Tthe Sleepover Club on the Beach by Angie Bates Read Free Book Online

We’ll get one straight after breakfast.”
    “We don’t have to eat breakfast with all those other guests, do we?” asked Fliss anxiously.
    “I hope not,” I muttered.
    But when we went over for breakfast, my aunt told us that all the B&B guests had gone off to do this like, historic reconstruction at the local manor house. They just came back to sleep at night, apparently.
    What a sad way to spend your weekend, I thought. Running round in silly costumes, pretending you live in olden times. Oh, well! It keeps them out of our hair!
    “Hope you’re hungry,” my aunt said cheerfully, and she started putting all this food on the table.
    I don’t know about you, but in our house breakfast is not that big a deal. Well, let me tell you, this was an epic FEAST!
    Waffles and maple syrup, sausages and eggs, fresh fruit and home-made yoghurt… There was no end to it. And I’m embarrassed to say we wolfed the lot!
    “Can’t we at least help with the washing up?” Mum pleaded.
    “Certainly not,” beamed Auntie Roz. “Carrie will be here in a minute. She’s an absolute treasure, even if she
is
a bit of an eco-warrior.” My aunt chuckled.
    “Don’t knock eco-warriors, they’re cool,” Kenny mumbled through a mouthful of crispy bacon.
    “We know one personally,” I explained. “Her name is Jewel.”
    And we told my uncle and aunt about how we met her at a protest to save this local beauty spot. Of course, then we had to explain all about the Sleepover Club.
    Auntie Roz was really interested. “When my girls were your age, they loved having their mates over to sleep. And the thingsthey got up to,” she grinned.
    “Don’t encourage them,” laughed Mum.
    Unfortunately, by the time we’d finished our breakfast marathon, it was practically elevenses, and Mum said we didn’t have time to stop off at the village. “We should get started now while the sun’s still shining,” she said. “It’s twenty miles to the pleasure beach at least.”
    “Don’t worry,” I whispered to the others. “There’s sure to be a hardware shop there. We can open the bottle when we get back.”
    “Aren’t we taking it, then?” Fliss whispered back.
    Kenny shook her head. “Lyndz’s mum would be bound to notice.”
    So we all rushed to grab our beach gear. Soon we were whizzing along sunny Suffolk roads with our sunglasses on and the wind in our hair.
    Mum switched the car radio on just as the DJ was playing my favourite summer tune,
Sweet like Chocolate.
    Ever have the feeling you’re in a film? Like, every silly little thing you do is on camera?
    I felt that way for almost the whole weekend, like we were starring in our own Sleepover Club video. Everything was so perfect.
    I know, I know. I was really supposed to be figuring out how to get hold of a corkscrew, so I could solve a thrilling mystery. This was not consistent behaviour.
    But I’m a twenty-first-century girl, OK? And I wanted to have fun with my mates.
    “I think you’ll find this town has all the main Sleepover Club requirements!” Mum joked, as she drove around looking for a parking space.
    She found one eventually and we all headed for the sea front.
    Everything was bright and dazzling, like the whole place had been newly painted just for us. I could actually smell fresh paint, also warm fresh doughnuts! Tiny coloured flags riffled in the sea breeze and people whizzed about on rollerblades.
    Fliss unexpectedly produced a bubble tub from somewhere. She started to blow great shimmering streams of them, and all thelittle kids pointed as we passed. It was like the whole world was shouting HOLIDAY!
    We all had a long cold drink in a café, then we spent twenty minutes exploring the shops. Well, you have to check them out, don’t you?
    “OK, is everybody ready for the beach?” Mum said when we were bored with giggling over rude postcards.
    “Er, yeah,” I said. “But could we quickly stop at a hardware shop? Kenny needs to buy something.”
    Kenny looked