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Kole_Locke
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#1
Old 11-16-2012, 12:37 AM

http://www.menewsha.com/forum/commun...post1771373436
hang out thread feel free to post at any time there, chat or any questions regarding any of my stories.

Chapter One


Down a quiet road not so populated, a large estate full of oak trees, gardens, and lush green grass shone about in the sun. The gentle winds carried their breeze over the hills as Marlinspike Hall sat quietly among the scenery. A whistling melody could be heard as a tall stocky man dressed in a red flannel shirt and blue jeans strolled around admiring the land and the roaming animals. The paths were well trodden from years of this man and his guests taking peaceful strolls on the grounds. The leaves were budding on the trees as the beginning of spring had arrived as it was now early May. The tall gruff man stopped to fill his pipe with tobacco. “Blisterin’ Barnacles!” he exclaimed as a few birds went flying out of some nearby bushes. “I knew I should have asked him to grab me a pack of tobacco!” he said with agitation. He put his pipe away and began to walk back towards the manor. As he made his way back a tall slender man was working in the garden.

The tall slender man was busy mulching a flower bed near the entrance to the manor and looked up abruptly when he heard the familiar curses and swears of Master Captain Haddock.
“Is there a problem sir?” the slender bald man replied wearing a pair of gardening gloves.
“Yes Nester, I’m outta tobacco!” he huffed.
Captain Haddock towered over Nester. Six feet and a couple inches taller, he could sometimes be a bit intimidating, especially to those who didn’t know him. His deep blue eyes could pierce a soul when he chose to interrogate. His black beard with hints of gray in the middle was just as full as it had been. He always wore his favorite hat which obscured the small bit of gray on his sides.
“Sir, would you like me to call the neighbor’s grand children to run and errand for you?” Nestor suggested while padding some mulch with a shovel.
“Na, I’ll be fine, why are you working on the flower beds? I thought the neighbor’s grandchildren were supposed to finish doing that yesterday?” Haddock looked displeased.
“Oh no sir, I asked them to leave that for me… I find it rather refreshing to plant flowers” Nester replied evenly.
“Oh that’s right…” he shrugged walking in the front door. The manor remained as it always had been with relics of his and his young companion’s adventures all over the world.

A small familiar white dog came rushing down the stairs to greet the Captain as he continued into the parlor inspecting Central American ponchos, tribal masks, and other trinkets of interest and memories. “Ruff ruff!” Snowy barked running to the Captain’s side. “Snowy!” He bent down rubbing Snowy and scratching behind his ears. “Did Nestor feed you already?” Haddock smiled.
“Yes, but I would like to get fed again” Snowy thought as he whined.
“Well come on anyway, we can get you a treat or two!” the Captain gave a hardy laugh as they walked to the kitchen area with Snowy in the lead. As they were continuing in the kitchen they walked in the kitchen to see some machine starting up by itself. Snowy jumped back instantly and began growling, “What in blazes!?” Haddock swore. A metallic trash can with three mechanical arms with a “c” like clamp for hands were bending forward and backward until one reached a tin can.

“Professor!” Haddock shouted. A shot man wearing a long white lab coat jumped up with a bald head with salt and pepper on his sides.
“What?” the professor said with various tools in his hand.
“What is that?” Haddock shouted over the noise the little robotic contraption was making. It finally was able to grasp a can, open it with a can opener where it looked like its mouth should have been, and dumped the contents of the can almost six inches away from Snowy’s bowl. Snowy looked at the food in protest and whined. The contraption let out a small wisp of steam through its lidded top as two gages were spinning around which were supposed to represent a set of eyes.
“Oh fiddlesticks!” the professor grumbled as the machine finally came to a halt.
“What is this thing supposed to be?” Haddock repeated his question loudly.
“Oh, I just thought since you and Tintin go off without Snowy, and sometimes Nester is busy in town running chores, and since I get busy in my lab—I was thinking that an automatic feeder for Snowy would be great!” The professor beamed.
“Oh, ok” Haddock nodded.
“Ugh not this slop again tonight?” Snowy thought to himself as he saw the can of mushed dog food piled on the floor.
“Isn’t it great?” the professor stood up triumphantly.
“Except for the dog food on the floor” Haddock frowned. Snowy’s ears perked up.
“Come on Snowy, I’ll get you something good” Haddock said opening the refrigerator pulling out a ham bone with some meat on it. Snowy began barking loudly as the captain placed it in his bowl. Snowy stuck his nose up at the dog food on the floor and continued to his bowl and remained content the rest of the evening. Nester finally came into the kitchen and saw the mess as Professor Calculus continued modifying his little trashcan robot.
Nester didn’t look impressed, “Yea good luck with that, I’m going to the parlor, call me when diners ready” he snickered. The captain sat back in his most comfortable seat after turning on the television watching the regular programs. He glanced at the clock on the mantel as it was beginning to approach five O’clock.
“Should be about any time now” the Captain smiled.


A young man sat behind a desk busy with paper work and a cup of hot tea steaming next to him. With a pen in his hand he began filling in descriptions on a paper. A stack of papers lay in front of him as file packets were neatly filed into trays stacked four high. A small metallic lamp with a green covering dulling the light just a little lit his desk area. The young man took a long sip of hot tea and continued doing paperwork writing and looking through files.


“Tintin!” a familiar voice rang out. Tintin sighed in irritation, “Oh Thompson” Tintin greeted.
“Working late again eh?” Thompson said sipping his evening tea.
“Just trying to get caught up, so much to do for a village” Tintin continued writing and filling out papers slowly diminishing his work load.
“You’ve got to work faster lad!” Thompson smiled taking another sip.
“I would be ahead but a paranoid elderly couple keep thinking their being watched” Tintin explained. “Oh you mean Schimdts?” Thompson laughed.
“It’s not funny!” Tintin snapped.
“I’m sorry” Thompson put one hand up in apology.
“They lost their sons in the war, and they protected a family of Jews during the occupation” Tintin answered grimly.
“How do you know this?” Thompson asked eagerly.
“If you listen closely Thompson people talk in the village” Tintin continued to write.
“You can only believe half of what you hear” Thompson said putting down his tea putting his jacket on.
“I know, but I did some investigation a year back on a stolen heirloom of their family and tracked it all the way to Zurich and caught the thieves and learned a lot of their family history” Tintin said putting a couple of papers into a folder.
“You mean the time you and the Captain were gone almost a fortnight?” Thompson interjected.
“Yes, I’m surprised you and Thomson didn’t make an entrance like you always do. I was expecting to see two yodelers at any moment during the stay” Tintin cracked a smile.
“We were busy investigating a store robbery a couple towns away” Thompson said roughly putting on his bowler.

---------- Post added 11-15-2012 at 07:42 PM ----------

By this moment the other Thomson had entered Tintin’s office with his cane and coat in hand. “Did you catch them?” Tintin began filing more papers away.
“Of course we did!” Thomson chided in.
“We always catch our man” they said almost in unison.
“I see… I heard you had help” Tintin threw in.
“Just a couple of tips from the locals and yea a big German Shepard aided us some” Thompson concluded.
Tintin was quiet for a minute as he was finally beginning to see an end to the paper work. He finished his last sip of tea and looked up and bust into laughter.
“What’s so funny Tintin?” Thomson looked confused.
“Both of you have put your coats on inside out!” Tintin pointed out.
“Oh?” Thompson realized it was so as they both began to take off their coat and put it back on.
“We wanted to offer you a lift if you needed it?” Thomson said at length as they were putting their coats back on right side out. Tintin peeked out his window and could see there was still plenty of light, “No thanks, I think I will walk, good exercise” he said as he began cleaning the top of his desk for the evening.

“I need to be back early in the morning” Tintin sighed.
“Don’t worry our secretary will be back—take the weekend off mate” Thomson smiled.
“Are you sure?” Tintin looked suspiciously.
“Absolutely” Thompson agreed. Tintin grabbed his long brown trench coat and followed the Thompson’s out of the precinct.
“What are you guys up to tonight?” Tintin smiled taking a whiff of fresh air.
“Shepherd’s pie tonight at the pub” Thompson smiled as they began to get in their little car.
“Mmm that sounds good!” Thomson said rubbing his belly.
“What about you Tintin?” Thompson said starting his car. “Don’t know, depends what Nestor has cooked for us and what mood the Captain is in tonight” Tintin shrugged.
“Hopefully Calculus hasn’t blown the manor sky high” Thomson joked.
“I doubt that… well see you guys Monday!” Tintin said walking off waving down the road.


The weather was perfect for walking and the breeze was cool but not cold. The sun was beginning its fiery decent behind the horizon. Tintin’s strawberry blond hair reflected brightly with his still favored little quiff of hair sticking up. The rolling hills and small houses planted here and there were charming scenery to observe as one passed by. Tintin strolled thoughtfully for the next fifteen minutes until he came upon a small cottage which meant he was only a couple minutes march from the main gate of the manor. An old man smoking a pipe comes out to check his mailbox at the edge of the road and squints in the sun noticing someone approaching off in the distance.
“Hello Tintin” he waves.
“Oh hi Mr. Bolt” Tintin returns the wave.
A woman comes up to join Mr. Bolt, “Is that you Tintin?” the older woman asks putting her hand over her eyes as Tintin approaches. “It’s me” he smiles as he finally joins them at their mailbox by the street.
“Tis a fine day” Mr. Bolt said taking a smoke.
“Oh no!” Tintin gasped.
“Whatever is the matter?” Mrs. Bolt asked with concern.
“I forgot to grab some tobacco for the Captain” he put his hand on his forehead.
“That’s it?” Mr. Bolt sighed.
“Yea…” Tintin nodded in disapproval.
“That is a problem easily remedied” Mrs. Bolt smiled returning back to the house. Mr. Bolt looked curiously at her.
“No, please…” Tintin pleaded.
“It won’t do you any good to say no, just take it when she hands it to you” Mr. Bolt continued. Suddenly his expression changed to one of suspicion. “Is something wrong Mr. Bolt?” Tintin looked behind him but saw nothing. Mr. Bolt took off his glasses, rubbed his glasses off with his sweater then put them back on.
“Oh it’s nothing…” Mr. Bolt said taking one last look in the distance behind Tintin. Mrs. Bolt quickly returned.
“Here you go Tintin, this should make the Captain happy” she smiled handing Tintin a padded envelope filled with loose tobacco.
“Thank you, I appreciate it” Tintin smiled.
“So how’s the new job?” Mrs. Bolt began her line of questioning.
“It’s ok, it’s steady money that I can make you know… nothing too exciting really” he sighed.
“Steady money eh?” Mr. Bolt raised an eyebrow scratching his white mustache. “The Captain takes good care of you there doesn’t he?” Mr. Bolt continued with his own curiosities.
“I contribute as much as I can but he insists that I relax a bit” Tintin explained.
“What about your folks? Your mom, dad, brothers, maybe sisters, do they come to see you?” Mrs. Bolt finally asked. The question hit Tintin pretty hard as years of wondering about that himself often kept him up at night.
“I don’t really remember much about them… it’s almost as if that part of my life…well just seems so blurry. I remember only vague memories of ...” Tintin thought for another moment and just couldn’t talk about it anymore.
“I’m sorry Mr. & Mrs. Bolt I need to go, we’ll finish this conversation another time, and I thank you again for the tobacco” he waved continuing on as his eyes were beginning to water a bit.
“Now why’d ya have to do that?” Mr. Bolt chastised Mrs. Bolt.
“Don’t look at me, you were asking him questions too!” she scolded back.
“I’m sorry… I just don’t get that kid’s concept of family” Mr. Bolt continued.
“Aye, a sea captain living in retirement at not even 45 years yet, a strange professor who does only God knows what, a butler who seems to do just about all of the work by all accounts of our grandchildren, and that white dog and dodgy cat” Mrs. Bolt summed it up.
“I guess we’ll never understand…” Mr. Bolt sighed as he and Mrs. Bolt trotted back inside their cottage. Off in the distance a shadow reappeared following Tintin.


After a couple minutes Tintin arrived at the gate of Marlinspike Hall. “Why don’t people mind their own business?” he thought. He stepped up to the new security system Professor Calculus had installed. He walked up to the numeric rotary covered with a small piece of glass when he heard barking in the distance. He turned around and noticed two large dogs were coming straight for him, “Great snakes!” he snapped back to his normal self and began quickly dialing the code to open the gate using the rotary dial. “Come one! Come on!” he shouted. He was just three numbers away from entering the first four; but one dog was only a few meters away and he had no weapon but his gun he carried. The Doberman pincher growled barring its teeth at him. “Back boy, I don’t want to hurt you!” he yelled.

Tintin dialed two numbers with his other hand as the dog lunged at him, but Tintin quickly dodged kicking the dog to the side. The dog proved to be quick and spun back around to bite him and Tintin spun back around with his elbow hitting the big dog in the mouth causing it to bark madly but soon the other dog was upon him blocking the dialing rotary. The other dog was a bit stunned but was circling Tintin. “I got to put in that last number then the lock will release it for ten seconds only” Tintin thought. The other dog lunged at his leg grazing his black pant leg ripping some of the fabric. Tintin quickly dialed the last number which luckily was a one. Tintin dashed toward the do blocking the gate that had just got his pants pulling out his gun avoiding a bite bashing it on the back of the head with the butt of his gun. He quickly opened and slammed the gate behind him. The dogs continued to growl and their eyes looked glazed. “Go now both of you!” he shouted as he fired two rounds in the air. They growled at him briefly taking a step back then suddenly they dashed off and disappeared.

---------- Post added 11-15-2012 at 07:46 PM ----------

“Your diner is getting cold Captain” Nestor replied.
“I’m waiting for Tintin” he said pacing back and forth occasionally glancing at the television for the news until Snowy barked as two gunshots went off.
“Thunderin’ typhoons!” he shouted looking out the window noticing in the twilight Tintin standing by the gate.
“Now what has he gotten us into?” Haddock frowned as he and Snowy raced out the front door.
"Tintin!” he shouted as Snowy raced far ahead of him rushing to his master’s side.
“It’s ok Snowy, I’m fine” he said petting his dog.
“What in blazes?!” the captain shouted catching up to him. “You were supposed to be home a couple hours ago, what’s going on out here?” the Captain said looking out the gate and at Tintin.
“I would have been home sooner but I had to do a lot of secretarial work and catch up a lot of paper work that Thompson and Thomson dumped on me” Tintin said putting his gun away.
Nevermind that, what were you shooting at?” Captain Haddock said looking out the gate as the sun has now finally set. “There were two Doberman pincers, big ones, and they attacked me for no reason” Tintin explained.
“Well the important thing is that you are safe. Come on, let’s go eat” he said checking the gate making sure it was secure. He looked out the gate again for a moment thinking he had seen someone but blinked at it was gone. “I haven’t been drinking that much whiskey today” he mused as he turned back to the mansion.

They sat at the long table in the dining hall. Captain Haddock always had his seat on the end, Tintin on his right and Professor Calculus, when he joined them, on his left.
“Where’s the professor?” Tintin said as he began eating the now cool slices of cooked ham on his plate along with a side of mashed potatoes and peas. The captain opened a small flask he had on him and poured it in a glass on the table.
“How many glasses have you drunk today?” Tintin looked precariously at him. The captain ignored him for a moment until he had a couple of good shots in him. He took a deep breath and looked at Tintin.
“Not many…go to the kitchen and you’ll see the professor, he already ate…” he said beginning to chomp down on his cold food. The rest of their cold meal was eaten in silence. Tintin continued nibbling at his food long after the Captain finished. “What’s wrong with ya? Did those dogs really give you the willies?” Haddock finally began taking note of Tintin.

He began to look a little more withdrawn, “No, that’s not it, but I find it rather strange, I don’t know anyone here who has those kind of dogs” Tintin said looking at a last pea he kept rolling around on his plate.
“Ahh come on, don’t tell me your losing your knack to overcome mysteries like this” Captain Haddock laughed trying to lighten the mood. Tintin’s bright green eyes looked devoid of any light, he dropped his fork on his plate and stood up walking next to the window pulling the drapes aside peeking out. Tintin smelled something awry with the earlier incident, but was more troubled by the questions of Mr. & Mrs. Bolt.


