Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures #11
Read Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures #11 Online
Authors: Jeff Brown
What You Need to Know about Paris
Excerpt from
Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures #12: Escape to California
About the Authors and Illustrator
Stanley Lambchop stood before the map that his teacher, Ms. Merrick, had yanked down at the front of the classroom. She nodded at him to begin. “I've traveled all over the world,” Stanley told his class. “I've been to Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Japan, Kenya, and China.” He pointed to each country as he spoke.
His classmate Molly raised her hand. “Do you always travel by mail?” she asked.
Ever since the bulletin board over Stanley's bed had fallen and flattened him, he had been easy to fold and mail in an envelope.
“Not always. Sometimes I fly,” Stanley replied. He thought for a moment. “On a plane, I mean. Or I can float thousands of miles if the wind is right.”
Stanley's friend Carlos raised his hand next. “So you've never been to Europe?”
Stanley turned and found Europe on the map. He scanned the countries that made up the continent: England . . . Spain . . . France . . . Germany . . . Italy . . . “Actually, no, I haven't been to
any
of the European countries. . . . But I
have
been to
Australia.
” He reached over, past Europe and Asia, and proudly tapped the country in the bottom right corner.
The map shuddered and snapped up like a window shade. All at once it was dark, and Stanley's body felt very tightly wound.
He'd been rolled up with the map!
“Hilph!” Stanley cried. He could hear his classmates laughing.
Suddenly there was a muffled announcement over the loudspeaker. A moment later Stanley felt himself being unwound.
“Stanley,” Ms. Merrick said as she pulled the map back down. “You are to report to the principal's office at once.”
“But it was an accident!” Stanley pleaded. “I wasn't trying to be funny. The map just snapped!”
“I know, Stanley,” his teacher said gently. “I'm sure it's nothing serious.”
Stanley slouched into the office, but the principal wasn't there. Instead Stanley found someone elseâa man he recognized!
“Mr. Dart!” Stanley cried. “What are you doing here?”
Mr. O. Jay Dart was the director of the Famous Museum. Stanley had once helped him catch some art thieves. Stanley had been forced to disguise himself as a shepherd girl in a painting, which was very embarrassing. It was worth it, though, because he caught the thieves red-handed.
“Hello, Stanley,” Mr. Dart said, quickly closing the door. “The principal was kind enough to lend me an office. I've come on official business.” He laid a leather briefcase on the desk.
“Stanley,” he continued as he turned the combination lock on the front of his briefcase. “Have you ever heard of the
Mona Lisa
?”
“The painting?”
“That's right,” Mr. Dart said as the case unlocked with a click. “She was painted around 1505 by the great artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci. When you see her, say hello for me, will you?” Mr. Dart winked mysteriously and lifted the briefcase's lid. A screen rose from inside with a whirring sound.
Suddenly a dashing man with a polka-dot tie, thick eyebrows, and large, round glasses flickered to life on-screen.
“Stanley, I would like you to meet Agent Lunette of the Police Nationale in Paris, France,” Mr. Dart said.
“Bonjour
, Monsieur Lambchop,” the man said in a thick French accent. He looked down his nose. “Eez it true you are v-air-y flat?”
Stanley nodded and turned to the side, and Agent Lunette whistled approvingly.
“Then you are the right boy for the job,” Agent Lunette said. “The world's greatest art is goingâ
poof!
âinto thin air, and only you can stop it!” His glasses made his eyes look very large.
Mr. Dart cleared his throat. “There have been a series of art thefts in Paris recently, Stanley,” he said. “They believe the
Mona Lisa
will be next.”
“Imagine! The
Mona Lisa
stolen from the Musée du Louvre, the greatest art museum in the world!” Agent Lunette cried. “We cannot let this happen!”
“He's right, Stanley,” Mr. Dart said. “And as strange as it may seem, you are now a leading expert on museum theft. I've already spoken with your parents, and everything is taken care of. You'll be flying to Paris and staying with your aunt Simone.”
Mr. Dart pressed a button, and the on-screen display split in two. “Staaaaaanley!” Stanley's aunt Simone squealed as she appeared on half of the screen beside Agent Lunette. Stanley hadn't seen his aunt since he was small, but he remembered her bright-red lips and her stylish red hair, which fell in a slant across her face.
“Hi, Aunt Simone!” Stanley said.
“Let me see how you've grown!” she said, gesturing for Stanley to turn around.
“Mon chéri!
You are too thin! You must come to Paris and eat!” she crooned.
“I'm not too thin, Aunt Simone,” said Stanley. “I'm flat.”
“Come!” Aunt Simone repeated. “We will delight in the City of Light! The food! The fashion! The culture!”
Agent Lunette cleared his throat.
“Pardonnez-moi
, Mademoiselle. But Monsieur Lambchop cannot be seen in public in Paris. His presence will be a secret.”
Aunt Simone huffed. “No,
pardonnez-moi
, Monsieur! My nephew will enjoy his visit!”
“No, no!” Agent Lunette snapped.
“Absolument non!
Absolutely not!”
“Oui!
” Aunt Simone shouted back. “Yes!”
Aunt Simone and Agent Lunette glared at each other from opposite sides of the screen.
“We'll have fun, Aunt Simone, I promise,” Stanley interrupted. “And don't worry, Agent Lunette. I'll keep a low profile.”
Aunt Simone and Agent Lunette both nodded grudgingly.
Mr. Dart glanced at his watch. “Your flight leaves in a few hours, Stanley. We'd better get you packed!”
