The Japanese Ninja Surprise (4 page)

“Oda Nobu’s been kidnapped!” cried Arthur. “What should we do?”

“Seems to me it’s those ninjas who should be worried,” chuckled Mrs. Lambchop. “If your famous friend is half the fierce warrior you boys say he is, I believe they’ll have their hands full!”

“Still, Harriet, a crime has been committed,” Mr. Lambchop reminded his wife. “We must call the police at once and give them our report.”

Stanley shook his head. “Oda Nobu made me his personal ninja,” he said. “It was my responsibility to protect him, and I didn’t. Now it is my responsibility to find him.”

George Lambchop put a hand on his older son’s shoulder. “Your mother and I have always taught you boys to live up to your responsibilities. However, there’s school on Monday. That’s a responsibility, too.”

“And besides,” Arthur said, “all Oda Nobu has to do is use his Incredible
Kick of Catastrophe. Those ninjas will wish they’d never been born!”

Stanley thought sadly about what Oda Nobu had confided in him. The movie star was probably very afraid right now. And if the kidnappers found out he couldn’t protect himself, his career would be over. “No,” he told his family. “I must save him.”

“But where are we going to start?” asked Arthur.

Stanley looked all around the garden. Something on the ground near the gate caught his attention. He walked over and picked it up.

“How about here?” he said, and held it up for the others to see.

It was an origami star, made from Oda Nobu’s shiny paper.

Stanley’s family followed him, as he looked for more paper stars. “There!” Stanley called time after time as he ran ahead to pick up another one. “This way!”

They hurried along like this for hours. Mrs. Lambchop, who was in excellent shape because of daily exercise, greatly enjoyed the hike. But Mr. Lambchop found himself huffing
and puffing. “Too much time behind the desk at the office,” he said. “I guess this should be a good lesson for me.”

Eventually, the stars led them to a footbridge that crossed a stream and then ran along a long row of trees. Finally, just as the sun was about to set, they came to a lake.

At the shore, Stanley found one more paper star. He pointed to an island in the middle of the lake. On the island was a beautiful little pagoda. “There,” Stanley said. “That’s where Oda Nobu is.”

“But how are we going to get there?” Arthur asked. “I don’t see any boats.”

Stanley thought a little and then smiled. “Who wants to go first?” he
asked. Then he lay down and slipped onto the lake’s surface.

One by one, Stanley ferried his family across to the island. He kicked as quietly as he could. In a few moments, they were all together again, crouching in the darkness outside the pagoda.

“Now what?” asked Arthur.

“Lift me up, Arthur,” Stanley said. “I want to look in this window.”

Arthur gave his brother a boost, and Stanley peeked in the window. He did not see the four ninjas, but he did see Oda Nobu, gagged and tied to a chair, with his wrists bound together in his lap.

Stanley hopped down. “He’s in there,” he reported. “They have him tied up.”

“So what should we do?” asked Arthur.

Stanley tried to think like a ninja. He remembered what Oda Nobu had said about the art of stealth. He looked down at the last origami star in his hand.

“I have a plan, Arthur,” he said. “Fold me up exactly as I say. First, my left foot to my right shoulder. Next…”

Arthur crept quietly up the steps of the pagoda. He held an origami star next to his ear. But this wasn’t one of Oda Nobu’s paper stars.

This was his brother, Stanley Lambchop.

“Okay, Arthur, this is it,” Stanley said. His voice was muffled, folded up
as he was. “When we get to the door, knock loudly. When the door opens, throw me in as hard as you can. Straight at Oda Nobu. And then run! If they come after you, you and Mom and Dad have to swim for the shore.”

“Gee, Stanley, I don’t think I like this plan.”

“We have to be as brave and daring as ninjas now,” Stanley told his brother. “Oda Nobu is counting on us.”

Arthur took a deep breath. He raised the Stanley-star up, ready to throw, and knocked. In a moment, the door opened, and there stood…

Four smiling girls!

Stanley stared from under his ankle.
“Um, wait a minute, Arthur,” he began.

Too late. Arthur, now thinking like a ninja, threw Stanley as hard as he could. Oda Nobu’s eyes widened as he watched the ninja star fly right for his head!

Stanley flew straight and true, the way a ninja star should. He hit Oda Nobu on the forehead and then bounced to the floor.

“Oda-san, it’s me, Stanley!” he shouted. If Oda-Nobu hadn’t been tied down, he would have shot off the chair with shock.

Stanley tried with all his might to get to Oda Nobu’s hand. On the second try,
Oda Nobu reached him, and snapped his fingers—and Stanley unfurled.

Stanley pulled the tape from Oda Nobu’s mouth and then began to untie him.

“
Arigato,
Stanley-san! Thank you!” Oda Nobu whispered, as he rubbed his wrists. “Those are the craziest fans ever!”

“Those girls?” Stanley asked. “
Those girls
are the ones who kidnapped you?”

Oda Nobu shuddered. “The craziest!” he repeated.

“Are they dangerous?” Stanley asked.

Oda Nobu stuck his head around the
corner to see into the other room. He broke into a big smile. “Perhaps you should ask your brother,” he suggested.

Stanley looked into the other room. There was Arthur, beaming with happiness. He was surrounded by the four girls, who were folding little origami animals and giving them to him.

Oda Nobu and Stanley marched straight up to Arthur and the girls. Oda Nobu said something to the girls in Japanese. His words were harsh, and the girls looked frightened.

Stanley couldn’t understand what Oda Nobu was telling them, but then at the end he heard, “Flat Stanley!” At
this, the girls turned to look at him, wide-eyed with their hands to their mouths.

