Horrid Henry Tricks the Tooth Fairy (3 page)

I’ll just taste a teeny weeny bit of petal, thought Henry. No harm in that.

He broke off a morsel and popped it in his mouth.

Mmmmm boy! That icing tasted great.

Perhaps just one more bite, thought Henry. If I take it from the back, no one will notice.

Henry carefully selected an icing rose from the bottom tier and stuffed it in his mouth.Wow.

Henry stood back from the cake. It looked a little uneven now, with that rose missing from the bottom.

I’ll just even it up, thought Henry. It was the work of a moment to break off a rose from the middle tier and another from the top.

Then a strange thing happened.

“Eat me,” whispered the cake.“Go on.”

Who was Henry to ignore such a request?

He picked out a few crumbs from the back.

Delicious, thought Henry.Then he took a few more.And a few more.Then he dug out a nice big chunk.

“What do you think you’re doing?” shouted Pimply Paul.

Henry ran around the cake table. Paul ran after him.

Around and around and around the cake they ran.

“Just wait till I get my hands on you!” snarled Pimply Paul.

Henry dashed under the table.

Pimply Paul lunged for him and missed.

SPLAT.

Pimply Paul fell headfirst onto the cake.

Henry slipped away.

Prissy Polly ran into the room.

“Eeek,” she shrieked.

“Wasn’t that a lovely wedding?” sighed Mom on the way home.“Funny they didn’t have a cake, though.”

“Oh yes,” said Dad.

“Oh yes,” said Peter.

“OH YES!” said Henry.“I’ll be glad to be a ring bearer anytime.”

MOODY MARGARET MOVES IN

Mom was on the phone.

“Of course we’d be delighted to have Margaret,” she said.“It will be no trouble at all.”

Henry stopped breaking the tails off Peter’s plastic horses.

“WHAT?” he howled.

“Shh, Henry,” said Mom.“No, no,” she added.“Henry is delighted, too. See you Friday.”

“What’s going on?” said Henry.

“Margaret is coming to stay while her parents go on vacation,” said Mom.

Henry was speechless with horror.

“She’s going to stay…here?”

“Yes,” said Mom.

“How long?” said Henry.

“Two weeks,” said Mom brightly.

Horrid Henry could not stand Moody Margaret for more than two minutes.

“Two weeks?” he said.“I’ll run away! I’ll lock her out of the house, I’ll pull her hair out, I’ll…”

“Don’t be horrid, Henry,” said Mom. “Margaret’s a lovely girl and I’m sure we’ll have fun.”

“No we won’t,” said Henry.“Not with that moody old grouch.”

“I’ll have fun,” said Perfect Peter.“I love having guests.”

“She’s not sleeping in my room,” said Horrid Henry.“She can sleep in the basement.”

“No,” said Mom.“You’ll move into Peter’s room and let Margaret have your bed.”

Horrid Henry opened his mouth to scream, but only a rasping sound came out. He was so appalled he could only gasp.

“Give…up…my…room!” he choked. “To…Margaret?”

Margaret spying on his treasures, sleeping in his bed, playing with his toys while he had to share a room with Peter…

“No!” howled Henry. He fell on the floor and screamed.“NO!!”

“I don’t mind giving up my bed for a guest,” said Perfect Peter.“It’s the polite thing to do. Guests come first.”

Henry stopped howling just long enough to kick Peter.

“Owww!” screamed Peter. He burst into tears,“Mom!”

“Henry!” yelled Mom.“You horrid boy! Say sorry to Peter.”

“She’s not coming!” shrieked Henry. “And that’s final.”

“Go to your room!” yelled Mom.

Moody Margaret arrived at Henry’s house with her parents, four suitcases, seven boxes of toys, two pillows, and a trumpet.

“Margaret won’t be any trouble,” said her mom.“She’s always polite, eats everything, and never complains. Isn’t that right, Precious?”

“Yes,” said Margaret.

“Margaret’s no fusspot,” said her dad. “She’s good as gold, aren’t you, Precious?”

“Yes,” said Margaret.

“Have a lovely vacation,” said Mom.

“We will,” said Margaret’s parents.

The door slammed behind them.

Moody Margaret marched into the living room and swept a finger across the mantel.

“It’s not very clean, is it?” she said. “You’d never find so much dust at my house.”

“Oh,” said Dad.

“A little dust never hurt anyone,” said Mom.

“I’m allergic,” said Margaret.“One whiff of dust and I start to…sn…sn… ACHOOO!” she sneezed.

“We’ll clean up right away,” said Mom.

Dad mopped.

Mom swept.

Peter dusted.

Henry vacuumed.

Margaret directed.

“Henry, you’ve missed a big dust ball right there,” said Margaret, pointing under the sofa.

Horrid Henry vacuumed as far away from the dust as possible.

“Not there, here!” said Margaret.

