Vive le Sleepover Club! (5 page)

“Come on, Rosie.” Frankie gave me a nudge, and we slipped away from everyone else.

“Did you see that smug smile on the Queen’s face?” I muttered. “She really thinks that we’re going to mess this up!”

“I know,” Frankie replied. “And this could be our last chance, so we’ve got to get it right!”

Frankie and I quickly scurried out of sight behind a big group of Japanese tourists so that we could check out the lie of the land. Mr Tate was still trying to get everyone
inside the cathedral, but he hadn’t noticed us. He was too busy sorting out an argument between Ryan Scott and Danny McCloud. Meanwhile, Danni Hart and Liam Darcy, who played her boyfriend in the soap, were walking along in front of the cathedral hand in hand, being filmed. Then they stopped to kiss and hug each other.

“OK, cut!” shouted someone. “That’s a wrap. Well done, everyone.”

As Frankie and I watched closely, Danni Hart began to complain about something. We couldn’t hear what she was saying, but we could tell she wasn’t happy. She was waving her arms about and looking really mad.

“I don’t like her one bit now!” Frankie whispered to me.

“I know, she’s a right pain in the behind!” I whispered back. “Do you think she’ll give us her autograph?”

It didn’t look too hopeful. Danni Hart was red in the face and looked as if she was going to explode any minute!

“We’ve got to try,” Frankie said. “Come on!”

We were about to go over to the film crew when it happened. All of a sudden we were surrounded by a big crowd of Japanese tourists, all smiling and holding their cameras out to us and talking in Japanese. We were so hemmed in, we couldn’t move.

“What are they saying?” I asked Frankie nervously.

“How should I know?” Frankie gasped. “I don’t speak Japanese!”

Just then one of the women shoved her camera into Frankie’s hands and pointed at the cathedral and then at herself.

“Oh, I think she wants me to take her photo!” Frankie said with a grin.

“Hurry up then!” I said urgently. “We’ve got to get that autograph!”

Then an old man shoved a camera at me too, so I took his picture standing outside the cathedral while Frankie was taking the woman’s. Then all of a sudden,
another
tourist was pushing a camera into my hand!

“No, I can’t!” I said helplessly.

But it was no good. They didn’t understand
what we were saying! Frankie was in the same mess too. As fast as we snapped one person, another camera was pushed straight into our hands. We must have taken about thirty photos!

Then suddenly Frankie let out a wail. “Oh no!”

I looked up just in time to see Danni Hart and Liam Darcy get into a big black car and speed off. The filming had finished.

“We’ve missed them!” I groaned. “Oh, rats!”

“Frankie! Rosie!” called Mr Tate impatiently from the cathedral entrance. “I’m waiting for you to come inside, please!”

Frankie and I managed to get away from the Japanese tourists, and we went gloomily over to Mr Tate.

“Well done, girls,” he said. “That was very kind of you, taking all those photos.”

Frankie and I just looked at each other as he ushered us inside the cathedral. Yes, the tourists had got all their photos all right – but we’d missed getting that precious autograph!

The cathedral was beautiful inside, but we weren’t really in the mood to appreciate it. We looked around for the others, and spotted them at the same time as they saw us.

“Well?” Kenny, Fliss and Lyndz came over as fast as they could without actually running. We
were
in a church, after all! “Did you get it?”

Wearily Frankie and I shook our heads.

“No!” Kenny exclaimed in horror.

“We got ambushed by a gang of Japanese tourists who wanted us to take their pictures,” Frankie explained.

“And by the time we got away, the filming had finished,” I added gloomily.

Suddenly there was a muffled snort from behind us. We turned round to see the Queen and the Goblin stuffing their hands in their mouths to stop themselves from laughing.

“Oh, shut up!” Kenny hissed. “The bet’s not over yet!”

“Only two more days to go!” Emily Berryman said gloatingly. “And you might not see the film crew again anyway!”

“We will!” Kenny said firmly, but we could tell that she was getting a bit depressed about it. I mean, for all we knew, filming in Paris could have finished and Danni Hart might be heading back to England right at this very minute!

“Yeah, we would have got the autograph today for sure if it hadn’t been for all those tourists wanting their picture taken!” I said, to back Kenny up.

Emma and Emily almost turned purple trying not to laugh. Suddenly I got very suspicious.

“Did you two tell those tourists that Frankie and I would take their pictures?” I asked furiously.

“Now why would we do a thing like that?” the Queen asked airily, and she and Emily sauntered off, smirking.

“They
did?”
I said. “It was all their fault!”

“Well, it’s too late to worry about that now,” Frankie said solemnly. “Let’s just hope we see the film crew again before the holiday’s over…”

“Quiet!” Frankie ordered us as we all tiptoed over to the bedroom door. It was five minutes to midnight, and we were on our way to rescue Jeanne! “Don’t make a sound. Don’t even breathe! We don’t want Chantal to catch us again like she did last night!”

