Fliss’s mum was standing in the doorway, blinking at us. We all nearly dropped down dead with shock.
“What on earth are you girls doing down here?” Mrs Sidebotham exclaimed. “It’s a quarter to two!”
“Sorry, Mrs Sidebotham,” we all mumbled. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lyndz sit down carefully in the armchair, so that the camcorder was hidden behind her. Meanwhile, Kenny had moved slightly closer to me, so that we were shoulder to shoulder and blocking Mrs Sidebotham’s view of the china lady in the green dress who now had a broken neck.
“Well?” Mrs Sidebotham raised her eyebrows at us.
“We woke up and felt hungry,” Fliss said quickly.
“And thirsty,” Kenny chimed in.
“So we came downstairs for some squash and biscuits,” Rosie finished off.
Mrs Sidebotham looked suspicious.
“You haven’t been doing any cooking, have you?” she asked.
We all shook our heads virtuously.
“No, Mrs Sidebotham.”
“Good.” Fliss’s mum looked mightily relieved. “Off to bed then, please. I don’t know what your parents would think if they knew you were up at this time of night.”
Yawning, we all stumbled over to the door. Except for Lyndz. She stayed where she was in the armchair.
“Come on, Lyndsey,” said Fliss’s mum impatiently. “Time for bed.”
Lyndz stood up reluctantly. I guessed she was waiting for Mrs Sidebotham to go out of the room first, so she could grab the camcorder and bring it upstairs with her. But it was obvious that Fliss’s mum wasn’t going anywhere until she’d checked us all one by one.
As Lyndz came over to the door, we all looked anxiously at the chair where she’d been sitting. Fliss was standing next to me and I could feel her shaking in complete panic. But we needn’t have worried. There was no sign of the camcorder anywhere. There was a big, fat, green cushion in the middle of the armchair, and somehow Lyndz must have managed to shove the camcorder behind it.
We all gave such a sigh of relief at exactly the same moment that I’m surprised Mrs Sidebotham didn’t notice it. But then she wouldn’t have. She was too busy staring at her painted china lady in the green dress.
“What have you girls been up to down here?” she asked suspiciously. “You’ve moved my Victorian lady.”
We all froze to the spot. Fliss’s knees were shaking so much, I swear it was only Rosie and me standing shoulder to shoulder on either side of her that held her up. The only one of us who had the nerve to say anything at all was Kenny.
“Oh, sorry, Mrs Sidebotham. That was my fault.”
We all turned to stare at Kenny in amazement, and if looks could kill, Fliss would have murdered Kenny on the spot. But Kenny didn’t take any notice.
“It’s so pretty, I picked it up to have a closer look at it,” she went on. “I hope you don’t mind.”
Fliss’s mum looked pleased.
“Yes, it is pretty, isn’t it? I don’t mind you looking at my things, Laura, but do be careful, won’t you?” She reached out, and turned the figure slightly to the left. Holding it by its head. We all watched in breathless terror. We expected the head to come off in her hands like something in a horror movie, but it didn’t.
“Now – BED,” said Fliss’s mum firmly, and we all scrambled up the stairs as fast as we could. None of us could believe quite how lucky we’d been that evening, and the sooner we were all tucked up in bed, the better. Besides, we were all asleep on our feet.
Fliss’s mum came with us, and watched us crawl into our beds and sleeping bags. “Now I don’t want to hear a sound until morning,” she warned us. “Not a single sound.”
I yawned hugely. I wasn’t going to argue with that. I’d never felt so tired in my whole life. Mrs Sidebotham switched the light out, and went away.
Then Fliss said in a low voice, “Lyndz, what did you do with the camcorder?”
“I shoved it behind the cushion,” Lyndz said sleepily. “I couldn’t think what else to do.”
“We can’t leave it there,” Kenny said. “It’s still got our tape in it.”
“I’ll go down and get it in a few minutes,” Fliss said, in between yawns. “When my mum’s gone to sleep again.”
There was silence for a little while. No one even suggested singing our sleepover song because we were just too worn out. I curled up snugly inside my sleeping bag, and closed my eyes. What a night.
I started to drift off into sleep. But then Kenny, who was lying on the floor next to me, began to giggle softly.
“Shut up, MacKenzie,” I said drowsily.
“Sorry,” Kenny muttered. “I was just remembering Fliss’s face when I dropped those ice cubes down her neck.”
I thought back to that moment, and a picture of Fliss’s horrified face swam into my mind too. I began to laugh, and I had to turn over and bury my face in my pillow.
“What are you two sniggering at?” asked Lyndz, who was lying on the other side of me.
“Fliss’s face when those ice cubes went down her neck!” I blurted out between giggles. Kenny was too paralysed with laughter to say anything herself. There was silence for a few seconds, and then Lyndz’s sleeping bag began to shake too.
“Shut up, you lot!” Rosie whispered. “I’m trying to get to sleep here!”
“What about when Fliss cracked Rosie on the chin with the plate of biscuits?” Lyndz spluttered helplessly. That set the three of us off again, and this time Rosie couldn’t help joining in. We were practically all weeping with laughter.
