Rascal's Sleepover Fun

by Holly Webb

  “I will be throwing up,” Max muttered. “House full of girls dancing. Using my PlayStation!”

  Ellie and Lila rolled their eyes at each other.

  “Everything’s ready,” Mum assured Grandad. “The cake’s hidden away – Ellie chose a lovely chocolate layer cake – and we’ve got loads of party food. We just need to put up the decorations. But, Ellie, you need to ring Gran and Grandpa first. They’ll want to hear that you got their present.”

  Ellie nodded. They had sent her the pink fluffy rabbit. To be honest, Ellie thought it was a bit babyish, but it was very cute.

  “Where is it?” she asked Mum, looking at the pile of presents.

  Mum lifted up some of the wrapping paper, looking confused. “It must be here somewhere!” Then she frowned. “Rascal…”

  Ellie looked under the table. No Rascal, which was odd, because he was usually wherever she was.

  Then Rascal trotted back into the kitchen looking innocent. Who, me? his dark eyes seemed to say. Ellie darted out into the hallway, but there was no telltale trail of pink fluff.

  “Has he hidden it somewhere?” Dad asked. “He was playing with it before. Maybe he just took a fancy to it, for some odd reason… Not that I mean it’s not nice,” he added hurriedly. Ellie giggled.

  Mum sighed. “Just call Gran and Grandpa and tell them you like it. I’m sure it’ll turn up.”

  “More balloons on the banisters?” Lila asked thoughtfully. They had put up loads of streamers before lunch, and now it was just the balloons left for a finishing touch.

  Ellie stood back to admire the effect. “No. I think we should put the rest in the living room.” She’d been having trouble with the balloons before Lila came to help – Rascal kept trying to eat the dangling ribbons. But now he seemed to have lost interest and had wandered off.

  Ellie gave Lila an excited hug. “Thanks for helping.”

  Lila grinned. “Makes up for Max…”

  “Oi! I heard that,” Max growled, as he walked past. He was still grumpy about Lewis being ill.

  Ellie frowned. She hoped Max wasn’t going to be too much of a pain tonight. She looked at the clock. Only about ten minutes before everyone arrived!

  A sudden shriek from the kitchen made her jump.

  “You bad dog!”

  Rascal shot out into the hallway, looking guilty. He seemed different…

  It took Ellie a moment to realize that he hadn’t grown brown-coloured patches all over his face since she’d last seen him.

  He’d been eating her chocolate birthday cake.

  “The cake!” Mum groaned. “He’s eaten the whole of one corner. I don’t think there’s any way of saving it, I’m sorry, Ellie.”

  Ellie sat down on the stairs. How could she have a party with no birthday cake? Everyone would be here in a minute, too. She knew it wouldn’t really help, and she didn’t want to make Mum feel even worse, but she could feel her eyes filling with tears.

  “I didn’t know he’d got into the kitchen…” she whispered sadly, as Mum came and sat down next to her.

  “It’s not your fault, Ellie. I got it out and put it on the table, and then your Auntie Gemma phoned to say happy birthday to you… I should have been more careful.”

  Dad was eyeing Rascal worriedly. “How much of it did he eat? Chocolate isn’t good for dogs. Do we need to take him to the vet?”

  Ellie gasped in horror. She remembered reading in one of her dog books that dogs could get really ill from eating chocolate. She looked over at Rascal, who was licking thoughtfully at his chocolatey moustache.

  “Don’t panic.” Mum hugged her. “It’s only chocolate cake, not pure chocolate. He might end up with a bit of a funny tummy, but I’m sure that’s all. We’ll just have to keep a close eye on him. But right now, I’m more worried about the cake than Rascal. What are we going to do?”

  “What about birthday cupcakes?” Lila suggested. “Emily’s big sister got married last weekend, she was a bridesmaid and she was showing the photos off at school. They had cupcakes instead of a big wedding cake, and they looked fab. Me and Dad could go and get all the ingredients. The supermarket has lovely icing flowers and things.”

  “What do you think, Ellie? You girls could all make them together.” Mum stroked her cheek, and Ellie nodded. “That would be nice,” she murmured. It would be fun to have a do-it-yourself birthday cake.

  “We’ll get lots of Smarties to go on top too,” Dad promised. “So you’ll still have your chocolatey cake.”

  “But we’ll be keeping them away from Rascal,” Mum added grimly.

  “Someone’s here!” Lila said, as the doorbell rang. “Come on, Dad! Emergency cake mission!”

  “I’m not ready yet!” Ellie wailed. “Who is it?”

  “It’s me!” Christy poked her head round the front door as Lila opened it. “Sorry, am I early? Happy birthday!” From behind her back she whipped out a beautiful present in spotty paper and gave it to Ellie. “Er … is that what you’re wearing?” she asked, eyeing Ellie’s grubby old jeans.

  Ellie sniffed. “No. I’ve got a dress for the party, but I didn’t have time to change. Oh, Christy, Rascal’s eaten my cake!”

  “He didn’t!” Christy gasped in horror.

