Sleepover Girls Go Camping

by Fiona Cummings

  “Nah,” replied Kenny confidently. “I saw them leave and they certainly didn’t have anything with them. And not even that fatty Amanda Porter could have eaten all our sweets in one sitting.”

  We rummaged about some more, but it was hopeless.

  “I’m going to kill them for this!” hissed Kenny.

  Then a voice outside asked, “Kenny? Lyndz? Is that you?”

  My heart nearly jumped out of my mouth.

  “It’s me, Frankie.” She popped her head through the flap. “I think lunch is ready and I reckon the M&Ms could be back at any minute. You’d better hurry up!”

  “Come on, let’s go!” I said to Kenny. I grabbed her by her sleeve and she stumbled and fell – right into the line of wellies neatly arranged at the edge of the tent. As they all toppled over like dominoes, sweets began to spill out.

  “Oooh, gross!” squealed Kenny. “They’ve been hiding our sweets in their boots!”

  “Never mind that now!” I screeched. “Come on!”

  We grabbed the bags of sweets and flew out of the tent. Frankie pushed us into our own tent just as Brown Owl was coming round the corner.

  “Lunch is ready, girls!” she said, popping her head through the flap. “Didn’t you hear me calling?”

  “Sorry, we’ve just been talking about how much we’re enjoying ourselves here,” gushed Rosie.

  “Well that’s great, but we’re toasting sandwiches round the fire and we really all need to be together for that,” said Brown Owl.

  “We’ll be right there!” said Frankie.

  We waited until we were sure Brown Owl had gone, then we all collapsed into giggles. Kenny and I tossed the bags of sweets onto the floor of the tent to show the others. Then we shoved them right to the bottom of her sleeping bag – no one would dare to look for anything in there!

  “Our sweets have probably been contaminated by those stinky M&Ms,” Kenny said, pulling a face.

  “At least we’ve got them back,” said Frankie. “Thanks, you two.”

  “That’s OK,” said Kenny.

  I raised my eyes to her. “And…” I prompted.

  Kenny looked puzzled.

  “You’re sorry…” I continued.

  “Oh yes. I’m sorry I was awful about you competing in the Assault Course Challenge!” she said in a huge rush.

  “We can only try our best,” said Frankie. “You must remember that, Kenny.”

  Kenny nodded. “I’ll try,” she said sheepishly. Then she brightened up. “I’ve got a new recruit for our team, too,” she told us, grinning from ear to ear.

  “Who?” we all asked together.

  Kenny wriggled about a bit and pulled something from underneath her jumper. It was a teddy bear. “I’ve kidnapped him from the M&Ms tent,” she told us smugly. “And if they want to see this bear alive again, they’re going to have to show us a bit of respect!”

  Before we could ask Kenny what she was planning on doing with the bear, she leapt up and said, “Come on, let’s go for lunch. I’m starving.”

  Kenny has a bottomless pit of a stomach.

  When we got to the camp fire, everyone else was already there. The M&Ms looked at us suspiciously, but we just ignored them. As Teletubbies were on cooking duty, it was their job to hand round the food. Fortunately Regina Hill gave us ours, so we weren’t too worried about the M&Ms tampering with it in some way first!

  We were each given a piece of silver foil, which was a bit weird. But it made sense when we were given two slices of buttered bread and some thin pieces of cheese. We had to put one piece of bread butter side down on the foil, put on the cheese, then the other piece of bread, butter side up. Then we folded the silver paper round it like a parcel and gave it to Snowy Owl to shove into the embers of the fire. The sandwiches cooked for five minutes then she turned them over and after another five minutes they were ready. Scrum-mee!

  After we’d eaten, Brown Owl reminded us that as it was our last night we would all be performing something round the camp fire. We had totally forgotten about it, so we went into a mega-panic.

  “We’ll just have to work on one of our dance routines,” said Frankie.

  “But when will we have time?” asked Fliss. “We’re orienteering round the whole of Foxton Glen this afternoon. It’s going to take ages.”

  “We’ll just have to practise our dance between the control points,” said Kenny.

