The Midnight Gang Read online

  Tom’s mum and dad had deep tans from being out in the desert, and were dressed in clothes better suited to being there. It was clear they must have rushed to be here.

  “A young girl called Sally phoned us and said we should come and see you,” said Mum.

  “Sally?!” exclaimed Tom.

  “Yes! Lovely girl. Found our phone number in the matron’s papers somewhere. Said we should come straight away. Me and your dad were both so worried about you.”

  “That’s Sally – there!” said Tom, pointing to the girl in the far corner of the ward.

  “Good morning, Mr and Mrs Charper,” called out Sally.

  “Good morning, dear!” replied Mum. “You must come and stay with us.”

  “I’d love that,” said Tom.

  “Me too,” said Sally.

  “This blasted matron woman put the phone down on us every time we called the ward to try and speak to you!” said Dad. “We were desperate for news of you. The school secretary called us after you were hit on the head playing cricket. We must have called the hospital a hundred times. Now, how is that bump on your head?”

  “Much better thanks, Dad,” replied Tom with a smile.

  “Good, good.”

  “And, Mum, Dad, I had no idea you wrote to me.”

  “Every week without fail we sent a letter to St Willet’s,” said Mum. “Did you not receive them?”

  “No. Not one.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” said Dad.

  “Mr Thews, my headmaster, burned them all.”

  Dad looked angrier than Tom had ever seen him before.

  “If I ever see that man again …”

  “STAY CALM, MALCOLM!” shouted Mum.

  Dad breathed heavily for a few moments, and his anger cooled.

  “Well, son, rest assured that we are never sending you back to that awful school again,” he said.

  “YES!” exclaimed Tom.

  “We’ll all be together from now on,” said Mum. “A proper family.”

  “Come on, son,” said Dad.

  At that moment Tootsie came in with her breakfast trolley.

  “Good morning! Good morning! Good morning to you all!”

  “Perfect,” muttered Tom to himself. “I’ll just miss breakfast.”

  The boy pulled the curtain back.

  “Thomas! Are you leaving us?” she cried.

  “Yes. And I am sad to say I won’t be staying for breakfast.”

  “What a terrible shame! And I have everything on my trolley this morning!”

  “Of course you do. Another time perhaps.”

  “Yes. Oh, and I think I found your headmaster, Mr Thews,” added Tootsie.

  “When? Where?” asked Tom.

  “This very morning. In the deep freeze.”

  “What?”

  “Somehow he must have got shut in there overnight.”

  “He was looking for me in the deep freeze last night! Horrible man! He got his just desserts!” exclaimed Tom. “So where is he now?”

  “Right here!” said Tootsie, whipping a large cloth off her breakfast trolley.

  It was indeed Mr Thews lying there, shivering. The man was covered in frost like a long-forgotten choc ice.

  “H-h-e-e-l-l-p-p!” mumbled the headmaster. It was all but impossible for him to speak as his teeth were chattering so much.

  “I should really take him down to see if the doctors and nurses can thaw him out,” said Tootsie.

  “There’s no rush,” replied Tom with a smile.

  From out of the matron’s office, Thomas Senior limped into the ward. The man had been sleeping after the adventures of last night and looked a little unsteady on his feet. However, on seeing the hospital principal, Sir Quentin Strillers, in the children’s ward, he woke up in an instant.

  “Oh, erm, um, good morning, Sir Quentin, sir!”

  “Ah! Good morning, Thomas Senior.”

  “So are you absolutely sure I can keep my job, Sir Quentin, sir?”

  “No!” replied Sir Quentin. “I am sorry to say I have changed my mind.”

  “But you said—!” protested Tom.

  “I haven’t finished yet, boy,” snapped Strillers. “Seeing how happy you make the children, I have decided to change your role at this hospital.”

  “Oh yes, Sir Quentin, sir?”

  “Yes. You are now in charge of the children’s ward. I think your title should be ‘Doctor of Fun’!”

  “Hooray!” the children cheered.

  “Oh, thank you, Sir Quentin, sir! I love it!” said Thomas Senior.

  As his parents looked on, Tom rushed over to congratulate his friend. The boy threw his arms round the new Doctor of Fun’s waist.

  “I am so happy for you!” he exclaimed.

