#enter mabel

He really hoped Assassination on the Train Across Europe would give him this same thrill, with it being the next book he was planning on reading. Ford silently doubted it would and he had rarely been wrong about a mystery novel before.

Stanford’s eyes roamed the page carefully, drinking in the sense of adventure these two brothers had and imagining himself and Stan into the story. He didn’t even notice that the rhythmic sound of his brother’s breathing was making his eyelids heavy, or the fact the words had become blurry. Ford didn’t even register he had fallen asleep till his eyes opened once again and the view outside had changed drastically.

Stan was clinging to his left arm, the weight of his twin having made it numb. Ford elected to ignore the numb feeling of his arm as he stared outside. Last time he had looked out the window of the plane that had been over the mountains and where staring down of the flat lands of middle America. Now the plane seemed to be lower than it had been during the majority of the flight and he could see more detail in the squares of land.

Carefully Ford moved to check the time on his brother’s Nintendo, double checking to make sure he had it right. According to the clock he had been sleeping for almost the whole flight, three hours are least, and he still didn’t know who had stolen the capers! The tragedy. 

Ford sighed, silently hoping he would have time to finish his book and leaned down to grab it where it had fallen during his nap. His attempts to save his fallen literature from the floor where halted midway by a clingy and very asleep twin. 

For once in his young life, Lee’s clinging wasn’t comforting. The comforting feel had pulled away to exasperation and annoyance as the familiar thing prevented him from figuring out the current mystery that plagued him.

A ding overhead broke him from the brother-murdery thoughts and making him look up to see the seat belt light had been turned on. A stewardess stepping up to the front of the plane and began to speak into the mic.

“Attention passengers. We will be arriving soon, so please fasten your seat belts. At ten thousand feet we will alert you to put away all laptops and secure your seat trays. Please also secure all loose articles. We will be walking around to collect any trash you may have. Thank you for flying with us.”

With a smile she put the mic back and moved with a few other workers to walk down the aisle and take any trash the passengers may have acquired during the long flight.

Clumsily, Ford dragged his book back towards him with his foot and made sure his shoe covered toe was holding onto it. The twelve-year old looking out the window again as he watched themselves get slowly closer to the ground. The sight changing again as they got near a large clear area that clearly was the airport. 

His eyes were drawn away from the far off view of the trees to the city close by the airport they would be arriving at. Full of people with busy lives, doing mundane tasks that would probably be boring to anyone. He wondered if people on this side of the country did things different then in Jersey. He was so lost in his thoughts, he was only distantly aware of the stewardess once again giving an announcement to the passengers.

The decreasing altitude caused his ears to pop and his twin stirring from his slumber next to him, breaking his thoughts process before he got it in his head to observe. Ford turned and watched Stan as he rubbed his eyes and yawned, the boy looking around the area confused before remembering where he was.

“We aren’t there yet?” Stan asked sleepily, still holding onto his brother’s arm.

“No, but we are arriving soon,” Ford said, his eyes looking at the now tingling arm that his brother still had a grip on. “Do you mind letting go of my arm? You are blocking the blood flow.”

“Oh, sorry.”

Stan let go of the arm, glancing everywhere but at the windows so he couldn’t see how far above the ground they were. He stretched his arms and pushed up the sleeves to his sweater, gratefully taking the silent offer his brother had given him to the bag of peanuts.

While Lee munched on the peanuts, Ford watched as the plane finished their descent. The wheels of the plane touching the run way and pushing them back into their seats. The speed the plane had been going catching up to the passengers as the plane was made to slow down.

The landing only freaked out Stanley a little, thankfully. Though Ford’s arm now needed to start the process of getting proper blood flow over again. A few stray peanuts had been sacrificed to the floor during the landing scare.

“We have now reached our destination,” a stewardess said into the mic, “Please keep your seat belts on until the plane has come to a complete stop. If you would, we are now on our summer schedule so to help us all out and keep the plane cool for the next passengers, please close your window’s visor to keep the sun’s stay out. Thank you for flying with us and we hope to see you soon.”

Ford did as the stewardess asked, reaching up and closing the window’s cover so not to let the sun stream into the plane. Stan was bouncing in his seat, eager to get out of this metal death trap. He didn’t really want to focus on the fact he would have to get on one of these again in about three months.

Ford almost counted it as a blessing when they were led off by the same steward that had helped them, their bags dragging behind them.

“I flew on a plane!” Stan grinned brightly, his usual energy back after his nap and a getting off the plane. “I survived!” His untied shoelaces slapping against the ground as he ran a little bit ahead of the steward and his brother; eager to get out of the tunnel and into the new airport. 

The steward laughed at Stan’s actions but said nothing, stopping next to a woman that was waiting on the other side of the tunnel. The red headed woman nodded along with what the steward was saying before she turned to the one twin that hadn’t run off and joined the crowd of people in the main airport.

“I’m going to be taking you to the baggage and waiting with you for your great aunt,” she told Ford.

“Alright,” Ford mumbled, looking around the place warily. It was different then the airport in New Jersey that was for sure. The colors were different, the lay out was different. It was strange, this new place.

The woman held out a hand for him to take but he just shoved the one hand not holding onto his bag deeper in his jacket pockets, shaking his head with what he hoped was a polite smile. He couldn’t help letting out a sigh of relief when Stan’s smiling face reappeared from the crowd, now carrying two bottles of soda. 

“Man, I was thirsty. Those peanuts were salty,” Stan said with a grin. He didn’t even blink seeing the woman standing next to his brother, just smiled up at her. 

Once Ford took the offered drink, she began to lead them away from the terminal and towards the baggage area. Her eyes trained on the boys as they looked around at their new surroundings. Stan taking in everything new with amazement, while Ford stuck to his brother’s side with a wary yet excited look on his face. They were so focused on observing their surroundings that they didn’t take note of the elderly woman waiting by the baggage area for them, a pink fez on her head and a bright grin on her face.