Oscar raced through the kitchen, followed closely by Zorro and Bandit, the two border collies. Trixie turned her back on the rowdy interlopers, ignoring them completely. She batted my hand with her paw, begging for another snuggle.
‘Kids, did any of you eat the hummus?’ asked Jodie. Sophia looked guiltily at Seb.
Seb tried to look innocent. ‘Hummus? What hummus?’
Oscar gave a cheeky grin. He clearly knew something about the missing snack. ‘I’d love some, thanks, Jodie. I’m starving.’
Jodie went back to searching through the fridge. ‘I know it’s here somewhere.’
Charlie looked at the boys suspiciously. Seb rubbed his tummy.
‘Seb, Mum bought the hummus especially because the girls were coming over,’ said Charlie. ‘I bet you guys scoffed the lot.’
‘Would we do that?’ asked Seb, pretending to be hurt by the accusation.
‘Yes,’ said Charlie, tossing her long blonde plait over her shoulder.
The hummus, of course, was nowhere to be found, so Jodie cut up some strawberries and pineapple for us. Then she went back to work in her study. Charlie’s three siblings raced past once more, Seb snatching a handful of pineapple on the way through.
‘Back to our meeting,’ said Charlie with a sniff of disapproval. I picked up my pen to take notes. It was my job as Keeper of the Sassy Sister Notebook to jot down our ideas and plans, although today I spent more time doodling in the margins while we chatted.
Charlie was the current President of the Sassy Sisters. Meg was Vice President and Research Officer, and Cici was Treasurer (not that we had any money) and Chief Cupcake Baker.
Just then Charlie’s little sister, Daisy, came in and plonked herself down at the table. Daisy was great friends with my sister, Bella.
‘Can I have some strawberries, Charlie?’ she asked. Charlie rolled her eyes but she jumped up and filled a bowl of fruit for Daisy.
‘Here you go, Daisy,’ said Charlie with great patience. ‘But why don’t you go and eat them with Sophia. We’re busy now.’
‘I don’t want to eat them with Sophia. I want to stay here with you and Cici… and Pippa and Meg,’ said Daisy, wriggling herself back in her chair. She looked adoringly at Cici. Daisy loved Cici because she was so funny. She made all the kids laugh.
Eventually Charlie bribed her sister with a promise of a story later, if she left.
‘You can see why we don’t have Sassy Sister meetings here very often,’ said Charlie. ‘It’s just too noisy.’
‘Try living in a caravan with Harry the Wizard, Bella the Dinosaur and Summer the Wicked,’ I said.
I was thinking back to this morning when I was getting ready for school. Mum had left early for work and Papa was making us breakfast in the cottage. When my grandmother, Mimi, came to check on us, Bella was chasing Summer around the caravan with her dinosaur tail on. Harry was still in his pyjamas, making a plastic cockroach appear and disappear from behind my ear. Summer barked, Bella bellowed, and Harry bawled, ‘Alakazam!’ in his best magician voice. Mimi put her hands over her ears and shuddered theatrically.
Charlie pulled a wry face at me. We both knew all about rowdy siblings.
‘It won’t be long now until Pippa’s tower room is ready,’ Cici reminded us. ‘Then we will have somewhere quiet and peaceful to go.’
‘It could still take ages,’ I said, a little gloomily. ‘The builders have only just finished the upstairs kitchen. Now they have to do all the bedrooms. The tower room will be the very last thing they finish.’
Our builders were turning the upstairs of the cafe into an apartment for us to live in. The tower room was a tiny, round room with glorious views over Kira Cove, which could only be reached from a narrow staircase hidden in my bedroom cupboard. We were all longing for the day when we could use it as our secret Sassy Sisters meeting place.
Oscar began practising his trumpet in the living room. The music blared through the open door. Trixie twitched her whiskers, jumped off my lap and stalked out of the room. I love the way cats can be so very haughty. You know exactly what they are thinking.
‘Oscar,’ cried Charlie in despair. ‘Can’t you practise later?’
Oscar yelled back, ‘I’m rehearsing for the talent quest. The auditions ar
e on Tuesday, so I don’t have much time.’
Our principal, Mrs Black, had announced this morning that Kira Cove School would be holding a talent quest. The auditions would be open to all students, and the best five acts would get to perform for a special group of VIP guests (that is, Very Important People!) who were coming to visit from the mainland. We were all super-curious to know whose these VIP guests could be.