  “We’re going to make cupcakes instead, but I still think my party’s going to be a disaster,” Ellie said sadly.

  Christy shook her head. “No, it won’t. I love cupcakes. Look, I’ll put Rascal in the garden to keep him away from Lucy. You go and get changed, quick!”

  “They smell so good!” Christy closed her eyes blissfully. “Can we ice them yet?”

  Ellie held her hand over the wire rack of cupcakes and shook her head. “Nope. Still too hot. The icing would just run off again. Be patient.” She giggled – she sounded like her mum.

  The girls were gathered in the kitchen, admiring the decorations that Lila and Dad had bought. There was even a pretty cardboard stand to put the cupcakes on when they were finished, so they’d look really professional.

  “You could make up the icing, though,” Mum suggested. “By the time you’ve done that, they might have cooled down.”

  “I’m going to cover mine in pink and green Smarties,” Lydia decided, as she took her turn stirring the bowl of icing. “This is such a cool idea, Ellie. I’m going to have cupcakes at my birthday too.”

  Ellie felt Lila nudge her foot under the table. Her big sister grinned as she dolloped the icing into small bowls, so they could make up lots of different colours, and Mum handed out the cakes.

  “Can I do one?” Max asked, and Ellie glared at him suspiciously. But she could hardly say no. She passed along a bowl of icing.

  Ellie covered her cakes in primrose yellow icing with sugar flowers on top.

  “They’re brilliant,” Lucy said admiringly. “Oh, look!”

  A little brown and white face was peering sadly in at the kitchen window.

  “Rascal!” Ellie gasped. “He must have climbed on to the bench.”

  “I’ll pop out and have a game of fetch with him,” Dad said, smiling.

  Ellie watched through the window as Dad gently lifted Rascal down. She was having a lovely time, of course she was, but she wished Rascal could be there with her. She could hear Dad calling to Rascal as she put her cakes on the stand. Everyone’s cakes were different. Christy and Jessie had gone mad with sprinkles, and Lucy’s had delicate spirals of silver balls.

  “Ugh, Max…!” Lila sighed, and everyone looked over at his cake.

  “I didn’t even know we had black food colouring.” Mum shook her head.

  “That’s going at the back of the cake stand,” Ellie told him, glaring at his black cake, decorated with a purple spider’s web.

  “Leave them all to set, girls. Why don’t you go and try the dance game?” Mum suggested.

  “Great!” Max groaned. He headed upstairs, and Ellie and her friends raced into the living room to set up the PlayStation with Lucy’s dance game.

  “I�
��m a terrible dancer,” Jessie giggled, as Lucy tried out some warm-up moves.

  “I bet you’re not, and anyway it doesn’t matter,” Lucy promised. “It’s just fun. You get to do all these cool moves. Come on, it’s starting!

  “Oh, I can’t move after all the pizza and cake I ate!” Ellie flumped on to the sofa.

  “Shall we change into our pyjamas and get our sleeping bags out?” Christy suggested. “I stashed a big bar of chocolate in my bag for the midnight feast,” she added in a whisper.

  Ellie bounced up again, tiredness suddenly forgotten. “Oh, yes.” I can say a quick hello to Rascal too, she told herself. He was probably feeling very confused, being shunted in and out of the garden to stay out of Lucy’s way. She popped into the kitchen to see him on the way back from fetching her sleeping bag and pyjamas, and Rascal licked her lovingly.

  “Come on, Ellie!” Lydia called, and Ellie ran to join everyone spreading out their sleeping bags in a row on the floor. They snuggled up in them, gossiping about school. Christy was just explaining that she hoped they didn’t get Miss Casey next year, when Ellie realized Lucy had gone silent. She peered over at her. Only Lucy’s nose was sticking out of her sleeping bag. “Are you OK?” she whispered, nudging Lucy and trying not to be too obvious.

  “Mm,” murmured Lucy.

  “You don’t sound very OK.”

  “I miss my mum,” Lucy sniffed. “I haven’t been to a sleepover before.”

  “I haven’t either. Do you want to go home?” Ellie asked, hoping Lucy would say no.

  “Please don’t!” Christy butted in.

  Lucy smiled tearily at her. “I don’t really want to, it’s just…” She rubbed her eyes on the edge of her sleeping bag. “I can’t cheer myself up. And I forgot to bring my bear…”

  Ellie chewed her lip. It was a pity that Lucy didn’t like dogs. Rascal could cheer anybody up. There was silence for a moment, the only noise was Lucy obviously trying not to cry. Ellie put an arm round her, wondering what to do.

  “Eeek!” Lucy suddenly squeaked, and Ellie yelped too.

  “What is it? Oh! Sorry, Lucy, I’ll take him out. I can’t have shut the kitchen door properly.”

  Rascal was standing on the end of Lucy’s sleeping bag, his tail wagging madly. Dangling from his mouth was Ellie’s missing pink birthday rabbit.

  “He brought me a rabbit!” Lucy was staring at Rascal in amazement. “Because I forgot my bear!”