  And that’s just what we did. We must have looked crazy doing our All Saints meets the Spice Girls routines next to the climbing wall and across the archery field. We had to sing, too, which made it difficult because we were all singing at slightly different speeds. We’re used to doing our routines to proper cassettes – singing along at the same time isn’t as easy as you’d think.

  “This is never going to work!” grumbled Fliss. “Everyone’s going to laugh at us.”

  “Not if they know what’s good for them!” warned Kenny. “Which reminds me, I’ve got this little baby here to take care of.” She pulled the teddy she had stolen from the M&Ms tent out of her pocket.

  “What are you going to do with it?” asked Rosie.

  “I’ll show you,” Kenny replied.

  We were standing next to the frog pond. Overhanging it there was a tall straggly bush.

  “There we go!” laughed Kenny, leaning over and wedging the bear between some of its branches.

  “Should we leave the M&Ms a ransom note or something?” I asked Kenny.

  “Then they’d know it was us who’d stolen it, wouldn’t they?” said Fliss, looking all panicky. “And we’d get into trouble.”

  “But so would the M&Ms, because if they dobbed us in to Brown Owl, we’d have to tell her about them sneaking into our tent and stealing our midnight feast,” reasoned Kenny.

  That was certainly true, but it still seemed a bit risky.

  “What should we put in the note?” asked Rosie. “We can’t really ask for money or anything, can we?”

  “We should call a truce until after the Assault Course Challenge tomorrow,” suggested Frankie. She’s always very sensible.

  “Then if we win, we know that we’ve won fair and square!” I laughed.

  “What do you mean if we win,” shouted Kenny. “Of course we’re going to win. Now – race you to the next control point!”

  Unfortunately, we were heading for the dreaded Blue Peter. We hadn’t been near it since the first day and Fliss nearly flipped when she saw it again. She went all white and trembly. I really thought she was going to pass out.

  “Come on, Fliss,” I reassured her. “Remember what we said – you’re as capable as anyone of competing tomorrow. Just take it a bit at a time.”

  Snowy Owl was waiting on the assault course, because you’re not allowed on it without an adult there. She could see that Fliss was in a state, and encouraged her to go on it for a few minutes to conquer her fear. Fliss just didn’t want to be there, but of course she was under heavy pressure from the rest of us to give it a go. I felt really sorry for her actually. But she did OK – she even got over the scramble nets.

  But then, as usual, Kenny went and totally destroyed her confidence. “We’ll never win if you’re such a snail,” she yelled. “Hurry up, for goodness’ sake!”

  Fliss froze and couldn’t carry on. The rest of us were furious with Kenny.

  “Shut up!” Frankie yelled at her. “Fliss is doing her best. We’re sick of you telling us what to do! I don’t know why you don’t just leave us alone.”

  Oh no! Not again! It was awful. Frankie and Rosie comforted Fliss, who slid down the rope swing and said she couldn’t carry on. Kenny went off in a sulk by herself and I had to try to pretend to Snowy Owl that everything was all fine and dandy!

  How we finished the orienteering without a major punch-up, I’ll never know. But worse than that was having to perform together in the show around the camp fire that evening. We’d hardly practised anything and we weren’t speaking to Kenny. Well, I was, but the others were
n’t. And we hadn’t had the chance to tell the M&Ms that we’d kidnapped one of their teddy bears. But that was the least of our worries.

  The camp fire itself was mega-cool. Or it would have been if we’d been our normal Sleepover Club selves. As it was, we felt that there was a huge rift between us all. If we were supposed to be Rugrats, then Kenny was definitely Angelica, bossing the rest of us around. So when we were getting our jacket potatoes ready and preparing our billie-cans for apple crisp, Kenny sat a little way from us, muttering to herself.

  We had a good laugh anyway because the stupid M&Ms greased the inside of their billie-cans with Fairy Liquid, instead of the outside. So when they started cooking over the camp fire all their ingredients were soapy and frothing inside. Yeuch!

  While our potatoes were baking and the apple crisp was cooling, we put on the show. Each patrol took it in turns to perform for the others. We were dreading it, but nothing could have prepared us for what happened next.

