CHAPTER 2 (PART - A)

The Captain was quick and efficient getting everything together. Tintin didn’t want to get the Captain going in the morning just because mornings really wasn’t the time he cared to be social. By all memories the Captain usually seemed to be a bit of a night owl and liked to share stories with Nestor, Professor Calculus, and Tintin while Snowy and his cat would curl up by the fire place when they weren’t chasing each other. “Wear this!” the captain said throwing a set of clothes at the end of the bed. It was unusual dress to go out Tintin noticed in the pale lamp light. Black slacks with a black sweater and the sweater was just a bit bigger than Tintin’s size as he stood only five feet eight inches and wasn’t nearly as stocky as the captain. Tintin was too tired to question the captain’s sense of fashion and just began changing.

The Captain was pacing a bit more anxiously than normal, “Come on lad times’ a wastin!” he prompted. He threw on a pair of black socks and a pair of comfortable boots that was closest to him.
“Yes, make sure you wear boots, not sure exactly in what fashion we will be goin’” he muttered.
“We can take one of the cars?” Tintin suggested.
“No sirree” Haddock shook his head.
“Hurry and do what business you need to take care of, I’ll be back and expect ya ta be ready landlubber!” Haddock replied disappearing down the hall. Tintin finished lacing his boots and went to go grab his coat but couldn’t remember where he put it. A couple moments later Captain Haddock came back in the room and brought another long trench coat that was of the same style but only it was black. The captain had given it to him last year as a birthday gift. It was a high priced coat with all kinds of inside pockets which Tintin liked.
“Where’s my other coat, I don’t want to ruin this…” Tintin argued.
“Boulderdash! Just wear it” the captain scolded wearing the usual get up he liked except his usual blue sweater was black only with just a golden anchor embroidered on the front.
“Grab your suitcase and let’s go!” the captain said grabbing his.


After a few minutes of last minute rushing Tintin met the captain and Snowy waiting for him downstairs by the door. “Ok Captain you can start by telling me what’s really going on” Tintin finally demanded when he saw snowy wearing a dark doggy coat.
“I’ll tell you more, but we need to get to the train station before 5:00 AM” was all the Captain would say.
“Fine, if it’s incognito you want, it’s incognito you will get” Tintin laughed. "We’ll leave by climbing over north of the gate and take the country path to the station” Tintin said as he beckoned them to follow him. The Captain knew Tintin well enough that when it came to moving around incognito the years of experience had made him undetectable.
They walked through the kitchen, “This must be some surprise” Tintin said sarcastically. The captain threw his hands up in the air but as they were passing through he hit something and suddenly a flurry of movement ensued, “Ouch!! Ten thousand typhoons!” the captain shouted.
“Captain! My ear! I hope this isn’t your idea of a surprise!” Tintin. Snowy began growling as some unknown object began spinning back and forth. The captain took a frustrated wild swing at the object and it sputtered a time or two and died.

“Oh no!” Tintin cried. “I just realized that was Professor Calculus’s kitchen project” Tintin finished.

The Captain continued rubbing his nose, “He’ll fix it later in the morning, let’s go before we miss the train” Haddock said in a nasal tone still rubbing his nose. They dashed out the back door.


They ran to the north side wall that bordered Marlinspike Hall and the Captain stopped for a moment. “I’ll give you a boost then toss over our luggage” Tintin said at length standing close to the brick wall. The captain nodded and put his right up as Tintin got up to the top of the wall. Tintin handed him the suitcases as he gently dropped them over the other side; then climbed and dropped off onto the other side. Tintin took a quick start running and pulling himself over without any problem and reappeared next to the captain.

“Shall we continue?” Tintin said taking his luggage. The Captain thought he saw something dash off in the other direction against the moonlit sky on the road, but kept quiet. The captain couldn’t see Tintin very well except just his outline nor could Tintin see the Captain’s apprehension. They continued across their neighbors’ land and fields luckily the grounds were fairly dry.

“I hope Cuthbert and Nestor will be fine and hopefully that should draw them away” the captain hoped in his mind. The captain increased his stride as Tintin was able to nimbly move like a shadow through the fields which was the only thing the Captain could see of Tintin.

“This is definitely different than from anything you and I have attempted leaving the manor” Tintin replied stopping but the Captain was keeping up surprisingly.

“Well this is how I travel” Snowy thought as he stayed only a pace behind Tintin. Within twenty minutes of traversing the countryside they reached the train station.
The Captain checked his watch, “Nice, should be here in a minute!” the Captain smiled in satisfaction. The train arrived just a minute after 5 AM and only a few others people who were waiting as many did not work on the weekend. Tintin and Captain Haddock waited until the train hissed to a halt. As a couple of conductors stepped onto the platform they began making their early morning rounds.

“Not used to being the first one on the train” Haddock admitted.
“It’s not a habit of mine either” Tintin shook his head as they got on and found their compartment placing their luggage in the overhead.
“Ok captain, do you mind telling me where we are going?” Tintin said sitting as Snowy jumped up on the seat curling into to a restful position. The Captain drew the drapes over the window so no one could see in, shut the compartment door, and finally sat down across from Tintin.
“Right now we are going to Brussels” Captain Haddock said thoughtfully.
“Brussels? Why are we going there?” Tintin looked confused.
“We didn’t go anywhere for your 25th birthday, so this is it, I want to keep the element of surprise” the Captain said almost comical.
“You’re not telling me something” Tintin pointed out. The Captain found yesterday's paper and buried his nose in the article. “As I said…it’s a surprise” Captain looked at Tintin raising his eyebrows with enthusiasm.