The captain got up and put a hand on his shoulder comforting him, “What’s wrong landlubber?” he continued to ask. “I—I don’t even know who I am anymore…” he whispered.
“What do you mean?” Captain Haddock asked a bit confused. “You’re Tintin, and that’s all that matters to me” he failed miserably to make light of the situation.
“I don’t know who my mom and dad are… I don’t know where I really came from…I have no family…” his said anxiously. The Captain could tell something else much deeper troubled him now. Tintin and the Captain both cringed when they were interrupted.
“Guess what Captain! It works for Snowy, and your cat, and…” Calculus butted in entering the dining hall.
“Could you leave us alone for a moment please professor” the Captain asked evenly. The Professor could hear quiet sobbing. The Professor looked for a moment and the Captain gave him a stern look and nodded. Professor Calculus quietly walked back into the kitchen.

The captain placed both of his strong hands on Tintin’s shoulders, “You got Snowy, the nutty professor, my cat, and…me” He said calmly. The Captain knew not much made Tintin so emotional.
“I know… but all my associates—the ones near my age and younger have supportive families…” he sniffled. The Captain knew exactly what had happened as Mr. Bolt had asked him about Tintin's past previously.
“Blast that infernal nosy couple of busybodies!” the captain thundered. The Captain quietly rubbed his shoulders then noticed the lights at the end of the gate flashed then died. “Don’t look up just come with me…” the Captain whispered as he began prodding Tintin away from the window. “Is there a problem master?” Nestor came in. “We got company outside, turn off the lights” Haddock whispered across the room. Tintin’s somber mood changed almost instantly when suddenly a bullet flew through the window but luckily it didn’t shatter the entire glass.
“Interlopers” Nestor said turning off the lights. The captain quickly disappeared into the lobby. Tintin pulled out his gun and ran to the backdoor and cut off all the lights around.

“What’s going on Tintin?” the professor gawked.
“Shhhhh!” Tintin raised his hand. The professor adjusted his glasses, “My word!” he whispered seeing Tintin with his gun. Snowy dashed out quickly as he locked the door behind him. Another gunshot rang out not too far from Tintin, “Quiet Snowy!” he whispered stalking around as it was now nightfall. Four more gunshots blasted through the air and Snowy growled and bit deep and hard.
“Ouch!” someone screamed behind him. Tintin quickly reacted disarming a man with a gun with a right hook then kicking his shin knocking him to his knees. Tintin could not see the man’s face as it was too dark. The man pulled out a knife and stabbed at Tintin, but luckily Tintin moved only getting his calf nicked. The man quickly dashed back towards the gate. Another gunshot was heard.
“Captain!” Tintin gasped. He watched the man disappear back into the night. Tintin ran quickly around the mansion to aid his companion followed by Snowy.



The captain busted out the front door brandishing his gun. Two shots were fired at him hitting the corners of the door. “Ya hooligans! Punks!!” he shouted as he fired into the dark and took cover behind a bush. He and the would be assailants traded fire again until the captain heard a shout. More shots were fired this time from another direction. The gun battle ensued as Tintin came around the corner armed with two guns firing until clicks could be heard. “I know what that sound means!” Haddock said sprinting off with Tintin in pursuit. The captain was quicker than the two assailants had estimated as he reached out and grabbed them by their necks. They fell to the ground but the Captain jerked them back up. They wrestled free of the Captain’s grasp and prepared to do hand to hand combat. Tintin was still several yards behind them. One man swung wildly at the Captain while the other jabbed with a knife.

“Is that all you got?!” the Captain snarled easily dodging the wild swing while grabbing the man’s arm with the knife causing him to drop it. The other man kicked the captain, but the captain was much bigger than he, as he knocked the man off balance by grabbing his foot and shoving forward. He fell to the ground. The other man dashed for the gate scaling it as the other man tried to make a run after recovering his balance.

“Oh no you don’t!” the Captain said grabbing the man in a head lock. Suddenly a car started and the tires spun. “Go call the police Tintin, Snowy and I will deal with this lowly thug!” the man struggled vainly. “If you don’t quit!” the captain growled. He gripped the man tighter and he feinted.


“Police? I need you to get to Marlinspike Hall immediately! Thanks!” He hung up the phone and stepped outside. Tintin looked aghast, “Captain! You didn’t....!” Tintin exclaimed.
“Na, he’ll be asleep for a while. You ok?” the captain said laying the man on the steps. “Yea, the night is becoming more and more intriguing with each passing moment” Tintin said shaking his head.
“Actually we better go inside and wait just in case there are there are more of those bandits” Haddock wheezed a little. “Guess your right” Haddock said dragging the young looking man who seemed to be middle eastern into the house by his arms.
“Easy Captain” Tintin said as he opened the door. “Easy my rear end, he was trying off us!” the Captain said callously. “Need any rope sir?” Nestor said holding a twine of it.
“Why Nestor, you think of everything!” Tintin replied with awe.
“Just doing my job sir, I hit one of the intruders over the head with my baton when he tried to come in the parlor window that you left open earlier” Nestor replied holding a baton like flashlight. “I also have another gun for you collection” Nestor finished handing it to Captain Haddock.
“We need to turn this in to the police” Tintin said tying the captured intruder’s hands and feet.
“Well I’m going to assist the professor in the cleanup sir” Nestor quietly walked back into the dining hall.
“Wow!” Tintin said aloud.
“What’s so ‘wow’ about this?” Captain Haddock replied filling his pipe again.
“It’s been awhile since anything this exciting has happened” Tintin almost laughed.
“Well good! At least you’re smiling again lad!” he smiled lighting his pipe.
“It should be an interesting day down at the precinct tomorrow” Tintin mused. “You’re working on a Saturday?” the Captain sounded a bit disappointed.
“Well yea, we got to get to the bottom of this Captain. Who would send thugs after us? Just about all of our enemies have been in jail or perished” Tintin argued.



The Captain didn’t respond. He looked at the thug and noticed something odd about the young man tied up. He quickly grabbed his hand and saw a pyramid with an eye in the center tattooed on his palm. “What’s this mean” the captain thought to himself as he put his hand down and took another puff.

“What is it Captain?” Tintin caught on to his muse.
“Look at his palm” the captain said calmly.
“What does this mean?” Tintin asked. The Captain thought for moment but couldn’t quite put his finger on where the vague memory lies during his years of travel.
“Sorry I can’t say…” the Captain replied with a perplexed look. A horn could be heard by the gate outside.
“The police are here” Tintin jumped up. The captain scooped the still unconscious intruder up throwing him like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder. The police car had two constables dressed in typical uniform with a spotlight on their car.
“So this is the vermin eh?” one of the policemen looked disdainfully at the guy.
“Here are two guns we got from them” Tintin said carefully handing them over.
“How many were there?” One officer asked taking the man into custody.
“Four, from all the witness accounts at the house” Tintin answered. “Lock your doors, we’ll take a ride around the area and see if we find anything suspicious” the other officer advised.
“These are interesting…” one of the officers mused.
“What about them?” Tintin looked perplexed. “It’s an odd design” he said looking at it with the car spot light. “I cannot tell too much about it, the Thompsons are on their way down to the station so we can question john doe here when he wakes up and inspect these other articles a bit closer” he stated.
“Fair enough, call us when if you find out anything Officer Adams” Tintin saluted.
“Right investigator” he said as they stuffed the man in the back seat tied up collecting the guns in a small sack and drove off. “I won’t sleep until I know something” Tintin stressed as they walked back to the manor.
“You will. A mug of hot cocoa will put you at ease landlubber” The captain smiled putting his arm around Tintin as they walked back to the manor.


Hours went by as Tintin and the Captain sat by the phone as it was well into the early morning. Tintin had finally drifted into a restless slumber speaking in his sleep. The Captain too had dozed off for a couple hours and woke up to Tintin’s voice, “Mom! Dad!” he suddenly said deep asleep. The Captain recalled only a couple other times where Tintin spoke discernibly in his sleep. He gently picked Tintin up, put him in bed, and returned back to his study. He was about to pick up a book when the phone seemed to jolt him out of his chair. He quickly answered it, “Hello?” “Captain Haddock?” the other familiar voice answered back.

“Thomson?” he responded.
“Yea, we got a call from INTERPOL, Tintin’s life is in danger” Thomson informed.
“Well ya don’t say!” Captain Haddock replied sarcastically.
“Take him on holiday somewhere, just get ‘em out of here” Thomson replied unaware of the captain’s sarcasm.
“What’s this about?” Haddock demanded.
“Details are scarce, but the guy we have in custody all the sudden has amnesia and we only know about the ‘All Seeing Eye’ and that Mueller has been broken out of prison by this cult” Thompson informed.
“Billions of Blisterin’ Barnacles! Can’t the authorities keep anyone locked up anymore?!” he almost yelled but resumed back to an anxious whisper.
“Just take Tintin anywhere and don’t tell anyone where you are going, we’ll find you if we need to” Thomson advised.
“Fine, we’ll leave first thing early this morning!” he said hanging up.


Captain Haddock checked on Tintin to make sure he was still sleeping, and he had an uneasy look on his face as he breathed heavily. The captain threw a small blanket on him and began packing his and Tintin’s suitcases as he didn’t want to wake Nestor. After thirty minutes of packing he wrote Nestor and the Professor a half page letter explaining their situation and they would contact them only by telegram. The Captain finally gave Tintin a nudge, “Uhh..” he groaned. “Come on, we gotta go lad” Haddock said anxiously.
“Where?” Tintin stirred.
“It’s a surprise” the Captain smiled as Tintin sat up and rubbed his eyes.
“What’s going on here?” Tintin thought to himself. Seldom did the Captain get him up that early for any type of excursion. The memories of a cyclone of a nightmare had assailed him but due to all this bustling around and the Captain shaking him every few seconds he wasn’t moving, it slipped back into the recesses of his mind.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-06-2012 at 05:30 PM..

Kole_Locke
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#2
Old 11-19-2012, 06:47 PM

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.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-07-2012 at 03:55 PM..

Kole_Locke
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#3
Old 11-19-2012, 11:56 PM

CHAPTER 2 (PART - B)

The Captain had dozed off with the paper still in his hands on the train and Tintin just let him sleep just as Snowy was. Tintin himself was still fairly tired fighting off sleep a bit too until he began dozing off his self. The train began to slow down as they had finally arrived in Brussels. Tintin woke them both up and the train station was beginning to crowd with travelers. They walked down to the main terminal.

“Where too now Captain?” Tintin asked admiring the station. The Captain remained in deep thought until he spotted a payphone.
“Excuse me a moment lad, I’ll be right back” he ignored the question walking up to the payphone.
“Who’s he calling?” Tintin thought.

“Oh look at the cute puppy!” a couple of children ran up to Snowy to pet him.
“Finally I get some good attention” Snowy thought licking the children’s hands as they petted him.
“What’s his name?” a little girl asked.
“Snowy” Tintin smiled.
“I want a dog just like this one” the little boy laughed.
“Come on children, time to go—“ a woman approached but some ruffian bumped into her as he snatched her purse taking off running. “Thief!” the woman shouted and Tintin pursued after him.



The captain clumsily fumbled in his pockets for some change, picked up the phone, and began dialing. The phone rang a few times when a surly voice answered.
“Yea whadda ya want?” a gruff man's voice answered.
“Chester you knave!” the captain laughed.
“Haddock! Where ‘ave ya been sailin’ off to these days?” the surly voice changed to that of a friendly gruff one. “Not been doing much sailin’ hahah…Just wondering if you were in port for a bit?” Haddock laughed back.
“Yea but shovin’ off later today for my holiday, goin’ to…” Chester answered but was cut off by Haddock.
“Now don’t you tell me where, I want to keep the surprise” he laughed back.
“You got Tintin with ya?” Chester laughed back.
“What do ya think?” Haddock laughed even harder.
“Good ya finally goin’ to get out of that dusty mansion of yours?” Chester joked.
“Where ya at now?” Chester asked.
“Not too far, but wait a few hours—we’ll be there…” Haddock answered turning around for a moment to see a crowd of people. “Gotta go Chester see ya soon!” he said hanging up the phone dashing towards the commotion.

A small crowd of people had followed Tintin pursuing a purse snatching thief until Tintin reached out to grab him and the thief spun around and punched at him. Tintin ducked and returned a punch, the thief sucker punched Tintin, but Tintin shoved him as he got too close and Tintin spun around and kicked him in the side. The guy charged Tintin trying to use his size for advantage. Snowy began barking at him closer and it distracted him just enough for Tintin to move to the side, duck, and stick his leg out tripping the guy making him fall face first.

Tintin put his foot on the guys neck, “You’d better stay down if you know what’s good for you” A full round of applause was given to Tintin. The police began running towards the commotion as Tintin retrieved the purse handing it to the woman. “What’s all this about” one officer asked suspiciously.
“This guy’s a hero” one boy said.
“Yea, he got the bad guy and gave my mommy back her purse” the little girl shouted.

By the time it was over with the police were convinced and they arrested the-would be thief and took him in.
“Hey! Aren’t you that reporter/investigator Tintin?” one man asked recognizing him.
“Alas, no he isn’t” the captain said covering Tintin’s mouth quickly dragging him away before he could say anything. “We need to go lad, we gotta train to catch” he said as Snowy began chasing after them.
“Cap---tain” Tintin muttered.
“We’re on holiday lad, we’ll miss our train if we don’t hurry now take your luggage landlubber” he said handing Tintin his suitcase. They rushed through the station to the right platform and got on the train finding another empty compartment. “Perfect” the captain thought as he shut the door behind.

“Ok captain, after embarrassing me back there this better be good” Tintin sat with his arms folded. Snowy jumped next to Captain Haddock as if he was defending him.
“You too Snowy?! Even my own dog seems to know more than me?” he complained to the captain.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Snowy barked twice at him.
“I’m goin’ ta need a smoke after that” Captain Haddock shook his head taking out his pipe.
“I’m not letting you off that easy” Tintin pointed.
“Tintin” he said looking up at him carefully. “It seems like someone is after you—I don’t know the details, so don’t ask…” he finished lighting his pipe. “That’s all?!” Tintin asked incredulously. That captain struck a match and lit his pipe taking a puff.

“Listen Tintin, I understand you’re not a child, and as a matter of fact you act more mature than I do at times” the captain sighed. Tintin was about to respond but after such a statement he couldn’t find any words retort with.

“As you know, just as you have been and continue to be with me through the years, I take care of you—the best I know how” he sighed again taking another puff. The captain seldom had humbling moments like that and even Tintin realized that even with his best insightful judgement that Captain had one thing over him, life experience.

“I figured what happened the other night may have had some bearing on what we are doing right now” Tintin guessed.
“Those bungling idiots only told me to take you away because they thought you were in danger” the captain repeated.
“Oh the Thompsons…that lets you off the hook then” Tintin laughed.
“They are something aren’t they?” Haddock laughed.
“You remember when they suggested we dress like each other?” Tintin smiled shaking his head.
“How could I forget” the captain shook his head taking another puff and exhaling a huge cloud out the window. “Well somehow they stay in business and help manage the town police, and give me interesting work locally” Tintin noted their long success.


“So where are we going and who did you call?” Tintin asked again.
“Antwerp and Captain Chester” he answered to the point quietly.
“Captain Chester?! You mean you’re old friend?” Tintin smirked.
“Better not let him hear that…better watch how you use the word old lad” The Captain quickly reached over squeezing his knee making him jump back.
“Hey!” Tintin slid back away from the captain laughing.
“Do well to remember that ginger boy” the captain smiled at mischievously pointing his pipe at him.
“He lives in Antwerp?” Tintin asked curiously.
“He owns a flat there since he comes in with the Sirius a lot, although I am surprised because it is early for him to be up this way” The captain wondered for a moment. “Ah but the dog is just as unpredictable as me” Haddock laughed.

“That also would mean he is the same age—so I’m sure he’s different now” Tintin thought for a moment remembering after the entire Alpha-art affair a couple months later how Captain Chester and a few of his men arrived unannounced. “What a drunken’ week that was” Tintin sighed for a moment. “What are you thinking about?” Haddock demanded almost reading his mind.
“Nothing…” Tintin smiled.
“Our last visit five years ago when he came to our home” Haddock pointed with Tintin opening his mouth in surprise.
“Yea we did get a little crazy with the card game and whiskey” Haddock admitted.
“A little?!” Tintin gasped.
“More like, a lot! You guys had poor Nestor running sick! I think you guys put down almost three bottles of whiskey a night! The card game on the third night turned into a brawl, you guys even managed to taunt Cuthbred into getting drunk, and by the end of the week the drawing room looked like a pirates den” Tintin recalled.
“Hey hey, Chester and I go a long ways back… you have to remember your friends Tintin” Haddock pointed out.

