“We’ve got to get into school somehow,” I said grimly, “or tomorrow I’m going to be in the biggest trouble ever!”
“You might even get expelled!” Fliss wailed.
“Oh, thanks a lot!” I snapped.
“Shut up and let’s think about this!” Frankie said, taking charge as usual. “Look, we’ve got to go home first, or our parents are going to start climbing the walls.”
“I have to come back later,” Maria decided. “In one hour, when the teachers go home.”
“Is good idea,” Pilar agreed. “I come with you.”
“I’m coming too,” I butted in, “’cos I’m the one who’s going to be in deepest doom if Mrs W. gets covered in flour!”
“I’d better come as well then,” Frankie said. “Someone’s got to be there to control Kenny!”
“Cheek!” I said indignantly.
“I’m coming too then!” chorused Lyndz, Elena, Rosie and Anna together. Fliss and Isabella looked at each other, then they both nodded too.
“We can’t all go!” I spluttered. “With ten of us creeping round the school, we’re bound to get caught!”
“No, hang on, I’ve got an idea!” Frankie said thoughtfully. “We’ll split up!”
“What difference will that make?” I asked impatiently.
“We’ll split up and go into the school through different doors,” Frankie explained. “Then, if anyone gets caught, at least someone else has got a chance of making it to our classroom!”
We all thought about that. It made sense.
“OK, so we’ll meet back here in about an hour,” I said, checking my watch. “Then it’s Operation Flourbag!”
“D’you think the school’ll still be open?” Lyndz asked.
“I dunno,” I said doubtfully. “How long does cleaning a school take?”
We all looked at each other. No-one had any idea.
“We’ll just have to risk it,” said Lyndz.
“Yeah,” I muttered. “I just hope this plan works…” Because if it didn’t, the last day of term was going to be ruined, I was going to be history, and the Queen and the Goblin would have the biggest laugh ever at our expense…
“Where are Pilar and Frankie?” I hissed, looking at my watch for the millionth time.
Everyone else had met up outside the school gates right on time, except for those two, and now we were all getting edgy. We’d all told our parents that we had to go back to school to collect something we’d forgotten – none of them had minded, ’cos we were allowed to stay out longer anyway now that it was light in the evenings.
“Let’s go without them,” Fliss suggested, her teeth chattering with nerves.
“No, give them a few more minutes,” Lyndz said. “Look, the school’s still open.” We could see that some of the windows were still ajar, so it was obvious the caretaker hadn’t locked up yet.
“The cleaners must still be in there.” I glanced impatiently up the road again, and there were Pilar and Frankie racing towards us. “At last!”
“Sorry!” Frankie gasped. “My mum went shopping for baby clothes today and she wanted to show them all to us!”
“Is the school still open?” Pilar panted.
I nodded. “But we’ve got to be quick. The caretaker might start locking up any minute.”
“What if Mr Coleman starts locking up while we’re inside?” Fliss asked nervously.
“We will be shut in?” Isabella squeaked, looking scared.
“‘Course we won’t!” I said confidently. “We can easily climb out of one of the windows! Now, let’s get a move on!”
Quickly we divided ourselves up into three groups. Fliss and Maria and I were going in through the main entrance doors; Elena, Rosie and Anna were going round the back; and Frankie, Pilar, Isabella and Lyndz were taking the short route through one of the cloakrooms.
Silently we crept in through the playground gates. It was still daylight so we had to run for cover behind a wall, and wait there for a few seconds to make sure that the caretaker hadn’t spotted us.
“OK, let’s go for it!” I whispered. “Good luck – and I hope we all make it!”
“Just a sec!” Frankie grabbed my arm as I was about to shoot off with Fliss and Maria. “Look over there!”
Frankie was pointing at the teachers’ car park. To our horror, it was still full of cars – and Mrs Weaver’s red Metro was there too.
“The teachers are still here!” Fliss wailed. “I thought they’d have gone home by now!”
“What’re they doing here?” I groaned.
“Ssh! Listen!” Elena held up her hand. We all listened hard – and in the distance we could just about hear a Spice Girls song playing very faintly. The windows of the staffroom were wide open, and the noise seemed to be coming from there.
“They must be having an end-of-term party!” Lyndz said.
“Oh, great!” I said. “And the staffroom’s really close to our classroom!”
“We can’t give up now,” Rosie pointed out. “Anyway, they’ll probably be too busy having a good time to hear us!”
“Rosie’s right,” said Frankie. “We’ve got to go for it!”
We all took a deep breath and started slapping each other on the backs and doing high fives, trying to make ourselves feel braver. Then we split up and set off.
“I’m scared!” Fliss moaned in my ear as the three of us hurried over to the main entrance. “What if we get caught?”
“We just say we forgot something and we came to get it,” I replied. “Don’t say anything about the flour!”
Fliss, Maria and I had the longest journey through the school to get to our classroom, but at first it wasn’t too bad. We went through the Infants, and cut through the hall, and then we were in the corridor that led up to Mrs Weaver’s room. The staffroom was at the end of the corridor, and although the door was shut, we could hear the sound of music and people laughing and talking.
“Quick!” I grabbed Fliss and Maria, and dragged them along with me towards the classroom. The door was slightly ajar, and we rushed in. To our relief, the others were already there.
“We all made it!” I exclaimed.
“Yeah, but let’s get a move on!” Frankie whispered. “Maria’s got to get rid of that flour!”
Maria was already standing by Mrs Weaver’s table, pulling a big black bin bag out of her pocket.
“Stand back!” she said. She pulled the top drawer open a very little way, and slipped the black bag over it. Then she pulled it out further, and we saw a small puff of flour as it all disappeared neatly into the black bag – instead of over Mrs Weaver tomorrow!
“Hey, that was cool!” I said admiringly. “How did you set that up?”
“Not now, Kenny!” Fliss hissed. She and Isabella were the look-outs over by the door. “Come on, let’s get out of here!”
“Don’t forget the flour in Kenny’s locker!” Lyndz reminded us. Lucky she remembered! Quickly I went across the room, and looked in my locker. It was empty except for a really old and smelly pair of trainers, an empty crisps bag – and two big packets of flour.
“Creeps!” I muttered angrily as I took the flour out. It weighed a ton. “What am I supposed to do with this now?” Then I grinned as I had a really fab idea. “Hey, guys, what do you think of this?”
But I didn’t get a chance to tell them what I was planning to do because Fliss and Isabella suddenly jumped away from the door, and gasped in fright.
“M-M-M-Mrs Weaver!” Fliss stuttered, looking absolutely terrified. “She’s just come out of the staffroom, and she’s coming this way!”