“Shut up,” said Fliss from the other bed. “I don’t think it was very funny at all. Any of it.”
“What, not even when Frankie went over the back of the sofa?” Kenny said. “With her arms and legs, she looked like a daddy-longlegs having a fit.”
This time we all laughed, even Fliss. We just couldn’t help ourselves. We laughed for ages. And we still had smiles on our faces when we fell asleep.
So now you know just about everything. You also know why we don’t want anyone to find out what really happened last night. You can keep a secret, can’t you? Course you can! You’d better – or I’ll set Kenny on you.
Only kidding. I know I can trust you.
Well, there isn’t really that much left for me to tell you. We all overslept this morning, because of going to bed so late last night. Usually we like getting up early when we sleepover at Fliss’s because her mum makes great breakfasts. They’ve got a juicer and the famous waffle-maker, so we always pig out. But not this morning.
Even Andy and Fliss’s mum overslept. The only one who didn’t was Fliss’s little brother Callum, who didn’t bother waking anyone else up. Typical. We were all still snoring away when Kenny’s dad arrived at ten o’clock to collect her, so the first we knew about it was Callum banging on Fliss’s bedroom door. I was getting a lift home with Kenny, so I had to get up too.
“You look like the walking dead,” Kenny remarked as we shoved our stuff into our sleepover bags.
“Yeah, well, you’d win a Miss Baggy-Eyes contest, no problem,” I said.
The others were still dead to the world. Rosie opened one eye and said goodbye to us, but Fliss and Lyndz were just lumps under the bedclothes. Yawning, Kenny and I staggered out onto the landing, just as Fliss’s mum hurried out of her bedroom.
“I’m sorry, girls,” she gasped. “We should have been up hours ago. I’ll make you some breakfast.”
“It’s OK, Mrs Sidebotham,” Kenny said politely. “My dad’s here to collect us.”
“Oh dear.” Fliss’s mum looked guilty. “What on earth is he going to think?”
Kenny shrugged. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. But when we got downstairs, where Kenny’s dad was waiting in the hall, Mrs Sidebotham spent about ten minutes apologising for oversleeping.
“—and the girls never even got to watch their sleepover video!” she finished up. “I was looking forward to seeing that myself.”
Kenny and I glanced at each other. Whoops. I didn’t think Mrs Sidebotham would be that keen on the video if she saw the uncensored version. Anyway, she wouldn’t be seeing it at all because Fliss would have collected the camcorder from behind the cushion and replaced our tape with a blank one by now.
“Oh, well, never mind.” Dr MacKenzie opened the front door. “They can watch it another time. Are you ready, girls?”
“Thanks for having us, Mrs Sidebotham,” we said politely, then we legged it down the path, and jumped into the car. For once, I was going to be glad to get home.
“I feel like I could sleep for a week,” Kenny muttered in my ear.
“Me too,” I said. “I was so tired last night, I didn’t even hear Fliss go downstairs to get the camcorder.”
We looked at each other.
“But she must have done,” Kenny went on confidently. “She wouldn’t have forgotten.”
“No,” I agreed.
When I got home, my mum took one look at me and started tutting.
“Late night, Frankie?”
“What makes you think that?” I said.
“You could carry home ten pounds of potatoes in those bags under your eyes.” My mum looked at me critically. “How was your video?”
“All right.” I managed to look her straight in the eye. “We didn’t get a chance to watch it though, because we all overslept.”
“What a shame,” my mum said. “Oh, well, you’ll be pleased to know that your dad’s now thinking of buying a camcorder. I’ve tried to put him off, but you know what your dad’s like. He gets an idea into his head, and then it sticks.” She smiled at me. “A bit like someone else I know.”
“Oh, Mum,” I yawned. “Dad’s crazy. Camcorders are so over-rated. They’re not that cool, really.”
My mum looked at me suspiciously.
“You’ve changed your tune. What happened at Fliss’s last night?”
“Oh, nothing,” I said cautiously. “But once you’ve seen one camcorder, you’ve seen them all.”
So that was that. I think my mum was a bit suspicious about what had gone on at Fliss’s sleepover, but when nothing happened (Fliss’s mum didn’t ring up to complain, like she usually did), she stopped worrying. Anyway, my mum and I ganged up on my dad and told him that instead of having a camcorder, we’d rather use all that money to go on holiday.
So everything turned out all right in the end, didn’t it? There aren’t many sleepovers when that happens. I’m well in with Mum because nothing disastrous happened at the sleepover (or so she thinks), and also because we’ve persuaded my dad not to buy a camcorder. And I’m going on holiday. Excellent!
Look, that’s my house at the end of the street. Why don’t you come home and watch Mrs Doubtfire with us? My dad’s making the famous Thomas pizza, and we’ve got popcorn and lemonade too. And I know you won’t say a word to my parents about what I just told you.
Wait a minute, though.
See that red car parked outside our house?
Do you know whose car that is?
I do.
It’s Fliss’s mum’s car.