“Some friends… It took weeks for that room to get back the way it was… the cost of the broken vases, new picture frames, caught a bookcase on fire, and dropped whiskey on the piano” Tintin continued. Haddock was now too busy reminiscing in his own mind of times when he and Chester were traveling the seas together as shipmates, the adventures they shared, and how they both had become captains.

“Captain?” Tintin waved his hand in front of the Captains vacant face which had absent smile as if he were actually reliving a memory. Tintin put up his hand and began petting Snowy leaving Haddock smoking reveling in his days gone by. Tintin wondered how he would be once he reached Haddock’s age, but shrugged and returned to the moment.


“Last stop Antwerp!” the conductor’s voice repeated. Tintin jumped up as the Captain was still reliving a memory but now in the form of a dream. Tintin grabbed his hand, “Captain, we’re here” Tintin said pulling him up. “Sorry” he smiled gripping gently on to Tintin’s hand and letting go.

This time the Captain seemed much more boisterous. Tintin got his luggage rolling his eyes just a little hoping that this holiday doesn’t end up like five years ago. When they got off at the train station, business and commerce was in full swing. People were running around with suitcases and backpacks.

“Watch your pockets lad” Haddock whispered to him.
“I’m hungry…” Snowy began whining to Tintin. Tintin looked at Snowy with understanding, “You’re hungry and so am I” Tintin shrugged.
The captain looked at his watch, “We’ll if I remember correctly we should be able to find his flat fairly easy. When we find him, we’ll eat then” he announced.
Tintin and Snowy both hung their head down, “How long will that be? I don’t know if poor Snowy will make it” “That’s it Tintin, give him the old guilt trip works almost every time” Snowy thought as he whined.
“Boulderdash! You’re a grown man, you can wait just a bit longer” the Captain laughed.
“Ouch!” Tintin exclaimed looking at Snowy. They continued out onto the streets. They walked several blocks as ten minutes turned into twenty, and twenty into forty.
“Poor Snowy, poor me!” Tintin and Snowy complained. The captain stopped for just a moment to think.
“Ah” he said as if some brilliant idea had just formed in his mind.
“I don’t like this Tintin” Snowy whined.
“Don’t worry Snowy, at least we shall eat soon with or without the Captain” Tintin said loud enough to be heard. “Taxi!” the Captain shouted as a small white sedan stopped.

“Take us to Van Stralenstraat just before you get to Rotterdamstraat” Haddock instructed. The cab drive nodded. “How far is it?” Tintin asked.
“Not far, I get you there quickly—five minutes!” the driver, a young man typical of the area, answered. “Soon Snowy, it won’t be long” Tintin rubbed Snowy.


The ride was almost exactly five minutes as the captain had been taking them in circles. Tintin could see the look of nostalgia in the Captain’s eyes. Tintin was a little annoyed with how he seemed to ignore him and Snowy, but at the same time understood it was seldom that he got to enjoy familiar company of his past. Tintin sat there petting Snowy, “What are we going to do with him Snowy?” Tintin whispered.

“I say we dump the Captain and get something to eat” Snowy whined. Tintin almost seemed to understand what Snowy meant, but as soon as he could think of anything else the Captain grasped his hand and gripped it tightly. “Thank you lad” he smiled widely continuing to look forward. Tintin felt the warmth flow into his body for that instant. Just for a moment giving his hand one gentle caress before the cab came to a stop. “We’re here!” the driver announced with a smile feeling the excitement in the air.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-07-2012 at 10:32 PM..

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#4
Old 11-20-2012, 08:49 PM

Hey, just finished chapter one. I love it. What a great idea to explore Tintin's origins, and treat us to some adventure and intrigue at the same time. And Muller has escaped! I love Doctor Muller, that ruthless villain.

The Thompsons were brilliant, putting their coats on inside out! That had me giggling; it's just like them to do something like that. And 'shepherds pie at the pub', wow, that just conjured up a real rural village feel, and I could totally see the Thompsons eating their dinner at the pub after work. Nice touch.

I really liked how you dealt with the question of Tintin's family and childhood. A 'blur' is the perfect description. His reaction to Mrs Bolt's questions just seemed so in character, somehow... And as for the Captain, you write him wonderfully. How sweet that he let his dinner go cold while he waited for Tintin. I like how you wrote him so strong and good in a fight. Perfectly Haddock :) Oh, and he offered Tintin cocoa to help settle him. Aw! Please, stop me before I have a fangirl moment.

The action scene was really compelling, seriously, I was on the edge of my seat. You have a particular knack for action scenes. Great work :)

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#5
Old 11-20-2012, 09:20 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ms Unicorn View Post
Hey, just finished chapter one. I love it. What a great idea to explore Tintin's origins, and treat us to some adventure and intrigue at the same time. And Muller has escaped! I love Doctor Muller, that ruthless villain.

The Thompsons were brilliant, putting their coats on inside out! That had me giggling; it's just like them to do something like that. And 'shepherds pie at the pub', wow, that just conjured up a real rural village feel, and I could totally see the Thompsons eating their dinner at the pub after work. Nice touch.

I really liked how you dealt with the question of Tintin's family and childhood. A 'blur' is the perfect description. His reaction to Mrs Bolt's questions just seemed so in character, somehow... And as for the Captain, you write him wonderfully. How sweet that he let his dinner go cold while he waited for Tintin. I like how you wrote him so strong and good in a fight. Perfectly Haddock :) Oh, and he offered Tintin cocoa to help settle him. Aw! Please, stop me before I have a fangirl moment.

The action scene was really compelling, seriously, I was on the edge of my seat. You have a particular knack for action scenes. Great work :)
Thank you for reading it. Yes, I felt like the time had come to address this most intriguing question to Tintin fans all over about his family. Yes old villians will be coming out of the woodwork and so will will old friends ;)

The Thompsons of course are just as goofy as ever, but they too care a great deal for Tintin as they understand him but they are somewhat socially awkward, but Tintin still loves&respects them too. Well the story takes place in Belgium but the Thompsons love British anything (I'm not sure where they are originally from)

Yes Tintin and Haddock are comfortably together now. The Captain has indeed been getting stronger as his love has& as he feels a purpose in life. Tintin is quick whereas the Captain is much stronger. Yea the stonemason and his wife have definite curiosity about the whole arrangement....

And so the story continues....

UPDATE: It's ok for users to post feedback in my thread at least. It's up to the writer, so I say it's ok.
People wishing to discuss the story is encouraged.
(I may need to make a discussion thread) Just incase the moderators don't approve of chat in this forum--) I need to ask one and if we need to move the conversation we will make a thread in the appropriate forum.
Have as many fan girl moments as you like.

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 11-21-2012 at 12:14 AM..

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#6
Old 11-23-2012, 04:35 PM

CHAPTER 3 (PART A)

Tintin could feel the excitement as the Captain jumped out of the car grabbing both their suitcases.
“Come on lad, got to be faster than that” he winked at Tintin. He grabbed a few coins out of his deep coat pocket, looked at them in passing, and just gave them to the driver.
“Why thank you sir! Thank you sir!” the driver was grateful.
“I should be around, if you needs a ride anytime soon take my card” he said handing it to Tintin. Tintin looked at the card as it said ‘Hanz Taxi’.
“Thanks, we’ll keep that in mind” Tintin looked mildly suspicious at him as he drove off.

“Captain, how much did you give him?” Tintin said running to catch up with the Captain who was already dashing up the way with Snowy on his tail.
“How much money did you give him?” Tintin repeated.
"Don't worry about it" the Captain gave a carefree response. When they finally got to the building there were a few flats. “I remember which one!” The captain smiled as they walked in a small building up a flight of stairs; but was greeted by another man his height. He wore the same kind of cap the Captain wore. His red hair looked a bit unkempt but his mustache was the same way he had it last time. He wore a green sweater with a pair of naval black pants and wore a pair of loafers. He still looked the same, slightly a bit more of a beer gut Tintin thought when he first glanced at him. Captain Haddock and Captain Chester made some odd signs like the first time when Tintin met him in Iceland. After their little greeting, they exchanged a friendly hug.

“Hey mates, come inside” he motioned taking Haddock’s and Tintin's suitcase inside.

When Tintin walked inside Chester’s flat it was strange. One side was messy and cluttered while the other was organized and fairly neat. He had a small kitchen area with a card table surrounded with four chairs. Then he had a small television in front of an old brown sofa. To Tintin’s surprise he had an old gramophone with some records piled up and a bookcase full of all kinds of different subject books. Beyond the kitchen were two rooms, but Tintin didn’t continue to gawk at his place but turned his attention back to the two captains.

“So we’re ready to go with you on this holiday” Haddock smiled as Captain Chester already had a bottle of whiskey and two shot glasses ready for the both of them.
“It’s supposed to storm later, we’re going to wait until tomorrow” Chester informed him.
“Oh really?” Haddock almost sounded bummed out.
“Well…” Chester grinned evilly and opened a cabinet near his small desk where he kept his reserves.
“Wow, you stocked up” Haddock returned the grin.
“When you said you were coming I figured better to be safe than sorry” Chester laughed as they all took a seat at the small card table.


Tintin could see Chester unlike Haddock seemed to have his life together more so. Tintin saw an old picture on a small stand by his television. It was Chester with a young girl no more than twelve years old standing on his ship holding up a nice sized codfish.

“Is this your daughter?” Tintin had to ask.
“That she is, a rose ain’t she? She’s now twenty and married with a two year old daughter in Glasgow” Chester smiled as he now held up his shot glass to Haddock.
“To many more healthy years for us rusty sea dogs!” Chester declared.
“To many more years of happiness period!” Haddock toasted back. Then they took their shots. Tintin wanted to continue to ask questions and learn more about Chester but didn’t want to sound nosy.
“Will we ever get to eat again?” Snowy barked. “Poor Snowy” Tin rubbed his head. “Captain, Snowy and I are going to go get something to eat” Tintin said getting up from the table. The Captain grabbed his arm before he could even start to walk away from the table.

“Hold your horses!” He and Captain Chester were still in the middle of exchanging stories.
“You’re hungry? Why didn’t you say so? There’s a nice English pub a couple blocks away where they got the best fish and chips” Chester suggested. Tintin and Snowys’ eyes lit up. Captain Haddock let go of Tintin.

“Well I don’t want to drag you out on our account” Haddock seemed almost apologetic.
“Nonsense! I was thinking about doing the same thing anyway since I have no butler or maid to cook for me” Chester laughed playfully punching Haddock in the arm.
“Hey hey, I got the most trustworthy butler ever—and I pay him well” Haddock explained with a big smile. They got up and Chester grabbed his captain’s coat, just like Haddock’s. Chester noticed an odd thing about Haddock and his friend. They were all dressed in black, which made him wonder. In his years as a Captain, just like Haddock, he’s had his fair share of adventure and got the subtle feeling something was amiss. Chester took mental note remembering their last plight when he first ran back into the captain on their race to get to the meteorite first. Snowy was the first out of the flat barking, running forward a bit, and turning around to make sure his master was still following. Chester noticed one other peculiar thing about Tintin and Haddock. Each wore a silver ring with what looked like an engraving of some sort. He was no fool, but smiled and put a hand on both the Captain and Tintin shoulder walking abreast in the middle.

“I think happier times are ahead, it’s good to finally see you aren’t the miserable man you were for quite some time I heard about from a mutual friend” Chester said nonchalantly as he led them down the lane.
“Ya noticed huh?” Haddock smiled.
“As long as you’re happy that’s all that matters” he replied.
“Well the past five years has been fairly quiet” Tintin added.
“Well at some point one should settle down and appreciate the joys and pains life has to offer us” Chester said sagely.
“That’s life for ya!” Haddock agreed. Tintin knew all too well the joy and pains of life, but understood Chester’s underlying message. Behind his grey eyes he was a lonely man, but unlike Haddock, Chester seemed to be able to hold himself together better. Tintin knew that was none of his business, so they conversed with more light hearted talk until they finally reached the pub.


So far the watchers of Marlinspike Hall were coming up dry. The two men were taking a break waiting for the veil of darkness so they could return and search for their target.
“I don’t get it! No one has seen Tintin or that idiotic captain all day” one short man said sitting in a tint with a black toboggan and peacoat taking out a flask and taking a swig.
“It’s almost late in the afternoon” the other guy said wearing similar apparel.
“Hey, don’t drink all of that!” the other guy said grabbing the flask taking a drink too. Both had a Russian accent. The tent was hidden in a small patch of trees not too far from Marlinspike Hall.
“That Captain Haddock guy is a lot stronger than he looks” the other guy complained.
“Just keep your gun loaded, I don’t care how big they are, they all fall” the tall man with the gaunt face replied coldly.
“I didn’t see you being able to hit him with a shot” the other man pointed out.
“I didn’t see you doing it, so don’t act as if you are better than me” the other guy shot back.
“Shut up! Both of you!” another voice came from outside the tent. They both reacted grabbing their guns. A third guy came into the tent similarly dressed.
They both silently put their guns away, “So anything new?” one of the guys asked in a half disgusted voice. The third guy sat down Indian style wearing a pair of shades.
“I found the phone number and called the house asking to speak to Tintin or Haddock and neither of them were available to speak” he mentioned suspiciously with a distinct Italain accent.
“I say we raid the place again” the shorter man suggested.
“Idiot! You realize it will be much more difficult now” the taller man blasted him.
“It may be the only way we are able to see if they really are there” the other man justified.
“…and what if they aren’t?” the other guy rolled his eyes.
“Then we know…” he said bluntly.
“Then you two also forget that more police and detectives will begin swarming the area putting our mission in jeopardy!” said the man with shades.
“I’m going to have to call in and see what our bosses want us to do” he finally conceded.
“What do you think they’ll say? ‘Oh your mission failed but that’s ok come back’?!” he mocked.
“No, maybe they may know something we don’t” he said calmly.
“I think our target may have slipped through our fingers” he said voicing his suspicions.
“That would be bad, then where do we search?” the tall guy demanded.
“We’ll figure it out… our network is much bigger than you two think… continue to survey the mansion, but do not take any action until I return later tonight” he said taking out a loaf of bread and a couple tomatoes from a bag offering it to his fellow conspirators.
“What happened to the other guy?” the short man asked.
“They took him to INTERPOL branch somewhere in Brussels, good thing he was only a recruit and knows little. Those two detectives are gone so if we need to raid the manor. There aren’t too many police officers to offer resistance” he assured them. Finally satisfied with the plan the other two guys quietly devoured their food.


The pub was full of locals and travelers alike. The pub was typically dark as the walls were of a dark green color. The bar was long with someone in every seat either eating or drinking. The air was filled with smoke on one side where the opposite it seemed to filter as they had the windows open.

“Can we sit on that side” Tintin pleaded. There was an empty table at the far corner just passed a window.
“Looks like everyone else had the same idea” Haddock rubbed his beard as they made their way to their table. The ceiling was a little low but at least they were near an open window Tintin thought. A young man with sandy blond hair no more than twenty years, came from behind the bar with a pen and pad.
“Welcome gentlemen, what can I get you today?” He beamed.
“Captain Chester!” the young man greeted as he turned to see him.
“Ah Caleb! Busy today!” Chester observed.
“Yes Captain, a ship just docked this morning from America, so lots of sailors strolling around. So your usual?” he finished.
“Yea, and what do you guys want?” Chester turned back to his company.
“Fish and chips, come on lad drink with us” Haddock teased.
“Not whiskey, yes, fish and chips for me too” Tintin confirmed.
“What about ale?” Chester suggested. Haddock looked back at Tintin, “Come on lad, don’t be a sourpuss” Haddock egged on.
“Fine” Tintin threw his hands up. Snowy rested quietly under the table watching many pairs of shoes tap, stomp, and rock on their heels. “Wait, can you guys get me an extra portion of fish?” Tintin asked Caleb the waiter.
“Sure” he smiled seeing Snowy under the table.
“Relax lad” Haddock looked at Tintin a little concerned. Captain Chester could see Tintin was a little preoccupied but was trying to hide it.
“Don’t worry, you’re in good company here, I know folks and we look out for one another” Chester informed him. “Well sounds like a really tight knit community here” Tintin commented.
“Indeed it is—ah drinks” he beamed.
“Drink up guys!” Caleb said putting down the big glass mugs of ale in front of the trio.
“Again, to our health, friendship, and happiness” Chester said lifting his mug in the air.
“Cheers!” Haddock and Tintin lifted their mugs gently tapping Chester’s. They each took a nice long refreshing gulp.


