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Prologue

"Yes?" As soon as I heard that voice, I knew that this was the end. "Yes, um, Chuck, I, I mean Mr. Chuck, I mean Mr. Muckle, sir,"

"Stop stammering and cut to the chase!"

I trembled, feeling the weight of the phone in my hand. "The owls, sir, they're-"

Chuck laughed. "If you're calling to tell me that you have those darn owls, good for you. If not, I will personally hijack this boat and come put-putting to Coconut Cove. You hear me?"

I gulped, feeling that the next sentence will be my last. "The owls, sir. They're not there."

Even over the phone, I could clearly hear Chuck Muckle crunching the can of coke he had in his hand. "WHAT? They're not there? Those pesky rats! I'll bet it was those, those DELINQUENTS that did this!"

"Sir," I started, "There was no sign of any, um, delinquents, as you say. I looked in every tree, ever branch, every bu-"

"Stop. Let me stop you right there." Chuck said in a low and calm voice. "These are not normal owls, do you hear? They live in the ground, they're 'bout the size of an onion, and they are BURROWING OWLS! How many times have I told you that, you dimwit!"

"Y-You never told me, sir. You said owls, and I assumed-"

"Do you want your name to end up on wanted posters? Don't talk back to me! And get me those owls!"

As the line finally went dead, I looked at the receiver. That was the longest 2 minutes of my life! One thing Chuck said stuck out, though. Delinquents? They can't possibly be more trouble than catching a bunch of little birds, can they?