Fiona Cummings - Sleepover Girls Go Camping

Tiff is Rosie’s older sister.

“They make this mega-big camp fire,” she continued, “and everyone sits round it and sings. And sometimes you actually cook your food on the fire.”

That sounded a bit like a recipe for disaster for us – The Sleepover Club are hopeless when it comes to cooking – but it did sound like a laugh.

“What else do you do?” asked Fliss. “You can’t spend all your time round the fire.”

“There are nature trails and stuff,” Kenny told her. “And on the last night there’s a sort of concert and everyone has to perform in front of the others.”

We all stared at her in amazement.

“What are you looking at?” she snapped. “I’ve been asking Molly the Monster about it. She does have some uses. She went to Foxton Glen on an ‘under canvas’ camp last summer.”

It was a miracle that Kenny had managed to ask her sister Molly anything without World War III starting. To say that they don’t get on is like saying that Ronan Keating is gorgeous: it’s kind of stating the obvious.

“So it’s not all big and scary then?” asked Fliss. She definitely looked a zillion times brighter now.

“No way!” laughed Frankie. “Guides do the same kinds of things as Brownies, only they’re a bit more adventurous. And I bet you’ll be able to think of something really awesome to perform at the concert!”

Fliss grinned this big grin. “It does sound kind of cool,” she laughed. “I thought there might be one of those awful assault courses, and I’m dead scared of those. You know, crawling over those nets and through all that mud and everything. Urgh!” She did this big dramatic shiver. “But that’s just crazy, right? They won’t have one of those, will they? Because if they do, there’s absolutely no way that I’m going to this camp.”

We all looked at each other.

“What’s up with you lot?” asked Fliss.

“Nothing,” said Rosie and Frankie quickly.

“Assault course!” guffawed Kenny loudly. “I wish!”

“Hic!” I gulped. You can always rely on me to get hiccups when things get a bit awkward.

“Hey, Fliss, can you go down to the kitchen and get a glass of water for Lyndz?” asked Frankie. She started to knead my hand with her thumbs – a trick that usually cures my hiccups.

As soon as we were sure that Fliss was downstairs, we all started to talk at once.

“But there is an assault course at Foxton Glen, isn’t there?” asked Frankie.

“Yep and Tiff says it’s pretty awesome, too,” nodded Rosie.

“And isn’t there an Assault Course Challenge at the end of the camp?” asked Frankie again.

“There sure is,” confirmed Kenny. “Monster Features told me all about it. Teams race against each other and there’s a trophy for first prize and everything. Molly’s team came second, so we’ve got to win when we go.”

“But… hic… Fliss won’t go… hic… if she finds out… hic… about that,” I said between hiccups.

“Well we won’t tell her then, will we?” decided Kenny.

“We won’t tell who what?” asked Fliss rushing in with my glass of water. I took it from her and started to drink.

“We won’t, um, tell Brown Owl that Kenny snores,” said Frankie quickly.

As soon as she said that I took a big gulp of water and started to choke. Kenny started to slap me on the back – really hard.

“Yes, because someone who went to camp with Molly snored,” Kenny told Fliss, “and Brown Owl made them pitch their tent right in the middle of the wood, miles away from the others.”

Fliss’s eyes became enormous. “Seriously?” she asked anxiously. “I’d hate that. You won’t tell her about Kenny’s snoring, will you?”

“Of course we won’t!” Frankie reassured her.

“Um, Kenny, you can stop hitting me now,” I yelped. “I’m not choking anymore. And my hiccups have gone!”

That was the last time we spoke about the camp before the next Brownie meeting. We figured that if we didn’t mention it at all, then Fliss wouldn’t find out about the assault course at Foxton Glen. She’d sounded deadly serious about not going if there was one, and it would be awful to go away without her. The Sleepover Club tends to do everything together, and having a sleepover without one of us there would feel too weird. It was going to be a real challenge to keep the assault course a secret from Fliss, but of course it was crucial that she didn’t find out.

The following week, the rest of us waited for Fliss outside the church hall before our Brownie meeting.

When she appeared, Kenny hissed, “Right, not a word about the assault course!”

Fliss walked over to us. She looked in a real mood. “I suppose Brown Owl will be going on about that stupid camp again,” she said crossly.

“Well, a ‘Hello, how are you?’ would have been nice!” joked Kenny.

“And there’s no need to sound so enthusiastic about the camp!” laughed Frankie. “We wouldn’t want you to actually enjoy yourself now, would we?”

“I’m not sure that I’m going to go,” Fliss said.

“What?” we all yelled.

“But you said you were , last time we talked about it.” Rosie sounded exasperated.

“Yes, I know, but I want to find out whether or not there’s an assault course there,” explained Fliss. “And I can’t ask Auntie Jill because Mum says that she’s on a course from work or something. She won’t be coming to Brownies for the next few weeks.”

“That’s a pity!” said Kenny innocently.

If Fliss didn’t have the chance to ask Snowy Owl about the assault course, she probably wouldn’t find out about it until we were safely at camp. And by then it would be too late!

“I don’t understand what the big deal is about an assault course anyway,” I said. “I mean, even if there is one – OUCH!” I suddenly fell to the ground.

“Whoops, sorry, Lyndz. I think I must have tripped you up,” said Kenny. As she bent to help me up, she hissed in my ear, “I told you not to mention the assault course.”

“I know – but—” I spluttered.

“Goodness, Lyndsey, that was quite a tumble. Are you all right?” Brown Owl asked, as she ushered us into the hall.

I nodded and gave Kenny a dirty look.

At the start of our meetings Brown Owl always runs through everything we’re going to do. When she mentioned the camp and the letters to take home we all held our breath. We were sure that Fliss was going to ask her about the assault course. But Brown Owl said that we’d a lot to get through and sort of hurried us into our sixes to work on our Season’s Badge, so Fliss didn’t get the chance.

As we’re not all in the same six, we didn’t meet up again properly until the end of the meeting when Brown Owl was handing out the letters about the camp.

“Don’t forget – I need your parents’ permission slips and your money by next week,” she reminded us.

Emma Hughes and Emily Berryman jostled and pushed us to make sure that they were the first ones to get their sweaty little paws on the letters.

“Pathetic!” spat Kenny.

“We’ll see who’s pathetic when we beat you in the Challenge at the end of the camp!” sneered Emma Hughes.

“Oh yeah? We’ll see about that!” retorted Kenny.

The M&Ms tossed their hair and stalked away.

Fliss, who was next to me at the back of the group, asked anxiously, “What Challenge?”