Oscar gave another long blast on his trumpet. Charlie covered her ears.
‘Why don’t we go outside?’ suggested Meg. ‘We can visit Archie and Clementine.’
Archie and Clementine were Charlie’s donkeys. We all jumped to our feet with relief at this suggestion and raced out the back door. The two dogs chased after us.
I love visiting Charlie’s place because it’s like being on a mini farm. To the left of the garden is a vegetable patch (well-fenced to stop the animals getting in). Then there is a small orchard of orange, lime and lemon trees where the five chickens scratch around.
At the very back of the property is a grassy paddock with a huge old mango tree. It has an open stable where Maisie the lamb and the two donkeys live.
We raced over to the paddock. Archie and Clementine trotted up to the fence to greet us. Charlie unlatched the gate and we went in.
‘Make sure you latch the gate properly,’ said Charlie. ‘Clementine is the trickiest escape artist.’
‘I remember you telling us about the time all the animals broke into your kitchen, Charlie,’ I said. ‘Maisie tried to eat the board game.’
We all giggled.
Charlie scratched Clementine behind the ear. Clementine leaned her head against Charlie’s chest affectionately. Archie came up on the other side and rubbed his cheek against her arm.
We all made a fuss of the two donkeys and then Maisie the lamb galloped up, hoping for a bottle of milk.
Charlie opened the tack room attached to the stable. This is where the saddles, bridles, halters and animal feed were stored. The room smelled of old leather, linseed oil and sweet, dusty chaff. We pulled out four prickly hay bales and sat down. It was blissfully quiet.
Maisie, Zorro and Bandit curled up together on the floor. I’m sure Maisie thought she was a dog too. They looked so cute that I doodled a picture of them in the margin of my notebook. I felt happy and content hanging out with my friends with the whole weekend stretching before us. That was until Cici came up with her not-so-brilliant idea.
‘I think we should enter the talent quest,’ she announced. ‘We could do something amazing and be chosen to perform for the special guests!’
‘I would love that,’ said Charlie, sitting up straight, her green eyes sparkling. ‘We could pick one of our favourite songs and work out a dance routine.’
‘A dance routine?’ I squeaked, dropping my pen. ‘I’ll never learn a whole dance by Tuesday!’
Dancing was not one of my strong points. We had been doing dance with Miss Demi for weeks now and I was only just starting to remember the choreography for that. I had been doing extra practice at home and with the girls, but I still wasn’t confident.
Cici pulled a funny face, clearly remembering some of my dance moves. ‘Maybe not.’
‘What about reciting a poem or a scene from a play?’ suggested Meg.
I rolled my eyes in horror. I definitely didn’t want to recite either. I wasn’t at all keen to audition. The thought of getting up in front of the whole school and performing made me feel squeamish. While I was happy to be involved in fun group activities like our school newspaper, I really hated getting up on stage and being the centre of attention.
I remembered back to a school play we did in London when I was in year three. I had had such bad stage fright that I simply couldn’t say my lines. All I could think about was the audience staring at me while I gawped wordlessly like a goldfish. It was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life and I was in no hurry to repeat it.
‘I know,’ said Charlie. ‘We could sing one of our favourite songs. One that we all know and love!’
Charlie was super-excited about the talent quest, I could tell. Her whole face was alight with enthusiasm. Well, clearly Charlie had never heard of stage fright.
‘Or not,’ I said. ‘We don’t need to enter the talent quest. Let’s leave the performing to the drama queens of the world. Like Olivia.’
Meg shot me a reproachful look. Meg hates it if she thinks I’m sniping at Olivia.
‘Come on, Pippa,’ said Cici. ‘Don’t be a spoilsport. Charlie and I can play the guitar and we can all sing.’
‘It’ll be fun,’ said Charlie. ‘You sang with us at the Beach Shack at Ruby’s farewell.’
‘That was different,’ I said. ‘I didn’t know Ruby was going to ask us, so I didn’t have time to feel nervous. Besides, everyone was focusing on Ruby, not us. And we weren’t in front of a group of VIP guests.’
‘We might not even get chosen,’ said Meg, a little hopefully, I thought. ‘Let’s just try out for the audition and see what happens.’
