Billy Angel by Sam Hay Page B

had similar experiences.
    â€˜Well, I decided that the only way to really get back at Charlie was to stop him from winning the competition.’
    â€˜What?’ I looked up. ‘You mean you’re not planning to kill him?’
    Thelma frowned, and then ignored me. ‘Charlie’s a dead cert to win tonight. He’s going to go for the pie record. Sixteen pies in ten minutes. And he’ll do it – I’ve seen him eat 17 in a practice session. But there’s one man who can match him.’ She pointed at the pile of bones.
    â€˜But he’s dead,’ I said. ‘Dead men don’t win pie-eating competitions.’
    â€˜They will tonight,’ snapped Thelma. ‘He has to!’
    Just then there was a crack of thunder from outside, and suddenly the sky opened up. Rain lashed against the window pane.
    â€˜How appropriate,’ I sighed.

Chapter 14
    Wiring a skeleton is not easy. Have you ever tried? Honestly, it’s impossible. There are so many fiddly bits. But I was doing my best while Thelma and Gaby poured over their recipe book.
    You know that old phrase about ‘too many cooks’, well, I was starting to see the point. There they were, both squabbling over everything: who should say what; who should hold the pie… I was quite glad to be left alone with Stan. Though I was becoming increasingly worried that I seemed to have too many screws left over. I decided they must just be spares.
    â€˜Are you done yet?’ growled Thelma. (That was her being friendly.)
    Seeing as Thelma wasn’t actually planning to kill her ex-boyfriend, I’d decided it was probably OK for me to help her make her zombie. ‘All ready,’ I said proudly.
    â€˜He looks a bit odd,’ said Thelma.
    â€˜Yeah, sort of not quite right,’ added Gaby.
    I frowned. ‘Well, he has been dead for 60 odd years.’
    I kicked the spare screws out of view.
    â€˜Maybe he’ll look better in his clothes?’ said Gaby, hopefully.
    Thelma had brought one of her dad’s old suits to dress him in.
    Putting clothes on a skeleton is hard work, but once I’d dressed him, he did look much better.
    â€˜OK – turn off the lights,’ said Gaby.
    â€˜Why?’ I moaned. I hate the dark.
    â€˜Because we need total darkness,’ thundered Thelma, who was only just audible over the actual thunder that was still sounding above.
    I flicked the switch and shivered. The only light was from the cauldron that the girls had rigged up on the table. (It was actually just a camping stove and an old cooking pan.)
    â€˜OK, I think we’re ready,’ said Gaby. ‘Bring Stan forward,’ she motioned to me.
    Stan was propped up in an old deck chair. I pushed him closer to the table and watched as Thelma picked up one of his long, spindly arms and draped it in the cauldron. In went the pieand then there was silence. (Well, apart from the crazy storm raging outside, which I was beginning to think might be a sign from above that I was letting the side down!)
    At last, they started. I’ve no idea what they said, but it sounded totally ridiculous. Complete hocus-pocus, wizardy bilge. I had to stick my fingers in my mouth to make sure I didn’t laugh. (And I was secretly scared of what Thelma might do to me if I spoilt her fun.) But as they went on, I stopped wanting to laugh and began to feel rather uncomfortable. There was something rather unsettling about their rhythm. And then suddenly a scary thought occurred to me – what if this mumbo jumbo really did work? What if we were actually about to bring someone back from the dead?
    The room went cold and I heard a rattling noise. I suspected it might be my teeth, which were chattering with cold and fear. But it wasn’t.
    Stan Spooner’s skeleton was shaking.
    I bit my lip and prayed that the screws would hold. (As you might have guessed I’m not particularly skilled with a screwdriver –