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  Poppy, Honey, Daisy, Rose and Lily all took their seats backstage, anxious to hear what the competition was like, but feeling quite secure about their own chances, especially after what Grandpa had said about Lilac and the Mermaids.

  The first few acts were pleasant enough, and a little girl from Strawberry Corner called Blossom Darling was especially cute with a song she had written herself about ballet. Any screeching in the sound system was quickly adjusted by the production crew. But so far, it didn’t look like any other group had put the same time and effort into their numbers as the Beach Babes had. They were sure all their practice was going to pay off. Poppy thought that Caves ’n’ Rocks were really good, despite what Lily’s brother had said about their song, and so were an Abba tribute group – although they were not original.

  Soon it was time for Lilac and the Mermaids to perform. Lilac got up on stage, followed by her band, and took the microphone. She looked very glamorous in a mini-dress and high heels. The rest of the Mermaids were dressed much more simply, so that Lilac looked even more stunning. Her long blonde hair had been newly styled and, with a flick of her golden tresses, she began to sing. Her song was: Chocolate Sundae Girls.

  The Beach Babes couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Surely Lilac didn’t think she could get away with pinching their song.

  Granny Bumble, Mum, Dad, Uncle Daniel, Aunt Delphi and all the other parents were completely dumbstruck. Grandpa was appalled. He had heard Lilac and the Mermaids practising their song in the cave two days before and it wasn’t this one. How had Lilac got hold of his girls’ song? He looked over at the Colonel, who had also heard Lilac’s dreadful rehearsal in the cave, to see him smiling proudly, just like Grandpa should have been at his two granddaughters. But what was odd was that Mr Farrington, rather than looking happy for his daughter, looked rather disconcerted and puzzled.

  Chapter Seven

  LILAC DID NOT sing brilliantly at all, but the fact that the song was good enabled her to pass it off quite well. Her friend Fern Zitelli was on guitar, with Lulu Lamont on drums, and they did a passable cover version of Chocolate Sundae Girls even though it was nothing like the Beach Babes’ version and they had no backing vocals or dance routine to speak of.

  The judges seemed very impressed. As far as they knew it wasn’t a cover version of another song; it seemed truly original, as well as catchy.

  Poppy felt hot tears pricking in her eyes. Daisy’s palms were warm and clammy. Honey was in tears. Rose and Lily had never been so furious. How could this have happened to them?

  Suddenly Lily began to sob. “It’s all my fault! Remember when I dropped my song sheet in the Lighthouse Café and me and Fleur couldn’t find it the next day? Well, Lilac was at the next table – she could have stolen the song sheet then. And when their own song didn’t shape up, she must have decided to use ours instead and then ask to sing before us!”

  “What a rotten thing to do!” exclaimed Daisy, but it was the only explanation that made any sense.

  As Lilac’s band took their bows on stage, Lily spread the word of what might have happened amongst their families. They were all appalled. They knew that the girls had been singing that number all along and had written it themselves.

  Soon it was time for the Beach Babes to take the stage. But instead of the whole band going up, Daisy walked on alone, bravely took the microphone and tried to explain what had happened.

  “We will not be able to take part in the contest because our song has been sung by Lilac and the Mermaids. We’re not sure how this happened, but a song sheet of Chocolate Sundae Girls went missing from the Lighthouse Café.”

  There was a gasp of confusion from the audience, other performers, the judges, presenters and crew. Then there was a hush. Johnny McDonald walked towards Daisy and took the microphone from her.

  “Well, folks, looks like there’s been a bit of confusion here. But, hey, that’s what rehearsals are for! I guess that’s it for tonight. Thank you, everybody. We need to try to get to the bottom of this.”

  As the Beach Babes were being comforted by their families, Lilac, Lulu and Fern walked past. None of them even looked at Poppy and her friends. They couldn’t believe that after all their hard work and commitment they were out of the contest and it seemed like there was nothing they could do about it.

