Read Tthe Sleepover Club on the Beach for Free Online Page B

Eek, I thought, it’s the ghost!
    The sound seemed to be coming from right outside our cottage.
    “Hey you guys, can you hear that?” I whispered to my mates. But they were still dead to the world.
    I padded over to the window and almost giggled with relief. My ghost was actually a fox, sniffing around the rubbish bags! I think it sensed me watching, because it pricked up its ears, then went loping into the bushes.
    I checked my watch. It was still early, but I knew I’d never get back to sleep. I don’t know about you, but once this girl’s awake, she’s awake!
    And suddenly I knew what I was going to do. I didn’t have to think about it. It was like I just
did
it.
    I threw on my clothes and crept out into the pearly dawn. Ohh! It was pure magic out there. Everything still looked so
unused.
Andbirds sang their hearts out from every tree and bush.
    I helped myself to one of the bikes, wheeled it carefully over the bridge, then rode like crazy along the lane.
    I was dizzy with excitement. I was cycling through the Suffolk countryside all by myself and I wasn’t even scared!
    Have you sussed where I was going? Boy, you know me way too well for comfort!
    And when I got to the bottom of the hill, there he was, grazing among the buttercups, looking just as magical as I remembered.
    A faint mist was rising from the grass, making my dream horse seem even more dreamlike than ever.
    “Hello, beautiful,” I whispered. “It’s me, your biggest fan. It’s Lyndsey.”
    The pony looked up briefly, then went on peacefully nibbling the grass.
    I used my special horse-charming voice. “I
said
I’d come back,” I coaxed him. “Why don’t you come over, hey? Come over and talk to me?”
    I stood there for ages, talking in the samesoft coaxing voice, and suddenly something wonderful happened.
    The pony slowly started to make his way over to the gate, trying to make it look like it was just coincidence.
    I kept talking softly. “Come on, beautiful. Come and talk to me. I won’t hurt you, I promise.”
    The pony whiffled his lovely velvety nose. I saw the tendons in his neck stand out. His super-sensitive nostrils flared, like he was receiving vital messages about me through the air.
    I think his invisible advisers said I was OK, because the pony went on edging closer and closer, until he was standing so close to me I hardly dared to breathe.
    But at the last minute he danced sideways like a circus pony, then he stood hanging his head and harrumphing, like he’d totally embarrassed himself.
    “Don’t worry,” I told him lovingly. “You can’t help being scared. Look, I’ll try to come back later. Maybe we can talk then.”
    I didn’t have to turn round to know my dream pony was watching me as I wheeledmy bike slowly up the hill. I could
feel
it in the back of my neck.
    It hadn’t worked out like I hoped, but I was still glad I’d cycled out to see him in the early morning dew. That is, I was sad, but kind of happy too, if that makes sense?
    I burst into our hayloft bedroom, just as my mates were beginning to stir. “Come on, lazy bones!” I teased. “Some of us have been up for
hours
!”
    “Cool! Did you nab us a tin opener? Erm, corkscrew, I mean?” yawned Rosie.
    Kenny was hunting around for her toothbrush. “Nah!” she grinned. “She’s been to see her horse. Haven’t you, Lyndz?”
    I clutched my head. “Oh, NO!” I groaned. I had completely forgotten about our adventure! How could something so important slip my mind?
    Lyndsey Collins, I scolded myself. You are
such
an amateur, getting distracted like that.
    “So we definitely have to buy one, then?” said Rosie.
    “Mmn?” I was still miles away.
    “I
said
, so we definitely have to buy one then?”
    “One what?” I said blankly.
    “A tin opener – oh,
bums
! A corkscrew, I mean!” Rosie said crossly. “Lyndz, honestly! You’ve got a brain like a – oh, you know!”
    Rosie’s well dozy in the mornings. I started to grin. “Sorry, Rosie.