Free Sleepover Girls on Safari by Angie Bates Page A

talking about?”
    “The ghost of Gawdy Castle,” Frankie wailed.
    Mrs Skinner looked surprised. “But Maude wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
    Frankie’s tears stopped like magic. Everyone stared at Mrs Skinner.
    “You mean the castle is really haunted?” I asked.
    “Of course. Most old places are. But the Gawdy Castle ghost is quite harmless.”
    “But we SAW it in the dungeons!” Emma wailed.
    The tour guide clicked her tongue. “I’m not going to ask what you were doing there. But you certainly won’t find Maude in the dungeons. I usually see her in the hall or the rose garden.”
    “The ghost is called Maude?” Kenny seemed disgusted.
    “What about Kirstin,” Emma pleaded. “I’m really worried about her. Something awful happened down there.”
    “It’s like she was possessed by a demon!” Frankie agreed.
    “Yeah, I really had you going, eh?” laughed a voice.
    Kirstin was sauntering towards us, giving absolutely no sign of being possessed by a demon.
    Frankie’s mouth fell open. “NO way! You DIDN’T!!”
    “I did!” grinned Kirstin. “I played you for suckers and you swallowed it hook, line and sinker!”
    I looked down at my knees. For the first time I noticed the blood seeping through the denim. I was officially angry with Kirstin. “I’m glad you think it’s so funny. Now I’ve got to tell Mum I’ve ruined my new jeans.”
    “I’m sorry about your jeans, Fliss,” she said. “But I truly didn’t think you’d run out so quickly. I was just going to own up when you all took off like a bunch of lemmings!”
    One thing about Frankie is she’s an excellent sport. She gave an embarrassed laugh. “That was a pretty cool trick,” she admitted grudgingly. “For an Australian.”
    “I’d love to have seen us on video,” agreed Kenny. “I bet we were white as sheets!”
    “You were!” giggled Kirstin.
    “And that voice was well spooky!” said Frankie.
    The word reminded me that Gawdy Castle actually had a real ghost.
    “Mrs Skinner, have you seen Maude?” I asked nervously.
    “Oh, you never see her. You know she’s there though. You can smell lavender in the air and you sometimes hear long skirts rustling.”
    Rosie sighed. “That sounds like my kind of ghost.”
    “I hope your phone call wasn’t bad news, Mrs Skinner,” I said shyly.
    Mrs Skinner looked surprised. “How sweet of you to ask. Actually it was very good news. My daughter has just had a baby. We’ve been worried about them both. But they’re perfectly fine!”
    We all congratulated her and told her she didn’t look nearly old enough to be a granny, though like Kenny said later, it’s not that easy to tell with the undead!
    We were just getting back on the coach when I realised I’d left my sweatshirt in the reception hall.
    “Keep my seat for me,” I told the others. “I’ll be back in two ticks,” and I went haring back to the castle.
    At first I couldn’t see my top anywhere, then I found it crumpled behind a radiator in the hall. It was really grimy from the dungeons. Mum’s going to think I’ve been in a war, I thought. I’ve ruined my new jeans and my sweatshirt looks like a dusty old relic from a museum.
    Just then I heard the soft swish of a woman’s skirt behind me.
    “Oh, Mrs Skinner,” I said guiltily. “I was just—”
    But when I turned the hall was empty, and I could smell the sweet scent of lavender.

That night we prepared for the most bizarre sleepover ever.
    You see, on the way back on the coach, it came out that Kirstin was going to be leaving Cuddington next week. Her parents were dragging her off to some big ecological project down in Cornwall.
    “I’m gutted,” she said. “If I’d been here a few days longer Emma could have brought me to one of your famous sleepovers!”
    Frankie took a huge breath and my heart literally stopped as I waited for her to drop Emma right in the poo! I don’t really know whyshe didn’t. Maybe it was because she could see Kirstin was