  Daisy’s mum, Delphi, couldn’t stand it – it was so unfair. She jumped up onto the stage and spoke into the microphone, managing to say her piece before she was escorted off by a burly bouncer.

  “You haven’t heard the last of this. I don’t know what Lilac and the Mermaids are up to, but they won’t get away with it. I saw my daughter and her friends write that song and I will not rest until the truth comes out – and the truth will out, I am sure of it!”

  There was nothing more anyone could do or say to make a difference so they returned to The Pebbles feeling very frustrated, angry and disappointed at the way things had turned out. Poppy had never felt so low. It seemed there was no way out of this horribly unfair situation.

  Back at the house, they all settled down in the living room.

  “Right!” said Poppy’s dad. He hardly ever got angry, but now he was feeling furious. “Let’s discuss what options are open to us here. This is a very difficult situation.”

  “Why don’t we confront Lilac and her band and get them to confess?” suggested Mum. “She must have a heart. I’ve always thought she was very sweet. Sometimes I think her dad puts too much pressure on her to be the best at everything. Maybe she just needs a bit of sympathy.”

  “Hmmm, I think we should talk to people in the town and see whether they can shed any light on this,” said Rose’s dad.

  Granny Bumble thought this was way too complicated. “Why not just wait? The truth will come out all by itself. I’m sure Lilac’s father knows what’s going on. He can’t stay silent about this – he’s a respected member of the community. I saw him last night when our girls were performing their song on the balcony. He was out for a stroll on the beach with his dog. He even stopped to listen and gave a wave.”

  Daisy’s brother, Edward, nodded in agreement. “I saw him too!”

  “Is that so?” asked Grandpa. “Well, I think my old friend the Colonel might know more about this than he’s letting on too.

  He was with me when I heard Lilac and the Mermaids singing their dire song in the cave. But he can’t see any wrong in that girl.”

  “That’s all very well,” replied Lily’s mum, “but we don’t have much time. I think we should see whether they can re-enter the competition with a different song.”

  There was a mixture of reactions to all these ideas, but most people thought the only quick way round the problem was for the girls to get started on a new song right away.

  “In the morning I’ll check that you’re still allowed to perform with a new song, girls,” promised Dad. “And you’ll have to get your heads together and come up with one as soon as possible. I know you can do it, you’re all so talented. And of course, if we can get the judges to see the truth before Saturday, then you can still sing Chocolate Sundae Girls.”

  Poppy had rarely seen her dad so bossy. He was determined to find a way through for his princess and her friends.

  Chapter Eight

  THE NEXT DAY was Thursday and the week that had started so joyously was rapidly going downhill.

  After breakfast Dad and Grandpa went over to the Farringtons’ house to discuss things with Lilac and her dad. They rang the bell nervously. They were both desperate to sort things out and protect the girls from any more heartache.

  After a couple of minutes a rather embarrassed-looking Mr Farrington appeared.

  “Hello,” said Dad. “We’re sorry to bother you so early, but we wondered whether we could have a chat with you and Lilac about what happened yesterday. I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation, but we’d like to get to the bottom of it and to hear Lilac’s side of the story too.”

  Before Mr Far
rington could say anything Lilac came to the door, smiling sweetly. “Hi, Mr Cotton and Mr Mellow, I thought you might come over,” she said.

  “Well, I suppose you’d better come in,” said Mr Farrington as he ushered Dad and Grandpa into the sitting room.

  “I wonder if we could see the song sheet you used for Chocolate Sundae Girls, please?” asked Grandpa.

  “Of course,” Lilac replied. “I’ll just go and get it.”

  She came back brandishing a song sheet for Chocolate Sundae Girls. It had all been written out in her own perfect handwriting.

  “That is clearly Lilac’s,” said Mr Farrington. “She’s done nothing wrong, have you, darling?”

  “No, Daddy,” Lilac assured him. “The Beach Babes must just have got really nervous when they saw how good our song was and thought it was better to tell lies rather than lose face by not doing such a good performance as me and the Mermaids.”