Henry aimed the vacuum at Margaret. He was a fire-breathing dragon burning his prey to a crisp.

“Help!” shrieked Margaret.

“Henry!” said Dad.

“Don’t be horrid,” said Mom.

“I think Henry should be punished,” said Margaret.“I think he should be locked in his bedroom for three weeks.”

“I don’t have a bedroom to be locked up in ’cause you’re in it,” said Henry. He glared at Margaret.

Margaret glared back.

“I’m the guest, Henry, so you’d better be polite,” hissed Margaret.

“Of course he’ll be polite,” said Mom.

“Don’t worry, Margaret.Any trouble, you come straight to me.”

“Thank you,” said Moody Margaret, smiling.“I will. I’m hungry,” she added. “Why isn’t supper ready?”

“It will be soon,” said Dad.

“But I always eat at six o’clock,” said Margaret,“I want to eat NOW.”

“All right,” said Dad.

Horrid Henry and Moody Margaret dashed for the seat facing the garden. Margaret got there first. Henry shoved her off. Then Margaret shoved him off.

Thud. Henry landed on the floor.

“Ouch,” said Henry.

“Let the guest have the chair,” said Dad.

“But that’s my chair,” said Henry. “That’s where I always sit.”

“Have my chair, Margaret,” said Perfect Peter.“I don’t mind.”

“I want to sit here,” said Moody Margaret.“I’m the guest so i decide.”

Horrid Henry dragged himself around the table and sat next to Peter.

“OUCH!” shrieked Margaret.“Henry kicked me!”

“No I didn’t,” said Henry, outraged.

“Stop it, Henry,” said Mom.“That’s no way to treat a guest.”

Henry stuck out his tongue at Margaret. Moody Margaret stuck out her tongue even further, then stomped on his foot.

“OUCH!” shrieked Henry.“Margaret kicked me!”

Moody Margaret gasped.“Oh I’m ever

so sorry, Henry,” she said sweetly.“It was an accident. Silly me. I didn’t mean to, really I didn’t.”

Dad brought the food to the table.

“What’s that?” asked Margaret.

“Baked beans, corn on the cob, and chicken,” said Dad.

“I don’t like baked beans,” said Margaret.“And I like my corn off the cob.”

Mom scraped the corn off the cob.

“No, put the corn on a separate plate!” shrieked Margaret.“I don’t like vegetables touching my meat.”

Dad got out the pirate plate, the duck plate, and the “Happy birthday, Peter” plate.

“I want the pirate plate,” said Margaret, snatching it.

“I want the pirate plate,” said Henry, snatching it back.

“I don’t mind which plate I get,” said Perfect Peter.“A plate’s a plate.”

“No it isn’t!” shouted Henry.

“I’m the guest,” shouted Margaret.“I get to choose.”

“Give her the pirate plate, Henry,” said Dad.

“It’s not fair,” said Henry, glaring at his plate decorated with little ducks.

“She’s the guest,” said Mom.

“So?” said Henry.Wasn’t there an ancient Greek who stretched all his guests on an iron bed if they were too short or lopped off their heads and feet if they were too long? That guy sure knew how to deal with horrible guests like Moody Margaret.

“Yuck,” said Margaret, spitting out a mouthful of chicken.“You put salt on it!”

“Only a little,” said Dad.

“I never eat salt,” said Moody Margaret.“It’s not good for me.And I always have peas at my house.”

“We’ll get some tomorrow,” said Mom.

Peter lay asleep in the top bunk. Horrid Henry sat listening by the door. He’d scattered crumbs all over Margaret’s bed. He couldn’t wait to hear her scream.

But there wasn’t a sound coming from Henry’s room, where Margaret the Invader lay. Henry couldn’t understand it.

Sadly, he climbed into (oh, the shame of it) the bottom bunk.Then he screamed.

His bed was filled with jam, crumbs, and something squishy squashy and horrible.

“Go to sleep, Henry!” shouted Dad.

That Margaret! He’d booby trap the room, cut up her doll’s clothes, paint her face purple…Henry smiled grimly. Oh yes, he’d show Moody Margaret.

Mom and Dad sat in the living room watching TV.

Moody Margaret appeared on the stairs.

“I can’t sleep with that noise,” she said.

Mom and Dad looked at each other.

“We are watching very quietly, dear,” said Mom.

“But I can’t sleep if there’s any noise in the house,” said Margaret.“I have very sensitive ears.”

Mom turned off the TV and picked up her knitting needles.

Click click click.

Margaret reappeared.

“I can’t sleep with that clicking noise,”

she said.

“All right,” said Mom. She sighed a little.

“And it’s cold in my bedroom,” said Moody Margaret.

Mom turned up the heat.

Margaret reappeared.

“Now it’s too hot,” said Moody Margaret.

Dad turned down the heat.