Fiona Cummings - Sleepover Club Vampires

“What’s got into you?” Frankie was teasing her as I walked up to them. “Has someone put happy sugar in your Ready Brek or something?”

“Kenny! Kenny! I’m so glad you’ve arrived!” Lyndz rushed up to me and almost swung me off my feet. “I didn’t want to say anything until you were here too.”

The others looked at me questioningly.

“Isn’t it great?” Lyndz gushed. “Kenny’s mum rang last night to see if we’d all like to go up to Scotland with them at half-term. Isn’t that brill?”

“Fantastic!”

“Excellent!”

The others all started leaping about too. They were taking the news better than I’d expected.

“Where will we stay?” Rosie wondered.

“What kind of clothes will I have to bring?” Fliss demanded.

Whoa, girls!

“Erm, no, I think you’ve got it wrong,” I mumbled. “Mum asked Lyndz and her family .”

“Mrs McKenzie told Mum we’d be doing her a favour because she could do with some sensible adult company,” Lyndz explained quietly, suddenly aware that she’d just rammed her great size nines into her gob. “But Stuart and Tom aren’t coming,” she carried on, as if that made the slightest bit of difference. “Mum’s sister Lorraine is going to stay at our place to keep an eye on them.”

“Kenny?” Frankie stared at me. “Why didn’t you tell us about this?”

“I-I-I didn’t know until yesterday,” I stammered. “I didn’t really…”

My voice trailed off as I suddenly saw Lyndz looking very troubled.

“I’m really glad you’re coming, Lyndz,” I told her truthfully. “We’ll have a great time. IT’LL DO YOU GOOD!” I added meaningfully, looking at the others.

The whistle went for the start of school, and I’ve never been as glad to hear it in my life! I felt bad about the others, but I couldn’t help thinking that they were being a bit mean to poor old Lyndz.

During the morning when we had to split up into groups for project work, Fliss, Rosie and Frankie quickly huddled together, leaving Lyndz and me by ourselves. Even Mrs Weaver our teacher raised her eyes at that. And at breaktime, although they hung round with us they kept making catty remarks about how they were going to have the “best sleepover ever” during half-term.

“What a pity you two won’t be there to join in!” Fliss told me and Lyndz sarcastically. “But you obviously prefer each other’s company nowadays.”

By lunchtime Lyndz was a dithering wreck. We were all sitting on a bench when she announced:

“Look, I’m going to tell Mum that we can’t come away with you, Kenny. It’s my fault that we’ve all fallen out and I can’t bear it!”

Her chin started to tremble and her eyes filled with tears.

“Right then, are you satisfied now?” I turned on the others angrily. “Lyndz needs a holiday more than anyone. It just so happens that it’s going to be with me. If there was a way to invite you all up to Scotland I would, believe me. But Great Uncle Bob’s about ninety or something. I don’t think it would be very good for his health if we all descended on him, do you?”

The others shook their heads and looked suitably ashamed. They gave Lyndz an extra big hug.

“Sorry for being so mean,” Frankie told her. “You go and have fun – just not too much, OK?”

At least we were all friends again, which was the main thing. But my big speech back there had got me thinking. Why couldn’t we all go up to Scotland? Uncle Bob wasn’t really ninety, and Dad had already said that he had loads of rooms and loved having his house full of people. What could be better than having it full of my friends? I knew that Mum would be speaking to him that night to confirm the arrangements, so I’d have to ask her if the rest of the gang could come with us before she phoned.

All afternoon I rehearsed how I would ask her. The only problem was that as far as Mum was concerned, us Sleepover girls together meant only one thing – TROUBLE. And it was one thing coping with that in your own home, but quite another transporting it hundreds of miles up into the wilds of Scotland.

I decided to just grab the bull by the horns and ask Mum straight out as soon as I got home. But it was just my luck that she was tackling Dad’s paperwork. Now if there’s one thing I’ve learnt in my ten years on this planet, it is never to disturb Mum when she’s got her business-head on. The fall-out can be pretty spectacular – I still have the scars to prove it! And it was the worst luck ever that she had her business-head on all through dinner and all through the rest of the evening. In fact she only snapped out of it when the phone rang.

“Oh Uncle Bob!” she spoke crisply into the receiver. “I was just about to ring you.”

Drat, drat and double blooming drat covered in bogies. I was too late – there was no way that the rest of the Sleepover gang could come up to Scotland with us now!

Whilst Mum chatted to Great Uncle Bob, I sat on the stairs and put my head in my hands. I’d let my chums down big time. I know that they weren’t expecting to go to Scotland with us or anything, but I’d kind of got used to the idea in my head.

I’d never been to Great Uncle Bob’s house before, but I imagined it was like this enormous castle overlooking a lake. I figured that it would have about fifty bedrooms and they’d all have four-poster beds and jacuzzi baths just like the one Fliss has, only much bigger. I imagined the five of us swimming in the lake. Well, maybe Fliss wouldn’t actually swim in the lake, she’d just hover at the edge looking pretty…

“…Laura! Laura! For goodness sake, stop daydreaming! Uncle Bob wants a word with you!” Mum was holding out the receiver to me and looking very impatient.

What on earth could he want with me? I hadn’t been listening to Mum’s conversation at all, so I didn’t know what she’d told him about Lyndz and her family. Maybe he was going to explain to me why they couldn’t stay with us after all. I braced myself for the worst.

“Er, h-hello?” I stammered, taking the phone from Mum.

“Kenny! How are you?” a warm chuckly voice asked.

Now any adult who calls me Kenny instead of my stupid proper name is all right by me.

“Fine thanks!” I grinned.

“So I’m finally going to meet you and one of your friends – two for the price of one, eh?” he guffawed.

“Erm yes, thanks for letting Lyndz come too, Great Uncle Bob,” I said. “We really appreciate it.”

“The more the merrier. How are the rest of your Sleepover chums?” he asked.

Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather! How on earth did he know about them?

“Erm, fine thanks,” I whispered. I was beginning to see why Mum thought the guy was a bit strange.

“It seems such a pity that only one of your friends is going to accompany you up to Bonny Scotland. How about inviting the others as well? What are their names again? Frankie, Fliss and who’s the other one?”

The guy was seriously starting to spook me out now.

“R-Rosie!” I squeaked.

“Ah yes, that’s the one!” he chuckled. “I love reading about your sleepover exploits in your Christmas letters!”

Phew! So that’s how he knew about the Sleepover gang. (Mum makes us write these stupid letters to our rellies at Crimbo time and I always fill mine with stuff about our best sleepovers and of course news of Leicester City FC!)

Anyway, when I’d recovered myself I suddenly realised what Great Uncle Bob had suggested. It was like he could really read my mind!