  “Well, there you go. Now you’ve got to the bottom of it,” said Mr Farrington. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got things to do.”

  Dad and Grandpa said goodbye and walked forlornly back to The Pebbles. They felt they had made things worse, not better, and decided not to say anything about their conversation to the family.

  “Farrington knows the truth. He couldn’t meet our eyes,” said Grandpa.

  “Yes, but Lilac’s not ready to face the truth. I think she’s lied so much, she has started to believe it really is her song now,” concluded Dad.

  Grandpa nodded. “All she cares about is winning. She doesn’t care how she does it. Our girls have got commitment – that must count for something. Lilac will come unstuck at some point. Even if she wins with our girls’ song, she’ll never be able to think of another!”

  Dad agreed. He knew that being on the side of truth was all that mattered, but the sense of injustice was stinging his heart nonetheless.

  Back at The Pebbles, Granny Bumble was clearing up the breakfast. She had lovingly prepared a hot spread, with fluffy scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, buttery mushrooms and piles of buttered toast. But no one had been hungry, so it was all going to waste.

  “It’s our word against theirs,” mumbled Mum as she wiped the twins’ faces and took off their bibs.

  “Listen to an old girl like me!” said Granny. “I keep saying it and no one will listen. This will sort itself out in a way you can’t imagine. I am confident the truth will win through. The fact is, our girls haven’t cheated, so we should feel proud of them, whatever happens. It’s only a contest.”

  Poppy and Honey hoped more than anything in the world that Granny Bumble was right, but neither of them could see how it was going to happen.

  Dad went out again almost immediately, this time with Poppy and Honey, and dropped by the temporary office of You’re a Star!, which was in the Camomile Chronicle building. He asked if they could re-register with another song.

  An administrator came through to speak to Dad and reluctantly agreed that the girls could be included if they came up with a song by Friday tea time.

  “That gives us less than two days to think of a new tune, words, dance routine and everything!” wailed Poppy as Dad took her and Honey round to Daisy’s summer house.

  Daisy, Lily and Rose were already there, feeling very de-motivated and still shocked. On hearing the news about the new song being acceptable, they tried to jot down some notes but they were struggling for inspiration.

  “Why don’t we write about school?” suggested Lily. “How awful it is – especially with a headmaster like Farrington.”

  The girls perked up a bit at this idea.

  “Yes,” agreed Daisy. “We could call it High School Blues. That could work. But it won’t be as cool as Chocolate Sundae Girls. That was the best song we’ve ever written.”

  All the girls murmured their agreement, but they did not want to be left out of the contest so they settled down to some serious song-writing.

  “How does this sound?” asked Lily.

  “That’s a great start, Lil!” said Daisy. “We could really work with that. But I can’t think of a good dance idea and there’s not enough time to ask Claudine.”

  “Let’s just concentrate on the song, shall we?” said Rose. “I don’t feel in the mood for dancing anyway. Why do such unfair things happen? Why do the goodies always win in the movies, but in real life the baddies always win?”

  “No, Rose,” Lily said sagely. “It’s just that in real life the goodies take much longer to win. But let’s not give up. Let’s get on with this song – I’m sure we can make it work.”

  Daisy burst into floods of tears. “But the other song is great too – how dare she do this to us! It’s so mean.”

  The girls comforted their friend, who was normally so positive. Somehow they would get through this – they knew they were in the right.

  Chapter Nine

  BACK AT THE Pebbles, Grandpa had some time to think and came up with another idea. He turned to his two distraught daughters, Lavender and Delphi, both nursing cups of tea and aching over the problems facing their beloved girls.

  “What if you were to go down to the cave where Lilac and the Mermaids rehearse and keep their stuff? After all, that’s where I overheard their song. Perhaps that way we could find some proof of what they’ve been up to. Maybe our girls’ lost song sheet will be there – who knows?”

