CHAPTER 7 (PART - A)


Tintin sat up in a nice small twin bed, but for some reason everything looked so much bigger to him. Wearing only a long tunic he looked around trying to figure out where he was. It was as if it was foggy wherever he gazed. Wooden toys lie strewn about on the floor, an old rocking chair sat by a window which shed light into the room. Minor details seemed to elude his vision. Suddenly a loud whistling could be heard, he walked to glance out of the room. A misty hallway lie beyond the doorway as a light flickered casting dancing shadows on the floor. Slowly he walked down the hall until the whistling stopped.

He glanced and saw a thin woman dressed in a long lavender dress and auburn hair put wrapped in a bun lifted a kettle off a stove in a kitchen. Her back was turned to him and it seemed he could hear her voice but could not decipher what it was she was saying. A rectangular table sat on the opposite side of the room. A pale faced boy with blond hair wearing a suit sat at the table with a sad look on his face as he slowly stirred some unknown contents in a bowl. The boy looked up at him waving hand for him to go back to his room.

Without notice, he began to see things from a different perspective. He was the one dressed up sitting at the table miserably stirring some oatmeal. He looked back up to see another young blond haired looking boy in a long tunic hiding in the hallway with a confused look on his face. Then he could hear the woman crying as he looked to see a young man embracing the sobbing woman.

The next thing he knew he was standing outside in a street with some man’s hand clamped down on his wrist. Still his entire environment was shrouded in mist and couldn’t see anyone’s face. The woman in the long lavender dress stood next to a man dressed in dark brown trousers wearing a black vest with a white button up shirt underneath. Tintin could hear voices, but nothing understandable, but he knew he didn’t want to go with the men that were seemingly taking him away. Slowly he could see the two adult figures on the doorstep of a small home diminishing as he was being drug away. “Brother!” a young boy’s voice screamed.

Instantly he was in his cabin lightly dressed tucked under a quilt, while Haddock snored loudly on his small cot tossing and turning to get presumably comfortable. Tintin kicked the quilt off of him as sweat beaded from his brow. Tintin sat there against the wall on his cot unable to sleep with the dream fresh in his mind as he desperately tried to recall every moment of it. “Brother…” Tintin whispered. Perhaps listening to Enzo’s story made Tintin wished subconsciously that he still had any family around he could remember. Anytime he would try to remember it seemed a mental block prevented his mind from remembering. Snowy stirred and opened his eyes and jumped in Tintin’s lap licking him. “Snowy! My first true family” Tintin muttered.

“I will always be here for you as long as I live” Snowy thought. Tintin continued to pet Snowy with many thoughts going through his mind. “Looks like getting to sleep may be a bit of a challenge” he whispered to Snowy then looked at Haddock as he lied with his mouth wide open snoring. Haddock then turned over on his other side as Tintin glanced out the window as the night sky had already begun to give way to the early morning. The sound of sea gulls could be heard as they flew by. Other than Haddock’s snores, the ship was quiet and calmly swaying in the water. “Well Snowy, we may as well start our day” Tintin smiled as Snowy quietly barked in agreement.

Caleb and his mother were both relieved to see the unsavory characters leave. “Do you know Chester’s sister’s address or phone number?” his mother asked him as they locked the doors once the last patrons left. “No, but father does, since he deals directly with Chester himself on certain cargo” Caleb answered. “Luckily your father returns tomorrow morning from his little fishing trip” his mother nodded. “Chester must be warned” Caleb agreed. “As soon as he returns that is what we do first thing” his mother suggested.

“Yea, the little brat knows” Gaspar confirmed as he listened with his headphones out in the car. “Chester’s sister?” Lento asked. “Aye! I think we should take that little pipsqueak for a ride” Gaspar smiled wickedly.
“Whatever for?! We know which direction they are heading in!” Allan put his hand on his forehead in disagreement. “He just said he didn’t have an address or a number” Lento added.
“You’re no fun!” Gaspar sneered at Allan.
“Don’t worry there will be time for that later, but right now is not the time! Our ship leaves at dawn, we don’t need any more police or INTERPOL on our trail” Allan pointed out.
Allan drove off returning back to the east dock side where their ship was. “So Lento, you have ‘formal’ training?’” Allan asked curiously. “Yes” Lento answered quickly.
“What does that mean anyway?” Gaspar was curious as well.
“Let’s just say, some of us in the circle are endowed with some special skills” Lento answered evasively.
“What KIND of skills?” Allan pressed for information.
“Cult like skills” Lento narrowed down. Allan glanced strangely at him. “I don’t fool around with otherworldly mischief” Allan shook his head.
“So you mean like putting curses or hexes like a witch?” Gaspar asked.
“No, not exactly, but those are my secrets just as you two have yours, as you say, I don’t divulge all of my knowledge to anyone” Lento replied tactfully.
“So your Russian lackeys know nothing of you then” Allan answered somewhat amused.
“No” Lento nodded. “Fair enough” Allan agreed.
“So where are we porting in England” Gaspar asked. “London, so we will need to try to avoid HM Customs, as INTERPOL is looking for you” Allan reminded.
“So how are we going to find this Tintin, Chester, and Haddock?” Gaspar asked the obvious question.

“I got contacts back in London, and so does my best mate Tom… Herr Wagner mentioned you had your own method” Allan mentioned.

“I do, but don’t use it unless all other conventional methods fail me” Lento answered.
“Excellent, we will work our way up the east coast of England, Tintin is well known and won’t be able to hide” Allan pointed out.
“Fame is price you pay when you continually stick your nose where it doesn’t belong” Lento replied quietly.
“Chester once told me he had a sister north east of London but never gave me specifically a location” Gaspar commented.

“Herr Wagner wishes to speak with you when we return Lento” Allan informed him.
“Very well” Lento replied realizing there was more to Herr Wagner that met the eye.

Once they arrived back at the ship it was well after midnight. Lento walked straight to the captain’s quarters while Gaspar and Allan made their rounds on the ship. When he arrived the door was already open. “Herr Lento!” Wagner replied. His quarters were strange, old banners from different regimes including one that Lento could not forget. A bookcase full of books and other mysterious items which Lento was not unfamiliar with.

Herr Wagner was dressed in his heavy German trench coat still wearing shades despite the fact his quarters were not well lit. He stood over six feet tall with short gray hair. He appeared to be veteran of the war. “So you know why I spared you” Wagner was quick to speak. He paced as his shiny black boots replied sharply with every step. “Yes” Lento nodded. “It seems the little precautions you took with your initiate so far have paid off. It seems INTERPOL cannot get anything out of him, so they got him on a lesser charge” Herr Wagner informed. “I just wanted to give you this photograph of Tintin” this should help you and your cohorts succeed where conventional methods may fail” Herr Wagner placed the photograph on the table.

“You’ve never seen Tintin before, but now I expect results” Herr Wagner said walking back to his desk where he had wooden board on his desk. Lento’s eyes widened as he realized it was an Ouija board. “So what did you guys discover of Tintin’s whereabouts?” Herr Wagner asked.

“Somewhere northeast of London so far” Lento carefully answered. “Impressive, but keep going that direction… you will run into him soon, but I keep getting a disturbance as if he is in two places when I consult the spirits” Herr Wagner whispered.

“Impossible, you cannot always trust everything you are told by the living or the dead…” Lento’s tone changed to one of seriousness. “Fine, I leave it to you, Allan, Gaspar, and whoever else you wish to accompany you. You are dismissed! Auf Wiedersehen!” Herr Wagner said abruptly. Lento left and returned back to his quarters realizing that Herr Wagner was not one to be trifled with, never mind Allan, Gaspar, or anyone else.

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