‘I didn’t know they were in the wardrobe,’ said Fraser. ‘This room is out of bounds.’
‘Yeah because everyone would be queuing up to sleep in here,’ said Liv starting to crawl towards the door.
‘It’s out of bounds because they’re a protected species,’ said Fraser. ‘Looks like they’re in the loft,’ he added pointing to a small hole in the ceiling.
‘I like them,’ said Effie, putting out her arms like a scarecrow.
‘Then you can have this room,’ said Liv, overjoyed to make it to the door. They waited for the bats to settle before dashing out, dragging a reluctant Effie with them.
13
It took Liv, Fraser and Effie a while to cart all the boxes and random stuff from one bedroom to the one with the broken bed. It was especially tricky as Effie was excited to look in every box and ooh and ahh over the old artefacts they uncovered. Liv had spotted a small bedside lamp that she might bagsy later on, so she didn’t have to fumble about for the light switch in the dark.
‘I remember this teapot!’ exclaimed Effie. ‘Fraser, remember?’
‘No,’ said Fraser, taking it from her and putting it in the top of a box before carrying it out.
‘You do. We used to use it for tea parties in the garden with our teddies,’ said Effie.
‘Teddies?’ queried Liv with a grin.
Fraser’s lips made a flat line as he paused with the box in his arms. ‘They were Effie’s teddies,’ he said.
‘And yours!’ said Effie. ‘Remember you had Floppy Teddy and Pink Ted who you always said needed extra biscuits. I think Fraser used to eat them,’ she added with a wink for Liv’s benefit.
‘Pink Ted,’ said Liv. ‘Now I’m guessing here, but was that a pink teddy by any chance?’
‘It was very pink,’ said Effie. ‘It had a bow on its head too.’
Liv spluttered a laugh.
‘I won it at the village fair raffle,’ said Fraser sounding defensive.
Liv started to properly laugh and had to adjust her grip on her box.
‘You should take that into the other bedroom before you drop it,’ instructed Fraser looking vexed.
As Liv turned she caught sight of the little black dog darting past her and he had something in his mouth. Was that her sock?
Once all the stuff was out of the room it looked okay. There were no scary dead animals, no leaks or holes in the ceiling, the bed was sound and even had a little canopy above it, making it seem fancy. Liv bounced up and down on the bed a bit. ‘The bed works. Once we’ve hoovered and sorted out the cobwebs I think we should give this room to Aaron and Kacey,’ she said.
‘Because spiders are lucky?’ asked Effie pointing at a large one hanging from the canopy.
Liv shot out from underneath it. ‘Not exactly.’ Effie seemed puzzled. Liv didn’t want to have to spell it out. Instead she said, ‘That leaves leaky room or The Night of the Living Heads for Shanie.’
‘Difficult choice,’ said Fraser, deadpan.
Effie looked shocked. ‘You can’t make her sleep in the leaky room.’
‘He won’t,’ said Liv.
‘I might,’ muttered Fraser.
It took some time to clean the room properly but it did look good and smelled a lot fresher. Liv was coming out as Fraser was leaving the bathroom wearing yellow rubber gloves.
‘Marigolds? I’d never have guessed,’ she said.
‘I’m not cleaning toilets with my bare hands.’
