Hey, don’t look at me like that! All I meant was “do you fancy coming down to the stables with me?” I’ve kind of got this thing about the Wild West at the moment. The others are used to it now. In fact they’re so used to it that I’m driving them all crazy. Especially Fliss. She keeps saying:

“Look Lyndz, if you don’t drop that stupid accent soon, I’m going to ram that stetson down your perdy liddle throat!”

Now that’s not very nice, is it? Particularly since the others were just as bad as me last week. If I remember rightly, it was Frankie who threw herself into the Wild West theme big time. And she even got everybody dressing up in cowboy gear into the bargain. You know how she organises everybody. Once she’s got an idea in her head, you daren’t argue with her!

You’re looking a bit puzzled. You must have heard what happened down at the stables, surely? What! You mean you haven’t? I thought everybody knew about that by now. Kenny certainly hasn’t stopped talking about it, and you know what a motormouth she is. And now I come to think about it, Fliss is pretty pleased with herself too. And when she’s like that, she usually tells the whole world!

I can’t believe that none of them have told you about our latest sleepover adventure. But that’s great, because it means that I get to tell you about it. And after all, it was because of me that we got involved in the first place. That goes without saying really, doesn’t it? As my mum keeps saying, “If horses are involved, Lyndsey Collins will be in the thick of it!”

I can’t help it if I love horses, can I? You know where you are with horses, which is more than you can say for people. Take my four brothers for example (I wish someone would, they drive me mad!). Sometimes they treat me like dirt and expect me to run around clearing up after them. And sometimes they’re OK and help me out of a jam. But you can never predict what they’re going to be like. Now, horses are never like that.

Is that the phone? Hang on, I’d better go and answer it.

“Hello? Oh hi, Rosie. Yeah we’re just going down to the stables now… You’re all coming too? Cool! Yeah, you’re right, no M&Ms! … It was class, wasn’t it? Yeah, the best yet… No, I won’t forget. OK, we’ll meet you down there. Bye.”

That was Rosie. Ever since our last sleepover adventure, she’s been going to the stables too. Not that she does much when she’s there – she just sits and watches Bramble and Marvel munching away at the grass. And sometimes she watches her brother Adam, who does his Riding for the Disabled there. But the real attraction of the stables, as far as the others are concerned, is that we know we won’t be disturbed by our rivals the M&Ms. Because we have just got one over them in a major supertastic way!

Oh hey, sorry. My mum always tells me off for that – for coming into a story half-way through. “For goodness sake, Lyndz, start at the beginning!” she tells me. So that’s what I’m going to do now. It’ll pass the time as we walk to the stables.

OK, well – do you remember when Mrs McAllister’s stables burnt down? I know we’ve had a lot of sleepover adventures since then, so I’ll remind you what happened. We were so worried about Mrs McA having to close her stables down for good that we went into fundraising overdrive. Our first attempt was a flop, thanks to those stupid M&Ms. But then I came up with the idea of a Stable Fun Day, which was brill. Unfortunately, the only thing people remember about it now is Fliss screaming her head off on a runaway horse! Her picture ended up on the front page of the Leicester Mercury and they started a campaign to save the stables. And that’s where Sita Chandri stepped in. She’s this hot-shot businesswoman from around here. She read about the campaign and stumped up the dosh to rebuild Mrs McAllister’s stables. Cool, eh? Fliss takes all the credit for everything of course, but then we’re used to that!

Well anyway, since the fire Mrs McAllister has had to keep her horses down at Mr Brocklehurst’s farm. And that’s where I went to see her a couple of weeks ago. When I got there, she was really excited.

“The builders say my new stable block will be finished next week, Lyndsey. Isn’t that wonderful?” she grinned. Her eyes were shining, and I thought for a minute that she was going to cry. But I knew it was just because she was happy. I felt pretty top-banana myself. It seemed ages since the horses had had a proper home of their own.

“They ought to have a stable-warming party or something!” I chuckled. Alfie, my very favourite horse, came strolling over to us. He stretched his neck over the fence and started to nuzzle my pocket to see if I’d brought him some of his favourite mints.

“Hey Alfie, would you like a party?” I asked, patting his face.

“Well, it’s funny you should mention that, Lyndsey,” said Mrs McAllister seriously. “Because I certainly want to do something special to mark the re-opening of my stables—”

“A party!” I started to jump around. “Cool!”

“Well, maybe not a party exactly. I had more of a public Open Day in mind,” she admitted. “Just to show that the stables are fully operational again. A lot of people cancelled their lessons after the fire because they thought my premises were unsafe, even though it was only the stable block that was damaged. I really need to build my business up again now, as my bank manager will remind me yet again when I meet with him tomorrow.” She grimaced, and a cloud seemed to pass over her face. But she soon brightened up again. “An Open Day should be a good opportunity to remind everyone that I’m really and truly back in business, don’t you think? Even my bank manager has to agree with that!”

“An Open Day? OK!” I nodded. I mean, it didn’t sound as much fun as a party, but it should be fun all the same. “It worked when we had the Stable Fun Day, didn’t it?”