  It started off OK. The girls from the Wombles sang a really funny song called ‘What’s the Use of Wearing Braces’, then The Simpsons told a really spooky ghost story about some Guides who got lost at camp, which made us go all goosepimply and huddle together. We wanted to get ours over with, but no, Emma Hughes insisted that Teletubbies went next. Can you guess what they did? Pretended to be Teletubbies, of course. How original! In Amanda Porter’s case it didn’t take too much imagination. She was already bright red all over and her hair stands up in a funny curl, so she was a dead-ringer for Po!

  When it was finally our turn, we decided to sing and do a routine to ‘I Know Where It’s At’. We were pretty sure that Kenny didn’t want to join in, so Frankie said, “There’s just the four of us, because Kenny’s not feeling very well.” She flashed a look at Kenny, who flashed it right back.

  “I’m feeling very well, thank you,” she said. “I’m joining in, too.”

  Frankie rolled her eyes at the rest of us and we all took up our positions. Kenny made sure that she was right at the front. Frankie counted us in and we were off. To start with we were all singing at different times, and I could see the M&Ms and their silly friends spluttering behind their hands. That of course made Kenny really mad, and suddenly she took off into this crazy dance routine which we’d never practised before. The rest of us carried on singing and dancing as best we could, but Kenny was the centre of everyone’s attention. And I have to admit she was pretty amazing.

  I don’t remember exactly what happened next, it all seemed to happen so fast. Kenny’s head must have been in something of a spin because she was moving like a maniac. But she was also dancing pretty close to where the M&Ms were sitting. I’m almost certain that I saw Emma Hughes stick out her foot, and the next thing we knew Kenny had stumbled and was staggering near to the fire. Then she let out a cry. It was a cry like I’d never heard before.

  We all rushed over to her. Brown Owl had moved fast when she saw Kenny careering towards the fire, but she hadn’t got there fast enough to prevent her from falling.

  “Are you all right?” asked Frankie anxiously, looking at Kenny who was sprawled on the ground.

  “My ankle hurts,” Kenny replied, grimacing with pain.

  Brown Owl bent down and checked it over carefully. “Well you haven’t broken it,” she told her, “but you’ve sprained it quite badly. I’ll bandage it up now and then your father can look at it when you get home tomorrow.”

  You know that Kenny’s dad’s a doctor, don’t you? And Kenny is fascinated by all that medical stuff, too, so she was in her element, even if she did look as white as a sheet. Everybody was crowding round her, the M&Ms as well, and Emma Hughes had a particularly nasty smirk on her face.

  When Brown Owl had bandaged Kenny’s ankle, Frankie and I helped her up and supported her as she hopped over to the nearest log.

  “I was sitting there!” said Emily Berryman nastily.

  “Well you’ll just have to sit somewhere else, won’t you!” said Snowy Owl coolly. “And I want you to look after Kenny and make sure that she has everything she needs.”

  That made Kenny laugh out loud. “I’m going to enjoy this!” she told us, as she made Emma Hughes fetch her potato from the fire. Then, what with one thing and another, she made them run about after her all evening. We were in stitches watching them scurrying about like ants. Especially as you could tell that they were hating every minute of it!

  It was only later when we were finally in bed – it had taken Kenny hours to get to the toilet block and back – that we realised just how much Kenny’s injury was going to affect us.

  “What about the Blue Peter Challenge?” asked Rosie suddenly. “How are we going to compete in it now?”

  All the colour drained from Kenny’s face. I really thought she was going to cry.

  “The Assault Course Challenge!” Kenny kept moaning. “I was determined to win it find now I can’t even take part!”

  The rest of us looked at each other. I felt desperately sorry for Kenny, but I couldn’t think of anything to say which would make her feel better.

  “Maybe I can still compete in it,” said Kenny, sounding brighter. “If I’m careful I should be all right.”

  “Don’t be stupid!” Frankie said. “You’d only do yourself more damage.” She looked at the rest of us, then back at Kenny. “I know you’ve been driving us crazy about this whole Challenge thing,” Frankie continued, “but as it’s so important to you, we’ll try to win it for you, as a sort of get-well present!”

  Fliss didn’t look too sure about that. “But I can’t do it,” she wailed, her eyes filling with tears. “What if I let you down?”