“So Haddock, Tintin, tell me what do I truly owe this pleasure” Chester’s voice took a more serious tone.
“Why do you ask?” Tintin asked innocently.
“Come on boy, your eyes and Haddock’s speak volumes” he smirked.
“Do you know anything about the all seeing eye?” Haddock finally asked. A look of intrigue etched on Chester’s face.
“That’s a dangerous lot, I’m telling you—my last voyage I dumped four men off in Rome that were doing ‘strange things’ on my boat and causing all kinds of rumors and strange happening” Chester commented.
“What brings them up?” Chester began to really pay attention.
“We were assaulted on our property by four unknown men” Tintin answered.
“Yes, and one had the pyramid with the eye tattooed of all places on his palm” Haddock shook his head.
“So you left the old professor and your butler to contend with the likes of them?!” Chester sounded bit outraged. “We were told to leave, and don’t underestimate Calculus, he seems bit foolish but is highly intelligent, and Nestor is quite a resourceful man” Haddock said slightly defensive.
“Who said you were in danger?” Chester pressed.
“INTERPOL” Tintin interjected. Chester got quiet really quick.
“They’re after me for some reason, but we captured one and handed him over to two of our local detectives. Who were these men on your ship?” Tintin asked. “Two were Russians—a volatile pair those were, a sly Italian man with a thin beard, and a young Middle Eastern man, possibly Hispanic” he described.[COLOR="lightseagreen"]

---------- Post added 11-23-2012 at 04:25 PM ----------

....
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Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-07-2012 at 11:44 PM..

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#7
Old 11-23-2012, 09:44 PM

CHAPTER 3 (PART B[end of chapter 3])


Tintin and Haddock looked a bit concerned. “Regretting your decision now?” Chester asked flatly taking a long drink just as their food arrived.
“Here you go good sirs” Caleb said putting four platters down on the table with a bottle of malt vinegar in the center. “Caleb, come here” Chester motioned as Caleb leaned forward. Chester began to whisper something in his ear and the young man nodded and quickly walked away.

“What did you tell him?” Tintin looked a bit confused.
“I’m alerting my networks to keep their eyes open and trust me, any stranger that acts out of the norm within a certain radius of my home will rouse alarm” Chester said slyly.
“Now my friends, eat, drink, and be merry!” he replied laughing in a mock kingly fashion. Haddock and Tintin looked a bit worried still.
“You’re here, they know the danger and so do the police, and if you were followed we will find out soon enough. We’ll leave in the morning, my yacht should be ready for us first thing tomorrow” Chester finished. Haddock and Tintin shrugged their shoulders and did their best to put their faith in their friends. Snowy playfully nipped Tintin’s shoe, “I’m sorry Snowy here you go” he said tossing a couple of filets to his pet. Tintin was really hungry too, as he ravenously devoured his food.

“Slow down laddie, enjoy your food” Haddock shot Tintin a concerned glance.
“You can get more if you’re still hungry” Chester reminded him. Chester waved his hand as Caleb was running around the pub with a middle-aged woman deftly carrying platter after platter out of the kitchen.
“Wow, she’s fast!” Tintin noticed her.
“That’s Caleb’s mother, his father is an early retiring sailor, owns this place” Chester informed.
“So who will be travelling with us? Where would we be going?” Tinin asked casually.
“He is a young Italian sailor who has been sailing on the Sirius since he was fifteen, he’s nineteen now. I send money to his family in Livorno for his work. He’s trustworthy” Chester informed.
“Ultimately, I’m going to go to Glasgow, but first stop will be in Colchester, my sister and her husband live there” Chester continued taking out his small pouch of tobacco and a pipe.
“I will stay for a couple of days then cast off to Glasgow. I must return by next week as my cargo will be ready to ship off on the Sirius” he concluded striking a match lighting his pipe. He took out a small nautical map and showed Haddock pointing from where they were to their destination.
“So we port at Harwich Ferry then?” he faced the map his way.
“Exactly, if we don’t have any problems, we will catch a few fish to take to my sister then port by dusk” he nodded.


After a couple of minutes, Caleb had another round of ale for the group. “Thank you good lad, remember to thank your mom and dad for me” he whispered to him.
Caleb nodded, “Anything for friends” he smiled as he dashed off to another table.
“Wow you really are well connected here” Tintin was impressed.
“I have a couple residences, but alas, I am not a wealthy man like my good friend Haddock!” he laughed.
“What wealth? A manor, a cargo ship, a couple of cars, and some hidden—well you know what I mean” Haddock replied missing the underlying meaning of Chester’s statement.
“That’s not what I meant…” Chester shook his head. Haddock thought for a moment as Tintin gave him a silly grin. “Oh! That! I am a very lucky man!” Haddock admitted finally understanding Chester.
“Another toast, to longevity and happiness and more in the thereafter” Chester said almost with a poetic sense. “Cheers!” Tintin and Haddock raised their glasses high.



The evening came and twilight gave way to a gentle starry night. Marlinspike Hall was quiet and not many lights were on. The two Russian men were watching the hall carefully. All they could hear was the occasional piano music. “Is that someone playing?” one of the Russians asked the other. The taller guy seemed almost shocked that his accomplice would even ask such a thing.

“Who cares?!” he whispered harshly. They were both dressed in their robed outfits with their masks, waiting for some sign or signal to raid the hall.
“I hope Lento gets here fast, I’m getting nervous” the tall guy ranted.
“I say we go get a closer look” the short guy suggested.
“Are you the boss?” the tall guy shot back.
“Well no but--all of this doing nothing isn’t helping” he justified. The tall guy was going to fire back but he realized that he too felt the same way.
“It’s nine O’clock, I say we at least get a closer look” the shorter guy pressured.
“Fine, but only looking” the tall guy agreed not sure even he agreed with his own conditions. They stealthily jumped down from the tree they were in and quietly approached the manor.


Sitting by the fireplace sat the Professor and Nestor sipping cups of hot tea listening to Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude. Professor Calculus seemed to be swaying in his seat just as Nestor was admiring the finger work that it took to execute the piece as well as this pianist had done.

“I haven’t listened to this in a long time” Calculus admitted.
“It’s splendid indeed” Nestor smiled tapping his fingers on his knee.
“I may have to take a trip to Vienna now just so I can relive that memory…and perhaps run into Madame Castafiore” Calculus smiled.
“I’ve been a couple times” Nestor nodded.
“Oh what did you see?” Calculus continued surprisingly with the help of his hearing aid.
“Mostly Mozart sir, his Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor” Nestor was exact. Calculus nodded thoughtfully really not being a true connoisseur of classical music.
“This feels strange sitting in the Captain’s and Tintin’s seat” Calculus said staring into the fire. Nestor nodded taking a sip of his tea.
“I just hope their safe, especially after that attack” Calculus replied somberly.
“I’m perfectly sure both the masters can look after one another quite well” Nestor pointed out.
“You know what Nestor? When they come back, we’re all going to go to Vienna and see one of Mozart’s best pieces” Calculus said taking a sip of tea.
“Might I suggest the Magic Flute?” Nestor said just as the cat cried and hissed jumping out of the window running under Nestor’s seat.

The album continued on to the Prelude in E minor as Nestor and Calculus glanced back quickly then nodded to each other not moving an inch. Nestor sat by the phone as Calculus nodded.
“We need police at Marlinspike Hall please” Nestor announced on the phone.
“Thank you sir” he hung up listening carefully as Calculus slowly glanced to the window. Only a small crack through the drapes was the only view outside which the piano obstructed.


“Tintin could you get my glasses for me” Calculus yelled. There was a tense silence but only the eerie Prelude in the background until a zapping electrical sound broke the eerie silence and a bright flash was seen out of both the corner of their eyes. Nestor and Calculus looked toward the door and another moment passed until again, another jolt disturbed the eerie Prelude as it climaxed with an accented flash. Nestor and Calculus walked slowly to the front door armed with simple weapons. As they walked to the door Nestor carried a flashlight that was like a baton. Nestor noticed the professor had his umbrella. They could hear quiet muffled curses behind the door. Calculus took out a small box from the closet nearby which had several chains of firecrackers with and a couple books of matches. Nestor nodded already understanding. They each crept to a window on opposite sides of the front door each peeping out to see two shapes still recovering literally from shock. Nestor listened quietly, then felt the old revolver he had in his coat pocket just for such an occasion hoping he wouldn’t have to use it.


“What the Hell?!” the short man exclaimed as his body was racked with pain.
“They must know…we’re here…” the tall guy replied with labored breathing.
"Somehow they got the door handles connected to something electrical!" the short guy surmised. Slowly recovering after a few minutes, they took out their guns ready to burst in the manor, but were taken by surprise yet again. A string of what sounded like multiple gunshots going off in rapid succession sent them flying away from the manor diving for cover.
“They got some serious arsenal” the short guy replied in amazement. They waited for more shots to succeed, but none came.
“They are playing us for fools!” the tall man began to realize, but the lights at the end of the gate lit up as a siren began to go off far in the distance.
“The police are coming! I knew I shouldn’t have listened to you!” the tall guy slugged the short guy.
“Idiot!” he glared at him but they didn’t have time to argue so they disappeared back to the camp site. When they returned, the third guy was waiting impatiently for them.
“You fools! Both of you!” he yelled at them.
“The police are coming! Hurry! Grab everything, we got to go!” the third guy began gathering the equipment rolling his possessions up putting them on the back of his motorbike. They quickly pulled down the tent, “What’s the news?” the short guy asked.
“They tricked us! They aren’t even here!” the third continued as they could hear the continued police sirens.
“We heard someone shout Tintin’s name!” the short guy explained.
“I told you guys to keep your distance and not to move too close to the manor, the professor and that butler tricked you!” he declared.
“We should go back and murder them!” the tall guys said angrily.

“We don’t have time for that, the police will be there in less than a minute! The boss says Tintin was spotted in Brussels at the train station with his dog and that stupid sea captain” the third guy expounded as they finished loading up. The other two guys were dumbfounded as they quickly pushed their bikes quietly until they were far away enough that no one would notice them and disappeared into the night.
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Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-08-2012 at 12:06 AM..

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#8
Old 11-25-2012, 12:28 AM

CHAPTER 4 PART A

Tintin got up from the table of the pub, “Where do ya think your goin?!” Captain Haddock said grabbing Tintin’s arm.

“I need to go to the loo!” Tintin gave Haddock a strange look. Then Chester grabbed his other arm forcefully.

“Would you like a man to escort you like the lady you are to the little girls room?” he mocked as he and Haddock burst into cackling laughter.

Tintin didn’t know what to think, shocked that his companion, who he had shared many life and death experiences with him, would laugh at his expense. Then the waiter turned to laugh at him and then the other tables joined in, and finally the whole pub was laughing at him. Hurt and angry, he slipped out of his long black trench coat and dashed down the corridor to the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. He washed his face with cold water from the sink and began to look at himself in the mirror. Still the same Tintin he’d always been, only with a more of a toned body. Not wanting to return back to the hall he stared into the mirror making sure that nothing about him looked out of place, until his reflection spoke.

“What are you playing at?” Tintin jumped back completely surprised and scared. “You’re a nobody! You’re nothing but a spoiled grown brat that has some man who’s predominantly been a failure all of his life, get lucky once, and now pays your way!”

Tintin bolted out of the bathroom back into the now dimly lit bar room. It was quiet, and as he walked in the room the tables were empty, the bar was empty, Captain Chester and Haddock were gone. An overwhelming sinking feeling tugged at his heart, “Captain Chester! Archibald Haddock! Stop this nonsense right now!” Tintin demanded angrily.

Suddenly the silhouette of a young boy no older than seven years old sat, sobbing in a corner on a chair. “Hey!” he said walking towards the boy. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Tintin asked with sudden confusion. The little boy stood up out of the chair in the corner and walked into the dim light where he could be seen. He looked almost like Tintin did when he was that age only dressed in Sunday school clothes.

“You abandoned me!” the boy accused. “You don’t care about me, you only care about yourself!” he pointed. Tintin was lost and so full of emotion he didn’t know what to do or say. “I don’t know what you’re talking about?” Tintin explained.
The tears of the child turned into anger, “Just go away! I don’t need you! I’ve always been all by myself and it’s your fault! Leave me alone!” the child screamed running out of the pub.

“Wait! You can’t go out alone!” Tintin ran after the child, but it was like a tunnel of darkness toward a small ray of light. The child seemed to get further and further away until he disappeared as darkness overtook him. Suddenly a persistent banging startled him.


The morning sun had already risen, and the sound of church bells could be heard off in the distance. People were traversing streets making their way to noon mass. The heavy blue curtains blocked most of the rays of sunlight that filtered into Chester’s flat. It only took a second for one to see that it was a disaster area. Half of his books that were on the shelf earlier were now on the floor, the television screen was distorted and moving perpetually vertical. The card table and a chair were lying on their sides, and a box of food lie open on the floor with the contents almost completely empty with Snowy asleep not too far from the scene of the crime. On the sofa, lie Captain Chester & Haddock, along with Tintin in the middle. Tintin had his arms around a throw pillow and his right leg propped up on Captain Chester’s lap. Haddock had an empty bottle of whisky clutched in his right hand and his left arm around Tintin as Tintin was leaned back against Haddock. Chester’s mouth was wide open as he had a huge empty double shot glass with only a drop or two left and his left arm draped above Tintin’s head. Captain Chester and Haddock snore one snore right after the other. Both with their mouth’s wide open.
Tintin could feel his head aching and slowly began to wake as Haddock held him tighter as he began stirring when he realized someone was banging on the door. “Ugh..uh…” Tintin moaned grabbing his head then moved the captain’s arm so he could stand up. Tintin stood still trying to gain his bearings as the banging on the door continued. “Signore Chester! It’s noon! Are you ok?” a voice shouted from outside.

“Captain Chester!” Tintin said gently shaking him. “What!” he jumped off the sofa looking back and forth. “Someone is at your door” Tintin woke him. Chester walked to the door slowly straightening his appearance putting his hat back on. “Who is it?” he demanded and got quiet.

“Si Signore! It’s me Enzo!” Chester unlatched and unchained the door. “What time is it?” Chester shook his head trying to shake off the bad headache he was now having.

“It is noon sir, you were supposed to meet me by the docks almost three hours ago! I came by to see if you had even left yet. I’ve got the yacht ready to leave whenever we’re ready to pull anchor” he explained. “Good God!” Captain Chester nodded shamefully looking at his place, himself, Tintin, and Haddock. “You ragazzis like the alcohol too much?” he said rhetorically.

“Tintin, wake Haddock and we’ll leave less than an hour from now” Chester said going back to his bathroom. “Hello” Tintin waved awkwardly to Enzo. “Buon giorno signore” he greeted back. He was stouter than Tintin and had dark brown hair and green eyes and stood just an inch shorter than he. He also had a sack in his hand which he handed to Tintin.

“I was told for all of us to put these uniforms on since the American sailors are strolling we won’t be spotted so quickly if people look for us” he replied. Tintin took the bag and pulled out one of the folded white uniforms. “I’m not sure the captain would want to wear uniforms under his status” Tintin laughed inspecting the white trousers slacks and white tunic with a black handkerchief hanging around the neck. Tintin saw how convincing it looked on Enzo, “You really look like an American sailor!” Tintin smiled.

“Someday I want to become an American sailor” Enzo laughed. “Captain!” Tintin shouted.

Haddock jumped up off the couch and threw his hands up, “What? Where? Who?!” he said with a start looking around. “How did we get back? Where’s Chester?” Haddock asked confused.

“Right here, get it together Haddock! Sorry about our tardiness Enzo—aw I see you brought the uniforms, looks like they were able to get them!” he smiled looking through the sack to find his size. “Come on Haddock, you too Tintin, the loo is free!” he pointed as he went to his bedroom.

“Blisterin’ barnacles! You want me to wear a mere sailor’s uniform?!” he gasped. “I’m a captain!” he bellowed.