“I’m scared!” Fliss moaned as Frankie opened the door.

“Oh, don’t worry, Fliss!” Kenny said confidently. “There’s five of us and only one of Chantal!”

“Yeah, but if she’s a vampire, she’ll have magic powers!” Fliss muttered, unconvinced.

“Never mind, I’ll sort her out, just like
Buffy the Vampire Slayer!”
Kenny grinned, and pretended to karate-kick the door. Her foot hit the handle, and we all nearly died.

“QUIET, Kenny!” Frankie hissed. “Or you can stay behind!”

“Yeah, maybe we shouldn’t all go anyway,” Fliss said eagerly. “It’d be much quieter if only
one
person went.”

“Does anyone want to go on their own?”
Frankie asked, peering round the door up the dark staircase. It looked even more scary than the night before!

We all glanced at each other. Even Kenny didn’t look too keen.

“OK, we all go then!” said Frankie firmly. “Is that all right with everyone?”

We all nodded, and followed her out of the room. Kenny, who was last, pulled the door shut with a gentle click.

“Just in case Chantal comes nosing around!” she said.

“Right, don’t step in the middle of the first two stairs,” Frankie instructed us as she switched on her torch. “They creak, remember?”

We all linked hands, and set off up the stairs as quietly and quickly as we could. All we had to do was get to the curve in the staircase, and then we’d be round the corner and out of sight from our landing. We’d feel a lot safer then. It was only about fourteen steps to get there, but it seemed to take us hours. At last Kenny followed the rest of us
round the corner and we all slumped against the wall and breathed a sigh of relief.

“OK, we’d still better be quiet,” Frankie said in a low voice, as she played the beam of her torch up the stairs ahead of her. “Chantal might be up in the attic with Jeanne, for all we know!”

“Hold on,” I whispered. “What are we going to do if she is?”

We all looked at each other. “I told you, I’ll do my
Buffy
act!” Kenny said, but that didn’t make any of us feel much better.

“Maybe we should just all rush in at once,” Lyndz suggested. “She can’t catch all of us at the same time!”

Fliss gave a little squeal. “I’ll die if she catches me!”

But we’d gone too far to turn back now! We carried on up the stairs for a little way. Then the staircase ended, and we came out on to a dark, narrow landing. There was only one door up there – a big, thick, wooden one. A large, old-fashioned key hung on a rusty nail on the wall beside the door.

“This is it!” Kenny whispered. “This must be the attic!”

My heart was thumping and I was shivering, even though it wasn’t cold. Fliss looked absolutely petrified, Frankie was pale, Lyndz’s eyes were as big as dinner plates and even Kenny was shaking a bit.

Kenny reached out for the key, but Frankie grabbed her arm. “Let’s knock on the door first,” she suggested.

“No!” Hiss moaned. “What if Chantal’s in there?”

“We’ll have to take the chance!” Frankie said. “We don’t want to alarm Jeanne.”

Kenny nodded. Taking a deep breath, she tapped gently on the door.

“Jeanne?” she hissed. “Jeanne, it’s us – the girls from downstairs. The ones you sent the note to. We’ve come to rescue you!”

No answer.

“Turn the torch off, Frankie!” Kenny hissed. “We’re going in!”

“Why do we have to turn the torch off?” Fliss groaned.

“Because if Chantal’s in there, we don’t want her to see us!” Kenny explained. “And we can make a better getaway in the dark!”

Frankie obediently switched the torch off, and we all gasped. It was so dark up there that we couldn’t see our hands in front of our faces.

“If we have to run for it, we’re all going to fall down the stairs and break our necks!” Lyndz whispered. I don’t think she was joking either!

“Right, here we go!” Kenny grabbed the key off the hook, and put it in the lock. It turned with a squeaking sound that grated on my ears. Kenny pushed the door, and it swung open with a loud CRE-E-E-AK! It was
just
like a horror film – but it was more scary that any horror film I’ve ever seen!

We all peered over Kenny’s shoulder, but we couldn’t see a thing. The room was in pitch darkness, just like the landing.

“Jeanne?” Kenny called cautiously, but there was still no answer. She fumbled for the light switch but couldn’t find it. “Put the torch on, Frankie.”

It was
then
that we heard it! A low, scary, spinechilling moan from inside the room!

“AAAAARRRRRGGGGH!”

“Wha-wha-wha-what’s that?” Kenny gasped. “Who’s there?”

The rest of us were too petrified even to scream. We just stood there, clutching each other’s hands. I don’t know about the others, but it felt like my blood had frozen in my veins and I couldn’t move a muscle!

