Hiya! Fliss here. I’m so glad you could stop by. I was just checking my hair was not doing anything too mad before I see Ryan. That’s Ryan Scott, who’s in our class at school. He’s a brilliant footballer, and he’s very interesting to talk to. Well, that’s what I think – although Frankie and Kenny and Lyndz and Rosie just laugh when I say so. Mum says they’re probably jealous because he likes me better than them, but I don’t think they mind about that sort of thing. My mum also says you should always try to look your best, and this is a date. Well, actually it isn’t, but it’s a long story.

Do you want to hear it? Great. Pull up a chair while I finish off. You definitely won’t want to miss hearing about the wild time The Sleepover Club have been having lately.

First of all, you do remember The Sleepover Club, don’t you? How could you forget! I’m Felicity Diana Sidebotham, and I’m ten (no jokes about my name, please – I get enough from the Gruesome Twosome Emma and Emily, our archrivals the evil M&Ms. You don’t want to be part of their sad little gang).

If you want to know what I look like, I’m slim with very long blonde hair. I live with my mum, who’s a beautician, and my annoying little brother, Callum. Sometimes he’s OK, but sometimes I wish he was a girl. Then I could talk to him about important things like clothes and make-up. There’s also my mum’s boyfriend, Andy, who’s great. My real dad got married to Maria, and they’ve got a lovely little baby girl called Posy. I can’t talk to her about clothes either, but I can’t wait till she grows up!

The other members of The Sleepover Club are Frankie, Kenny, Lyndz and Rosie. Frankie and Kenny are best friends. Just between you and me, sometimes I feel a tiny bit left out when we’re at school. Sometimes I even feel like that when we’re having a sleepover, though I do try to hide it. Frankie and Kenny are a bit mad and love playing tricks on people. It was definitely Kenny who encouraged Callum to get those revolting spiders. Yuck!

Frankie’s just as bad. She once painted her face red and jumped out at me; I got such a shock I nearly fainted. Rosie said afterwards that I looked really green, which is not a good look for me, particularly as I had a pink sweater on at the time. Pink and green just don’t go. Kenny had to get me some hot sugary tea and wrap me up in a duvet. Did you know that’s what you do if someone has had a bad shock? Kenny wants to be a doctor like her dad when she grows up, so she’s good at knowing things like that.

Is this all sounding a bit muddled? Sorry! It’s just that we’ve had such an adventure; I can’t wait to tell you about it. But I think I should go back to the beginning and tell you about The Sleepover Club properly.

Frankie first. She doesn’t have any brothers or sisters. She’s got a pet dog called Pepsi, though. I like Pepsi because she isn’t the sort of dog who jumps up and puts her muddy paws all over you. A long time ago Frankie had a cat called Muffin who got run over, and if you think it’s odd that I’m telling you about a dead cat, it isn’t really. If Frankie hadn’t still been missing Muffin she wouldn’t have—whoops! There I go, charging ahead again. Perhaps you could just remember about Muffin, though.

Then there’s Kenny. Like I told you, she wants to be a doctor. She’s got two sisters, and she has to share her bedroom with her sister Molly. I’m really glad I don’t have to share with anyone. Molly is horrible – we call her Molly the Monster. She’s always complaining about Kenny – although I do think Kenny is a bit untidy. If you look under her bed you’ll see it’s stuffed with dirty clothes. There’s even a big bag of rat food – UGH!!! Luckily the rat is in the garage. I don’t think I’d ever be able to sleep over at Kenny’s house if the rat was in her room like she wants it to be. I’d have terrible dreams about scaly tails and horrible sharp teeth all night long.

I haven’t told you about Rosie yet. Rosie is like me; she doesn’t live with her dad. She’s got a big sister, Tiffany, and an older brother called Adam who uses a wheelchair. Her house is a bit like Lyndz’s house; it’s very messy and a lot of the walls need painting. Rosie says her dad keeps promising he’ll come back and sort it out, but he doesn’t. I don’t think I’d like to have Rosie’s room at all. My bedroom has ever such pretty wallpaper, and my mum let me choose my curtains and my rug.

Who haven’t I told you about yet? Oh yes – Lyndz. She’s got two brothers who are older than her, and two younger ones. She lives in a big untidy house with things all over it, and her dad is always doing stuff to it. I think they should ask my mum’s boyfriend, Andy, to do it properly (he’s a very neat plasterer) but they don’t. It’s odd, but they seem to like it just the way it is … and I suppose it is sort of comfortable. You never have to worry about spilling things or keeping the cushions all nice and puffed up like we do in my house. Lyndz has a dog, but I don’t like him as much as Frankie’s. He barks all the time, and he rushes about. Sometimes he jumps on your lap, and his paws are all wet and muddy and disgusting. There are three cats too … Toffee, Fudge and Truffle. And now finally I can start the story properly. It was because of Truffle that we turned into detectives … because one day Truffle went missing!

When Truffle disappeared, Lyndz was really upset. She was late arriving at school, and her eyes were red. Mrs Weaver – our teacher – told her that cats often wander off on their own for a bit, but Lyndz said Truffle always comes in at six o’clock for her kitty crunchies.

“When did you last see her?” Frankie asked.

“Yesterday morning,” Lyndz said, and she sniffed loudly. “She was licking the butter and I shouted at her. Maybe she’s run away because I was so horrible.”

“Yeah!” The M&Ms grinned at each other. “Cruel – that’s what you are! Poor little pussy. She’s run away to live with people who will be kind to her!”

Have I told you about the M&Ms? Their real names are Emma Hughes and Emily Berryman, and they hate us and we hate them. They’re always trying to get one up on us – sometimes they are just so mean.

This time it looked as if they’d been really successful. Lyndz turned her back on them, but I could see her shoulders were shaking. She was blowing her nose really hard. I glared at the M&Ms, and so did Kenny.

“If you think it’s funny making jokes about someone’s lost cat you’re even more lame than we thought you were!” Kenny said.

The M&Ms tried not to grin, but they couldn’t quite stop. Lyndz went on worrying. “It was so cold last night, too,” she wailed. “Truffle never stays out all night. She sleeps on the end of my bed, and keeps my toes warm.”

Frankie put her arm round Lyndz’s shoulders just as one of the M&Ms whispered to the other, and they fell about shrieking with laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Frankie asked them.

They didn’t answer, but went on giggling.

Frankie went right up to them, and Kenny went with her.

“Tell us what the joke is!” Frankie said, and she sounded terribly fierce.

Emma stopped laughing. “We were only fooling around,” she said. “I’m sorry if you’re worried.”

They didn’t look sorry at all. “Cats are always going off,” Emily said. “Our cat goes out every night.” She began to snigger again. “We were wondering if your mum thought your cat was a hot water bottle and hung it up in a cupboard!” And then they both laughed all over again.

I wanted to tell Mrs Weaver, but Lyndz said it wasn’t worth it. She said we’d always known the M&Ms were totally pathetic, and the way they were cackling just proved it.

“Take no notice of them,” Rosie said. “If we do it’ll only make them worse.”

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Louis Catt – Pet Detectives (страница 1)

Pet Detectives Louis Catt

The Sleepover Kit List

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Pet Detectives

Louis Catt