“In ancient times, a monkey king danced round and round in the golden warmth of the sun,” said the museum guide, interpreting the object in the display case.

He swept his hand up to point at the first illustration. It showed the monkey waving both its arms in the air. A dark circle looped around its waist.

“It looks to me like that monkey’s using a hula hoop,” said Nipper.

“While the king danced and danced, a traveler came and stole his magic spear,” continued the guide, waving his hand below the second illustration.

In that picture, the man in orange shoes tiptoed behind the monkey. He held a red triangle with a J-shaped handle at the bottom.

“That spear looks like an umbrella,” said Nipper.

Samantha glanced at her own umbrella, then back at the exhibit.

“The traveler gave the magic spear to a young woman who was very brave and very clever,” the guide explained.

The third picture showed the man running away from a pack of identical warriors dressed all in black. He was handing the red triangle to a young woman.

Samantha smiled.

“The traveler knew that everyone he loved was in terrible danger. So he ran to a land far, far away,” the guide concluded.

In the final picture, the man stood beside a tower. It looked like the Washington Monument, but it was covered in Egyptian symbols.

The guide bowed his head to show that he was finished.

“What kind of stupid story is that?” Nipper asked loudly. “What could it possibly mean?”

The museum guide held out his hands, palms up.

“I haven’t the foggiest idea,” he said, and shrugged.

Samantha tugged at Nipper’s sleeve and pulled him a few feet off to the side.

“That artifact is definitely not thousands of years old,” she told her brother.

Samantha put Dennis on the floor. Then she took out her journal and drew some letters at the top of a blank page.

She began to sketch the tower from the fourth illustration of the story.