The Scary Bridesmaid

by Diane Redmond

  Copyright

  First published in Great Britain by Collins in 2001

  Collins is an imprint of HarperCollinsPublisher Ltd

  77-85 Fulham Palace Road,

  Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

  www.harpercollins.co.uk

  Text copyright © Diane Redmond 2001

  Illustrations by Strawberrie Donnelly 2001

  Diane Redmond and Strawberrie Donnelly assert the moral right to be identified as author and illustrator of the work.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.

  Source ISBN: 9780007104819

  Ebook Edition © JANUARY 2014 ISBN: 9780007571727

  Version: 2014-11-11

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Keep Reading

  Also by the Author

  About the Publisher

  Chapter One

  Buffy Vine’s favourite thing in the world was scaring people. She liked nothing better than giving her friends a really good fright! She loved popping out of cupboards with a monster mask over her face and making her mum jump. It made her giggle to creep up on her little brother when he was watching television and shout, “BOO!” But most of all she loved scaring her best friends, Tina and Lucy.

  The day Aunt Sarah announced she was going to get married, Buffy gave Tina and Lucy a really scary fright. She’d been to the joke shop at the weekend and bought two wicked things – a big black spider and a red plastic eyeball! On Monday morning Buffy put them into her school bag … she had plans for both of them.

  At playtime Buffy hid in the girls’ toilets and waited for her class to run out into the playground. When everything was quiet she crept out of her hiding place and sneaked into the cloakroom, where all the packed lunch boxes were stacked up on a table. She easily found her friends’ lunch boxes; Tina’s had stars all over it and Lucy’s had dinosaurs. Checking that nobody was watching, Buffy opened Tina’s box and slipped the black spider in between Tina’s ham sandwiches. Giggling to herself, she unscrewed Lucy’s flask and dropped the red eyeball into her apple juice – then quickly screwed the lid back on.

  When lunchtime came Buffy made sure she was sitting directly opposite Tina and Lucy when they opened their lunch boxes.

  “What have you got in your sandwiches today?” she asked Tina.

  “I’ve got ham salad,” Tina started to say, but she never got to the end of the sentence. Her eyes grew wide in horror as she stared down at the huge black spider sitting on her sandwiches. “AHHHH!” she screamed, and throwing the box on to the floor, she ran out of the dining room.

  “Hey, what’s spooked Tina?” said Lucy, as she poured out her apple juice.

  As Lucy tipped the flask, Buffy covered her mouth with a hand to stop herself from bursting out laughing. Suddenly, the big red eyeball plopped into Lucy’s glass!

  “Ahhhhh!” Lucy screamed, as she dropped her flask and apple juice spilt all over the floor.

  “Please stop screaming in the dining room,” called the dinner lady crossly.

  Tina and Lucy were furious with Buffy.

  “That was a really mean trick,” grumbled Tina. “You know I hate spiders.”

  “One day we’ll get our own back on you for all your scary tricks,” Lucy promised.

  “Yes,” Tina agreed. “One day we’ll really scare YOU!”

  “Ha, ha, ha! I bet you don’t!” Buffy laughed.

  Chapter Two

  Buffy was still smiling to herself when she got home that afternoon. She was thinking what fun it would be to buy the plastic rattlesnake she’d seen in the joke shop. Suddenly, she realised they had a visitor. Her favourite aunt, Sarah, Mum’s youngest sister, was sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea with Mrs Vine.

  “Hi, Buffy!” said Aunt Sarah. “You seem miles away.”

  “I am,” Buffy admitted. “I was wondering if I should buy the plastic rattlesnake I saw in the joke shop at the weekend.”

  “You and your tricks,” chuckled Aunt Sarah. “I hope you won’t be bringing anything scary along to my wedding.”

  “WEDDING!” cried Buffy. “Are you getting married?”

  “Yes, we thought it was about time.”

  “That’s brilliant!” said Buffy.

  “I’m glad you approve,” joked Aunt Sarah. “Because Tony and I would like you to be our bridesmaid.”

  Buffy clapped her hands in delight. “Oh, I’d LOVE to be your bridesmaid!”

  “Tony’s nieces, the twins, Molly and Polly, will be our little bridesmaids, but you’ll be the big one – so you have to be sensible,” Sarah added firmly. “I don’t want any plastic rattlesnakes left in the aisle or black beetles dropped down anybody’s dress on my wedding day. Understand?”

  Buffy grinned. “I’ll try not to be your SCARY bridesmaid!”

  When Buffy told Tina and Lucy she was going to be a bridesmaid they thought she was teasing them. “Oh, very funny!” they cried. “Is this another of your silly tricks?”

  “No, I’m serious,” Buffy insisted, which made them laugh even more.

  “Ha, ha, ha, Buffy’s being serious,” they giggled. “That makes a change!”

  When they eventually realised that Buffy wasn’t pulling their legs, Tina and Lucy were amazed.

  “I wouldn’t want you to be my bridesmaid,” Tina blurted out. “You’d dress up as a vampire and spoil the wedding.”

  “Or you’d pour fake blood all down the bride’s dress and make her faint with fright,” added Lucy.