A couple of robed men hooded wandered around the manor finding strategic positions to watch the traffic of the mansion. Once they found their positions, they stayed unmoving like sentinels. This time instead of normal clothes they were completely robed in dark earth tone camouflage.
“What do you see?” a masked voice spoke.
One figure took out a small walky-talky, “Nothing, all is silent” a muffled voice said as the first rays of light over the eastern horizon began to rise.
“Same here” The slowly growing dawn revealed they were wearing bird mask as one did during the time of the Black Death epidemic centuries ago.
“I was informed we are not to kill him” the communicator announced.
“If this guy is as tough as they claim, he’s just fine” the robed man replied. A few hours went by and finally they observed Nestor coming outside as if he was surveying the property then disappeared back inside.
“That guy they caught hasn’t spoken has he?” the first guy sat up in a tree watching closely.
“He knew what to do” the other radioed back.

Another couple hours passed and they began to get restless. “We cannot wait here all day, someone will see us eventually” one of the men radioed. As the morning progressed the frequency of vehicles began to increase. The other robed man began observing with a pair of binoculars and noticed police cars in the distance. “Yes, let us go for now, we shall be back later tonight” the other answered. “When the other guy returns later tonight we will decide when and how to proceed with our task” he said grimly. Quickly, they got on their bikes and left and just after they left the Thompsons arrived.



Professor Calculus spent the majority of his morning in the kitchen fixing his robotic trash can contraption while Nestor swiftly moved about his daily chores. “Confounded!” the professor shouted in frustration. He continued tinkering with a switch that had been broken during the early morning accident Tintin and Haddock had. “Of all the nuisances, I have to take it apart and solder the switch back!” he shouted again with a magnifying glass in his hands. The captain’s cat walked into the kitchen looking cautiously at his bowl then the professor. “Did you do this?” the professor accused the cat. The cat sprinted back off into opposite direction. “That silly cat, I’m going to have to talk to the captain about his cat’s behavior!” he stormed out of the kitchen. “I guess I better replace those light bulbs outside on the gate” the professor continued mumbling to himself. The doorbell rang as the professor began walking upstairs, Nestor came walking down. “Can you answer that please, I’m in no mood for company. I must speak to the captain” Calculus said continuing upstairs.

“He’s not here sir” Nestor answered without any expression.
“No fear? I have nothing to fear!” Calculus continued up to the Captain’s chambers. Nestor nonchalantly answered the door. “’ello Nestor! How are you today?” Thompson greeted.
“Fine sir” he allowed them in.
“Nice weather we are having today isn’t it?” Thomson added.
“Fabulous indeed” Nestor stood patiently listening.
“Captain” the professor stood knocking at his door.
“I need to speak with you!” He continued knocking louder.
The Thomsons and Nestor looked up, “The captain and Tintin are still here?” Thomson looked concerned.
“No sir” Nestor said taking out the Captain’s letter. Hastily Thompson grabbed the note and began to read it. “Thank God!” he sighed in relief handing Nestor back the note.
“Tintin! When you see the captain you tell him I wish to speak to him immediately!” The professor began knocking on his door.
“What time did they leave?” Thomson asked.
“I’m fairly sure it was before 5 AM which is about the time I wake” Nestor answered.
“They sure keep your hands full” Thompson laughed looking upstairs.
“Indeed” Nestor almost cracked a smile.
“Nestor! Have you seen Tintin and the Captain?” he inquired making his way downstairs.
“No sir, I haven’t” The professor gave him a strange look.
“I didn’t ask for fur Nestor, I’m looking for the Captain and Tintin" Nestor again, nonchalantly took out a small device and handed it to the Professor.
“Oh thank you Nestor! I wondered what I did with that” he said putting on his hearing aid.
“So—“ he started again.
“They aren’t here Professor!” Thomson shouted.
“Oh my, you don’t have to shout” the professor rubbed his ear. Nestor handed the letter to Calculus.
“So I assume you two know where they went” Calculus looked at both of the detectives.
“Actually—we didn’t ask them to tell us, and we realized that wasn’t such a good idea. So we need you guys to let us know when they do contact you” Thomson admitted.

Professor Calculus narrowed his eyes in thought, “I know a couple places they may go, but not the Captain or Tintin tell us every time they decide to disappear” he thought out loud. Both of the detectives burst into laughter.
“We’ll be back in a couple of days, about what time does the mail usually run?” Thomson asked. “Oh about 1 PM on the dot usually” Nestor answered always getting the mail as it is delivered.



“Did you guys learn anything from the man that you have in custody?” Professor Calculus questioned.
“Actually, we are to escort him to INTERPOL later today. He seems to not be able to remember a thing, but we don’t believe him of course” Thompson nodded.
“The rest is classified information, but keep the place locked up and don’t trust anyone you don’t know” Thomson finished.
“Good day now!” They both waved in unison walking out. “They always know how to make an entrance and an exit” Nestor commented shutting the door.
“Hmm… I will change the bulbs and beef up the security around here a bit, I have some new ideas I would like to test. If you need me Nestor, I will be in the lab” Professor Calculus finished walking away.

Thinking to his self that things had been quiet for too long it seemed. A couple of years went by where the Captain, Tintin, Snowy, and sometimes the Professor would go on trips for weeks at a time and then would return with nothing more than mundane life activities. On Saturdays sometimes Nestor would accompany Tintin to his favorite market to pick up a book or some antique that may or may not have had any value. Nestor walked into the downstairs drawing room with the grand piano. Secretly fancying himself a pianist, he took out an album of Chopin Etudes and began playing it on the gramophone. The sky outside was already beginning to get cloudy. Coincidently, the Raindrop Prelude was the first piece as the rain fell gently outside. “I wonder what kind of intrigue all of this will bring down on Marlinspike Hall” Nestor said rhetorically as he walked over to the piano for a moment looking outside. He touched a key on the piano in the upper register, smiled, and resumed his daily chores listening to Francois Chopin.

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