Free Stile Maus by Robert Wise

vanishing behind a fencing of lofty shrubs and fern.  Emile joined her guide at the foot of a gradient which had been slightly dampened by the splash of the brook below. 
    ‘There it is,’ said Benjamin with a smug grin. 
     
    Emile looked at him.
    ‘Is that..?’ she started, almost spluttering as the stunned barrel of words got caught up within her throat, ‘is that what I think it is?’  Benjamin didn’t attempt to hide his smugness.  He stood at the edge of the creek, his arms folded and his face glowing with arrogance.  Grabbing at the flow of her dress Emile braved the slope, landing onto an island of pebbles that sat just below the dribbling stream of water.  Nerves tingled at her cheeks.
    ‘I told you,’ Benjamin sniggered as he brushed past.  Emile stood at a distance for a few moments, almost wary of its presence.  Its panels were monstrous, great arms of worn gold and gathering rust.  The lower part of its frame sunk deep into the river bed leaving its great bulk towering over them like a motionless windmill.  Benjamin stretched out a hand and tapped his fingers against the metal, smiling as a droning ring echoed throughout the clearing.  Beaming with amazement Emile mimicked the gentle knock.  Another tinkle of sound trembled through the trees. 
    ‘Where do you think it came from?’ she asked, leaning against its slippery structure as she peered under one of the panels. 
    ‘The sky,’ Benjamin replied, ‘where else?’  Emile’s nose wrinkled with curiosity.
    ‘You do know this isn’t a star, right?’  Benjamin sniggered.  Emile scowled, shooting Benjamin a look of sheer repulsion for even trying to test her intelligence. 
    ‘Of course I do,’ she countered, ‘I bet that you were here for hours before you worked that one out.’  Benjamin’s sneer disappeared, quickly transforming into an uncomfortable frown. 
    ‘It’s a propeller.’  A lash of lighting soared through the air.  The two explorers looked up into the darkened sky, blinking away the fall of spitting rain. 
    ‘What do you think it’s doing here?’ Emile yelled over the grumbling roll of thunder.  Benjamin glanced at her through the shimmering downpour, shrugging his drenched shoulders.  They circled it, climbing against the mud-covered slopes with careful feet before skipping across the lethargic rush of the stream, inspecting every last speck that graced the mysterious object. 
    ‘Look!’ Benjamin shouted.  Emile raced to his side, wiping away the rain from her forehead as she stooped down to where he crouched.  His finger rested on a sequence of engraved markings that were printed faintly upon the underside of one of the wings. 
    ‘It’s German,’ Benjamin said bitterly.  Emile glanced at him.  His face seemed to simmer with fear, his excitement suddenly lost in the downpour and swept away with the rushing stream.  Another bind of electric blue cracked across the sky, vanishing almost instantly amongst a bubbling swell of dark cloud.  ‘Come on!’ Benjamin yelled, shielding his eyes from the ferocious waterfall of plummeting droplets and grabbing Emile at the wrist.  The rain was intoxicating and by now had angered the stream into a lashing surge of cold current.  They pranced across the flooded bed of stones and pebbles, paying little attention to the water filling their shoes.  They reached the riverside and grappled at the slippery strings of grass until they fell into a patch of relatively dry dirt.  Emile tugged at her dress so that it fell over her legs, wrapping her arms around her trembling knees.  The muddle of trees above provided cover from the rain yet small amounts still drizzled through the entwining roof of branches and twigs, dripping down onto the huddled pair below.  She nestled her cheek into his rain soaked chest.  More thunder rocked the skies.  The young girl smiled.  Her eyes caught another brilliant band of light.  At last she had the adventure she so