  “You can do it and you won’t let us down!” Kenny told her. “You just need confidence. And I’ll be there to cheer you on!”

  Now that didn’t sound like a good idea at all.

  “I won’t be having a go, I promise!” she reassured us. “And I’m not going to say this again, but I’m sorry about getting carried away before. I hate falling out with you guys!”

  We all gave each other a group hug round the tent pole.

  “Crikey, that was like something out of ‘Friends’!” laughed Kenny and we all collapsed into giggles. Apart from me. I collapsed into hiccups.

  “Lyndz, you do pick your moments!” laughed Frankie, digging her thumb into my palm.

  “I’m… hic… sorry!” I giggled.

  Suddenly there was an enormous thumping on the side of our tent.

  “Oi! You! Have you been into our tent?” It was Emma Hughes.

  “And stolen our midnight feast?” asked Amanda Porter.

  “That was our midnight feast, I think you’ll find!” replied Kenny.

  “Well you must have stolen teddy Egbert, too,” snivelled Emily Berryman. “And I want him back.”

  “Can’t baby sleep without her ’ickle bear then?” asked Rosie in a babyish voice.

  “You’ve stolen him and I’m going to tell Brown Owl!” The Goblin sounded very upset.

  “Go ahead and we’ll tell her about you stealing our things,” said Kenny. “And I’ll tell her how you tripped me up, Hughesy. You could have damaged me for life!”

  There was silence. Then a few seconds later we heard Brown Owl. “Really, Emma, I thought you would’ve known better than to be prowling about at this time of night. Get back to your tent, now. I don’t want to hear another sound out of you!”

  We waited until she’d gone, then started laughing.

  “It’s not often those two get into trouble!” laughed Fliss. “They’re usually such goody-goodies!”

  “It serves them right,” I laughed. “And hey, my hiccups have gone! It must have been the shock.”

  “Well that calls for a celebration!” said Kenny and fished out the sweets from the bottom of her sleeping bag. “Here’s to being friends again!”

  We toasted each other with fizzy cola sweets.

  “And to beating the M&Ms in the Assault Course Challenge!” I said. But as soon a
s I’d said it, I wished I hadn’t. Fliss began to look very troubled again.

  “Fliss, you’ll be brilliant!” Kenny reassured her and she sounded serious. You could tell that it meant a lot to Fliss to hear Kenny say that. In fact it really cheered her up. And whose idea do you think it was to do a conga round our sleeping bags at one in the morning? Right, Miss Sidebotham herself. I fell asleep when the others started to sing ‘Wannabe’, doing all the dance moves in their sleeping bags, and Frankie told me they didn’t get to sleep until after three!

  You could tell that they’d had a late night because I was the only one who was wide awake at seven o’clock. The others were all bleary-eyed and moany. Not the best start to a day when the reputation of the Sleepover Club was on the line!

  “Come on, guys!” I yelled at them. “We’ve an important day ahead of us!”

  They all groaned and staggered out of their sleeping bags, and they didn’t seem to wake up properly until after they’d eaten breakfast. It was a good thing they woke up then because we had the craziest time after that. We had to pack all our stuff away and take our bags to the minibus, then we had to help the rangers take down the tents and make sure the camp fire had been put out properly. There was just so much work for three nights of camping, but it had been worth it. And of course the real highlight – for us anyway – was still to come. Yep, it was finally time for the long-awaited Assault Course Challenge.

  We all lined up at the start of the course and Brown Owl explained a few things to us. “Now, there’ll only be four girls competing from each patrol,” she said. “Kenny has an injured ankle and one girl from each of the other patrols has told me that she’s not keen on taking part in the Challenge either. Those girls are now managers and official cheerleaders!”

  Kenny led the cheering and Fliss looked furious. “If you hadn’t hurt your stupid ankle, I wouldn’t have had to compete in this after all!” she hissed to Kenny.

  “Now, as there are two sets of obstacles and four teams, Jerry and I are going to be timing each team. The Challenge is going to be based on the overall time each patrol takes to complete the course,” continued Brown Owl, “so you’re not just competing against the team next to you, you’re competing against the times of the other teams as well. Do you all understand?”