Part 2 (1/2)
Only Chef Lillou remained, with Stanley under his arm. Carmen stepped toward them.
”Please, madame madame. Come no closer!” the chef said, brandis.h.i.+ng 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. .h.i.t 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 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.”
5.
The Plunge Carmen waited until the other children were out of sight before continuing up the steps with Stanley.
Stanley wished she hadn't sent his friends away. ”Why couldn't they come, too?” he sulked.
”Because they could not,” Carmen declared.
”They were just trying to help,”
Stanley said. ”They came all this way, and you made them stop just steps from La Abuela's house. It's not fair.” He kicked a step hard with his toe.
”Stanley,” Carmen said. ”How did you become flat?”
”The bulletin board over my bed squashed me in the middle of the night,” Stanley grumbled.
”Was that fair?” said Carmen.
”No.” Stanley shook his head. ”It wasn't fair at all. People make fun of me. They stare at me. Sometimes I wish it had been my brother, Arthur.”
Carmen nodded thoughtfully. Together, they climbed the last step. Stanley took a moment to straighten himself and flatten his hair before stepping inside to meet La Abuela.
”h.e.l.lo?” Stanley called, leaning through the archway. ”Hola? La Abuela?” La Abuela?”
His voice echoed from one end of the building to the other. It was empty. There wasn't even any furniture.
”Where is she?” Stanley said.
Carmen walked across the floor. She turned to face Stanley, her silhouette framed by an archway identical to the one they had entered.
”When I was your age,” Carmen said, ”only boys were matadors. Even then, I knew I wanted to fight bulls. I cried very much, because it was not fair. It was not fair that I was a girl. It was not fair that I had this body.
”But then, someone very wise told me a secret. And now I will tell that secret to you: It is not what you have that matters,” said Carmen. ”It is what you do with it.”
She beckoned for Stanley to come and look.
Stanley gasped. There were no steps down the other side of the pyramid. In fact, there was no other side to the pyramid at all. There was only a cliff that dropped from this side of the building like a huge wall, all the way down to a blue pool of water far, far below.
The green of the jungle made a blanket over the land. Stanley felt as if he could see for miles.
”So where does La Abuela live?” he said.
”I don't know,” said Carmen.
”What?”
”No one has ever been able to go beyond this point to find her. I know only that the water leads to her.”
”But how are we supposed to get down to the water?”
”We are not,” said Carmen. ”You are.”
Stanley was speechless.
Carmen's dark eyes twinkled. ”What are you going to do with what you have, Stanley?”
Stanley peered over the edge. He could not float down like a kite, because there was no wind. And this was nothing like Niagara Falls, which had been an accident, in any case.
In a flash, Stanley knew what he had to do.
He took several big steps back.
”Buena suerte,” Carmen whispered. ”Good luck.”
He took three deep breaths.