“Swallow your pride Haddock, so am I, so if you don’t want trouble crossing the English Channel I suggest you quit your griping and do like the rest of us” he said disappearing to his chamber. Tintin continued to look through the bag and found a bigger size and another that still was a bit bigger than he. He frowned as he took the smaller uniform going to change.

Enzo began to pick up the rubbish on the floor of Captain Chester’s flat since they weren’t leaving for a few more minutes. After a moment, Chester came out of his room with both sleeves rolled up and a small carrying sack with the clothes he would change back into, and the sailor’s cap perched on top of his head. The sailor cap really set the uniform off, Haddock’s mood went from grouchy to silly in that moment as he began laughing.

“Why Chester, you look the proper sailor mate!” he grinned widely.

“Hold your laugher Haddock, it’s your turn” he said as he began helping Enzo clean the place. Haddock looked doubtfully at the uniform.

“You think whoever is following us is going to fall for this silliness?” He ridiculed. Chester shook his head.

“We have a better chance of fitting in which means we won’t be spotted as easily” he rationalized. Captain Haddock sighed and took the uniform to Chester’s chamber to change.

“Good times?” Enzo said looking at a couple empty bottles of whisky. Chester began picking up the books, and just as he picked up a rather old large one, something fell out onto the floor.

“I guess you can call it that…” Chester shook his head picking up what had fallen out of the book. It was an old photo of himself and Captain Haddock that was taken almost twenty years ago. Both he and Haddock were dressed in sailor uniforms standing by a gangway each holding up a fish as a bucket sat next to Haddock’s feet. A few moments went by as nostalgia began seeping from him. Chester was trying to remember exactly where the photo was taken but couldn’t quite recall it at the moment. “Well here I am!” Haddock said making an entrance just as Tintin came out of the bathroom. “Chester! What are you looking at?” Haddock immediately became curious.

“Look at this” Chester said handing him the huge photo. Captain Haddock looked at it for a moment as his face melted into smiles. “Where did you get this?” he asked happily.

“I can’t remember… I think this was the second merchant ship we sailed on” Chester concluded. “The Hastings!” Haddock shouted remembering. “Oh I remember that day!” Haddock said triumphantly. By this time, Tintin and Enzo were both trying to get a peek at the photograph.

“Those were the days” Chester nodded. “Well, let’s go… the yacht is ready and if you want to have time to catch a fish or two we’d better scram” he said giving Tintin and Enzo a moment to look at it before carefully placing it back in the book he kept it in. Tintin couldn’t believe that was both captains. Both were robust, tall, and young, but Haddock had a slightly bigger fish than Chester; also a bigger smile. Chester had his fish up high too but his gaze looked distracted. They gathered the rest of their personal articles quickly and locked up. Snowy finally began barking approving of his masters outfit.

“Oh that’s right, Snowy” Captain Chester said forgetfully.
“Is there a problem?” Tintin asked. Chester glanced at Snowy then Tintin’s burlap sack of clothes.
“Your dog may give us away, maybe you could carry Snowy in your sack” Chester suggested. “What?!” Snowy growled. “Here I’ll cut a small hole so Snowy can poke his nose out to breathe” Chester did just that.

“Come on Snowy” Tintin said sadly as Snowy whined reluctantly getting into the bag.
Tintin began laughing as he realized how they all looked leaving Captain Chester’s flat. “I bet there’s a story to that photo” Tintin commented as they were walking.

“Aye! There is…” Chester smiled. “Once we get out on the water we’ll tell you” Haddock laughed. “This should be interesting” Tintin giggled.

Enzo remained quiet as he was told to be wary of all strangers. Once they got out onto the open streets he realized they were several blocks away from the docks. The streets were so full and so many faces of mostly sailors and locals, but the crowd kept Enzo paranoid as he kept having a feeling something was about to happen.
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#9
Old 11-26-2012, 12:31 AM

CHAPTER 4 (PART - B end of chapter 4)


Many frustrating hours went by once the dark clad trio arrived in Brussels. They made their way to the train station where Tintin had been spotted, but kept second guessing each other as to where he had gone. Sunday morning was quiet, so nothing went unnoticed by these three. “We should have got them the first time” the Italian guy with the shades said shaking his fist in the air.
“It’s nine in the morning, we’ve been sitting here for several hours and not one thing” the tall Russian guy complained. The shorter guy was yawning with sleep since they had only dozed off a time or two near the train station. “All of this effort for nothing” the taller Russian shook his head. Finally the Italian spotted a couple of familiar faces.

“Ah, it’s those two dumb detectives” the Italian guy whispered as they began watching them as they walked by stopping at a payphone. “You guys wait here, I’m going to get a closer look… this maybe our one chance to get a lead” he said confidently as he straightened his coat walking towards the payphone acting as if he needed to use it next.

One of the detectives was already on the phone as the other detective stood a few feet away. “…You haven’t heard from them? I understand… you think he may be visiting an old friend?” he heard the other detective say. “May I help you sir?” Thomson asked.

“No, I just need to use the phone” the Italian guy nodded. “Lovely day isn’t it?” Thomson smiled. The Italian guy was trying to pay attention to what Thompson was saying on the phone, but trying not to be obvious at the same time.

“Oh yea…” he nodded.

“Tintin caught a purse thief here according to…” the Thompson statement was cut off by Thomson. “Are you on your way to church or something?” Thomson inquired. The Italian guy held back his irritation.

“Uh yea, but I must wait for my wife and family as they are returning…” he quickly explained.

“You guys were attacked?! Good Heavens! Are you ok?” Thompson asked with concern. The Italian guy turned around trying to be discreet.

“You don’t look happy to see your family” Thomson asked suspiciously. The Italian guy glared annoyingly at him trying to bite his tongue afraid he was going to miss a vital piece of information that would lead them to Tintin and Haddock. “Did you and your wife have a fight?” he continued.
“I don’t discuss my personal relations with strangers signore!” he grit through his teeth. “He left a letter?! What did it say?” Thompson exclaimed.
“I understand… it must be really bad!” Thomson frowned. The Italian guy was beginning to feel an intense desire to strangle Thomson.
“…an old friend? Up north? Who? Don’t tell me… we’re catching a train back… we’ll talk more when we return…indeed…” Thompson continued.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to talk about it?” Thomson asked waiting for Thompson. The Italian guy couldn’t take it anymore.

“Stai Zitto!” the Italian guy yelled about to back hand Thomson but Thompson had just hung up the phone. “Well let’s go home”

Thompson smiled. “Indeed, this man has absolutely no manners!” Thomson said backing away.

“Told you not to talk not to talk to uncivilized ruffians” Thompson said as he held his cane out. “Let’s go, this place is filling with rubbish” Thomson agreed as they walked away.

The Italian guy felt an urge just to pull out his gun and fire, but the noise of the other train station occupants pulled his temper back. The information he heard might be enough to go on, but he knew he needed to make a couple of calls trying to get any hint of information that would give he and his group direction.

“Yes, we are in Brussels and I gathered they have definitely traveled north, but from here I’m not sure” the Italian man informed. “Is that so? I heard he was planning on visiting an old friend” he shook his head. “Yes, call them…I will be waiting right here, yes signore, you need the number? No? understood” he said hanging up. The two Russian men stared blankly at him and he motioned for them to come to the payphone. “I want you two to watch the payphone while I go get something from the café, if the phone rings, answer it” he instructed.

“So this is where they took the other guy to” the shorter Russian mentioned. The taller Russian guy, who stood almost six feet, eyed anyone menacingly who even acted like they needed to use the phone. “If he knows what’s good he will not speak” the shorter guy said who stood about five feet and seven inches. The taller Russian guy continued to stare at those who got too close to the payphone until it began to ring.

“Hello!” the tall Russian guy quickly answered the phone. At that moment the third guy returned. “Yes, he’s right here…” he said handing the phone to him.

“Yes, oh did he now? That sounds great! Si boss, bravo! You’re networks never cease to amaze me! Hopefully this informant will be able to locate them. Antwerp is where you want us to go? Fine, we’re on our way, ciao!” he hung up the phone and his mood looked much better. The two Russian guys sometimes had a hard time reading him. “Now, we purchase the tickets, we should be able to catch another train in an hour” he finished.

“Soon we can all rise in our ranks!” the shorter guy grinned. “Who said you would rise in the ranks?” the taller guy scoffed.

“Silencio! Both of you! The mission has not been completed yet, so don’t a jinx us!” he scolded. “Thank you detectives!” he began laughing evilly.


Somewhere else in Antwerp another man hung up his phone. He opened up an envelope full of money. “Soon Chester, you will regret removing me from your ship” he laughed as he folded the money putting it in his pocket. The bald muscular man put on a black bandana and threw on a grey coat over his black tank top. He stood about as tall as Captain Haddock but was bigger chested. He picked up his sailor’s sack and left the bathroom.

“Hey mister” a group of Ameican sailors hollered to the man as he left the bathroom. He quickly trotted to their table. Five American sailors sat there getting boozed up each ranged in age from their mid-twenties to early thirties. One among them was a petty officer.

“So this is the man you want us to rough up?” one man asked showing a photo of Captain Chester that was recently taken.

“Yes, that’s him, and rough up anyone else who is with him” he said. “So how much are you going to pay us?” the petty officer said tipping his hat. “All of you Americans are so driven by money” the man laughed.

“What did you think? We would do it for free?” one of the spoke and they laughed.

“Of course not…” he said pulling out a roll of bills. “A hundred Belgian Francs for each of you if you go right now” he whispered showing the money. The sailors looked at him and realized he was serious.

“You do realize, you put our careers in danger by us doing this” the petty officer changed his tone. The man with the black bandana nodded putting a hand up.

“Fine, I’ll double the price!” he said more urgently. All of the sailors finished their drinks and looked at their superior. The petty officer finished his drink.

“You have yourself a deal” the petty officer said taking the money. “Show us where we can find this man and consider it done”
The ex-member of Captain Chester’s ship shook his head as they got up to follow him. “One more thing…” he whispered as they stepped outside the bar. “Make sure they will be hospitalized for a long time” he chuckled. Quickly he led them down the streets towards the pub he was told Captain Chester frequented.


Enzo continued bringing the rear, as they turned down an alley for a short cut. “So Enzo, how long did it take you to get the ship ready?” Tintin asked. A small thud was heard and Enzo did not respond. “Enzo?” Tintin turned around quickly and saw to his horror Enzo had been clubbed and was being drug off by a big muscular man with a black bandana. “Enzo!” Tintin gasped. Captain Chester and Haddock both turned to see. “Gaspar!” Chester gritted through his teeth. “You know him?” Tintin said as they began to pursue but were blocked by American sailors. “Get out of our way!” Chester demanded.

“Na, we hear you guys need a lesson taught to you” one of the spoke punching his other hand. The other two had clubs. “Easily done” Chester growled. “I wouldn’t assume that just yet” a voice from behind spoke up.

“Two more are behind us!” Tintin shouted. “Ya kidnappers! No good punks!” Haddock shouted rolling his sleeves ready for a fight.

“Get them!” the petty officer yelled.

At once four sailors came at the three companions as each dropped their bags, Snowy barked in protest. A club came crashing down at Tintin as he deftly dodged to the side kicking the back of the guy’s leg causing him to buckle and lose his balance. A second guy swung with a club at Tintin, and this time he had no time to counter so he did a somersault right passed the guy as his club barely missed where Tintin had just stood.

Captain Haddock grabbed a sailor’s fist proving to be stronger forcing him to the ground and punching him one good time in the jaw sending him to unconsciousness. Captain Chester pulled off a similar maneuver, as another guy had a club and aimed for Chester’s head but Chester caught the club with both hands as the guy sucker punched him in the ribs…being a fairly stout man Chester ignored the pain and made the man drop the club and with a free hand he grabbed the man by the throat forcing him up against the alley building kneeing the man in the stomach and backhanding up to the ground.

Tintin jumped up only to be kicked as he was standing, then Snowy came from behind the man who Tintin had made lose his balance and bit the back of his leg. The man shouted curses. The other man jumped on Tintin as he pulled Tintin up in a half nelson. The other man kicked at Snowy grazing his back. “My dog!” Tintin shouted as he kick at the guy grazing his chest since he wasn’t quite close enough. The other man drew back his fist to punch at Tintin as the other man struggled to keep him still. Quickly Tintin threw his head back busting the man’s nose behind him.

“Oh no you don’t you sea rat!” Haddock said grabbing the man’s fist throwing him into a few garbage cans. Chester grabbed the man off Tintin as he was pulling out a knife and slammed him into the alley wall.

“Hurry! Enzo is in danger!” Chester sprinted past them. “Now time to deal with you, you shameful naval officer!” Haddock stood menacingly. The petty officer was amazed at their strength and jumped outside the alley shouting and pointing at them, “American sailor imposters!” he yelled. “Quickly, we got to follow Chester” Tintin raced after him. Haddock quickly gathered their bags and ran after Tintin with Snowy following him.

“Get back here Gaspar you coward!” Chester shouted running after Gaspar as began driving away in the car. Gaspar pointed his gun out of the window and shot at Chester barely missing him. Suddenly the back car door flew open as Enzo was thrown out. The black car sped up the streets. Chester quickly ran to Enzo helping him up. “Can you walk?”

Enzo slowly stood up, “My head hurts!” he winced in pain.

Tintin, Haddock, and Snowy finally caught up with them. “We got to get out of here! That slanderous officer is getting more of his buddies thinking we are trying to infiltrate their ranks!” Haddock warned.

Quickly another small white sedan pulled up. “Get in quickly!” a familiar voice sounded. Tintin immediately recognized him, “Hanz! Come on guys!” Chester and Haddock looked at each other and shrugged. Snowy jumped in with Tintin then Haddock entered as Chester cramped in right behind. “Enzo slowly got in the front” still in pain from the scrapes he received as he was thrown out of the moving car. “Tell me where we are going?” Hanz asked urgently as the petty officer began to approach the taxi with a few more sailors. “The docks!” Chester shouted. With quick reflexes Hanz backed the car away from the approaching assailants and did a one eighty degree turn causing other cars to slam on their brakes. Tintin glanced back after hearing a few crashes seeing a four car pile-up. “Great snakes!” he shouted.

Hanz quickly drove them dockside, “Which way left or right?”

“Left!” Chester answered quickly as Hanz cut a car off with the driver of the other car beeping and shouting curses. “Just a bit further” Chester said sitting up.

They passed many sailors walking along the docks and families on Sunday strolls. “Here!” Chester shouted. “Thank you Mr. Hanz!” Tintin said graciously. “Please, just Hanz” Chester pulled out some money but Hanz shook his head.
“Don’t worry, you gave me plenty of money last night” he winked. Haddock and Tintin quickly glanced back at him confused not really remembering much of the night before. Enzo slowly got out trying to move carefully. Chester contorted his face in confusion too after he heard Hanzs’ last statement. Haddock handed Chester and Tintin back their sacks but carried Enzo’s for him. “Don’t worry Enzo” Tintin said helping him move a little faster.

Chester led them to a small impressive yacht. It had three decks, the bridge sat on top of the second deck which had a simple dining area, a loo, and two small cabins below near the engine and storage room. The superstructure was an ivory color while the hull was a dark blue with the name Shooting Star painted in white at the front. Chester and Haddock worked like a dream team together once they got on the Shooting Star. There were quite a few other ones that were much nicer of course, but a yacht was a yacht as far as Tintin was concerned. There other small sailboats and yachts casting off as well. Haddock and Chester quickly pulled up the four anchors and untied the heavy ropes on the pier.

Tintin helped Enzo on the boat as they went inside into the dining area where a midsize table with a small gas stove sat with a couple of cabinets where food and other supplies were being stored.

Haddock and Chester got the engine started, “Ahoy!” both Chester and Haddock shouted as they stood in the bridge guiding the small yacht out of the port for it had been almost twenty years since they last were out at sea together.

“Blast!” Gaspar cursed. “You grabbed the wrong guy” one man in the back said. “How will we follow them now?” Gaspar complained. “Don’t worry about that, you just keep driving” the third man in the back replied. “I told you they don’t scare easily!” a familiar voice scolded. “They got lucky this time, but next time they won’t be so lucky” Gaspar stated as they quickly drove away. There were three other masked men in the car with black robes and bird beaked masks. One man took off his mask, “Tintin has no idea how his world is about to crumble down on him!” the man laughed. “Thanks, I know how you feel Allan! Us first shipmates got to stick together!” Gaspar emphasized. “Oh yes, they will not get far, sweet revenge, we kill Haddock and Chester and deliver Tintin to the All Seeing Eye!” Allan agreed.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 11-27-2012 at 01:11 AM..

