So there we were having our midnight feast, and Kenny had just said that it was a shame we couldn’t film the stuff we did after lights out. Everybody agreed with her, but nobody really thought much about it at the time. Instead, we ate all the crisps and chocolates we’d brought (and Fliss ate most of Rosie’s popcorn), and then we wrote in our diaries.

“What shall we do now?” Lyndz asked, when we’d finished writing.

“We could tell jokes,” I suggested.

“No, let’s have stories,” said Kenny. “Horror stories.”

“No,” Fliss wailed. “They give me nightmares.”

“I think we should do what Fliss wants,” said Rosie. “After all, it’s her sleepover.”

“I want to practise our dance routine for next Friday,” Fliss said firmly.

We’re always working out dance routines. It’s one of our best skives because we get to practise them in the school hall when all the other kids have been chucked out to play in the cold. Mrs Poole, our headteacher, lets us do the routines in Friday assembly, which is always a great laugh.

“Good idea,” said Lyndz.

So we all got out of our beds and sleeping bags, and lined up in the space between the two beds. Fliss’s bedroom isn’t very big, so we had to stand on top of the sleeping bags. When we were all standing next to each other, there wasn’t room to move our arms, never mind our legs, but we had a go. Then we got bored with trying to dance in such a tiny space, and instead we started pushing each other off the floor and onto the beds. Once you were bounced onto a bed, you were out. Eventually there was just me and Rosie left, and I really had to give her a mighty shove to get her off the floor. She bounced onto Fliss’s bed, and landed right on top of Kenny.

“Oi!” Kenny spluttered. “Do you mind!” She picked up the nearest pillow, and hit out at her. Rosie ducked smartly, and the pillow thwacked Lyndz round the head instead. It was like something out of a silent movie.

By this time we were all laughing so hard, my sides really hurt.

“Sssh!” Fliss pleaded between giggles. “You’ll wake my mum up!”

“Oh, that was excellent,” I said, flopping down on the bed next to Kenny. “I wish I had a picture of Lyndz’s face when Kenny hit her with that pillow!”

“We would have had a picture of it if we were filming with the camcorder,” said Kenny.

“OK, OK,” said Fliss impatiently. “But I don’t know what you expect me to do about it.”

I could see Kenny’s eyes glinting wickedly in the light of my torch.

“Well, we could film ourselves…”

Fliss turned so white, she looked like a ghost. So did Rosie. Even I was a bit taken aback, and I’m used to Kenny’s mad ideas.

“What?” said Lyndz, who’s sometimes a bit slow on the uptake. “How could we do that?”

“Simple,” said Kenny. “Fliss borrows the camcorder, and then we can film ourselves doing real Sleepover Club things.”

“NO,” said Fliss.

“OK, OK, don’t get in a razz,” said Kenny. “If you don’t know how to work the camcorder, just say so.”

“It’s not that,” said Fliss quickly. She hates us to think that she can’t do anything and everything. “Andy showed me how to use it when he wanted me to film him and mum doing the garden.”

Kenny shrugged.

“So what’s the problem then?”

Fliss opened her mouth, then closed it again. I guessed that what she’d been about to say was that she wasn’t allowed to touch the camcorder unless her mum or Andy were around to supervise.

“Camcorders are really expensive,” said Rosie. “I don’t think Fliss’s mum would be too pleased if we used it without her permission.”

Fliss shrugged. “I can do it, no problem,” she said airily. “I’ll fetch it now.”

“Nice one, Fliss!” Kenny began applauding, and so did Lyndz. I was pleased too. After all, the official sleepover video had been about as interesting as watching paint dry so far. But I couldn’t help hearing my mum’s voice faintly in the back of my mind. “Remember if anything happens to that camcorder, you and your friends will be paying for it out of your pocket-money for years to come…”

I pushed the thought away.

“Come with me, Frankie,” Fliss was saying nervously. “I don’t want to go on my own.”

