Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures #12: Escape to California Read Online Free

you were just the man to help us with our plan to change the world!”
    Stanley couldn’t help but laugh. Lily is fearless! he thought.

    â€œAny friend of Stanley’s is a friend of mine,” said Oda Nobu. “What is this plan of yours?”
    Lily peered around to make sure no one was listening. “We’d like you to hold a live news conference to bring the world’s attention to a daring escape from Alcatraz.”
    â€œBut who would attempt such an escape?” said Oda Nobu.
    Lily sat up straighter. “You’re looking at her!”

Hitting the Beach
    Less than twenty-four hours remained until the escape. There was only one thing left to do: practice.
    Oda Nobu, Stanley, and Lily huddled in the back of the Fox family’s van as it raced up Highway 1, along the Pacific coast from Los Angeles toward San Francisco. On one wall of the van hung the blueprint of Alcatraz.
    Stanley practiced slipping his head through the slit in the partition to the front seat without Dr. Fox and his father noticing. Lily picked a lock while wearing a blindfold. Oda Nobu went over his script: His agent had informed the networks that both he and his wife, the famed matador Carmen del Junco, would be appearing at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco to make a “shocking announcement” at exactly 7:15 tomorrow evening. The press was already aflutter with rumors that the international celebrity couple might be breaking up.
    Suddenly the van stopped. Dr. Fox opened the back doors, and sunlight streamed in. Stanley heard the crashing of waves. A sign pointing back in the direction they came read SANTA BARBARA .
    â€œThe beach here is deserted,” Dr. Fox announced. “Stanley, Lily, it’s time for a test flight.”
    Once Stanley squeezed into his flight suit, Oda Nobu looked at him admiringly. “That is the finest ninja suit I have ever seen.”
    Stanley puffed out his chest. “Nice, huh?”
    Stanley sat on the sand while Dr. Fox fiddled with the extra-fine wires that would attach him to the Escapist—also known as the wheelchair Lily was using for her stunt. His suit turned light beige to match the sand. Oda Nobu gasped and announced that he must have one. “Also,” he added, “Carmen could use such a suit for her bullfights. She would be invincible!” Stanley grinned at the thought of bullfighting with Carmen, as he had in Mexico.

    Finally they were ready. Stanley’s father said, “Stanley, I want you to be careful. Lily’s safety is in your hands.”
    Stanley nodded nervously. He hadn’t thought of it that way before, and it made him nervous. After all, it wasn’t so long ago that he’d been terrified of the wind while driving through a wind farm in Texas.
    But then, too, he had put fear aside to help his friends.
    Now it was time to help Lily.
    Up ahead, she slowly rolled to the edge of the water, and Stanley followed. Before them, a giant wave crested and crashed. The white foam licked Stanley’s feet and the bottom of the Escapist’s wheels.
    â€œLily,” said Stanley, “you’re going to have to throw me really hard to get me up in the air. It has to be like when my little brother, Arthur, threw me in Australia. Like you’re throwing a boomerang.”
    Lily took his hands. “Stanley,” she said, taking a deep breath, “let’s blow this taco stand.” And she heaved him into the air with all her might.

    Stanley spread out his arms, and the wind found him at once. It was as if he’d been hit by a rocket. “Whoa!” he cried, bursting through one wisp of cloud, and then another. Suddenly he stopped rising and leveled out.
    His suit shimmered pale blue. Stanley felt a small tug on his wires and heard a triumphant squeal from below.
    Stanley looked down. It took him a moment to make them out, but there they were: two tracks of white carving a path through the water.