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#10
Old 11-26-2012, 08:59 PM

CHAPTER – 5 (PART A)

The overcast white skies and the not so rough seas were a calming site. They weren’t quite at open sea yet. It was still just a bit chilly as winds were steadily blowing from the Northeast. Out in the horizon where the sea met the sky, pockets of sunlight beamed down like heavenly rays. There were other yachts out on pleasure trips and a huge US Naval ship was not too far off in the distance. It seemed like everything was fine as Chester and Haddock were enjoying getting back to their roots out to sea again and bragging about their battle with the America sailors.

Tintin did not share their enthusiasm at first. Enzo was sitting on the chair really exhausted and hurt all over. “Where do you hurt most?” Tintin said examining him in common area.
"My sides hurt" Enzo breathed heavily.
“You’re going to have to take off your shirt, I need to see the wounds” Tintin explained. Enzo slowly took off his sailor’s tunic. He had multiple lacerations on his sides, chest, and back.
Tintin gasped, “Let me see if I can find the first aid kit,” he said searching through the cabinets.
Enzo’s head hurt from the initial attack. Tintin came back a couple minutes later with a first aid kit getting out medicinal spirits, gauze pads, and bandages. Tintin dressed the biggest wound on his left side cleaning it with alcohol and taping bandages on that wound. Enzo closed his eyes and winced in pain when he put the medicinal spirits on his wounds to clean them. “This may take a bit” Tintin warned.
“Tintin, it wasn’t me they were after…” Enzo spoke at length as he began dressing another wound.
“I know… who was in the car?” Tintin asked.

“The man who grabbed me drove while was thrown in the middle of two black robed men with long beaked masks. Another guy up front wore the same outfit and he called me you and asked if I remembered him. He lifted his mask half way and closed it when he realized that I was someone else. All I remember last was he quickly covered his face back up and then they opened the door and tossed me out” he finished.

“Remember who? What did he look like?” Tintin kept thinking. “He had a heavy English accent and he had a long nose that hardly stuck out” he described.

“Who was Gaspar?” Tintin continued.
“He was Captain Chester’s first mate until last year”
“Hmmm… why does this story sound so familiar?” Tintin narrowed his eyes in deep thought as he continued for the next thirty minutes helping Enzo to get well.

“Listen, go lie down for a while” He smiled. “Snowy would you mind keeping Mr. Enzo company for me?” Snowy cocked his head and looked at Tintin wagging his small tail.
“ …always think about everyone else Tintin…” Snowy thought to himself. Tintin helped Enzo to his and Chester’s cabin below. It wasn’t as small as he had originally thought. There were two small twin cots each covered with green quilts and a small desk and chair with a closet on the opposite side. It definitely wasn’t the Ritz but it was comfortable as long as the sea wasn’t too rough. Each cabin had a nice little window as well. Tintin also noticed that the cots could be folded into the wall making more space. Tintin was a bit impressed how efficiently the room was designed.

“I never thought I would see the day when we would become ‘sailors’ in the navy again…” Chester began to remember jokingly. The bridge was above the third deck and full of seats for those wishing to enjoy the view which the bridge had to offer. Chester stood at the helm steering as Haddock was busy using a pair of binoculars watching for any signs of them being followed.

“Aye! Those were memories I loved and hated… during peacetime, it was a lot of fun and hard work…but once the war began…” Haddock remembered how many of his shipmates he lost during the war which was part of the reason he drowned his feelings in alcohol. Chester was not much different as he too had witnessed things he wished he hadn’t. War changes individuals and those who survive it are never the same. “Blisterin’ Barnacles! I’m out of tobacco!” Haddock cried.

“Look in the cabinet by the first aid kit on the wall” Chester replied not taking his eyes off the sea. Haddock quickly began searching and found a can full of tobacco.
“Chester you think of everything don’t you?” Haddock laughed filling his pipe.
“Bring me some, I need to light up too” Chester nodded.

They both lit their pipes, “Oi! This is different tasting!” Haddock said a little surprised. “This is tobacco my daughter grew for me. She flavored it with cherry extract” Chester smiled remembering another good reason to always keep visiting. As Haddock continued to smoke, the cherry flavor was not overpowering and gave the tobacco just enough sweetness to give it a nice mellow taste.

“Not bad…” Haddock nodded as it wasn’t what he was used to but it was something he could come to like. “Chester, who was that Gaspar fiend?” Haddock finally decided to start discussing their present situation.

“He was my first mate for six years, until he turned mutinous on me…”Chester answered. Haddock had a strange feeling that resounded in him but didn’t voice it. Tintin entered the bridge amazed to see the gears, the helm, and the well decorated nautical theme in the bridge. “Ah, Tintin! How is Enzo feeling?” Chester asked without turning around. Tintin immediately noticed the cherry flavored tobacco smell.
“This is different” Tintin commented. “It’s not bad…want to try it?” Haddock offered.
“Aw no, my lungs aren’t for that” Tintin declined. “Enzo will be sore for a couple of days, but he will recover. He’s resting in one of the cabins” Tintin informed him.
“He did a good job cleaning the ship for me” Chester commented. “That he did” Tintin agreed noticing that everything seemed to be in its place.

“Captain, I’m afraid the people who assaulted us back at the manor may have been responsible for what happened a few hours ago” Tintin replied.

“Are you sure? How do figure?” Haddock said taking a seat not far behind the helm.
Tintin sat down across from him.

“Enzo described who his assailants were…and I can’t help but thinking there’s a connection” Tintin voiced his formulated suspicions.

“I think we should radio the police and let them know what’s going on” Chester suggested.
“Aye aye captain!” Tintin said taking a seat working the radio at the back of the bridge. Tintin worked the knobs of the radio as he put on the head phones listening to find the police channel. “Police, this is Shooting Star, police” he radioed. The distorted sounds rose and fell.

“Police here go on…” somebody answered.

“I want to report an attempted kidnapping and assault near the docks” Tintin replied.
“Yes, we know, it has already been reported by a couple of eye witnesses but we are getting conflicting stories” the policeman responded.
“We were the other party, they assaulted us for no reason” Tintin went on. “A man by the name of Gaspar…” Tintin looked up at Chester.
“Schnider” Chester responded.
“Schnider, he's a wanted man” Tintin informed.
“Is that so?” someone else responded. Tintin began to get confused as to who he was talking to. “Copy” the other man responded.

Tintin quickly turned the radio off. “You shouldn’t have told them the name of our boat” Chester shook his head. Tintin mentally cursed his self for being so careless. “It’s too late now, don’t worry about it” Chester put up his hand.

“Besides, we beat them once, and we’ll beat them again” Haddock added.

“ Captain Chester, why did you throw Gaspar off your ship?” Tintin asked.

“He was a twisted man. I never knew just how twisted he really was…” Chester paused. Tintin and Haddock’s interest grew. “Right under my nose he kidnapped young girls and sold them to clients who had the cash into slavery” he concluded blowing a puff of smoke into the air.

“Great snakes!” Tintin yelled. “By the barnacles of God!” Haddock and Tintin both expressed their horrifying dismay.

“Aye! I didn’t know it was going on until Scotland Yard caught up with up with us in Athens. He had a young lass of about fifteen who was the daughter of prominent lawyer in London. Then there was another girl a couple years older who had no family from Romania” he finished.

Captain Chester’s hands seemed to grip the steering wheel a bit tighter. “Naturally I cooperated with Scotland Yard. I believed in Gaspar as he tried to convince me this was all a scam to slander his reputation. I fell ill for three days then it was Enzo who discovered my drink was poisoned and immediately I realized what had been going on and where he had been keeping those terrified young women” Chester said shamefully.

Tintin and Haddock sat silently giving Chester their full attention. “I wanted to kill him as I thought about my daughter. My crew members and I found the area in the hull where they kept them. We immediately turned them over to Scotland Yard. Gaspar and five other crew members were involved. We caught three of them and Gaspar escaped with the others. It’s a really sad tale my friends…” Chester finished taking another puff on his pipe.

“We’re there any others?” Tintin asked.

“I’m afraid so… at least two others by the accounts of the two we rescued” Chester replied somberly. “That miserable no-good carcass!” Haddock thought out loud.

“The time for him to pay for his sins is will come soon” Chester whispered. Tintin stood up and walked around the bridge wanting to lighten the mood back up.

“So, about that tale of the photo…” Tintin asked curiously. “Oh that…” a smile began to seep on to his face once again.

“You were a devil then!” Haddock laughed. “Was I?” Chester gave him a perplexed joking look.

“That fiery haired lassie caught your attention. I remember it well” Haddock laughed. “Let me guess, that was your wife?” Tintin finally asked.

“No, we were never married, she wanted me to marry her, but the life of a sailor is an uncertain one. I saw her a few more times when I came to London…Haddock spent some time with her sister” Chester winked back.

“Oh really now?” Tintin became more intrigued.

Haddock looked up a bit surprised, “She was a sweet lass, but as Chester says, the life of a sailor is an uncertain one. Like Chester, I saw her only a couple more times. The last time she was hanging off the arm of another man,” Haddock concluded.

“Yes, we were young then and quite carefree…” Chester nodded. “A year later I received a letter from her saying that I was a father and that she was to be married in Edinburgh to a banker” Chester continued his tale.

“I was a busy man like Haddock, ambitious, and hard working. I saw my daughter twice a year, once for Christmas, the other in the late spring. She wanted to go sailing with me. I let her come for a month when she was thirteen, she kept me crazy” Chester laughed. “Nothing else to say really other than she grew into a fine young woman and married a fine young gentleman, and now I am a grandfather” Chester shook his finger.

“Alright granddad!” Haddock laughed. Tintin burst into laughter but still was intrigued to get a bit more of his companion’s past for Captain Haddock like him was not forthcoming with all the details of his past.

“So you were a ladies man, sweeping them off their feet” Tintin laughed standing by the window. Haddock took a puff on his pipe and put it down as Tintin turned away. Haddock crept up on Tintin, picked him up, and threw him over his back.

“Captain!” Tintin shouted laughing. “You’re right, I do know how to sweep someone off their feet” he cackled. “What should I do with him Captain?” Haddock laughed.

“I say we throw ‘em overboard” Chester laughed grabbing Tintin’s wrists as Haddock grabbed his legs swinging him back and forth. “One…two…three!” Haddock and Chester counted as Haddock let go and Chester pulled Tintin up to his feet. “You guys are still crazy! Treating me like a child” Tintin laughed.

“What are you talking about?” Haddock chuckled.
Chester cocked an eyebrow and looked at Tintin. “You ARE a child” Chester corrected. “At least to us you are” Chester finished.
“Ok children, we are about to enter out into the open North Sea” Haddock laughed. They went past the last part of the mainland.
“Now yer talkin’” Haddock smiled looking at the open sea. “Set course due west north” Haddock finished.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-12-2012 at 10:15 PM..

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#11
Old 11-28-2012, 01:43 AM

CHAPTER 5 (PART - B {conclusion to chapter 5})


It was almost after two O’clock when the three pursuers finally arrived in Antwerp, not long after the big fiasco near the docks. For a couple of hours they waited at the train station for the informant and kept moving from one spot to the other to avoid police suspicion. Not too long afterwards a tall man wearing white skipper’s cap wearing a black trench coat came through as if he was looking for someone. Then he noticed the three standing by a rubbish bin nervously and approached them.

“Mr. Lento?” he said as he approached. “Who are you and how do you know my name?” the Italian guy answered nervously.

“Relax” he said pulling up his sleeve revealing the all-seeing eye insignia.
“Oh sorry signore, are you Gaspar? It’s difficult to know who to trust” he whispered. “No, I am not Gaspar and don’t worry about it, let’s go” Allan said sizing up the two Russians. He led them to a nice black sedan which looked fairly new. They got in and departed the train station. “So I take it you’re the informant?” Lento assumed.

“I’m one of the informants” Allan corrected.
“So you’re an initiate?” Lento asked curiously.
“No, hardly…I joined almost four years ago” Allen said scratching a scar on his weather beaten cheek.
“I have been with them for three years and my associates for two” Lento answered. Allan was quiet for a moment as he glanced at the rear view mirror catching a glance from the taller Russian guy.
“So you must be refugees” Allan commented.

The Russian guys looked surprised, “How do you know” the taller guy demanded. “I make it my business to know who all I associate with, the all-seeing eye demands it” Allan said assertively.
“What’s your story?” the shorter Russian asked.
“I don’t divulge my past to strangers” Allan replied coldly.
“Your manners could be better…” the tall Russian muttered.
“I’ve killed for less…” Allan said unimpressed.
Lento shifted uncomfortably, “So signore, where is Tintin?”
“Out of my way scumbag!” Allan shouted at a careless driver. Lento knew men like Allan and learned to survive longer by not making enemies. He decided to not press the issue and remained quiet.
“When we get where we are going, we will figure that out” Allan nodded. Lento noticed how white his teeth were but didn’t stare. The slowed down at a corner of an intersection and a man dressed in an American petty officer uniform discreetly approached. Allan pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to the man.

“Eight O’clock, meet me there with what I need” Allan instructed.
The petty officer took the envelope, tipped his hat in agreement, and disappeared back among the crowd. Allan quickly drove off until they arrived on the east side of the docks. “Follow me” Allan instructed again as he locked the car up. He led them down a long pier next to a cargo vessel. A couple of similarly dressed men were fishing at the end of the pier. They looked up and once they saw Allan they nodded and continued fishing.

“Catch anything?” Allan asked. Both guys nodded pointing to their empty bucket. “Disgraceful” Allan thought to himself still holding high pride not only in his own skills as a sailor, but also as a fisherman.
“Come on up the gangway!” Allan prompted his three guests.
There were a few rows of windows on the side of the black hull as cargo was being loaded by a crane. The poop deck was full of activity as they were receiving and dropping off cargo.
“So signore, how do we call you?” Lento finally asked. Allan thought for a moment as he led them to the bridge. “You can call me Admiral” he gloated.
“Grazie signore” Lento responded using his Italian charismatic persona. Allan glanced back at him, “Use English or German, I don’t speak Italian” he commented. Lento ignored the comment once they finally arrived at the bridge. The two Russians noticed there was a conversation going but could not understand for it was all in German.
“Herr Admiral Allan! Guten tag!” one man saluted. “Hallo Herr Lieutenant Wagner” as they formally greeted. “So, you are the guests with the formal training I hear” the lieutenant replied. He sported a long German trench coat as if he was still part of the German army. Lento looked confused with his associates.

“Only I have that knowledge, these are my assistants” Lento answered quickly. “You failed to capture Tintin, not only did you fail capture Tintin, but you let one of your members be captured by INTERPOL, and could of killed Tintin in the process” he said evenly pacing. “We don’t take failure lightly Herr Lento” the lieutenant continued.

Lento and his two associates were immediately aware of the stakes. A few other armed men wearing black vests stood in the background wearing bandanas watching.

“I am not an unreasonable man Herr Lento, we didn’t expect you to succeed and the situation went exactly as we thought it would” he looked away. “Don’t worry. Every member of our group is an asset. Whichever group captures Tintin, will receive a sum of ten thousand British Pounds” he concluded. Allan cocked an eyebrow with interest.

Lento was amazed, but being a member of the corporate cult, they still knew little information why Tintin was so important to them. Being an opportunistic man he was, he wanted to ask but didn’t want to draw the attention of the scrutinizing lieutenant. “Understood Herr Lieutenant Wagner” Lento replied respectfully. “Very well, you are dismissed until further notice” he nodded.

“When I need you, I will find you, Gaspar is down below since he will be joining us” Allan informed. Lento motioned for his associates to follow him and Allan began conversing in German as they exited the bridge.





The northeastern winds began to pick up just a bit as the ship began to rock a bit more. Tintin walked out on the main deck watching the waves and a couple boats in the far off distance. Tintin estimated by their speed they wouldn’t reach their destination for a few hours. He pulled his trench coat tighter as he felt the chill. “Winter doesn’t die off without a fight” he thought as he decided to go check on Enzo.