  Buffy pulled her scariest face and walked off. All this talk about wedding dresses suddenly made her feel quite nervous. She’d never asked Aunt Sarah what they’d be wearing. Buffy hated fancy, frilly dresses, which is exactly what bridesmaids usually wore. The thought of pink silk and cream lace sent a shiver down her spine. Not a nice scary shiver but a horrible sickly shiver.

  Buffy was relieved when she got home as Mum told her that Aunt Sarah was taking the bridesmaids shopping that weekend.

  “Good,” said Buffy. “I want something bold and striking.”

  “I think the twins will want something cute,” Mum warned.

  “We’ll see about that!” said Buffy in her scariest voice.

  Chapter Three

  The moment Buffy saw the twins her heart sank. They were six, they were cute and they were sweet – very sweet! She just knew they would want the pinkest, frilliest dresses in the shop – and she was right. Molly and Polly spent hours trying on frilly net dresses in every colour of the rainbow.

  “Don’t they look adorable in pink?” cooed Aunt Sarah.

  “Gorgeous!” agreed the shop assistant.

  “Beautiful!” squeaked Polly, as she and her sister skipped about like bright little butterflies.

&n
bsp; Buffy rolled her dark brown eyes and prayed … please don’t make me wear something like that.

  The shop assistant thought peach silk would look perfect on Buffy. “Peach would look wonderful against your long dark hair,” she said.

  Buffy frowned and tried to look scary.

  “I don’t like pastel colours! Anyway, I’m the big bridesmaid,” she added quickly. “I should wear something more grown up than the twins.”

  “If they’re wearing pink you really do have to wear a colour that will blend in with them,” said Aunt Sarah.

  Buffy felt like saying, The twins should jolly well fit in with me! but she thought better of it. She didn’t want to offend her favourite aunt. She glumly followed the bride down the rows of billowing bridesmaids’ dresses. Suddenly her eyes lit up.

  “Look!” gasped Buffy, pointing to a long, silvery blue, velvet dress.

  “I’m not sure that will go with the other bridesmaids’ dresses,” said the bossy shop assistant.

  “I like it!” Buffy insisted.

  “I do too,” said Aunt Sarah.

  Buffy slipped into the velvet dress, which had long tight sleeves and a beautiful embroidered neckline.

  “It’s beautiful!” she cried, as she twirled around and smiled with pleasure.

  Aunt Sarah bought the dresses, then took her bridesmaids to the café in the department store. While Sarah was at the counter, the twins teased Buffy about her dress.

  “You’ll look like a witch,” giggled Polly.

  “Or a wizard in a bad temper,” chuckled Molly.

  “You don’t look pretty like US,” added Polly.

  “Pink’s nicer than blue,” said Molly.

  Buffy frowned and sat back in her chair with her hands in her coat pocket.

  “We’re not scared of your scary face!” laughed the twins.

  Suddenly, Buffy felt something round and smooth in her pocket. It was the plastic eyeball! The perfect trick to shut up the chattering twins.

  Pretending to pick up a napkin, Buffy dropped the eyeball in the middle of the table. A few minutes later Aunt Sarah set down a tray full of drinks and muffins.

  “Orange for you girls and tea for me,” she said, as she handed out the bottles and straws. “Please will you pass me the sugar, Polly?”

  Polly reached over for the sugar bowl and saw the red eyeball rolling around next to it.

  “AHHHHH!” she shrieked at the top of her voice.

  Aunt Sarah jumped, and spilt her tea all over the clean tablecloth. As she mopped it up with a napkin, Buffy quickly grabbed the eyeball and slipped it back into her pocket.

  “What is it, Polly?” said Aunt Sarah. “What’s the matter?”

  “There’s an eye … eye … eyeball on the table,” she stuttered.

  They all stared at the table. It was covered in tea but there was no sign of an eyeball.

  “There really really was an eyeball,” cried Polly.

  Aunt Sarah stared at Buffy knowingly. “I wonder where it is now…?”

  Chapter Four

  Buffy couldn’t resist buying the plastic rattlesnake from the joke shop. She took it home and tried it out on her mum, who groaned when she saw it coiled up in the bread bin.

  “Buffy!” Mum cried. “Take that thing out of my kitchen and never let me see it again.”

  Buffy took “Freddie”, the nickname she’d given to the rattlesnake, upstairs to her bedroom. Freddie was SO realistic that even she got a shock when she woke up the following morning and found him lying at the foot of the bed.

  “Ahh!” she squeaked, then laughed at herself. Freddie was going to be a really scary snake.

  With Freddie in her rucksack, Buffy walked to school deep in thought. Where would be the best place to scare her friends with the plastic rattlesnake? Her class teacher came up with the answer when she asked Tina and Lucy if they’d mind tidying up the paint cupboard during morning playtime. When Buffy heard her friends say they’d do the job she knew exactly where she was going to leave Freddie!

  Just before playtime, Buffy wandered past the paint cupboard with Freddie stuffed under her school sweatshirt. She quickly glanced from side to side to check that nobody was watching her, then flung the rattlesnake into the back of the cupboard. When the bell rang for playtime, Tina and Lucy immediately went to the cupboard and started to sort out the paint pots.