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“To the spare bedroom. That’s where my mum keeps the camcorder.” Fliss picked up her torch, and gave the others a warning look. “The rest of you be quiet until we get back.”

Fliss and I went out onto the dark landing. Fliss’s mum and Andy were in bed, and so was her brother Callum. I have to say, it gave me a really funny feeling to be creeping about someone else’s house in the dark in the middle of the night. I felt like a burglar.

“This is the spare room.” Fliss stopped so suddenly that I bumped right into her.“We’ve got to be careful. The door squeaks like mad.”

I reached for the handle and pushed the door open a little way. It gave a loud, frightening creak, the kind of noise you’d expect if you were entering a haunted house. My heart began to bump, and my hands felt clammy.

“Sssh!” Fliss whispered.

“I couldn’t help it,” I hissed back. I gave the door one more tiny shove, so that it was just open wide enough for us to squeeze in. It gave another ear-splitting creak, and we held our breath. But no-one came to see what was going on.

We slipped inside.

“Hold the torch while I get the camcorder out of the cupboard,” Fliss said in my ear.

Curiously I played the torch around the room while Fliss was getting the camcorder. I’d never been in the spare bedroom before, and it didn’t look anything like our spare bedroom at home. Our spare room is full of junk and bits and pieces like headless Sindy dolls, old newspapers and cookery books no-one uses. But Fliss’s spare room was done up like a house in a magazine. There were flouncy blinds at the windows which matched the cover on the bed, and there were cupboards built all along one wall. There was also a headless person standing in the corner.

I couldn’t help gasping, even though I clapped my hand over my mouth to muffle the sound. Fliss jumped a mile into the air, and nearly dropped the camcorder box.

“What’s the matter with you?” she said under her breath.

“Did you know there’s a headless person over there in the corner?” I said breathlessly.

“That’s my mum’s dress-making dummy, you idiot.” Fliss pushed me towards the door. “Come on. If anyone wakes up, we’re dead.”

We hurried back to Fliss’s bedroom. As soon as we got there, the others crowded round us as Fliss put the camcorder box carefully on the bed.

“Excellent!” said Kenny. “Come on, let’s get started.”

“Just a minute,” said Lyndz. “Fliss’s mum is going to know we borrowed the camcorder, isn’t she?”

“What do you mean?” asked Kenny.

“Well, when we watch the video tomorrow morning, she’s going to see all the bits we record now, when we’re supposed to be asleep,” said Lyndz.

We all looked at each other.

“Oh, rats,” said Kenny. “What do we do now?”

“Easy,” said Rosie. “We take the film out of the camcorder when we’ve finished, and put in a new blank tape. Then Andy and Fliss’s mum will think it didn’t record for some reason.”

We all stared admiringly at Rosie. My mum says I’m devious, but I’m just a beginner compared to Rosie.

“Excellent idea,” said Kenny. “Fliss, you have got a spare blank tape, haven’t you?”

Fliss nodded.

“We’ve got loads.”

“Great.” Kenny gave a sigh of relief, and opened the camcorder box. “OK, let’s get started!”

“We’ll have to put the light on,” I said. “Our torches won’t be bright enough.”

“What if someone sees the light under my door?” Fliss said nervously.

“Oh, you just put some clothes or a towel down to block it out,” said Rosie. “I do it all the time when I want to read late. My mum never knows.”

It was right at that very moment that we heard footsteps coming softly down the hall.

“Quick!” hissed Lyndz. “Someone’s coming!”

For a second we were all frozen to the spot. Then we turned off our torches, and leapt for our beds and sleeping bags. Because Fliss’s room is so small and we were so panicked, we kept bumping into each other in the dark before we managed to grope our way to our beds. It took me a few seconds to fold all my arms and legs in, and it was only when I was safely inside with my eyes tight shut that I remembered the box with the camcorder in it. But it was too late now.

Someone was opening the door…