He walked through the common area as the light filtered through the curtains illuminating it. Tintin returned the first aid kit to its proper place; then he climbed down the steep small flight of stairs to the cabins. “Ezno?” Tintin knocked. “Come in Tintin” he responded. As soon as Tintin opened the door Snowy jumped on Tintin licking him. Tintin picked him up, “Yea I love you too Snowy” he smiled.
“How are you feeling?” Tintin asked.
“Still hurting, but it’s slowly starting to go away” Enzo answered lying on his back.
“Are you getting hungry?” Tintin asked as he was too.
“Si, I am…” he nodded.
“Tintin, can I ask you a question?” Enzo’s curiosity inflected in his voice.
“Of course, what is it?” Tintin sat down on the opposite cot holding Snowy. Enzo continued to stare out of the small window as it was presently the main light source they had.
“Are you Captain Haddock’s first mate?”
Tintin considered the question as he too glanced as the pale light flooded into the room. “I guess you could say that” Tintin smiled. “Please forgive me if I am being too nosy” Enzo immediately followed up.
“No, it’s ok, why do you ask?” Tintin was trying to follow his line of questioning. Enzo shook his head, “How do I say this? I can see he has a great respect for you” Enzo completed his thought. Tintin almost laughed at the thought but acknowledged it. “I think so” Tintin agreed.
“My turn to ask you a question” Tintin said deciding to change the subject. “Who are you sending money to in your family?”
“My mother, and younger brother and sister” he answered. “You’re father?” Tintin continued.
“He died four years ago, we don’t know how… all we were told was that his ship sank during a bad storm trying to deliver supplies” he said sadly.
“I’m really sorry to hear that” Tintin nodded.
“It’s fine, Captain Chester gave my family so much money so they could survive. So I offered to work for him to pay off the debt” he finished.
“Have you paid your debt?” Tintin asked.
“Yes, but my youngest brother will be fifteen soon, but my mother says she doesn’t want him to work at sea because his talents lie elsewhere” Enzo sighed.
“I see, well at least you have family… what kind of talent does your brother have?” Tintin asked with mild interest.
“He is a violinist, he’s been playing since he was nine, father brought home a violin one day and he started playing small folk tunes. When we received the news about father, he hasn’t spoken a word since” Enzo frowned.
“He doesn’t speak?” Tintin asked in disbelief. Enzo carefully sat up, “According to mother and my sister, no, he only plays the violin when communicating—they think maybe he may be sick?” Enzo shrugged his shoulders.
“Maybe losing your father was too much for him?” Tintin shrugged as well. “I’m going to go ask the captains about what we are going to eat” he said getting up.
“I need to get out of the cabin for some fresh” Enzo slowly stood up.
“Do you need assistance?” Tintin offered.
“Thanks, but I think I can make it now” Enzo slowly followed Tintin up.


“So you think HM Customs will give us a hard time?” Haddock asked curiously.
“I know someone in that area we are going since I see my sister frequently, I think I can pull some strings for the rest of you, but Snowy will be a tough one since they require sixty days of Quarantine for animals” Chester replied.
“Shouldn’t be too much longer, I’m sure they will meet us once we get near the harbor” Haddock guessed as Tintin returned.
“So landlubber how’s Enzo?” Haddock smiled.
“He seems to be doing better, but what were you guys wanting to do about food?” Tintin asked hungrily.
“We’ll lower anchor once we get in the harbor, since I’m a citizen here of the United Kingdom I will speak with my friend in customs. Maybe if we are lucky we will catch a fish or two by the time they come to our boat” Chester laughed.
“Of course we will! We got two of the best mariners who sailed the seven seas!” Haddock laughed. “Great! How much longer until we reach the coast?” Tintin asked. “No more than another hour I think” Chester estimated. “Well in the meantime, Enzo and I will eat some of those biscuits and jam you have in the cabinet” Tintin smiled. “Be my guest” Chester smiled. “Would you like some too?” Tintin asked looking at both captains.
“We got our food right here” Haddock said with a small shot glass and a bottle of whiskey under the chair. “We’ll be fine” Chester winked.
Tintin smiled half-heartedly and returned to the dining area. “Here we go again” he thought.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-12-2012 at 11:20 PM..

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#12
Old 11-29-2012, 09:35 PM

CHAPTER 6 (PART - A)



The bar on the corner remained open late due to all the traffic of American sailors. A tall man wearing a navy blue coat and a white cap came strolling down the street accompanied with two sailors patched up with bandages from the earlier brawl in the alley. “Now, when this man arrives, let me do the talking, understood?” the petty officer reminded. “Understood sir!” both answered at once. “At ease, let’s go get a drink, my nerves need it” he shook his head in disgust. They walked in the pub as a young man was bustling between the four tables of patrons while a middle aged woman ran the bar. The petty officer scanned the bar looking until a direct gaze drew his attention to the far corner booth. Allan, Lento, and Gaspar sat quietly staring at the door waiting for their guests. The petty officer walked directly to the booth and joined them.

“You’re right on time… that’s good!” Allan smiled wickedly. The petty officer sat down at the table with his two subordinates. The officer raised his hand to flag down the waiter as Caleb looked up and noticed the new three guests. “I should ask for my money back” Gaspar sneered. “Screw you!” one sailor spat. Gaspar jumped up and reached over to grab the sailor by his tunic but the other sailor pulled out a knife. Gaspar sat back down and laughed. “You think that will stop me?” “I will” the officer said pulling out a gun.

“Enough of this stupidity!” Allan pulled Gaspar back. Caleb carefully approached the table sensing these men were dangerous. “Three mugs of ale…” Allan muttered not even regarding him. Caleb kept a straight face and quickly returned to the bar to get the ale.

“Mother, those are the men” Caleb whispered.
“Shhh… listen and speak only when spoken to” his mother instructed, only glancing out of the corner of her eye. She filled the mugs and sat them on the bar. Caleb brought them quickly to the table, “One moment…uh…” a voice stopped Caleb dead in his tracks. Caleb turned around, “Yes sir” he answered steadily. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about Captain Chester would you?” Gaspar intimidated.

“No sir, other than he comes in sometimes” Caleb answered truthfully.
“Is that a fact?” Gaspar looked comical.
“I only bring the drinks and food sir, I don’t fraternize with the patrons” he held his composure.

“Leave the boy alone, we got more important matters to discuss” Allan interjected waving Caleb off to his relief. Caleb had only seen Gaspar once before but couldn’t quite make the connection and wisely decided to resume his duties.

“Sorry about my companion, he’s a bit edgy” Allan laughed. The sailors with the petty officer sat silently drinking their ale watching closely. “I got the information you wanted” the petty officer whispered.

“Ah, my kind of guy, direct and to the point” Allan acknowledged with a nod. Lento kept silently observing everything. The petty officer took out a manila envelope and slid it on the table to Allan.

“Where are the other two” Gaspar interrupted. The petty officer looked at him with a scowl. “They were arrested by the police thanks to you” he retorted quickly as Gaspar took out his pocket knife staring at the blade while Allan opened the envelope reading the letter inside.

“Now you’re positive that this information is correct” Allan asked suspiciously.
“Of course it is, we make it our business to know any vessel that sails in proximity of our ship and what direction is goes in” the petty officer said taking a huge gulp.
“It would be a pity if the information was incorrect” Gaspar continued stroking his knife blade.
“Don’t make threats you can’t keep Gaspar” the petty officer warned.
“He is right, Petty Officer Davis…but I don’t think you would betray us” Allan whispered slipping him a hundred Belgian francs.
“Of course not” the petty officer replied a bit unnerved that Allan knew his real name yet happy to see currency coming his way.

“Good, because we would like to continue to use you; it’s profitable for both of us” Allan raised his hand seeing their mugs were empty.
“Another round for us all… and a toast to profit” Allan said absently snatching Gaspar’s knife away from him. Caleb nodded returning back promptly with another round.

Gaspar knew not to cross Allan because he had gotten him out of quite a few sticky situations in the past. Gaspar was well connected in the next most profitable illegal trade which made him a good asset in Allan’s entourage.
“To profits” everyone else said raising their glasses each taking a huge gulp of ale.
“The more of these, the better the information will become” the petty officer smiled holding the bank note firmly.
“Very well” Allan smiled with a satisfied grin. “The more relevant the information, the bigger your reward” he finished.



Within an hour they arrived near the coast of England and Chester radioed the HM Customs to let them know of their approach. They were told to wait as there were a few other small vessels seeking to gain access to the port until they could come and inspect their ship. The winds had died down and the clouds had parted enough for them to see the sun setting just above the land. All four of them were out on the deck with fishing rods passing the time until their ship could be boarded for inspection.

Haddock and Chester stood quietly smoking peacefully waiting for a bite. “Good thing we ate those biscuits earlier” Tintin shook his head. “Si, I was very hungry too” Enzo nodded re-baiting his line. Snowy sat eagerly by Tintin waiting for him to reel a fish in. Snowy trotted over to Haddock and Chester’s bucket sniffing the contents licking his chops. Before anyone could say anything he reached in and got a Pollock out of the bucket and bolted to the other side of the ship. “Snowy! Bad boy!” Haddock shouted. Chester glanced back in the bucket at the only other fish they had caught for almost an hour which was a small cod. Tintin and Enzo laughed. “I wouldn’t laugh too hard, the two of you have yet to catch a fish” Chester pointed out.

Suddenly Haddock’s fishing rod began to bend, “Whoa! I got another one!” Haddock boasted. “Me too!” Chester sat his pipe down as they both began reeling with big smiles until they saw what they caught. “More Pollock” Haddock said unhooking and tossing it into the bucket. “I guess it’s better than nothing” Chester sighed.

“You got that right” Tintin said a bit discouraged with not one catch. “Patience, we’ll catch some” Enzo waved his hand optimistically.
“It’s been almost an hour and they’ve caught four between the two them, and us, not one” Tintin said with disappointment.
“We’ve been doing this for years!” Chester reminded Tintin.
“Too right you are, you acquire many skills sailing the seven seas” Haddock boasted proudly.
“Hopefully they’ll come soon” Tintin commented looking across the harbor. “You got to entice them lad!” Haddock laughed.
“I was talking about the coastal guards” Tintin corrected.
“My friend who works in customs usually works an evening shift, but I know most of the locals that work the coastlines” Chester replied re-baiting his hook.
“So all of your family is from England?” Tintin asked.
“Yes, but we are spread out all over” Chester nodded.
“Didn’t you tell me your mom was from Scotland Captain?” Tintin remembered.
“Oh yes, she was indeed a Scottish lass and my father a Belgian seafarer like all the Haddocks were” Haddock replied.
Chester cast his line out again, “I suggest you guys focus on our meal so we can eat soon”
“Right” Tintin said winding his reel to make sure he hadn’t lost the bait off of his hook.

“I think I got one” Enzo said winding his reel slowly, then quickly and out popped another Pollock. “We’ll at least we go score on the board now” Tintin smiled as Enzo began to take it off the hook tossing the eight inch fish into their empty bucket.

“It looks like baby Pollock is what’s on the menu at the moment” Tintin joked.
Haddock glanced at their bucket and his and Chester’s, “We barely got enough for a snack” he griped. “You lads need to put your backs into it!” Haddock teased.
“Well done Enzo” Chester winked. Enzo smiled and sat quiet and content watching the waters patiently.

Almost twenty minutes went by they sat quietly focusing on catching their diner until everyone’s rod began to bend, especially Enzo’s.
“This may be it!” Chester’s face lit up.
“What do you mean ‘this may be it’? It is!” Haddock quickly reacted pulling his line in. “This one’s feisty! Looky here!” Haddock proudly pulled out of the water almost an eighteen inch Pollock.
“Na, mine’s better” Chester said still reeling his in, “This one doesn’t know when to quit!” Chester gritted his teeth finally pulling it out of the water. He nodded in satisfaction holding it up to Haddock’s fish. It too was Pollock but a couple inches shorter than Haddock’s. “Still not bad” Chester snorted.

“Nice try, but not quite” Haddock grinned unhooking the wiggly fish. Tintin continued reeling and maneuvering his fishing rod until with a bit more effort he pulled it out of the water. Tintin looked a little frustrated as it too was a Pollock but only about ten inches. He sighed and started to unhook it. Haddock glanced at his fish but didn’t make fun of it.

“Better luck next time Tintin” Haddock shrugged his shoulders yet feeling confident that he had bested his competitors, but then he realized Enzo was still struggling with his.

“Here, let me help” Tintin said looking just how bent Enzo’s fishing rod was, “Great snakes! What do you got on there? A shark?” Tintin laughed. Chester and Haddock watched them closely. With some careful reeling and pulling a minute later a huge Pollock had to be careful pulled out of the water as it wriggled ferociously trying to break free.

“Crikey! I think that one bests Captain Chester’s and Haddock’s!” Tintin smiled happily.

“Billions of Blisterin’ Barnacles lad!” Haddock exclaimed. “By all that is holy!” Chester too felt humbled as they watched Tintin and Enzo carefully secure their big catch which was well over thirty inches long!

“I think Enzo caught the granddad of them all! Bravo Enzo!” Tintin praised.
“Thanks, I knew something would come my way eventually” he smiled modestly.
“That settles it, dinner is served Captains!” Tintin returned the boast.
“Well time to get the cleaning knives…” Chester disappeared momentarily.
“We’ll cook the fish and show you that on one else knows how to prepare fish like we do” Haddock bragged.

“Hopefully not like the last time you prepared and cooked fish” Tintin reminded. “Belay that chatter lad” Haddock dismissed his claim.
“Well I’ll clean the small ones” Enzo volunteered.

Almost two hours went by as they cleaned, fileted, and cooked their catch. Enzo’s catch weighed almost fifteen pounds. Chester had a small sack of potatoes in a bottom cupboard Tintin missed and they peeled, cut, and fried some chips too. By the time they had fileted and fried their fish with olive oil Enzo had brought a lot of from home, they were all feeling quite famished. Chester and Haddock bustled about frying their dinner. Tintin was afraid that Haddock would ruin it at first, but to his surprise it began to feel like they were out eating. Chester and Haddock argued a little about how long to fry the filets, but Tintin realized cooking and being hungry made that task just that much more difficult. Once or twice Haddock threw Snowy a small piece of fish and Snowy jumped catching each one in his mouth each time. Tintin and Enzo sat eagerly at the table when finally Haddock and Chester brought the abundant amount of fish and chips to the table. By this time nightfall had already come, the skies had cleared, and the waters had calmed a lot. Snowy wagged his tail following the captains around whining for more filets as they were ready to sit down. The smell of the fried fish and potatoes wafted over making even hungrier. For the finishing touches, Chester pulled out a bottle of champagne and uncorked it.

“No champagne for me” Tintin waved. “You got to, it’s a rule, if the captains cook for you, then you at least owe us a toast” Chester said filling a small glass of bubbling champagne for everyone. “He’s right lad” Haddock agreed. Tintin glanced at him still amazed at no matter how much whiskey or champagne either of the captains consumed, they were always able to keep a bit of wit about them.

“You’re going to still try to turn me into an alcoholic yet” Tintin declared. “Na, you just need to loosen up a bit landlubber” Haddock smiled.

“He’s right, a little bit is good for you!” Chester agreed. Enzo wasn’t shy about getting his share too.

Tintin graciously threw Snowy a filet as Captain Haddock and Chester finally sat down. “A toast to our safe arrival in England” Enzo smiled. “We aren’t there yet, but will be shortly” Chester replied spotting a light coming toward them from the coastal direction. “A toast to our big catch” Tintin pointed to Enzo. “A toast to some relaxation once we get ashore” Chester replied. Haddock hesitated unable to think of anything to toast to for a moment. The rest of his companions were silent and then his face lit up. “A toast to the church of malt liquor” he shouted comically as everyone else laughed. “You’ll never do Captain” Tintin teased at his crazy comment, and then they feasted which to Tintin’s surprise tasted really good.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-01-2012 at 03:50 AM..