  “Do you want to help us?” Lucy asked, when she saw Buffy hanging around at the back of the classroom when everybody else had gone out to play.

  “Er, no,” said Buffy and quickly hurried out.

  A minute later Buffy came creeping back in and hid behind a desk, just as Lucy reached into the back of the cupboard. Buffy held her breath … what would Lucy do when she saw Freddie? A second later she found out when Lucy let out a scream that made Buffy’s ears ring!

  “AHHH!!” shrieked Lucy. “Look!” she cried, as she pointed into the cupboard.

  Tina peered in and let out a scream that shook the rafters!

  “Whatever is the matter with you two girls?” snapped the teacher as she came running into the classroom.

  “There’s a s-s-snake in the paint cupboard!” squeaked Tina.

  “Don’t be ridiculous!” said the teacher, as she poked her head into the cupboard. “There’s nothing in here.” But the teacher soon stepped back in horror as she saw the snake.

  Buffy covered her mouth and rocked with laughter. Freddie was the best scary trick she’d ever played. But her heart sank when the teacher called the headmistress, who then called the caretaker.

  The caretaker arrived with a net and a bucket. “Where is this deadly poisonous snake?” he asked.

  “In the cupboard,” the teacher replied.

  The caretaker peered into the back of the cupboard and burst out laughing. “It’s a fake snake,” he chuckled. “Somebody’s trying to scare you!”

  When the headmistress found out what Buffy had done she was furious, and told her she had to miss playtime for a whole week. “We don’t want scary things like this happening in our school,” she told Buffy.

  Tina and Lucy were thrilled that Buffy was being punished for scaring them.

  “You really scared us,” said Tina.

  “It was the worst shock of my life,” said Lucy.

  “It’s worth missing playtime for the look on your faces when you saw Freddie,” giggled Buffy.

  “Just you wait,” said Tina.

  Chapter Five

  Buffy wasn’t looking forward to going into town to choose the bridesmaids’ head dresses. She knew she would disagree with the twins. They’d probably want pink and she certainly wouldn’t want anything as girly as that.

  “Maybe I’ll take Freddie with me,” Buffy thought. “He might come in handy.”

  With the plastic snake in her rucksack, she met Aunt Sarah and the twins in the bridal shop.

  “Can we have sparkly tiaras?” begged Molly.

  “Oooh, yes, a tiara with lots of shiny jewels?” Polly added cutely.

  Buffy glared at the twins and pulled a scary face. A sparkly tiara was the last thing she wanted.

  “Actually, I’m wearing a diamante tiara,” Aunt Sarah told the twins. “So I’d like you to wear something different from me.”

  “Can we have a crown of pretty flowers?” asked Molly.

  “Or pink feathers – like this?” suggested Polly, as she popped on a frilly pink head dress with feathers round the edges.

  “I’ve got to stop the twins coming up with such terrible ideas,” thought Buffy.

  As Aunt Sarah admired the twins in the big shop mirror, Buffy laid Freddie along the edge of the counter.

  “A scary rattlesnake should take their minds off frills and feathers,” she thought with a smile.

  A few seconds later, Polly turned from the mirror and saw Freddie lying right next to her hand.

  “AAAH! EEEK!” she hollered in total terror.

  When Molly saw the snake she reacted in exactly the same way.<
br />
  “HAAAAAH!” she screamed.

  The shop assistant rushed the twins away from the scary snake, leaving Aunt Sarah glaring at Buffy, who was now holding Freddie limply in her hands.

  “Buffy! How could you do that?” demanded Aunt Sarah crossly.

  “Er, er, it sort of slipped out of my rucksack,” Buffy mumbled.

  “Nonsense, you put it there to scare the twins. It’s exactly the kind of scary thing you like to do,” Aunt Sarah added knowingly. “I let you off when you scared the twins with the eyeball but this is going too far. Any more of this nonsense and you will not be my bridesmaid.”

  Buffy blushed. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I just hate the head dresses they want and I thought Freddie might take their minds off pink feathers and satin flowers.”

  “Who’s Freddie …?” asked Aunt Sarah.

  “That’s the name I gave my snake,” Buffy replied.

  Aunt Sarah started to giggle, which made Buffy giggle too.

  “We’re going to choose the flowers next and I don’t want to see Freddie in the florist shop just because you don’t like the same kind of flowers as the twins,” said Aunt Sarah.

  Buffy nodded. She’d try not to scare the twins but it was going to be SO hard!

  Chapter Six

  As the wedding day got nearer Buffy didn’t have time for scary tricks. She had to buy wedding shoes and have her long hair trimmed. There were endless food shops with Mum, who was stocking up for all the relatives coming to stay with them for the wedding. In fact, if it hadn’t been for Mum’s umpteen visits to the local supermarket, Buffy would never have spotted the wicked plastic ink splodge. It was displayed on one of the shelves with an inkbottle tipped sideways and a pool of black ink pouring out of it. It looked so realistic Buffy just had to go up and feel it.

 
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