The Japanese Ninja Surprise Read online

“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.”

  9

  Tokyo

  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…something 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

  Acknowledgments

  Special thanks to

  DANA BONSTROM

  About the Authors and the Illustrator

  JEFF BROWN created the beloved character of Flat Stanley as a bedtime story for his two sons. He has written other outrageous books about the Lambchop family, including FLAT STANLEY, STANLEY AND THE MAGIC LAMP, INVISIBLE STANLEY, STANLEY’S CHRISTMAS ADVENTURE, STANLEY IN SPACE, and STANLEY, FLAT AGAIN! You can learn more about Jeff Brown and Flat Stanley at www.flatstanleybooks.com.

  SARA PENNYPACKER is an award-winning writer whose books for children include the endearing CLEMENTINE. She lives in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

  MACKY PAMINTUAN is an accomplished illustrator. He lives in San Diego, Califor
nia, with his wife and dog.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  CATCH FLAT STANLEY’S WORLDWIDE ADVENTURES:

  The Mount Rushmore Calamity

  The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery

  The Japanese Ninja Surprise

  AND DON’T MISS ANY OF THESE

  OUTRAGEOUS STORIES:

  Flat Stanley: His Original Adventure!

  Stanley and the Magic Lamp

  Invisible Stanley

  Stanley’s Christmas Adventure

  Stanley in Space

  Stanley, Flat Again!

  Credits

  Jacket art by Macky Pamintuan

  Jacket design by Jennifer Heuer

  Copyright

  FLAT STANLEY’S WORLDWIDE ADVENTURES: THE JAPANESE NINJA SURPRISE. Text copyright © 2009 by the Trust u/w/o Richard C. Brown a/k/a Jeff Brown f/b/o Duncan Brown. Illustrations by Macky Pamintuan, copyright © 2009 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Adobe Digital Edition August 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-192403-3

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