Then, all of a sudden, we turned and rushed for the stairs. There was a clatter as Frankie dropped her torch in the mad panic, but we didn’t stop. We all hurtled down the staircase and back to our bedroom, panting
hard. It was a wonder none of us tripped and hurt ourselves, we moved so fast! I was last into the room, and I slammed the door and locked and bolted it.

“What – what – what – what was
that?”
Fliss gabbled, her hair almost standing up on end. “It was
horriblel”

“It was the worst noise I’ve ever heard in my whole life!” Frankie gasped.

“D’you think Jeanne’s a ghost?” Lyndz asked breathlessly.

“Maybe it was Chantal trying to scare us,” Kenny suggested.

“Well, she did a great job!” I spluttered. “I’m terrified!”

We all flopped down on to the big double bed, and tried to get our breath back.

“It couldn’t have been Chantal in there,” Frankie said with a frown. “The door was locked and the key was on the hook. Whoever was in there was locked in.”

“Then it must have been Jeanne.” Kenny looked puzzled. “So why did she scare us away? She knew we were coming at midnight!”

It was a complete mystery. We all stared at each other nervously. What on earth were we going to do now?

“I still think we should—”Fliss began.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, tell Mrs Weaver!” Kenny finished the sentence off for her. “But do you reckon she’d believe us?”

“No, she wouldn’t,” Frankie said. “She’d think we were having her on!”

None of us had a clue what to do next. But for the moment, we had some other things to worry about.

“Ow!” Lyndz groaned. “I banged my ankle running down the stairs!”

“And I left my torch behind!” Frankie muttered.

We all looked at each other in horror.

“Now Chantal will know we’ve been up there!” I said in a trembly voice.

“No, she won’t,” Kenny said confidently. “She won’t know that the torch is Frankie’s.”

“She might have seen it lying around when she cleaned our room,” Fliss pointed out. We all stared at each other, dismayed.

“We’ll have to take the chance,” I said.

Frankie cleared her throat. “Actually, it’s got my name written on it!” she admitted, and we all groaned.

“We’ll have to get it back then,” Lyndz said with a shiver. We all looked over at the locked and bolted door. None of us made a move.

“I think we should leave it till the morning,” Kenny suggested, and we all nodded thankfully. We’d had enough excitement for one night!

We all climbed wearily into bed, and for once, we all left our bedside lights on. We didn’t talk much, and we didn’t sing our sleepover song. But it was a very long time before any of us got to sleep…

“Right, let’s go!” Kenny said in a determined voice, stomping over to the door. It was morning, and we’d all got up for breakfast even though we hadn’t had much sleep. “We’re gonna get Frankie’s torch back, and show Chantal that she doesn’t scare us!”

It’s a lot easier to be brave in daylight than it is in the dark! Even Fliss didn’t look
too
scared as we marched over to the door behind Kenny.

“We’re going to solve this mystery once and for all!” Kenny announced as she pulled the door open, “And then—”

She stopped. Frankie’s torch was on the floor, standing neatly on its end just outside our door.

“My torch!” Frankie grabbed it. “Who put it there?”

“Maybe it just rolled down the stairs and landed outside our door,” Fliss said hopefully.

“What, on its end?” Lyndz said. “Someone must have put it there!”

“Yes, but who?” I asked.

We all began feeling a bit jittery again, but Kenny made for the stairs. “Come on,” she called over her shoulder. “There’s something weird going on here!”

The staircase wasn’t half as scary by daylight as it was at night, but I think we
were all feeling rather nervous. I know
I
was! We went up to the attic door and stopped. The big key was back on the hook, and Kenny lifted it off, and inserted it in the keyhole.

“Someone must have put that back after we unlocked the door last night,” Kenny said.

“Just hurry up and open the door!” Fliss said in a trembling voice.

“Right, get ready!” Kenny instructed us.

“What for?” I asked.

“I dunno.” Kenny turned the key. “But be ready just in case!”

She pushed the door. It creaked open and we all craned our necks so that we could see into the room.

It was a large room. And it was stuffed with buckets, mops, dusters and cans of polish, plus lots of cardboard boxes filled with old clothes, old books and other junk. We all stared. We just couldn’t believe our eyes.

“It’s just a junk room!” Kenny said, dazed. “There’s no prisoner here!”

“And it looks like Chantal keeps her cleaning stuff here too!” I added.

We all started shuffling our feet and feeling a bit stupid.

“Maybe we should look around in case all this is just a front,” I suggested.

So we did. We got all dusty and dirty looking behind the boxes and checking out every corner of the room. But there was no-one being kept prisoner up there at all!

“Someone sent those notes, though!” Frankie frowned. “Who could it have been?”

“I don’t know,” Kenny said grimly. “But when I find out, they’re dead!”

