Horrid Henry's Arch Enemy

Horrid Henry's Arch Enemy “ Be bop a lu la! ” boomed Jazzy Jim, bebopping around the class and bouncing to the beat. “ One day, my prince will come. . . " warbled Singing Soraya. “ Bam bam bam bam bam! ” drummed Horrid Henry, crashing his books up and down on his table top. “ Class! Settle down! " shouted Miss Battle-Axe. “ Be bop a lu la! ” boomed Jazzy Jim. “ One day, my prince will come. . . ” warbled Singing Soraya.

“ Bam bam bam bam bam! " drummed Horrid Henry. “ Jim! ” barked Miss Battle-Axe. “ Stop yowling. Soraya! Stop singing. Henry! Stop banging or everyone will miss playtime. ” “ Be bop--” faltered Jim. “ . . . Prince will-” squeaked Soraya. “ Bam bam bam bam bam, ” drummed Horrid Henry. He was Mad Moon Madison, crazy drummer for the Moldy Drumsticks, whipping the shrieking crowd into a frenzy-

“ HENRY! ” bellowed Miss Battle- Axe. “ STOP THAT NOISE! ” What did that ungrateful fan mean, noise? What noise? This wasn't noise, this was great music, this was--Mad Moon Madison looked up from his drum kit. Whoops. Silence. Miss Battle-Axe glared at her class. Oh, for the good old days, when teachers could whack horrible children with rulers. “ Linda! Stop snoring. Graham! Stop drooling. Bert! Where's your chair?” “ I dunno, ” said Beefy Bert.

There was a new boy standing next to Miss Battle-Axe. His brown hair was tightly slicked back. His shoes were polished. He carried a trumpet and a calculator. Yuck! He looked like a complete idiot. Horrid Henry looked away. And then looked back. Funny, there was something familiar about that boy. The way he stood with his nose in the air. The horrid little smirk on his face. He looked like--he looked just like--oh no, please no, it couldn't be--Bossy Bill! Bossy Bill! !

“ Class, we have a new boy, ” said Miss Battle-Axe, doing her best to twist her thin lips into a welcoming smile. “ I need someone to look after him and show him around. Who would like to be Bill's friend for the day?” Everyone put up their hand. Every- one but Horrid Henry. Uggh. Bossy Bill. What kind of cruel joke was this?