Monk rummaged through the tree house. He shoved the boxes this way and that. He scrambled up onto the rafters and looked in every crevice. Could Magellan have taken it? Monk did not want to believe it, but he had only known Magellan for a month, and twelve-year-olds can be tempted. Monk crouched on the rafter trying to figure out if this was a possibility and where it had gone.

Magellan swung over the railing and entered the tree house. Monk dropped onto him, and they both crashed onto the floor.

“Hey!” Magellan yelled, trying to wrench free. He managed to roll over and send Monk off him. Monk grabbed him and rolled back on top. Magellan wiggled free, but Monk got hold of his arm and kept him from going far. Magellan managed to roll onto of Monk. But Monk wrapped his legs around Magellan and flipped him off. Back and forth they went until Monk managed to pin Magellan down. 

“Where is it,” Monk demanded.

“Where is what,” Magellan asked. He sounded annoyed.

“The staff,” Monk replied. “The staff that I found in the woods two weeks ago.”

“I don’t know,” Magellan said. “I didn’t take it. Isn’t it on top of the bookshelf? That’s where we left it. I brought the string to hang it today.”

“It’s not there,” Monk replied. “I looked, and since you are the only other one who knew about it, you are the natural suspect.”

“I didn’t take it, I promise! Besides, I wasn’t the only one who knew about it. That hyena from over on Bark Street saw us with it Friday. Maybe he took it.”

“Sleezy,” Monk muttered. “It would be just like him. Well, if you promise you did not take it, I’ll let you go but if you are lying…”

“I’m not,” Magellan declared. “And I’ll help you find it.”

Monk got off Magellan and gave him a hand to help him up. Magellan accepted the help. “Should we go get it back,” Magellan asked dusting himself off.

Monk nodded. He grabbed a bag off the shelf and packed his spyglass, a flashlight, a rope, and a crowbar. 

They headed cross lots to Bark Street. The woods were dense on one side of the street. The other was open prairie. The two monkeys crouched in the cover of the trees. Monk pointed out Sleezy’s house. He pulled out the spyglass and watched it carefully. Nothing could be seen. He snapped the spyglass shut as Magellan pointed to Sleezy coming with some of his pals. Sleezy disappeared into the house. A few minutes later he emerged with the staff and which he showed off to his friends. 

The staff was wooden, but parts of it were covered with metal. Fancy designs covered the length of the pole. It looked like something from a legend of yesteryears. With a little work, it would be quite impressive, and one could present it was a show of power.

“Let’s go get it,” Magellan whispered swinging toward the ground. 

Monk grabbed him. “Are you an idiot? That pack of hyenas rules this whole area. There are five of them and two of us, and they would make minced meat out of us. The best way to beat a hyena is to outthink them.”

Magellan sighed and sat back down. A few minutes later, Sleezy took the staff back inside, and the whole pack crossed the prairie. The two monkeys dropped to the ground and headed toward the house. They slid along the side of the house until they reached a basement window. The latch on it was broken, and Magellan and Monk climbed inside. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. The basement was littered with old cans, jars, and other assorted articles. Monk shook his head in disbelief. Carefully, they made their way between the junk. 

The noise of people upstairs kept them down below. They slid through a partially opened doorway and found themselves in the Sleezy’s den. The staff lay on a table in the middle. Posters of rock singers and pro-sports players covered the walls. Food packaging littered the floor. Monk decided that hyenae must be the messiest animals. Magellan grabbed the staff, and they slipped back out of the room.

Footsteps came down the stairs. Both monkey’s started back down the hall. Monk looked around frantically for a place to hide. 

“What do we have here,” Sleezy’s asked, shining a light at them. Two of the bigger guys from his pack followed him. “Trying to take my staff?”

“Actually it’s ours,” Magellan replied, “You stole it from us.”

“Stole it? I annexed it, and now it is mine.”

“And we are annexing it back,” Magellan retorted.

“Not today,” Sleezy said with a laugh. “Come on boys, let’s give them a dose of the room of horrors.”

All three hyena’s burst out laughing. Monk winced at the cackling. Sleezy grabbed the staff from Magellan. The other two picked up the monkey’s, carried them down the hall and threw them into a dark room. 

“So much for your outsmarting them,” Magellan grumbled as the door locked and they found themselves in the dark. The room did not have any windows, and the only light was a tiny sliver beneath the door.

Monk flipped on his flashlight and looked around the room. Traps covered the floor. One wall had a board with nails sticking out on the side. 