  “Oh, thank you!” replied the man as the other children rushed over to hug him too. Amber struggled with her broken arms, but found a way.

  “But I don’t think you should sleep in the basement of the hospital any more,” added Sir Quentin.

  “No, Sir Quentin, sir,” replied Thomas Senior. “I am sorry, sir.”

  Tootsie approached the man. “Well, if you need somewhere to stay, you can always sleep on my sofa.”

  “Really?” asked Thomas Senior.

  “Yes!”

  “That’s so very kind of you. I have never had a proper home before.”

  “Free breakfast included!” replied Tootsie.

  “I don’t normally eat breakfast,” lied the man. “But thank you for the offer of the sofa. That would be truly wonderful.”

  “Well, it seems a great deal has changed since you were admitted here, boy,” began Sir Quentin. “All for the better. I have to say, it was a great pleasure to have you at LORD FUNT HOSPITAL, Tim.”

  “It’s Tom,” replied Tom.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Quite sure, sir. And thank you.”

  “We’d really better get going now, son!” called out Tom’s dad.

  “Just a moment, Dad!” replied the boy. “I need to say goodbye to my friends.”

  Tom rushed over to Sally first.

  “So your dream did come true after all, Tom,” said Sally. “What did I tell you?”

  Tom smiled. “All thanks to you, Sally.” The boy looked over to his other friends. “I am really going to miss you guys.”

  “And we are all goin’ to miss you,” said George. “Though, on the upside, there will be more chocolates for me as I won’t ’ave to share them with you any more.”

  “The Midnight Gang just won’t be the same without you,” added Amber.

  “I wish you didn’t have to go, Tom,” said Sally.

  Tom placed a tender kiss on the top of his friend’s bald head. “I am sorry. But I have to.”

  “Will you come and visit me here at the hospital?” asked Sally.

  “Yes,” replied Tom.

  “Promise?”

  “I promise. And I won’t break it this time.”

  The pair shared a smile.

  “And I will never forget you,” said Robin. “Sorry, what was your name again?” he joked.

  “HA! HA! HA!”

  They all laughed.

  “Goodbye, gang!” said Tom. “I’ll think of you every night at midnight. Wherever we are. Whatever we’re doing. Let’s meet in our dreams. And have the wildest adventures.”

  The boy walked towards the double doors. There he took his parents’ hands in his and clasped them tight. Now they were a family again, he never wanted to let go.

  Tom turned back to take a final look at his friends, before he disappeared from view.

  Moments later, the tall doors of the children’s ward swung open again. A man in pyjamas marched in, his fingers bandaged up.

  “I have a very serious complaint!” Raj announced angrily.

  “Wot?” asked George.

  “I never did get my takeaway!”

  “B-b-but—?”

  “Let me repeat my order. Poppadoms …”

/>   Enjoyed this story? Then CLICK on the covers below for more laugh-out-loud reads from your favourite writer!

  And coming soon …

  And don’t miss these hilarious picture books for children of ages 3 and up

  A mischievous new picture book packed with snow and surprises!

  Previously written by David Walliams

  THE BOY IN THE DRESS

  MR STINK

  BILLIONAIRE BOY

  GANGSTA GRANNY

  RATBURGER

  DEMON DENTIST

  AWFUL AUNTIE

  GRANDPA’S GREAT ESCAPE

  THE WORLD’S WORST CHILDREN

  Also available in picture book:

  THE SLIGHTLY ANNOYING ELEPHANT

  THE FIRST HIPPO ON THE MOON

  THE QUEEN’S ORANG-UTAN

  THE BEAR WHO WENT BOO!

  THERE’S A SNAKE IN MY SCHOOL!

  About the Publisher

  Australia

  HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

  Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street

  Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

  http://www.harpercollins.com.au

  Canada

  HarperCollins Canada

  2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor

  Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada

  http://www.harpercollins.ca

  New Zealand

  HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited

  P.O. Box 1

  Auckland, New Zealand

  http://www.harpercollins.co.nz

  United Kingdom

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

  1 London Bridge Street

  London SE1 9GF

  http://www.harpercollins.co.uk

  United States

  HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

  195 Broadway

  New York, NY 10007

  http://www.harpercollins.com