The Amazing Mexican Secret Part 3

And with that, the great Chef Lillou of Bourgogne burst into tears.

"No, no, no, no, no," he whimpered.

"No, no, no, no." "Do not cry, chef," Patrice said as he patted Lillou's shoulder. "We can still make a unique pesto."

"I just want to go home to my restaurant," the chef blubbered.

"That sounds like a good idea," said Reynaldo gently.

Reynaldo and Patrice put the chef's arms around their shoulders. Together, the three of them walked out of the field, to return to France at last.

Stanley waited until he could no longer hear voices. Then he carefully peeled himself from his chair and turned around.

"Are you okay?" he asked La Abuela, whom he had been covering the entire time.

She nodded, a smile breaking across her face. She burst into laughter and leaped from the chair. Together, she and Stanley did a little dance. She finished by kissing him wetly on the cheek.

Stanley pointed out the door. "So that's not not the secret ingredient?" the secret ingredient?"

La Abuela giggled. "The secret is not the ingredient," she said in her broken English. "It is what you do with it." Her eyes sparkled.

Stanley suddenly understood: It was La Abuela who had told Carmen the secret that made her a great matador.

La Abuela walked into the field and plucked a handful of cilantro from the ground. She took Stanley's hand, turned it palm up, and placed the herbs on the flat of his arm. Then she took his other arm and pressed it on top of the first.

"Now," she said. "Rub as hard as you can. I will get the salt." She ran inside.

Stanley started rubbing. His arms got hot with friction.

Suddenly, Stanley smelled something familiar. It was a smell he knew from his mother's kitchen.

It was the smell of his last breakfast at home.

Stanley breathed deeply. It was the most delicious smell he had ever known.

8.

The Last Bullfight Four days later, the applause was building at the Plaza de Toros in Mexico City. The great matador Carmen del Junco waved h.e.l.lo to her fans as red roses flew from the stands to dot the ground at her feet.

An announcer's voice boomed over a loudspeaker. "Y bienvenido Stanley Llano!" "Y bienvenido Stanley Llano!"

"That's me, Flat Stanley!" realized Stanley. He was stationed behind a wooden slat door at one end of the ring. He put on his biggest grin, pushed open the door, and trotted out.

The crowd leaped to its feet.

Carmen took his hand, and Stanley gave a dramatic bow. In his new satin spandex jumpsuit, he looked like a giant piece of s.h.i.+ny red paper folding itself in half.

"You know, it is a myth about bulls and the color red," Carmen had said when she presented the outfit to him as a present. "Bulls can't see different colors at all. It is movement that makes them charge."

Carmen now took Stanley's other hand as the bull rushed into the ring.

A hush fell over the crowd as everyone took their seats.

Carmen winked at Stanley, just as she had before rescuing him on the steps of the Mayan temple. Then she grasped his other hand, lifted him off the ground, and gave him a little shake. The bull did not look very happy to see Stanley. Its muscles rippled. Its hooves thundered in clouds of dust.

Stanley gulped and squeezed his eyes shut.

Suddenly, a hysterical shriek pierced the air. "STOP THAT BULL!"

I know that scream, thought Stanley.

He opened one eye. With a shrug, Carmen calmly lifted him onto her shoulders and stepped aside to let the bull pa.s.s.

"YOU KEEP THAT BULL AWAY FROM MY SON STANLEY!"

And then Stanley saw: His family was in the front row! Mrs. Lambchop was standing on top of a seat, waving her hands like a trapped octopus. Everyone in the arena was staring at her. Arthur looked the most horrified of all.

"Mom? Dad? Arthur?" said Stanley. "What are you doing here?"

"You think you can go away for a whole week without calling?" cried Mrs. Lambchop.

"Your mother is right, son," Mr. Lambchop said. "We were worried about you."

Carmen shuffled slightly to let the bull pa.s.s again.

"Of course, we were worried!" Mrs. Lambchop cried. "Our boy Stanley is about to get gored by a bull!"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Well, I think what you're doing is neat, Stanley," he said.

"Thanks, Arthur," said Stanley. It sure was good to see his brother.

"Mom, is it okay if I finish just this one bullfight?" said Stanley. "Please?"

"Yeah, Mom. Please?" chimed Arthur.

"I promise, Senora Senora Lambchop," said Carmen. "I will keep Stanley safe. He is a very special boy." Lambchop," said Carmen. "I will keep Stanley safe. He is a very special boy."

Mr. and Mrs. Lambchop exchanged looks. Then, slowly, Stanley's mother climbed off her chair and sat down.

A few moments later, Stanley's toes lightly brushed the bull's back as it rushed beneath him. He squeezed Carmen's hands joyously.

Everyone in the stands went wild-even Mrs. Lambchop.

"Stay back, matador!" cried Carlos. He was standing on Stanley's bed, holding Stanley by the feet like a giant knife and swinging him at Arthur, who stood a few feet back on the floor. "Or I will chop you in half like an onion with the flat American!"

"Oh yeah, Mr. Big Chef?" said Arthur. He grabbed Stanley's hands and tugged.

"Ow!" said Stanley.

"I will never let you beat me!" cried Carlos, tugging back. "Never!"

"That's what you think!" challenged Arthur.

"Arthur," Mr. Lambchop appeared in the doorway. "Haven't I told you no playing tug-of-war in the house? You're going to stretch out your brother."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "We're not having a tug-of-war, Dad. We're playing chef and bullfighter."

"Well, that's good," said Mr. Lambchop, "because I've just received our photographs from Mexico." He flipped through the pile in his hand and held up one so the boys could see.

It was Stanley being swung through the air by Carmen del Junco as an enormous bull pa.s.sed inches beneath him!

"Whoa," Carlos said.

"I told you it was cool," said Arthur.

Stanley felt his cheeks turning red. He went over to his bulletin board. He pinned the photo right next to a piece of paper on which he had written, "The secret is not the ingredient. It is what you do with it."

Stanley smiled. He felt as if he could still hear La Abuela's laugh. He could still feel the grasp of Carmen's hands. He could still smell the secret ingredient.

In fact, it was as if that smell was wafting right down the hall and into his room.

"Lunchtime!" Mrs. Lambchop called.

Stanley, Arthur, Carlos, and Mr. Lambchop stampeded for the kitchen.

THE END.

MORE AMAZING MEXICAN SECRETS!.

Besides being the third largest country in Latin America, Mexico is the country with the most Spanish speakers in the whole world!

Each of the three color stripes in the Mexican flag is deeply symbolic: The green stripe represents the ideals of victory and hope, the white stripe symbolizes purity, and the red stripe symbolizes the blood sacrificed by Mexico's heroes.

Mexico is located in the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a region named for the vast amount of volcanic and seismic activity it contains, and is home to many active volcanoes, such as the Citlaltepetl (also called Orizaba) and the Popocatepetl.

Though Spanish is Mexico's official language, there are sixty more indigenous languages spoken in this country, such Huastec, Maya, Mazahua, Mazatec, Mixtec, Nahuatl, Otomi, Tarastec, Totonac, Tzeltal, Tzotzil, and Zapotec.

Every year on November 1, Mexicans celebrate a national holiday called "Dia de los Muertos," or "Day of the Dead," in which they honor loved ones who have pa.s.sed away. Festivities include decorating their houses with pictures of those who have pa.s.sed and eating treats shaped like skulls and skeletons!

Mexico is the original home of chocolate!

The border between Mexico and the United States is the second longest border in the world (second only to the border between Canada and the United States), and it spans about 1,933 miles.

Mexico's capital, Mexico City, is the second largest city in the world by population, with a population of about 18,131,000 people.

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