We locked the door up, and trailed down the stairs. We were beginning to feel
really
stupid by now!

“Thank goodness we didn’t go to Mrs Weaver!” Fliss said. “I always said it was a bad idea!”

As we turned the corner of the stairs, we got a bit of a shock. Pascal was standing at the bottom by our bedroom door. He waved to us, and then began to laugh. In fact, he
laughed so hard it looked like he was going to be sick!

“What’s the matter with
him”
Frankie asked, puzzled.

“Nothing is the matter,” Pascal said. In perfect English! We all gasped. “I was wondering if you liked my little surprise last night!”

“You – you – you speak English!” Fliss spluttered.

“Yes.” Pascal grinned. “I overhear you talking about going up to the attic on the day you arrived, so I think to play a little joke on you!”

We couldn’t believe it.

“So you wrote those notes?” Kenny stammered.

Pascal nodded. “You played a joke on me, remember? You teach me some English?” We all turned pink. “So now I play a joke on you!”

“Well, I guess that’s fair enough!” Kenny tried to keep a straight face, but then she began to laugh. “But you really had us going there for a while!”

Pascal looked pleased with himself. “Yes, I think it was a good joke too! A prisoner in the attic!”

We all started to laugh then. We’d been well and truly done, and it served us right! But I think we were all secretly relieved too.

“But how did you manage to lock yourself in the attic, and leave the key outside for us?” Frankie asked.

Pascal dived into his pocket and pulled out a key which was an exact copy of the one on the hook upstairs. “I have a spare!” he said triumphantly.

“We thought Chantal was the one who was keeping Jeanne prisoner!” I told him. “We’re all a bit scared of her!”

“Oh, Chantal is OK,” Pascal shrugged. “When you know her!”

“That was a really good joke, Pascal,” Kenny said. “You and I should get together and talk about jokes sometime!”

We all groaned.

“You know, Pascal?” Kenny went on as we all clattered downstairs to breakfast. “If you
have any more good ideas for jokes, you should play them on the M&Ms!”

“The M&Ms?” Pascal looked puzzled.

We explained about Emma Hughes and Emily Berryman. Pascal nodded. “Ah, yes, the snob girl and the one with the voice like a man!”

We all fell about laughing.

“That’s them!” Kenny said. Then she turned to the rest of us. “We’ve just got to get that autograph today! Where are we going?”

“Mrs Weaver said we were visiting the Palace of Versailles,” Lyndz said.

“Well, let’s hope Danni Hart’s there too, or I’ve only got tomorrow left to get that autograph!” Kenny muttered.

Pascal was looking confused, so Frankie filled him in on Kenny’s bet with the M&Ms.

“Good luck!” he said with a grin as we went into the dining room.
“Bonne chancel”

“What’s that mean?” Fliss asked, and we all groaned.

“Good luck, of course!” Kenny said as we went over to our table.

“We’re going to need it,” I muttered as the Queen and the Goblin sauntered into the dining room, throwing incredibly smug looks in our direction.

“Only two days to go, Emily!” the Queen remarked as they passed our table.

“I know, they don’t stand a chance!” the Goblin gloated happily.

“That’s what they think!” Kenny muttered bravely, but the thought of losing the bet to the M&Ms almost put us off our croissants.

The Palace of Versailles was completely brilliant. In fact, the only thing that was wrong with the Palace of Versailles was that the
Westwood Street
film crew weren’t there! So we couldn’t do very much about getting Danni Hart’s autograph. Mrs Weaver told us that the palace was built by a French king called King Louis the Fourteenth, whose nickname was the Sun King. He wanted it to be better and more beautiful than any other palace. And it was. It was really big, with loads of rooms full of paintings and gold
furniture and huge crystal chandeliers. My favourite room was the Hall of Mirrors, where Mrs Weaver said the King and Queen would hold dances for all their courtiers. The gardens were amazing too, with enormous fountains and lakes.

Of course, Kenny managed to fall slap-bang right into the middle of one of the fountains! She had a bet with Frankie (yes, another bet!) that she could walk all round the edge without falling in. Well, what Kenny didn’t realise was that the edge of the fountain was really slippery… As you can guess, Mrs Weaver wasn’t too thrilled, and neither were the two gardeners, who came rushing to fish her out!

“Maybe that’ll stop you from making bets now!” Frankie grinned as we all climbed back on to the minibus to go home.

Kenny ignored that. “I’ve just got to get that autograph!” she said gloomily. She was wearing Mrs Weaver’s jumper because her sweatshirt had got soaked. “And now we’ve only got one day left.”

“Let’s hope the film crew are at Disneyland tomorrow,” I agreed. “Otherwise the M&Ms are going to get one over on us, big time!”