Then all of a sudden they were all around him, laughing and taking pictures.

“Hey!” Arthur said. “Mariko! Cho!
Taki! Hana! What about me?”

But the girls had forgotten all about Arthur. And, it seemed, Oda Nobu.

But Oda Nobu had not forgotten about them. He spoke sternly again, and all four girls hung their heads as they listened.

Mr. and Mrs. Lambchop appeared at the pagoda’s front door.

“We will now return to the inn,” Oda Nobu told them. “I will telephone the parents of these very disrespectful girls.”

At the inn, Arthur and Stanley watched as four taxis pulled away. In each was one very sorry girl and two
very angry parents.

Then Oda Nobu’s limousine pulled up. Oda Nobu bowed to Mr. and Mrs. Lambchop. “Your sons have performed as the most honorable, the most fearless of ninjas this evening. I insist you accompany me to Tokyo where you will stay as my guests as long as you wish.”

The next morning, everyone got up very early. “I’m afraid we must leave on this evening’s plane, as the boys have school on Monday,” Mrs. Lambchop told Oda Nobu. “But it would be lovely to spend the day sightseeing.”

“Very well,” said Oda Nobu. “You must allow me to be your personal
tour guide of Tokyo, at your service.” In that one day, he took the Lambchops everywhere.

On a private tour of the Imperial Palace.

To an aquarium, where they stood in a glass tunnel to watch electric eels and piranhas and sea horses challenge each other above them.

To the zoo, where they saw giant pandas and king penguins.

To a sumo match, where Stanley saw the roundest men he’d ever seen. Arthur couldn’t help himself. “Be careful, Stanley,” he joked. “Those guys could flatten you!”

And then, of course, to the movie studio, where Oda Nobu introduced the Lambchops all around.

At dusk, the limousine drew up in front of Oda Nobu’s home again. Inside, the Lambchops were delighted to find four handsome kimonos waiting for them.

Stanley knew what this meant. He led his family down the hall to the tearoom, where Oda Nobu was already seated on
the straw mat. He sat down again as he had learned, and gestured for his family to follow his example. Oda Nobu bowed to him and passed him the bowl of tea. Stanley bowed to Oda Nobu and took a sip. Then Oda Nobu caught his eye and nodded to Mrs. Lambchop. Stanley bowed to his mother and passed her the tea. Then he did the same for his father and his brother.

Oda Nobu gave Stanley a proud smile.

“Wow,” Arthur said, making a face after his sip of tea. “This tastes kind of—”

“Interesting!” Stanley said quickly. “I agree, Arthur!”

Mrs. Lambchop gave Stanley a proud smile, too.

And then it was time to go to the airport. At the gate, as the Lambchops’ flight was announced, Oda Nobu bowed deeply to Stanley.

“Stanley-san, you have given me a great gift,” he said. “You have reminded me of
who
I am again. Not just
what
I am.”

Stanley smiled and shook Oda Nobu’s hand. “And you’ll come to the Cherry Blossom Festival next year? In Washington, D.C.?”

“Oh, yes, you may count on it. You will always be my personal ninja, and I will always be your most humble friend.”

The Lambchops waved good-bye to Oda Nobu and marched down the Jetway to their plane. As they boarded, the flight attendant took their tickets and looked puzzled. “Only three tickets?” she asked. “But there are four of you.”

“But only three of us need seats,” Mr. Lambchop said. He sat down and
then tucked Stanley neatly into the seat pocket in front of him.

Everyone had a hearty chuckle about the handiness of Stanley’s shape before buckling up for the safe flight home.

“Mariko made this one!” Arthur pinned an origami owl to the bulletin board in his bedroom.

“And Cho made this one!” An origami turtle.

“And Taki!” A paper rabbit.

“And Hana!” Arthur tacked a paper…
some
thing to the bulletin board. “What about you, Stanley? Did you bring home any souvenirs?”

Stanley sat on his bed, looking glumly
at a photograph. “Oh, I have this, I guess,” he said. It was a picture of Oda Nobu, looking fierce in his samurai robes, holding his hands menacingly above his head.
To Stanley, Fight strong, Oda Nobu
was written across the photo.

Stanley looked away. He felt sad for some reason.

“Stanley Lambchop!” Mr. Lambchop called up the stairs. “Express mail for Stanley Lambchop!”

Stanley jumped up and raced down the stairs. Moments later he returned, holding an envelope. The stamps in the corner were Japanese.

“Open it up!” Arthur cried.

Stanley did. He pulled out a photograph and a letter, which he read aloud.

“Dear Stanley-san, here is the real me. I can never thank you enough for showing me who I am, rather than what I am. I will see you soon. And when I do, I promise I will be at least a green belt!”

Stanley looked at the photo. There was Oda Nobu, standing in a line of karate students. A white belt was knotted around his waist. He was smiling broadly.

Stanley could not have felt prouder. He tacked the photo to the bulletin board and then turned and bowed to Arthur.

“Prepare to fight, Arthur-san!” he cried. “Prepare to be defeated!”

“Never!” Arthur said, as he leaped up, bounced high on his bed, and landed with a
boom
on the opposite side of the room. “It is you who will be defeated, Stanley-san!”

“Boys!” Mrs. Lambchop called
up the stairs. “Arthur! Stanley! The bookshelves are wobbling!”

“Can we have a little quiet time?” pleaded Mr. Lambchop from his study.

“Sorry, Mom! Sorry, Dad!” the boys called back in unison. And then they went right back to what they were doing.

The End