The Amazing Mexican Secret (2 page)

As the sun set over Mexico City, Stanley stood in the courtyard of Carmen's home, where her family had gathered to celebrate after the bullfight. Stanley had never known a person with so many brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, aunts, in-laws, nieces, nephews, and godchildren.

An older woman with enormous
eyeglasses rushed up and squealed at Stanley. She reached out to squeeze his cheeks, but pinched the sides of his head instead. He tried to smile.

“
Bienvenidos
,” the woman cried.
“¡Bienvenidos!”

Stanley looked around for Carmen to translate.

“
Bien
means ‘well',” a voice said. It was an older boy, the first signs of a mustache sprouting on his lip. “
Venidos
comes from the verb
venir
, ‘to come'.
Bienvenidos
means—”

“Well—come. Welcome!” Stanley said. “You speak English!”

“I am Eduardo,” the boy said, nodding. “We are excited to meet you.”
He stepped aside to reveal a group of children.

 

 

“
Está liso como un plato
,” a little girl said, gasping, wide-eyed.

“She says you are flat as a pancake,” said Eduardo. He grabbed Stanley and led him through the crowd.

A moment later, Stanley and Eduardo stood in a corner of the courtyard, the other children arranged around them on the grass. Eduardo said they were eager to hear Stanley's stories of adventure. Eduardo would translate.

The children ooohed as Stanley told them how he had used his body as a lever to rescue his friend Calamity Jane from a gold mine. They aaahed as he
described how he had used his elbows as lethal weapons to defeat ruthless villains in Japan. They gasped when he told them he could fly like a jet plane using nothing but his muscled, aerodynamic body.

Stanley did not tell them that his brother, Arthur, had helped save Calamity Jane. He did not tell them that neither the villains he had encountered in Japan nor his elbows were particularly dangerous. And he did not tell them that he couldn't really fly like an airplane, although he sometimes got carried away by heavy winds…or, at moments like this one, by telling stories that weren't quite true.

It was dark when Stanley concluded his tale of the mummy he befriended in an ancient Egyptian tomb. There was no mistaking the admiration and amazement of his listeners. Someone called something out to Eduardo. The other children cried, “
¡Sí! ¡Sí!
”

“We have a surprise for you,” Eduardo said, with a grin. “Come!”

They led Stanley to a grand tree. The little girl who had compared Stanley to a pancake stepped forward and held out her hands. They were filled with small candies in shiny wrappers.

“Thank you!” said Stanley. He took one and started unwrapping it.

“Not yet,” said Eduardo in a low
voice. “You must put them in your pockets.” Stanley did.

“Up!” commanded Eduardo, and two tall boys grabbed Stanley's legs and lifted him into the air. Above his head was a tree limb. Stanley grabbed on with both hands.

This is a strange surprise
, thought Stanley. He looked down and saw the little girl standing beneath him. Her wide eyes were hidden by a blindfold. The other children started spinning her around and counting.

“¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tres! ¡Cuatro! ¡Cinco! ¡Seis! ¡Siete!”

After seven spins, the girl weaved
with dizziness. Someone handed her a giant stick.

The girl held the stick over her head and swung it. Stanley felt a swish of
air against his leg.

“Hey!” he cried. All the children were cheering.

“What are you doing!” yelled Stanley again as the girl swung the stick a second time, grazing his foot.

“YOU'RE GOING TO HURT ME!” screamed Stanley at the top of his flat lungs.

“
¡Alto! ¡Alto!
” cried Eduardo. The little girl froze. “Is something wrong, Stanley?”

“What the heck is going on?!” Stanley said.

“We are playing piñata,” replied Eduardo.

“But I'm
not
a piñata!” said Stanley.
“Now get me down from here!”

The two tall boys rushed up and helped Stanley to the ground.

“But we thought—” said Eduardo.

“What?” huffed Stanley.

“We thought you could not be hurt,” Eduardo said. “From your stories…you seem so fearless and…
indestructible
. Like you are made of rubber. We thought you would
like
to be the
piñata
.”

Stanley shook his head sadly. He folded himself to the ground.

“I
can
get hurt,” he said quietly. “I know I didn't make it sound like I can. But I can get hurt just as easily as anyone. I should have been honest with you.”

Eduardo was frowning.

“I'm sorry,” Stanley said softly. He gave a heavy sigh. “All I want is to get Carlos's great grandmother's secret ingredient and return home safely.”

Eduardo blinked. “Is that why you are here? For the secret of
La Abuela
?”

Stanley nodded.

“There are spies,” said Eduardo.

“I know,” Stanley said.

“It is very far,” said Eduardo.

“I know,” repeated Stanley. “But I promised I would try, and I can't turn back now.”

Eduardo peered deep into Stanley's eyes. Then he walked off to talk to the other children.

They probably never want to see me again,
Stanley thought.

Eduardo returned. “We will take you to La Abuela,” he announced.

“Really?!” said Stanley.

“The journey is long and dangerous, even for one as fearless and indestructible as you,” said Eduardo. “We will protect you.”

Stanley looked up at the children who now encircled him. His heart felt warm. Silently, he reached into his pocket and began passing out candies.

Stanley had traveled more than most people his age. And although he enjoyed visiting faraway places, it was not always easy. For instance, airmail was sometimes warm and uncomfortable.

