1. A Rattlesnake in a Hurricane

FLAT STANLEY'S WORLDWIDE ADVENTURES 10 Showdown at the Alamo

1 A Rattlesnake in a Hurricane "Look—we're entering Texas!" cried Stanley's mother, Harriett Lambchop, as she sped down the highway. From the backseat Stanley could see an oncoming sign welcoming them to the Lone Star State. "It's so flat!" said Stanley, looking out at the plains. "You should know," teased Stanley's brother, Arthur. On the other side of Arthur sat their friend Carlos, who was studying a map.

"Of course it's flat, amigo," said Carlos. "Look at this." He handed the map over, and Stanley spread it on his lap. Ever since the bulletin board over his bed had fallen and flattened him, Stanley had been only

half an inch thick. That made his lap an especially good travel table. "Do you see how that rectangular section near the top looks like a handle you could pick up the whole state with?" asked Carlos. "We're in the Texas panhandle!" "How long until we get to Austin?" Arthur asked. The boys were going there to visit Carlos's cousin Eduardo. Stanley had been looking forward to it for weeks! "Only nine more hours," Mrs. Lambchop replied from behind the wheel. Texas is a very big state, thought Stanley. Stanley loved maps. Since being flattened, he had traveled all over the world, often by mail. He had been to Japan, Australia, Kenya, China, and Egypt. Mexico was where he had met Carlos's cousin Eduardo, who was now a student at the University of Texas at Austin. Stanley followed along on the map as they drove. Amarillo was in the center of the panhandle. Outside the city, they passed a woman on a horse herding cattle. She was wearing a

cowboy hat, and Stanley thought of his old friend Calamity Jasper, who he and Arthur had met on a family trip to Mount Rushmore. She'd ridden with Stanley rolled up on the back of her horse. If we drove north in a straight line, Stanley realized, we would hit South Dakota, where Calamity lives! "Look, boys, it's the real Cadillac Ranch!" announced his mother. Stanley looked up to see ten brightly painted cars sticking out of the ground along the highway,

like half-buried dominoes. "Cadillac Ranch is an art display that was created in the seventies," Mrs. Lambchop explained. "Cool!" Arthur said, reaching over and opening the window as they drove by for a better look. Air rushed in, and the map on Stanley's lap fluttered out the open window. He leaned out to catch it. The wind slammed into Stanley, catching his upper body like a sail. Oh no! Before Stanley knew what was happening, he had been pulled through the window and out of the car. In an instant the only thing keeping him down was his feet, which he had managed to hook around his seat belt. "Aaaaaahhhhhh!!" he screamed in terror as the car barreled down the highway. His body flapped out the window like a scarf.