  Ellie opened her mouth – and then shut it again and nodded solemnly. She thought it was probably a complete accident, but if it cheered Lucy up, it didn’t matter.

  Rascal nudged the rabbit towards Lucy, and then sat down proudly on her feet, with his head hopefully on one side.

  “Good dog…” Lucy whispered. Then she actually took one hand out of her sleeping bag, and slowly patted Rascal on the head.

  “Time to go to sleep now, girls! Night!” Mum called.

  Everyone was silent as they heard Ellie’s mum and dad going up the stairs. Then Christy flicked her torch back on, and they went on chatting. Rascal was curled up asleep on top of Ellie now. Lucy had said she didn’t mind if he stayed. His loan of the pink rabbit seemed to have won her over completely.

  “Can you hear a funny noise?” Jessie asked, a little while later. Lucy and Lydia were dozing, and Jessie and Ellie and Christy had just been whispering quietly to each other, nearly asleep themselves.

  “Sounds like someone coming down the stairs,” Ellie murmured. “Christy, turn off your torch, Mum thinks we’re asleep!”

  The door creaked open, but instead of Ellie’s mum come to check on them, an eerie white shape floated in the doorway.

  Lydia woke up and screamed as the shape let out a long, spooky moan.

  “A ghost!” Jessie gasped, pulling her sleeping bag over her head.

  Ellie’s heart was thudding horribly, but there was something familiar about that moaning. Rascal was growling on her lap, and suddenly he let out an ear-splitting bark, and dashed at the ghostly figure, leaping up at it.

  “Rascal, come back!” Ellie wailed, not wanting him to be hurt by whatever it was.

  But the ghost let out a loud and unghostly yelp as Rascal jumped up again, and then it fell over backwards. Rascal ran happily back to Ellie, dragging the corner of a white bed sheet in his teeth.

  “Max!” Ellie hissed, climbing out of her sleeping bag and snapping on the light. “I can’t believe you’d do that! Mum’ll kill you!”

  Ellie grabbed her pillow and whacked Max over the head with it, and Christy and the others joined in, giggling as he squealed for mercy.

  “That’s not fair! I’m outnumbered! Oof!” he yelped, as Lydia got him in the stomach with her pillow.

  Rascal jumped on to Max’s feet and joined in, barking happily, and tearing at Ellie’s pillow with his teeth. A cloud of feathers filled the room, and Rascal sneezed in surprise.

  “Hang on, don’t let him get up!” Ellie grabbed her birthday camera, and snapped Max, wailing with laughter and covered in feathers.

  There was a sound of running footsteps on the stairs, and Mum appeared, looking annoyed.

  “What’s going on?” she demanded.

  “They attacked me!” Max staggered to his feet.

  “And what were you doing down here in the first place?” Mum snapped. “It’s nearly midnight, and just look at all this mess!” She sighed. “We’ll have to clear it up tomorrow. Now go to sleep, all of you!”

  The girls giggled as Max trailed out of the door after Mum.

  “Lucy! Your mum’s here!” Ellie’s mum put her head round the living-room door, where the girls were sleepily watching a DVD. It was ten in the morning, but everyone was still feeling happily tired. Ellie’s mum had let them eat the muffins she’d got for breakfast on the sofa. Everyone had been hungry – they’d all been too tired to have their midnight feast after the pillow fight.

  “Hi, Mum!”

  Lucy’s mother stared back at her in amazement. Rascal was lying half on Ellie and half on Lucy, snoozing. Here and there a little white feather was dotted in his fur, and a rather battered-looking pink rabbit was between his paws.

  “But – you’re scared of dogs…” Lucy’s mum sounded as though she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

  “Not Rascal.” Lucy patted him. “He’s lovely.”

  Ellie smiled proudly. Nobody could resist her Rascal!

  “Thanks for inviting me to your party, Ellie.” Lucy hugged her, then gave Rascal a final goodbye stroke. “It was the best sleepover ever!”

  Ellie beamed, and Rascal lifted his head and yawned hugely. Sleepovers were brilliant fun – Ellie and Rascal both agreed – but they were definitely tiring!

  About the Author

  Holly Webb started out as a children’s book editor, and wrote her first series for the publisher she worked for. She has been writing ever since, with over sixty books to her name. Holly lives in Berkshire, with her husband and three young sons. She has a pet cat called Marble, who is always nosying around when she’s trying to type on her laptop.

  Copyright

  ST RIPES PUBLISHING

  An imprint of Little Tiger Press

  1 The Coda Centre,

  189 Munster Road,

  London SW6 6AW

  Text copyright © Holly Webb, 2011 Illustrations copyright © Kate Pankhurst, 2011, 2012

  First published as an ebook by Stripes Publishing in 2012.

  eISBN: 978–1–84715–284–8

  The right of Holly Webb and Kate Pankhurst to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  All rights reserved.

  Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any forms, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licen
ces issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  www.stripespublishing.co.uk

  For more information about Holly Webb visit: www.holly-webb.com