Stanley and the Magic Lamp - Jeff Brown [8]
The pilots stared at each other, then out at the wing again, but the genie had flown to join the brothers behind the plane.
“Nobody there,” said Tom. “Let’s never mention this to anyone, Bert. Okay?”
“Good idea,” said Bert. “Definitely.”
They flew on and had nothing more to say.
A giant ocean liner, ablaze with lights, made its way across the sea below.
“Come on!” Arthur shouted, whizzing away with Stanley behind him. Again, Prince Haraz laughed and let them go.
The beauty of the great ship made the brothers marvel as they drew near. It was like an enormous birthday cake, each deck a layer sparkling with the brightness of a thousand candles.
“Look, Stanley!” Arthur cried. “They’re having a party on the main deck!”
They flew closer to enjoy the fun and saw then that it was not a party, but a robbery.
The main deck was crowded because robbers had lined up all the passengers and were taking their money and jewelry. The helicopter in which the robbers had arrived was parked close by, below the captain’s bridge. The captain and his fellow officers had struggled, but they were chained up now on the bridge.
“We’ve got to do something, Stanley!” Arthur said.
Zooming down to the bridge, he shouted over the railing at the robbers below. “Stop, you crooks! Give back all that money and jewelry and stuff!”
Using his great strength, Arthur tore away the ropes and chains that bound the ship’s officers. It was as if he were just tearing paper.
Amazed, the robbers stumbled backward, dropping money and jewelry all over the deck.
“Oh, lordy!” one robber yelled. “Who are you?”
Remembering his favorite comicbook hero, Arthur could not resist showing off. He flew ten feet up in the air and stayed there, looking fierce.
“I am Mighty Arthur!” he shouted in a deep voice. “Mighty Arthur, Enemy of Crime!”
Exclamations rose from the robbers and passengers and ship’s officers. “So strong, and a flyer too! … Who expected Mighty Arthur? … Are we ever lucky ! …
This ought to be on TV!”
Now Stanley swooped down from the sky with his bathrobe belt untied, so that his robe flared behind him like a cape. “I’m Mighty Stanley!” he called. “Defender of the Innocent!”
“I do that too!” Arthur cried, wishing he had made his robe a cape. “We both do good things, but I’m the really strong one!”
He saw suddenly that several robbers were trying to escape in the helicopter. It was already rising, but Arthur flashed through the air until he was directly above it, and with one hand pushed it back down onto the deck. When the frightened robbers jumped out, the ship’s officers grabbed them and tied them up.
Now the passengers were even more amazed. “Did you see that?” they said, and “Mighty Arthur and Mighty Stanley, both on the same day!” and “This is better than TV!”
The brothers flew up to join Prince Haraz, who had been circling over the ship. “What a pair of show-offs!” said the genie. “Even worse than I used to be.”
As they set out for home, the cheers of the grateful passengers and crew floated up behind them. “Hooray for our rescuers!” they heard, and “Especially Mighty Arthur!” and a moment later, “Mighty Stanley too, of course!”
Soon the big ship was no more than an outline of tiny lights in the black sea below, and the last cheer was only a whisper above the rushing of the wind: “Three cheers … for … the Enemy … of … Crime … and the … Defender … of the … Inno … cent!”
The brothers felt very proud, but it had been a tiring adventure, and they were not sorry when the city came into sight.
5
The Last Wish
Flying back into the bedroom, the three adventurers found Mr. and Mrs. Lambchop waiting anxiously. The Liophant, who had just finished an enormous bowl of spaghetti mixed with chocolate cookies and milk, was asleep.
“Thank goodness!” Mrs. Lambchop ran to hug her sons.
“Where have you been?” Mr. Lambchop was stern. “Is that you, Prince Haraz, behind that dragon face?”
The genie took off his mask. “Were you worried? Sorry. We went for a little flight.”
“Wait till you hear!” said Arthur. “You can