“Why do they have a room like this,” Magellan wondered.

“To torture anyone who gets in their way,” Monk replied. “They have been the terror of this neighborhood since they could walk.”

He walked to the door and leaned his weight on it. It was firmly closed, even using the crowbar made no difference. He could still hear the hyenas cackling down in Sleezy’s den.

“What now,” Magellan asked leaning against the door. He started fiddling with a piece of barbed wire.

“We wait,” Monk said. Sitting down next to him. He turned off his flashlight, and they sat in the dark. Hours seemed to go by. The hyenas went upstairs. Monk turned his flashlight back on and studied the room. His light went over the various traps and pieces of metal littering the floor. He moved it across the board of nails, looking for something, anything to help them out. He flashed it back across the board, his eyebrows furled and he studied it intently. Standing up, he walked over and tapped on it. A smile crossed his face.

He pulled his crowbar back out. Magellan stopped his fiddling and watched him. Monk motioned to him to come to hold the flashlight. He wedged his crowbar behind the board. Leaning on the crowbar, he slowly pulled the board away from the wall revealing a space behind it. Magellan slipped through and put his weight on the board so Monk could crawl through. They pulled the board back into place. The room in which they now found themselves had a small window. Magellan climbed up and opened it. The coast was clear. Both monkeys scrambled out. They darted toward the front of the house but stopped as they heard voices.

“The roof,” Monk whispered. 

Magellan scrambled up the drainpipe onto the roof with Monk at his tail. Silently, they crossed it. Magellan motioned for Monk to stop as they neared the ridgeline. Looking over, they could see Sleezy getting into a car, with their staff. The car was loaded with lots of luggage.

“We can’t let him get away,” Monk cried in dismay.

“Then, let’s jump,” Magellan suggested, scrambling to his feet. He raced down the roof and leaped onto the top of the car. Monk shook his head and followed him. He grabbed the ropes holding several bags on top as the car pulled out of the driveway. They held on for the next hour as the wind blew in their face and the car drove down the road. 

Finally, they pulled into a gas station. Monk and Magellan did their best to hid amongst the baggage. No such luck, Sleezy spotted them. 

“Hey,” he yelled, “What do you think you are doing?”

He grabbed Magellan and tried to pull him off. Magellan gripped the rope and kicked at Sleezy. Sleezy grabbed his leg and pulled. Magellan’s tail whipped across his face. Sleezy muttered something and pulled hard. A sly smile crept over Magallen’s face. As Sleezy leaned back, pulling with all his might. Magellan let go of the rope and curled into a ball. They went flying backward. Sleezy let go of Magellan as he tried to catch himself. Magellan dashed under the car. Sleezy landed flat on his back. He flipped over and headed after Magellan. But Magellan crawled under two more cars and disappeared out of site.

Sleezy snarled and walked around the car. He was not letting them get that staff. 

“Well,” Magellan said creeping up next to Monk who was leaning against the side of the building. “What do we do now?”

“Wait,” Monk replied. 

“Wait?” Magellan blurted out. “And let them get away with the staff?”

“They are not going anywhere,” Monk replied. “Our chance to get the staff will come.”

Magellan looked skeptically at him but did not say a word. He really did not know what to do but wait. As they waited, he started to rummage around in his pocket.

Sleezy’s family got back into the car, and they started off. The gas hose started off with them and in a second gas was pouring everywhere. The guy pumping gas in front of them started waving while the owner dashed out of the station yelling for them to stop. They did, and the hyenas all piled out of the car. The owner yelled at them for breaking his pump and the hyenas yelled back that it was not their fault. 

During this confusion, the monkey’s slipped closer. Monk untied the rope that was to the hose and left it hooked on with one of the lines that were holding on the luggage. 

Bang! Everyone jumped and dove behind cars, trash cans, and cement barriers. Another bang sounded from behind the car. “It’s going to blow,” the other customer yelled. 

A frantic scrambled occurred as everyone tried to get away. Monk dashed forward in the midst of the confusion and grabbed the staff. Magellan set off another couple of firecracker, before following Monk onto the roof. They slipped into the trees behind the gas station. 

When the firecrackers stopped, everyone slowly came out to investigate. Sleezy’s dad showed the owner how to reattach the pump and made Sleezy pay for the damages after his sister snitched and said he was messing with the baggage. Sleezy growled but paid. He looked in the car for the staff. It was gone. He growled again and headed off to hunt for Monk and Magellan. But they were already on their way home, riding in the back of a truck full of straw discussing security measures to protect the staff in the future.