Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy

  Chapter 6

  Funny Desserts

  Now that Simon had started hanging around, things were getting interesting. Weird noises could mean anything. Blood was a different matter. You couldn’t dismiss that so easily. The words “The plot thickens” came to mind.

  “You saw blood?” said Ivy. She stood stock-still as if listening for it. Amanda wasn’t sure if the idea of listening for blood was funny or just plain nuts.

  “Yup,” said Simon, looking satisfied with himself.

  “What kind of blood?” said Amanda.

  “I don’t know,” he said, rather crestfallen. It was obvious he hadn’t thought about this new development carefully. “Drops.”

  “How many?”

  “I didn’t count them.” He shrugged. “Ten maybe?” His observation skills definitely needed improvement.

  “We need to go look,” said Ivy.

  “There’s no time,” said Amphora. “We already missed breakfast and now we’re about to miss lunch. I’m going to keel over from hunger.”

  “Yes,” said Amanda. “Let’s eat. The blood will wait.”

  They hurried to the dining room, where the only choice left seemed to be prawn sandwiches and stewed tomatoes. It really was true what they said about English food, Amanda thought. The dishes were not the most appetizing. But she was starving and so were the other girls. Simon was now onto some other subject—Formula One racing or some such—and failed to notice that no one was listening. They were all too hungry to care, and rushed besides. Their next class was in ten minutes.

  “I’ll just take Nigel outside and meet you at logic class,” said Ivy.

  “Okay. Sorry we’re so rushed,” said Amanda, stroking Nigel. He really was a sweet dog. She wished her parents had let her have a pet. Even a tiny little dog would have done, but they’d refused, even when she pleaded with them and promised to take care of everything herself.

  She looked down and saw hair all over the floor. Oh well. That was the price you paid for love.