‘Why don’t you three do it without me?’ I suggested. ‘You are much better singers than me. I don’t have a musical bone in my body.’
‘Come on,’ said Charlie. ‘You can sing! And it will be much more fun if we all do it together.’
‘It could be a Sassy Sisters project,’ wheedled Cici. She said it as though she was offering me a delicious sweet treat.
I looked around at my three friends. Charlie’s face was glowing with excitement. Cici was bubbling with anticipation. Meg wasn’t a super-keen performer but she was the peacemaker of our group, so of course she wanted me to say yes too.
The downside of being in a group of friends is that sometimes you feel pressured into doing things you don’t really want to do. Like singing in a talent quest!
I sighed. ‘All right, I’ll do it.’
‘Great,’ said Charlie, giving me a hug. ‘We can sing “Kira Dreaming”. We all know that one, and Cici and I have been learning it at guitar lessons.’
‘Kira Dreaming’ was the song that Ruby Starr had performed for the very first time at her farewell bash a couple of weeks ago. It was a catchy song about treasuring friendship and chasing your dreams. Ruby said she was inspired to write it after hearing Charlie singing one of her songs on the beach at Kira Cove.
Ever since Ruby performed it at the opening night of her world tour, we’ve heard it played over and over again – on the radio, in shops and on the builders’ music player. I even thought I’d heard our neighbour, Mrs Beecham, humming it once but when I asked her she flatly denied it.
‘We’ll need to work out costumes and props,’ said Charlie. ‘Something that suits the song and grabs people’s attention.’
‘Maybe Meg and Pippa could play a percussion instrument like a tambourine or a bongo drum,’ suggested Cici. ‘That would add some extra energy to our act.’
The girls started discussing ideas for costumes and props. I crossed my arms stubbornly and said nothing. First the girls wanted me to get up on stage and sing, and now they want me to get dressed up in a silly costume and bang a drum. This idea was getting worse and worse.
‘The song has a beachy vibe, so we could wear board shorts and singlets, or wetsuits,’ said Meg. ‘We could even use surfboards as a backdrop.’
Wetsuits on stage! I thought to myself. We’d look ridiculous! Everyone will laugh at us.
‘Or long boho skirts with flower crowns?’ suggested Charlie.
‘I was thinking something more glamorous,’ said Cici. ‘Like evening dresses, all glittery and sparkly. Or maybe we go totally fun and crazy, like tutus, tiaras and stripy leggings.’
‘Where would we get evening dresses by Tuesday?’ I asked, grumpily. ‘Or crazy tutus for that matter?’
Charlie looked at me with disappointment. ‘Maybe we could make something?’
I huffed with impatience.
Cici glared at me. ‘Maybe you could just pretend to be enthusiastic, Pippa?’ said Cici. �
��We won’t have a chance in the talent quest unless we all give it our best shot.’
I felt a flash of guilt. Friendships can be very complicated sometimes.
Charlie fetched her guitar from the house, together with the music and lyrics. Cici played an air guitar, practising her chords.
‘Okay,’ said Charlie. ‘One, two, three…’ She began to strum the opening notes.
Charlie had a lovely voice – sweet and clear. Cici sang enthusiastically. Meg and I didn’t know all the words, so we leaned over Charlie’s shoulder to read them. I sang softly, missing half the lyrics, but the others didn’t sound too bad.
That was until Zorro and Bandit decided to join in, howling along with the music. This distracted Charlie so she started to make mistakes, stumbling over a few chords.
Clementine and Archie stuck their heads through the door to find out what all the racket was. Maisie gambolled away as fast as she could. I didn’t blame her.
A moment later Seb, Oscar and Sophia popped their heads around the door.
‘You guys sound like you’re being strangled,’ said Oscar, helpfully. ‘Maybe you should choose a different song.’
Zorro and Bandit howled louder. Seb pretended to conduct the music with two fingers.
‘Thanks, Oscar,’ said Charlie, with a touch of sarcasm. ‘Says the boy whose trumpet sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard. Why don’t you go and practise your own piece?’
‘Good point,’ said Seb, with a broad grin on his face. ‘Maybe Zorro and Bandit can come to school and perform for both your acts. Their howling would only be an improvement!’
‘Go!’ commanded Charlie, shooing them away with her hand.
Oscar waggled his fingers in farewell and they all ran off. I checked my watch.
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