The Amazing Mexican Secret Read Free Page A

Isabel, Felipe, and Esteban. The man grabbed Stanley’s arm before Stanley could follow.
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    â€œI 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!”
    â€œAnd carving,” said bald Reynaldo ominously, rubbing the blade of his knife with his thumb.
    â€œWhy 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 armlike a loaf of French bread, and started up the steps after everyone else.
    â€œWhat is an American flat boy like you doing in this part of the world?” he said, his arm tight around Stanley.
    â€œJust 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.
    â€œNine 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!”
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    Someone whistled behind them. Chef Lillou swung around, and Stanley swung with him.
    It was Carmen del Junco!
    â€œ Bonjour , madame ,” Chef Lillou began smoothly.
    â€œI 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 otherspies 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.
    â€œOomph!”
    â€œOw!”

    â€œAdiós,” Carmensaid as they tumbled down the steps.
    Only Chef Lillou remained, with Stanley under his arm. Carmen stepped toward them.
    â€œPlease, 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 ofhis crisp white chest.
    â€œZut 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.
    â€œYou 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.
    â€œNow, you must return home. I will take Stanley from here.”
    â€œBut we are so close!” said Eduardo.
    Carmen lifted her eyes to the lowbuilding at the top of the pyramid.
    â€œIt 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.
    â€œBecause they could not,” Carmen declared.
    â€œThey were just trying to help,”
    Stanley said. “They came all this way, and you made them