said Gretel.
âNo, even better,â said Jenny. âItâs a smiley-face badge!â
âAnd thatâs it?â said Jack. âThatâs the treasure?â
âMy mum says a smile is priceless,â said Jenny, as she happily pinned the badge to the collar of her shirt.
âYeah, but itâs not treasure, is it?â Jack pointed out.
âNo,â said Jenny. âBut I think itâs a really good sign. Letâs keep looking!â
Grant fired up his buried-treasure detector again. This time he got halfway down the hill before it started vibrating and squealing.
âThereâs something here,â he said. âI canât say whether itâs the treasure for sure, but itâs definitely something.â
We got down and started digging again.
This time we found an old whistle on a chain.
âProbably belonged to Mr Grunt,â said Jack.
Mr Grunt is the sports teacher. Heâs very fond of blowing his whistle.
âCan I have it?â said Newton. âIâve always wanted a whistle. I can blow it if I get into trouble.â
âSure,â I said, handing it to Newton.
Newton picked the dirt out of it and gave it a blow. It still worked. And it was LOUD. Pretty impressive for a whistle that had been buried for who knows how long. But as impressive as it was, it wasnât the treasure.
Grant started waving his buried-treasure detector over the ground again.
It only took a few minutes before it started shaking uncontrollably.
Suddenly Grant fell to his knees, then slumped sideways onto the ground.
Smoke began to pour from the control box. An amazing screaming noise came from the headphones.
Newton started blowing his whistle. âDanger!â he yelled. âGet back, everyone! Dangerous danger!â
I had to hand it to Newton. He sure knew what to do in a crisis.
Grant was still lying on the ground.
Then the buried-treasure detector blew up with a loud bang.
Grant sat up, dazed. He took off the headphones and rubbed his ears.
âAre you all right?â Jenny asked, kneeling beside him.
âGuess it needs a few adjustments,â he replied.
âA few?â said Jack. âI think itâs back to the drawing board on that one.â
Meanwhile Gretel was on her knees, digging furiously in the spot where Grantâs buried- treasure detector had blown its top.
âHey, look at this!â she said, holding up a small object. âItâs a key!â
We crowded around her.
âCan I have a look?â I said.
âSure,â said Gretel, handing it to me.
I rubbed the dirt off the key and examined it closely. It had an engraving of a skull and crossbones on it.
âItâs not the treasure,â I said, âbut itâs the next best thing. Weâre definitely in the right spot.â
âRight spot for what?â said a voice over my shoulder.
I slipped the key into my pocket and turned around.
It was Fred Durkin, with Clive leering over his shoulder.
âYeah, McThrottle,â said Clive. âRight spot for what?â
âTesting out Grantâs metal detector,â I said.
âIs that all you were doing?â Fred asked suspiciously.
âThatâs all,â I said.
Fred looked at me. âIf youâre up to something, McThrottle, Iâm going to find out what it is.â
Gretel stepped in. âHeâs not up to anything,â she said. âRun away and play now, boys.â
Fred just stared at her. âCome on, Clive,â he said. âThis is getting boring.â
We watched them retreat down the hill.
âIt was lucky for them they left when they did,â said Jack, punching his fist into his open palm. âI was just about to teach those two thickheads a lesson they would never forget.â
âI thought you had sore fingers,â I said.
âYeah, I did. But that was yesterday. Theyâre better