But the journey to see La Abuela was more difficult than any Stanley had ever taken. On this trip, he did not have the luxury of waiting patiently in
an envelope, or of being rolled up and placed on the back of a horse.

On this trip, he walked. He walked, and walked, and walked. Guided by Eduardo and three others—little Isabel with her wide eyes, and the tall boys named Esteban and Felipe—Stanley walked until he thought his legs would crumple.

Finally, on the third day, Stanley was so tired, he started seeing things.

“I must be back in Egypt,” he mumbled. “I see a pyramid.”

Eduardo grinned. “We are not in Egypt,” he said. “That is a Mayan temple.” He slapped Stanley excitedly on the shoulder. “We are getting close!”

 

 

Stanley stared up at the enormous pyramid rising out of the jungle. It was different from the ones in Egypt. It appeared that there was a giant staircase on each side. And all of the steps led to one place: a small, rectangular building on top.

Isabel ran ahead and started up the steps. Esteban and Felipe followed her.

Eduardo slowed his pace to walk alongside Stanley. “This was once a royal city,” he explained. “There were roads, a palace, and aqueducts to carry water. For two thousand years, the Mayan empire stretched from here to Honduras. The Maya were scientists and mathematicians. They made a
calendar that is more accurate than ours today. They figured out how long a year is on the planet Venus. Apart from ruins like these, only their descendants remain.”

At the base of the pyramid, Eduardo turned and leaned in close to Stanley. “And La Abuela is one of them.”

“
Pardon moi
.” A tall man with a thin mustache held out a camera to Stanley. He wore a white shirt that had two rows of buttons down the front. “Would you take my photo?” he said with a smooth French accent. “This is a very special day for
moi
.”

“Sure,” said Stanley. This was the first tourist other than himself he'd
seen the whole trip.

“Say cheese!” Stanley said.

But instead of smiling, the man frowned like a clown. “No, no, no,” he sang. “Cheese is not the ingredient we had in mind.”

Two other men emerged from the jungle—one short and fat, the other bald and muscular. Both wore the same uniform as the first man. Stanley noticed an insignia on the breasts of their white double-buttoned shirts. They looked like chefs. In fact, the bald one was holding what appeared to be a long kitchen knife.

“Spies!” realized Stanley.

Eduardo turned and sprinted up
the pyramid toward Isabel, Felipe, and Esteban. The man grabbed Stanley's arm before Stanley could follow.

 

 

“I am not a spy!” the man spat. “I am the great four-star Chef Lillou of Bourgogne! Reynaldo is my sous chef. Patrice, my saucier. We know nothing of spying. We know only cooking!”

“And carving,” said bald Reynaldo ominously, rubbing the blade of his knife with his thumb.

“Why are you standing there?” Chef Lillou barked at his staff. “Get those children!”

As the saucier and the sous chef charged past, Chef Lillou turned Stanley horizontally, tucked him under his arm
like a loaf of French bread, and started up the steps after everyone else.

“What is an American flat boy like you doing in this part of the world?” he said, his arm tight around Stanley.

“Just visiting.” Stanley gulped.

The chef snorted. “Is that so? Well, I have been trying to visit La Abuela for nine years,” he said. “Except no one knows where she lives.”

Isabel screamed as, halfway up the pyramid, Patrice the saucier grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her in the air, her legs kicking furiously.

“Nine years away from my restaurant,” Chef Lillou continued. “Nine years in pursuit of perfection.
But today, my persistence pays off. Because you and your friends know where La Abuela lives, don't you? She lives at the top of this pyramid. You led us right to her!”

 

 

Someone whistled behind them. Chef Lillou swung around, and Stanley swung with him.

It was Carmen del Junco!

“
Bonjour
,
madame
,” Chef Lillou began smoothly.

“I do not think this is your pyramid,” Carmen said calmly. “I do not think this is your country. And I do not think that is your flat boy.” She came toward them.

Chef Lillou gave a signal. The other
spies dropped the children they were holding and charged back down the steps toward Carmen.

Carmen did nothing. Nothing, that is, except take one very small step to the left—and then to the right—and then wiggle her hips ever so slightly.

The sous chef and the saucier lunged, but missed her completely.

“Oomph!”

“Ow!”

“Adiós,”
Carmen
said as they tumbled down the steps.

Only Chef Lillou remained, with Stanley under his arm. Carmen stepped toward them.

“Please,
madame
. Come no closer!” the chef said, brandishing the upper half of Stanley's body in an attempt to ward her off.

Carmen was now less than three feet away. She winked at Stanley.

In one graceful motion, Carmen bent at the waist and grabbed Stanley's hands. She pulled him from the chef's grasp and spun around like a dancer. Stanley's feet sailed through the air. Completing their round, his shoes hit Chef Lillou square in the middle of
his crisp white chest.

“Zut alooooooooors!”
the chef cried as he crashed all the way down to the bottom of the pyramid.

The children cheered as the chef and his staff scampered back into the jungle.

They all hugged Carmen.

“You were wrong to go off without telling anyone,” she said. She repeated herself in Spanish so that Isabel, Esteban, and Felipe would understand. Isabel's eyes welled up with tears.

“Now, you must return home. I will take Stanley from here.”

“But we are so close!” said Eduardo.

Carmen lifted her eyes to the low
building at the top of the pyramid.

“It is lucky you were not closer,” she said. “Or La Abuela's secret would be a secret no more.”