  Delphi and Lavender liked the idea and thought it was worth a try.

  “Let’s take the girls with us. They deserve to see what’s going on in there,” said Mum.

  “OK, why not wait until they’re finished in the summer house?” said Grandpa. “Maybe I’ll come too, to save you getting lost.”

  So, after Daisy, Poppy and Honey had had some lunch, they all followed Grandpa down to the beach. As they passed the newsagent’s, they saw yet another newspaper article with Lilac’s face splashed below it. MY SONG IS A WINNER! screamed the headline.

  Poppy and Daisy were furious.

  “Ignore it!” said Mum. “We know the truth, and hopefully everyone else will know it soon too.”

  Before long they were creeping around sand dunes and through long, jaggy grasses, scrambling over rocky outcrops, heading down to the beach. Soon they reached the mouth of the big cave. They entered as quietly as possible – they could hear girls’ voices and see shadowy figures in the gloom. They had stumbled on Lilac and the rest of the Mermaids having a full-scale row. Poppy and her family hid behind a cluster of rocks near the entrance to the cave and listened to what was going on.

  “This is all about you, Lilac. You don’t care about us! You just want to be famous. You’re using us,” stormed Fern.

  “You wouldn’t even be in the contest if I hadn’t found that song sheet!” retorted Lilac.

  “So, you admit you found it then?” raged Lulu.

  “They shouldn’t have dropped it. Finders keepers, losers weepers,” said Lilac, who was beginning to sound a bit wobbly.

  “But it’s their song!” said Fern. “I feel sick. We’re cheats and it’s all your fault. You told us you’d written that song!”

  Lilac burst into tears. “It’s too late to back down now,” she sobbed.

  Poppy and the others couldn’t believe their ears.

  Just then, Fern and Lulu stormed past them without even noticing that they were there.

  “We’re going to tell the judges the truth!” Fern called back to Lilac.

  “No!” screamed Lilac. “I’ll do anything. Please. Stand by me. I can’t admit I lied. Can’t we just withdraw from the contest and hope everyone forgets?”

  “Stop it, Lilac!” yelled Fern. “Face the truth. I don’t know how you thought you’d pull this off. We should have realized from the start that we needed to spend more time on our song and to practise loads – like the Beach Babes did. We want to win too, but not like this!”

  Lilac was still sobbing and shrieking.

  Delphi, Lavender, Poppy, Daisy, Honey and Grandpa stayed out of view unti
l a hysterical Lilac had also left the cave. They emerged from their hiding spot and walked over to the lovely ship Grandpa had found all those years ago.

  “No wonder Dad’s proud of it and so cross that the Colonel pretended he had found it himself!” said Poppy’s mum to her sister.

  “What a family!” agreed Aunt Delphi as they began to look around for Lily’s original song sheet.

  “It’s not here. It must be in her house,” said Daisy.

  “Don’t worry, darling,” said Aunt Delphi. “I think her friends are going to help us get to the bottom of this situation. Let’s go back.”

  Daisy looked at her younger cousin. “Truth will out!” she whispered.

  Poppy grinned happily back at her.

  When they got back from the cave, Poppy, Honey and Daisy called an urgent band meeting in the summer house. Daisy told the other girls what had happened in the cave and suggested that rather than preparing a whole new song and routine, they must just hope that Lulu and Fern would keep their word and that the truth would come out by Friday.

  All the girls decided to go their separate ways for the evening, each desperately hoping that things would work out but trying really hard not to get their hopes up too much.

  “Let’s all meet in the Lighthouse Café in the morning,” suggested Rose. “After all, we have no need to hide ourselves away. We’ve done nothing wrong.”

  “Good idea,” replied Daisy.

  It was agreed they would gather at ten o’clock. They all had an early supper and went to bed. No one could believe how the mood had changed since the beginning of the week. That night, everyone at The Pebbles was still nervous that Fern and Lulu would chicken out of telling the judges about Lilac.