"Hi, guys!" Winnie called to Gaby and Mog.
They looked up in surprise.
"Hey!" Gaby said. "Did you guys track the treasure here too?"
Waldo smiled at her. "Yep."
"We followed some clues in an old painting at the Monsterville Historical Society," Gaby said.
Then she gestured at the old tree.
"There was a tree in the painting. We think it might be this one."
"It's grown a lot since Pedro buried the treasure," Mog said.
Winnie held up the gold compass.
"We found Pedro's old compass and put a spell on it.
I guess it worked just as well as detective work."
"Which means everybody is a winner!" Ben said brightly.
"So you guys don't have to compete anymore. We're all on the same team now."
"That was so much fun," Mog said.
"We still need to find the treasure," Winnie reminded everyone.
"All we know is that it's buried near this tree," Gaby said.
She glanced at the school building.
"Maybe it's even buried under the school building."
"That's what we were thinking too," Waldo said.
"We can try using the compass to track the exact spot."
"First we'd better find a shovel," Mog said.
"Let's see if there are any shovels in the equipment shed."
The kids found one shovel in a shed near the soccer field.
When they headed back to the front of the school building, the main doors suddenly flew open.
Mr. Freaky, Mayor Hubbletree, and Pirate Pedro came out.
As the grown-ups talked to one another, none of them noticed the students standing near the tree.
"I think they're talking about Monster Academy," Winnie whispered.
Ben stepped closer so he could eavesdrop.
"Thank you for meeting with us tonight, Pedro," Mayor Hubbletree was saying.
"Obviously this is an emergency situation involving Freaky's poor school."
"You're welcome, mate," the pirate said. "I'm glad to help, if I can."
"Thank you, Pedro. I'm sure your fundraising will save Monster Academy," Mr. Freaky said.
"Your Career Day talk was so inspiring.
Lots of citizens of Monsterville—"
"And People Place!" The mayor cut in.
"Both monsters and humans will enjoy hearing your pirate tales," Mr. Freaky went on.
"Pirating is such an exciting job—it's almost as thrilling as being the principal of Monster Academy."
Just then a breeze blew, and boards flew off some windows on the second floor of the school.
"Indeed!" Mayor Hubbletree declared.
"Pedro, your fundraising talks will be an enormous success. Hundreds of people—"
"And monsters!" Mr. Freaky said.
"Will happily attend," the mayor went on.
"And most importantly they'll pay good money to hear your tales.
The funds you raise might even be enough to repair Freaky's school."
He shook his head as the flagpole snapped in two.
"I don't know how you monsters put up with this place.
Everything is falling apart, Freaky."
Mr. Freaky took out his handkerchief and blew his noses.
"With this budget crisis, we've gotten a bit behind on repairs.
But everything is totally under control at Monster Academy."
"Hmpf," the mayor grunted. "I'm not so sure about that."
"Well, I'm happy to help," Pedro repeated.
"Talking to the students was great fun. It reminded me of the good old days with my band of pirates." He sighed.
"We'd all sail the seas together for months.
Why, this one time, when we met Awful Ollie the Orange . . ."
Pedro launched into another pirating tale.
After a few minutes, Mr. Freaky and the mayor looked a little bored.
But Ben saw that Mog's eyes were glowing.
"Pedro is so lucky," Mog whispered. "Being a pirate sounds awesome."
"Ollie and his men had no idea what we were plotting," Pedro went on.
"They were just passing the time on the deck of their ship, singing and playing their instruments.
That's when we jumped aboard with our swords and cried—"
"Shiver me timbers!" Mog blurted out loudly.
"What was that?" Mr. Freaky gasped, and spun toward Ben and the others.
"What are you students doing here?"
Mayor Hubbletree squinted at them through the darkness.
"It's very late, Freaky. Shouldn't those monsters be home in bed?"
"We're . . . uh, searching for Pedro's treasure," Waldo said.
The adults chuckled.
"How nice," Mayor Hubbletree said.
The mayor came over and patted Mog's head.
"Treasure hunting! That sounds like a fun activity, kids . . . er, I mean, monsters."
Winnie looked annoyed.
"We're not playing treasure hunting," she said.
"This is for real."
"Yeah," Mog said, rubbing his head.
"We've actually found Pedro's lost treasure.
And guess where it's buried."
"Where?" said Mr. Freaky, Mayor Hubbletree, and Pedro all at once.
Mog grinned. "Here at Monster Academy!"