“Well yes, you could say that!” Mrs McAllister looked dubious. “But I thought we could do something a bit different this time. I’m not sure what yet.”

“Hmm – I’m sure we can think of something …” My mind started to race.

Mrs McAllister looked at me.

“Actually, you needn’t worry about the Open Day at all, Lyndsey,” she said quickly.

I must have looked disappointed, because she started to laugh.

“You needn’t look like that. It’s just that I’ve got something very special for you to think about.”

“Oh?”

“I haven’t forgotten how hard you and your friends worked to raise money for my stables,” she told me seriously. “And I’ve never really had a proper chance to thank you for it.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I just blushed and shrugged my shoulders and mumbled, “You don’t have to do that.”

“Oh, but I do, Lyndsey,” Mrs McAllister continued, “because if it hadn’t been for you lot, Sita would never have come along and put up the money for the stable block. I’ve a lot to thank you for, and so have the horses!”

As if on cue Alfie began to whinny, and Marvel, Bramble and Trojan came over to join him at the fence. Mrs McAllister and I cracked up laughing.

“You see, they know what we’re talking about!”

When we’d made a fuss of the horses, Mrs McAllister went on:

“So I’d like you to think of a special treat that I can give you and your friends. Is there anything you have in mind?”

I thought hard – for about a minute – and then I grinned.

“Well there is something. But I’ll have to ask the others first.”

I had thought of something so mind-blowingly wonderful, it was like a hot fudge sundae and a knickerbocker glory all rolled into one. All I had to do now was persuade the others. And I knew at least one of them wouldn’t agree with me at all …

All the way home from the stables, my mind was whizzing with plans for this special treat. I couldn’t think about anything else. It was going to be so different from anything we’d ever done before, but at the same time so totally cool! I knew that I had to share it with the others as soon as I got in.

Well that was the plan anyway, but I couldn’t get a look in on the phone. First, one of Dad’s teacher colleagues rang about some meeting or other. Yawn, yawn, bor-ing! Then one of Mum’s midwife friends called and they talked for hours about every baby they’d ever delivered. Double boring with chocolate on top. Then just when I thought the phone was free, Stuart got on it and started talking to someone in a really soppy voice. Tom and I kept sneaking up behind him and singing:

“Stuart’s got a girlfriend!”

Stuart was not pleased.

Anyway, when the phone was finally free (after Stuart had hogged it for about three hours) I pounced on it.

“No chance, Lyndsey Collins!” laughed Mum, whisking the receiver out of my hand. “Have you seen the time? It’s time you were in bed, my girl!”

“Aw Mum, just a quick one?” I pleaded.

“No way!” Mum held firm. “I know your quick phone calls. You’d be talking for an hour at least. Now scoot!”

I had all that exciting news bubbling inside me and I had to keep it there until the next day!! It’s a wonder I managed to sleep at all.

The next morning I was up with the larks and desperate to get to school to see the others. But Ben took forever to get ready, and then Spike was sick and needed to be changed before we could set off. Then Tom decided that he needed a lift too. So by the time we finally made it to my school, the bell was ringing and everyone else was in the classroom.

“Don’t forget you’ve got the dentist this afternoon,” Mum called out after me. “I’ll pick you up at two.”

I flew inside just as everyone was settling down for the register. Mrs Weaver’s a bit of a stickler for us keeping quiet while she takes it, so there was no chance of me speaking to the others. I just managed to mouth to them:

“I’ve got some great news. I’ll tell you at break time.”

And let me tell you, break time couldn’t come soon enough, because our first lesson was maths and I just couldn’t get my head round it at all. Neither could Kenny, mind you – she spent all her time flicking bits of rubber at the M&Ms, then pretending to be hard at work whenever they turned round.

When the bell finally went, we all piled out into the playground. Well, the rest of us did. Fliss was messing about somewhere inside, probably doing her hair or something.

“Come on Lyndz, spill! What’s this great news then?” asked Frankie.

I loved seeing their expectant faces looking at me like that. And I loved milking the moment too.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Fliss?” I asked innocently. “You know what she’s like if she’s left out.”

We all turned towards the door, just in time to see Fliss appearing.

“Come on, Fliss!” shouted Kenny sharply. “We’re all waiting for you.”

Fliss looked very flustered and started to run towards us. But suddenly this leg appeared from behind the door. Fliss saw it too late, tried to jump over it, but couldn’t. The next thing we knew, she was sprawling on the ground.

“Fliss! Are you all right?” We all ran towards her.

“Enjoy your trip, Felicity?” cackled a voice behind us. We didn’t even need to look up to know that that was Emma Hughes, M&M Number One.

“I’m going to get you for this!” Kenny yelled at Emma and M&M Number Two Emily as they ran off cackling down the playground.

“I should have known,” Frankie sighed. “They’re still trying to pay us back for what we did to them in the scavenger hunt, aren’t they?”

Now you must remember what happened in the scavenger hunt! We’re still laughing about it. We didn’t think the M&Ms were going to take part in the hunt at all, so you could have knocked us down with a feather when they turned up with their mates. They were determined to win the prize, you see. We were seriously worried when we thought they actually might win the thing. We came up with loads of cunning plans to try to put them off the scent, but it was Fliss’s mum, of all people, who managed to do the job for us! They got disqualified from the competition completely. So that’s why they were planning their pay-back time.

