Sleepover Club 2000 Read Online Free PDF Page B

driver. He corrected the skid really quickly. “No cause for alarm, girls,” he said. “Just checking you’re all still awake!”
    “If they do build this DIY place,” said Mum, as if we hadn’t all nearly died in a ditch, “wouldn’t they have to build a proper road?”
    “The DIY outfit is just the start, if you ask me,” said Andy. “Before you know it, they’ll sneak in one of those massive supermarkets and I don’t know what else.”
    But I’d stopped listening again. Apart from the moon and the car headlights, it was totally dark. I felt a tingle of excitement.
    OK, I’ll admit it! I was a tiny bit thrilled to be here. Even if the rest of me wished it was safe at home in the warm.
    Suddenly, red and yellow flames kind of sprang out of the dark. My heart gave a big jump inside my chest. Like it was saying, “Yippee! Adventures!” I think the others felt the same, because we all started grinning at each other.
    “Ace,” said Kenny. “Camp fires.”
    “This is
such
a radical sleepover,” said Lyndz.
    “Yeah, Fliss,” said Rosie. I felt myself blushing in the dark.
    Andy stopped the car. To my surprise, there were loads of cars parked there already.
    “Oh-oh, I recognise that Volvo!” Rosie hissed.
    Guess what! Andy had parked right next to Mrs Poole’s car.
    I had a horrible thought. “You don’t think the M&Ms will be here as well, do you?” I asked the others.
    “You
are
kidding,” said Kenny. “Coming here would be WAY too dangerous for them! I expect they’re at home by the fire, knitting themselves a life.”
    “Now, now,” Andy teased. We were all still giggling as we piled out of the car.
    In case you didn’t know, Browses Piece used to be part of some huge, really ancient forest. I didn’t know myself until recently. To tell you the truth, it was all just grass and trees to me. And you don’t think of them as being in
danger
, do you?
    Suddenly Rosie froze beside me. “You didn’t tell me Browses Piece was haunted!” she whispered.
    I felt all the tiny hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Dozens of pale little lights were flitting around in the dark.
    But they weren’t ghosts, just live human beings trying to find their way in the pitch dark with torches, storm lanterns, even tatty bits of candle. Now and then, someone tripped over a guy rope and said something rude. We couldn’t believe it. Browses Piece was full of people!
    There were tents all over the place. Some of them were dead basic, just bent tree branches covered with heavy-duty polythene. I think they belonged to the serious protesters. It was like
Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves.
Only better, because you could actually smell wood smoke.
    Frankie slipped her arm through mine. That’s one good thing about her. She never holds grudges very long. “You’ve got to clock this,” she giggled. “They’ve built these cute little Ewok houses in the wood.”
    To humour her, I craned my neck and peered into the smoky darkness. Guess what? Frankie wasn’t kidding. There were lights high in the branches. Just like that wild tree-top town in
Return of the Jedi
!
    Don’t laugh, but I thought some of the protesters looked dead unfriendly. Body-piercing doesn’t bother me – well, you know, in Leicester city centre, by daylight. But it’s different when you’re in a field, miles from anywhere.
    Every time Andy caught someone in the beam of the torch, there was this totally scary glitter of metal. Honestly, they were like some weird kind of alien. Some of them had shaved most of their hair off. You could see, like, their bare skulls. And I don’t just mean the boys!
    “Bet you they’ve got serious tattoos under those big coats,” Rosie whispered.
    “Are
all
these people protesters?” said Lyndz.
    “I think some of them are just well-wishers,” said Andy.
    “There’s Mrs Diggins,” said Mum, sounding surprised. And she went over to say hello.
    Mr and Mrs Diggins are this sweet old couple Mum has known for