The boys tied their horses to a tree near a low stone hill called Enchanted Rock.
As they had collected firewood, Enchanted Rock had glowed a bright, fiery pink in the setting sun. Now the rock lurked in the dark behind their campsite. Stanley’s stomach growled as he fanned the glowing embers of the campfire with his arm.
“Some Native American tribes believe Enchanted Rock is a doorway to the spirit world,” Eduardo said.
The light from the fire flickered on Eduardo’s face. Suddenly a strange, otherworldly moaning rose up all around them, as if from the center of the earth. “What’s that?” Arthur shrieked, lifting Stanley up and hiding behind him.
Eduardo laughed. “The Tonkawa tribe says it is ghosts. Scientists say it is just the sound of the rock cooling after being heated by the sun all day.”
“Put me down, Arthur,” Stanley grumbled as he was placed on the ground.
Stanley grabbed a can of beans from his pack, pulled open the top, and put the can on the fire. “Calamity Jasper says a cowboy always travels with a can of beans,” he said.
“Calamity Jasper? Who’s that?” Eduardo wondered aloud.
“We met her a while back in the Black Hills of South Dakota,” said Arthur. “I singlehandedly saved her life when she was trapped in a gold mine.”
“You did not,” Stanley said, rolling his eyes. “But she did teach us to build a campfire.” Stanley smiled, thinking about her. “She’s a good friend,” he said simply.
Stanley and the other boys talked late into the night . . . about bullfighting in Mexico, how many tacos they could eat in one sitting, whether there was life on other planets, and their biggest fears.
Stanley stoked the glowing coals of the fire with a stick. “There’s a part of me that’s getting scared to go outside on a windy day. I keep getting blown away.”
His friends nodded in understanding. Somehow that was all it took to make Stanley feel better.
At last Arthur draped Stanley over him for warmth, and Stanley pulled a blanket over them both.
“Good night, guys,” Stanley said with a yawn.
The boys murmured their soft replies and drifted off to sleep.
Early the next morning the boys ate some dry cereal and packed up camp. Stanley wished they could stay another night, but they had to be at the Alamo by noon. Arthur set the alarm on his watch to make sure they wouldn’t be late.
Riding back to Bandera, they galloped over rocks and between cacti. They skirted a red canyon. The sun rose higher and higher.
In a few hours Big Bill’s Dude Ranch appeared in the distance. As they got closer, Stanley could see a group of people gathered around the porch. They were less than a hundred yards away when Stanley read a sign a girl was holding: I’M FLAT-OUT IN LOVE! His stomach sank as he realized it was a group of fans looking for him.
The boys pulled Sam Houston and Davy Crockett to a stop.
“Looks like Stanleymania has caught up with us,” said Arthur.
“What should we do?” asked Carlos.
“I have an idea,” Eduardo said. “Stanley, do you still have that map of Texas?”
Stanley nodded.
Eduardo jumped down from his horse and rummaged through his saddlebag. He pulled out a Magic Marker. “We’re going to smuggle you out of here.”
To stay out of sight, Stanley lay draped facedown over Davy Crockett like a blanket. As Carlos and Eduardo tied up the horses, Stanley could hear Big Bill answering questions on the porch of the dude ranch. “Yes, ma’am!” he said. “That does sound like him! About this high”—he held his hand up to his belly—“and this thick.” He pinched his fingers together.
Eduardo slipped Stanley his disguise: It was the sign he had written on the back of the map. In big letters it read WHOM DO WE WANT? STANLEY! The boys had argued about whether it should say “who” or “whom.” Finally they checked Mrs. Lambchop’s book of grammar rules. To Stanley’s surprise, “whom” was correct.
Stanley jumped down from the horse and held the sign in front of his face. Eduardo lifted him up. Stanley kept his thin side out, and Eduardo walked calmly to the car, looking as if he were just another Stanley fan toting a sign.
The boys jumped in the car with their things, and Eduardo hit the gas. Just when Stanley thought the coast was clear, Arthur cried, “We’ve got company!” A big pickup truck had pulled out of the parking lot after them.
We’re being chased! Stanley realized.
“Your fans really are loco about you,” said Carlos in disbelief. The truck was visible in their rearview mirror.
“Lucky me,” Stanley huffed.
“Maybe you’ll get kidnapped!” Arthur said excitedly. He started telling Carlos and Eduardo about what happened when they mailed Stanley to Oda Nobu, the martial arts star in Japan. Some fans had kidnapped Oda Nobu and Stanley, and Arthur had had to rescue them.
“Being famous isn’t as fun as it’s cracked up to be,” said Stanley when Arthur was finished.
“One of our cousins, the great matador Carmen del Junco, says that being famous is a responsibility,” said Carlos.
“Hmph,” grumbled Stanley. “I don’t need more responsibility. I don’t even like to clean my room.”
“Come on,” said Arthur. “It’s not that bad. Everybody loves you.”
Stanley frowned.
“You get to do whatever you want!” Arthur continued.
“I just want to be treated like a normal kid,” argued Stanley. “I want to hang out with my friends and play outside and get in trouble without it ending up in the newspaper.” He glanced back at the truck chasing them. “They think I’m some kind of idol. But I’m not. I’m just like them. It’s just that I’m . . . flatter.”
“Then it is true what they say,” said Eduardo. “Flattery will get you nowhere.”
Even Stanley couldn’t help laughing at that. Eduardo turned onto a side road, but the truck swerved and kept following them.
“What’s that up ahead?” Stanley asked. In the distance, a field of giant white windmills, as tall as apartment buildings, rose into view.
“It’s a wind farm,” said Eduardo. “Texas is home to some of the biggest wind farms in the world. They can be hundreds of miles wide.”
Stanley’s chest tightened. His sides curled slightly.
“Turn around!” he croaked.
“What’s wrong?” asked Eduardo.
“They’re right behind us,” said Carlos.
“TURN AROUND!” Stanley repeated, his whole body shaking.
“But, Stanley—” Arthur began.
“No, Arthur!” cried Stanley. “Remember how I got blown across Canada? Remember Australia? I am NOT going into a wind farm if I can help it!”
After a moment Eduardo spoke in a steady voice. “Stanley, I know how you feel. But as your friend, I have to tell you that you cannot run from your fears.”
“What if I blow away?” said Stanley.
“We won’t let anything happen to you, amigo,” said Carlos.
“We won’t even leave the car,” said Arthur. “Promise.”
Stanley swallowed and looked around at his friends. The only things that might be stronger than the wind, he thought, are friends like these.
“Okay. Let’s go.” He grabbed Arthur’s hand and leaned back against the seat, taking deep breaths as Eduardo drove into the field of windmills.