Anyway, just at that moment I wasn’t concerned about their stupid revenge. I was more concerned about Fliss.

“We’d better get someone to look at you, “I told her gently, helping her to her feet.

Poor Fliss – she was crying but trying not to. Both her palms were grazed and she had a nasty gash to her right knee which blood was starting to trickle from.

“Ouch, that looks nasty!” said Rosie sympathetically.

Kenny cast her eye over it. “Well you certainly need to get all the grit out of there,” she said in her best doctor’s voice. “But you’ll live!”

“Th…thanks a lot!” sobbed Fliss, and hobbled inside with the rest of us supporting her.

Well, so much for me telling the others my news. By the time Fliss was sorted out it was the end of break time. So that meant I had to wait until after lunch before I could tell them. We don’t all eat our lunch together, you see. At our school the people who bring packed lunches can’t eat with the people who have school dinners. Crazy I know, but there you go. And as Kenny isn’t really fussy about what she eats, she always has a cooked lunch. We tease her about eating sheeps’ eyeballs and stuff but she just says, “Yum, yum!” and licks her lips!

Anyway, as I wanted to tell all the others my news at the same time, I had to wait. And by the time we were all settled down on the grass together, I was absolutely bursting with it.

“You know that I had something to tell you? Well, Mrs McAllister is planning something special for the opening of her new stable block—” I began.

“And she wants us to plan another Stable Fun Day?” asked Rosie. “Cool!”

“Well not exactly,” I tried to continue. “I think she’s planning more of an Open Day. But the thing is—”

“I’m not getting on a horse again!” snapped Fliss.

“You don’t have to, Fliss, because—”

Suddenly there were gales of laughter from the bushes behind us.

“You got a bit carried away the last time you were on a horse, didn’t you Felicity?”

It was the Gruesome Twosome! They’d only been earwigging, hadn’t they?

“Right that’s it!” Kenny leapt up and dashed into the bushes.

Branches snapped, and there were stifled screams and shouts of “Gerroff, you moron!” Then we heard the M&Ms scrambling out through the back of the bushes and running away.

When Kenny emerged, she was holding a fistful of hair and looking very pleased with herself.

“That should keep them quiet for a while!”

The rest of us were kind of shocked. I mean, there was enough hair there to stuff a cushion. The M&Ms would have bald patches for sure.

“Kenny!” Even Frankie seemed shocked. “I mean, pulling their hair out, that’s a bit strong, isn’t it?”

Kenny snorted with laughter. “I didn’t pull it out, dumbo! It just got caught on all the branches as they tried to run away from me.”

There’s nothing we like better than getting one over on our rivals! Except perhaps …

“My news! I almost forgot!” I leapt up. “Mrs McAllister said that…”

“Come on, girls!” Mrs Weaver was heading towards us. “Didn’t you hear the bell? Hurry up, you’re going to be late!”

Talk about bad timing! Was I ever going to tell my friends my news, or was I going to end up having this treat on my own?

It didn’t help that I had to leave school early for the dentist, so I didn’t even have the chance to tell them about it later. Talk about fed up!

When I got to the van Mum laughed.

“Why the long face, Lyndz? Bad day?”

I nodded. “Something like that. I’ve got this great news to tell the others, but I just don’t think I’m ever going to have the chance.”

Mum gave me a funny look. She knows that when I have “great news” it usually leads to trouble one way or another.

“Well, can’t you tell them tomorrow?”

“Not if it’s anything like today,” I explained. “The M&Ms always spoil things for us.”

“OK,” Mum said. “What about if you invite your friends round after school? You can tell them then.”

“YEESS!!” I punched the air. “Thanks Mum!”

I couldn’t wait to tell the others. Thinking about it even got me through the dentist. As soon as I got home, I sat by the phone until I was sure that the others would be home too. Then I dialled Frankie’s number.

“Hi Frankie – it’s me, Lyndz. If you want to hear about my news you’ve got to come round to my place tomorrow after school. OK?”

I didn’t give her chance to ask any questions. I just said “bye” and put the phone down. And I did the same with the others. Those were the shortest phone conversations I’d ever had with my friends.

The next day they were all intrigued by the mystery.

“Can’t you tell us what this is about, Lyndz, please?” they begged. But I wasn’t going to give in. By the time Mum came to collect us all from school, they were really wound up about it!

“Come on Lyndz, we’re here now,” Rosie said as soon as we’d leapt out of the van at my place. “Won’t you please tell us what all this is about?”

“Yes!” I told them triumphantly. “But only after we’ve all dressed up.”

Well, they didn’t need telling twice. I have this fab box of dressing-up clothes, you see. And we all love to pile in and don all these weird and wonderful costumes. Fliss reached in and grabbed the bride’s dress (surprise, surprise), Rosie put on a clown’s outfit, Frankie dressed up as a gypsy, Kenny borrowed my leather chaps and cowboy hat, and I turned myself into a fire-fighting princess!

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Sleepover Girls on the Range

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