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#13
Old 11-30-2012, 09:42 PM

CHAPTER 6 (PART - B (conclusion to chapter 6))

Also I would like to dedicate this part of the chapter to my new friend Ms Unicorn who's material I borrowed from with her permission (rewritten of course) as she too is a great writer.
I would like to direct those who want to read the original here: Captain's Camp Fire Tale, an adventures of tintin fanfic | FanFiction



A moonless night was over Marlinspike Hall and all was calm. The windows had been repaired, again. Professor Calculus, Nestor, Thomson, and Thompson congregated in the dining hall each with a bowl of vegetable soup and a hot cup of tea at the long table where many banquets took place. Professor Calculus sat on the left side of Captain Haddock’s seat as that was where the “Lord” of the manor as Tintin would jest sits. To the right another empty chair. This was where Calculus knew the Lord’s prince sat. Professor Calculus knew Tintin meant the world to Haddock. When they travelled to South America, Calculus pretended to be clueless, but could see he was disheartened without Tintin around. The moment Tintin appeared he saw a fire light back up in Haddock’s eyes:

“So what made you change your mind?” Haddock asked Tintin with much surprise. Calculus stood there watching as if some drama was unfolding before him. “Let’s just say… I was missing you… Captain…”

Calculus couldn’t see Tintin’s face, but he saw the Captain’s as his bright blue eyes began to brim with tears of joy and a smile that only Tintin could elicit from him. It was that day when the Professor knew that something much deeper than any bond could be existed between the two of them, but never spoke anything about it. The Professor couldn’t help but to feel just a little jealous of Haddock and Tintin’s relationship for he had dedicated his entire life to science and research. The ladies he dated during his younger years were just as eccentric as he was which never really led to anything lasting. The only other interesting thing Calculus remembered was during the whole fiasco with Castafiore, her emerald, and the kiss she gave him before she departed. After hearing part of Thompson and Thomson’s story Professor Calculus sank into his mind remembering events. He was used to being alone, but knowing that Haddock and Tintin were in danger really made it difficult for him to focus for too long on anything.

“Professor?” Thompson waved. “Professor! Are you ok?” Thomson asked trying to redirect the Professor’s attention. “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m having trouble focusing on anything right now” Calculus admitted as he straightened his lab coat as he was busy in his lab trying to conduct research for a colleague when both Thompson and Thomson arrived earlier. “Clueless Calculus” was one name that Tintin and even Captain Haddock would say teasing him, but Calculus just let them have their fun.

“Why didn’t you two inform us sooner of what was going on?” Calculus snapped back to the present. Nestor glanced at Calculus and knew when he became emotional his rationality would somehow disappear momentarily. “We aren’t at liberty to divulge all of the information we receive” Thompson explained. “Precisely” Thomson agreed as he took a couple spoons full of soup. “Nestor this soup is superb!” Thompson complemented. “Why, thank you sir” Nestor smiled. “So what exactly is this ‘All-Seeing-Eye’ cult about?” Calculus remained calm trying to finish his soup. Both Thompson and Thomson were wearing grey suits with grey bowlers rather than their usual black.

“It’s a rather bizarre cult riddled with demon worship and aliens” Thomson began. “It would seem that for some reason they have taken in interest in Tintin to be precise” Thompson added. “All of this makes no sense gentlemen” Nestor interjected. “…but it will, because Dr. Mueller escaped, and according to intelligence, he has aligned himself with this cult like group” Thomson continued. “Well I’ve never been a man to truly affiliate myself with any religion and don’t judge others based on their belief, but that is strange that Dr. Mueller would align himself with such a group” Calculus stated. “This group gets more bizarre with the more information we receive” Thomson continued. “Rituals, some including animal sacrifice and other suspicions human as well” Thompson replied grimly. “My word! Let’s not speak of such things” Calculus exclaimed. Nestor was a bit unnerved by the comment but didn’t show it.

“I don’t understand folks these days. That is why I enjoy the peace and quiet here out of the way of other people’s affairs” Calculus reiterated. “So according to registry records, the Sirius is ported in Glasgow” Thompson went on. “That was its last delivery” Thomson clarified. “Perhaps we will get a telegram just as Master Haddock wrote in his letter” Nestor concluded logically. Thompson, Thomson, and Professor Calculus just kept seemingly talking themselves in circles. Nestor sat quietly for ten minutes listening after he finished his tea then began collecting the empty bowls to return them to the kitchen. When he returned back to the dining hall they were still debating all of the possible places Captain Chester could be as the hour approached almost eleven O’clock as the chimes in different locations in the manor began to chime.

“The mail should be running tomorrow, if you don’t mind me saying it may be better to wait until we get a more definite location” Nestor suggested.
“That may be the best idea in the end” Thompson agreed. “Indeed Thompson” Thomson too agreed. “I must be up early gentlemen. I will notify both of you if we do receive a call from them. I have a couple of gadgets I simply must give to Tintin and the Captain that I should finish within a day or two” Calculus concluded.
“Fascinating” both Thompson and Thomson replied.
“Well good night professor” they both again in unison replied.
“Good night to you too gentlemen, and notify me too if you hear anything” Calculus reminded. Nestor escorted them to the door. As Nestor watched both of the detectives drive off, Nestor couldn’t help but feel concerned for Haddock and Tintin after hearing all of this insanity he thought; however, Haddock and Tintin had dealt with many perilous situations in the past and come out unscathed.

After a wonderful meal the travelers felt much better. The HM Customs finally showed up and finished the few left overs and were quite thankful. Tintin could not believe just how well connected Captain Chester was with his country folk. When they first arrived they were quite reserved, but within a few minutes of conversing with Chester, they were all laughing and sharing food and drink. Tintin noted on how relaxed they were with their ship inspection and Snowy remained hidden down in the storage area.
“Make sure you give my regards to your sister” one of the coastal guards reminded.
“I will indeed” Chester laughed. “Thanks for sharing that tasty meal and the whisky” another thanked as the three coastal guards returned to their small ship.
“If you see Mr. Schnider arrive please notify my sister, I do believe INTERPOL has a warrant out for him” Chester reminded.
“Don’t worry, we will be consulting with our sources and detain him if he does” the third one spoke being the more serious out of the three.
“So are we making port tonight?” Tintin asked.
“We may as well spend the night here and port in the morning as the hour is late” Chester replied. “Well then I’m going to go get Snowy” Tintin disappeared momentarily to bring Snowy back on the deck.
“You and Enzo get dish duty!” Haddock commented when Tintn returned.
“Fair enough” Tintin nodded.
“Since we got to enjoy a nice meal it’s only fair” Enzo agreed.

After thirty minutes of returning the eating area to its prior state, they sat outside to admire the starry night. Tintin had a small look of concern in his eyes as they continued to sit quietly watching the HM Customs make their rounds from afar. Captain Haddock never truly seemed to miss a beat, “What’s on your mind lad?” Haddock sat across from him at the nose end of the ship.
“Just wondering how the professor and Nestor are faring” he answered truthfully.
“I’m sure they are fine” Haddock seemed convinced.
“Why don’t you send them a telegram tomorrow” Chester suggested. Tintin nodded in agreement. “So who’s going to share a sea tale tonight?” Enzo asked as Chester had plenty to share.
“Why don’t we let Haddock share one of his tales” Chester winked.
“That’s a swell idea! Captain tell them about ‘The Lady Polly’” Tintin’s face lit up instantly.
Captain Chester gave Tintin and Haddock a confused look. “Na…” Haddock smiled.
“A lady?” Chester cocked an eyebrow. “No, it was a strange tale I told Tintin, Calculus, and Nestor a couple Halloweens ago… about an abandoned ship named ‘The Lady Polly’” Haddock corrected.
“Oh…” Chester nodded, “This should be interesting” Chester smiled.
“Yes tell us please!” Enzo got comfortable as the ship rocked only slightly.
“Alright!” Haddock grinned repositioning himself lighting his pipe. Chester, Tintin, and Enzo intently listened.

“This happened actually about twelve years ago actually when I was captain of the Karaboudjan. She was a grand passenger ship that had set off from Norway on her way back to England but never reached her destination” Haddock’s face became animated. Chester lit his pipe trying to remember if he too had heard any such story while he sailed, but continued to listen. Enzo’s eyes widened as Tintin just loved to watch how the alcohol seemed to turn him into a book of fascinating tales.

“We sailed those Norwegian waters, and I daresay on some nights when the skies were overcast, if it weren’t for the lights of our ship it would be so pitch black you couldn’t even see past the tip of your nose” Haddock paused. “Without the ships lights you can't tell which is the sea or the sky. It's foggy, dark and cold. This is the kind of cold that once it sets into your bones you’ll be needin’ more than a bonfire to ward it off. The last thing you'd want to happen is a power failure; no way to move, no way to see, and no way to radio an SOS. That recipe for disaster is exactly what happened to the Karaboudjan!” the captain paused again as the only sound they could hear was the lapping of the calm waters on the side of the Shooting Star.

Tintin and Enzo were both sitting around the captain like children full of wonder despite Tintin already having heard this tale before. Captain Chester was nodding with everything Captain Haddock said remembering a similar incident on the Sirius. “Go on…” Enzo prompted eager for him to continue.

“It started with the radio, we could hear lots of static but voices as well, then the lights began to flicker, and suddenly we were dead in the water. I shouted for my shipmates in earshot of me to light a torch and get the engine back up and running. It was an awkward situation feeling your way around even though you’ve walked the ship a million times, it’s a lot different when there are no lights” he paused reaching into his jacket for the last of the bottle of champagne taking a big swig.

“Hey pass it around, some of us are thirsty too” Chester interrupted. Haddock passed the bottle to Chester who finished off the bit that was left.

“I’ll never forget that evil night… my biggest worry was that you don’t know what’s out there, could be rocks, an iceberg, or another ship! When we finally managed to get power back, out of the fog another ship was heading right our way. I panicked sounding the bell, screaming out orders to my crew as they all scrambled to try to get the ship out of the way; but it was too late. What seemed like a ram was nothing more than a mere bump, and no damage was done to my ship—and you know why?” Haddock stopped so his audience would take a breath.
“She was dead in the water…” Chester chimed in.
“Exactly!” Haddock pointed.
“It was the Lady Polly…the steel screeched like a banshee as she scraped by us… no power or lights on board as it just drifted by us. As it was our duty to board a dead ship to make sure there were no live souls trapped on board. We took torches and other provisions, me and five members of my crew. Dirt and dust lie thick on the deck of the ship. The ship’s dining hall was the first place we investigated. Plates and eating utensils lie undisturbed. Then we investigated open quarters where we found personal articles, suitcases, and other items simply left untouched as if everyone had simply vanished into thin air. We thought maybe there was a disease and people died, or a rogue ship had boarded to rob them, but nothing valuable had been taken. We were at a loss for what really happened. So we went to the captain’s log on the bridge and that was where our worst fears were confirmed” he stopped again so everyone would breathe.

“The captain of that ship’s last log was in 1906, more than thirty years before we discovered the ship. The handwriting was shaky as he wrote how passengers were disappearing one and then two at a time each day. People were frightened and so were he and all of his shipmates. Part of the log he wrote how he truly believed that something evil lurked among them on the ship. Who would be next was the only question he had on his mind as storm after storm blew them off course keeping them out at sea. Crew members become mutinous as passengers became hysterical and before they knew it the ship was in total chaos until the last log of the captain was written. He wrote that all that was left were he, his first mate, and two now orphaned young children who clung to him of nine and ten. We are holed up on the bridge. Something evil is definitely on this ship. As a captain it is my duty to protect my crew and passengers—may God be with those who read this…” Haddock stopped again.

“As we continued to investigate other areas of the ship such as the engine room we could hear movement from other parts of the ship as if something was dragging on the floor. Terrified as we all were, we went to investigate thinking someone was still living who was responsible for the disappearances. When we thought we got to the source of the noise we only saw our own footprints in the heavy dust of the ghost ship. Then we heard mournful music and clanging noises, it was at that moment I told my shipmates we make back to the deck as quickly as possible and return to our vessel. I could hear hissing sounds as if a voice were whispering in the air or from the depths of Davy Jones Locker. Our ship’s power seemed to be draining. Things started falling over as if to impeding our swift pace, maybe the ship didn’t want to give up fresh blood!” Haddock’s face looked ghastly as Enzo and even Tintin could feel the hair on their neck standing on end. Chester seemed fascinated but didn’t seem to completely believe the tale.

“We ran and climbed stairs and ladders until we finally made it to the deck we were almost home free when we could hear some unearthly growling. I never thought it was possible for one to move so fast, but we ran for our life boat and almost nearly all jumped in as we climbed down to our boat and suddenly….” Haddock turned away. “GRRRRAAARRR!” He growled loudly quickly grabbing Enzo and Tintin by their shirt getting a scream out of both of them.

“Har har har!” Haddock and Chester laughed hysterically as Tintin cursed himself for not being prepared for the punch line of the story and Enzo was still quite unnerved hoping that none of it was true. “So did you really encounter such a ship” Chester finally asked.

“Aye! That we did, but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t any less scary” Haddock nodded seriously. “Well I’m going to catch some shut eye so we can shove off early tomorrow. Night mates and watch for any ‘ghost ships’” Chester laughed and yawned. “Wait, I’m coming too” Enzo said following Chester back to their cabin.

Tintin and Haddock were left alone, “I got you again landlubber” Haddock laughed as they both stood taking another view of the starry sky as a meteorite went zipping briefly leaving a streak in its wake. Haddock stepped closer and pulled Tintin to him as they both continued to watch the sky as Haddock wrapped his arms around him. “These nights I live for lad” Haddock whispered in his ear. “Then let us live” Tintin whispered back. The rest of the night was silent with the faded lights of the shore and distant ships and the quiet lapping of the water against the Shooting Star.
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Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-02-2012 at 03:51 AM..

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#14
Old 12-01-2012, 10:39 PM

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.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-02-2012 at 03:50 AM..

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#15
Old 12-03-2012, 07:47 AM

CHAPTER 7 (PART - B (conclusion to chapter 7)

The early morning was peaceful for Tintin. He put on his white button up shirt, brown jacket, and trousers. He was glad to get that sailor’s uniform off. He peeked back at the Captain who was sound asleep finally in a somewhat comfortable position and smiled closing the door quietly. Once he stepped out in the corridor he could hear someone else snoring. “I bet that’s Captain Chester” Tintin grinned as he climbed the steep small flight of stairs. Once Tintin climbed up onto the deck he could see the last of the stars twinkling in the twilight of the morning. The breeze was just a bit chilly, but nothing he wasn’t used to. The HM Customs were in full swing as new ships were arriving. Snowy followed Tintin around the small ship as they observed what was going on. “I think I will go make some tea—I know I saw a tin earlier in one of the cupboards” Tintin thought.

Tintin could hear the water from the washroom down below. He threw Snowy a couple of leftovers from the night before. “Thank you Tintin!” Snowy barked. “I hope you live a long time Snowy…” Tintin smiled. “I’ll do my best…what’s wrong with him?” Snowy thought as he contentedly ate. “I know times change, but why can’t everything just stay in these moments and never age? All of us happy as we are now, me, you, the captain…forever unchanging…” Tintin sipped his tea. “You’re getting too deep for me to understand Tintin…” Snowy finished his fish and jumped in Tintin’s lap to cheer him up. “How time flies Snowy…I wonder if Heaven is like that. You stay forever in the happier days unchanging always happy, never sad, no death so you never lose anyone dear to you…” Tintin petted Snowy. “Come on Tintin you’re making me sad now” Snowy whined. Tintin sat there with Snowy thinking of the past, the present, and the future. “If only…”

“If only what?” Captain Chester stood there leaning up against the wall. Tintin was startled unaware of how long Chester had been listening to him, “Um nothing…” Tintin was embarrassed that he spoke some of his inner most thoughts out loud, some of which he didn’t share with Haddock.

“You’re too young to be thinking like that” Chester finally came up grabbing the last of the hot water Tintin boiled. “So you heard me” Tintin replied sheepishly.

“Don’t be ashamed…I really didn’t start thinking like that until I was about thirty-five” Chester filled a mug from the cupboard and sat down with Tintin. Chester had changed as well wearing a short sleeved blue button up shirt with a pair of blue jeans and his black boots. He wore a similar hat that Haddock rarely went without. His red mustache looked as if it covered his mouth. For a quick moment he wondered what Haddock would look without his beard, but then decided it just wouldn’t be him without it. “Yea, reminded me of a time when I finally had to learn to accept life for what it was” Chester sipped looking across the bay through the windows. “What do you mean?” Tintin asked.

“Loss is inevitable my friend” Chester raised his eyebrows. “If you live to be as old as myself or Haddock you will see, friends and family pass on” Chester pointed out. “I don’t like thinking about it…” Tintin nodded.
“Hasn’t Haddock ever had this chat with you?” Chester asked blatantly. “Well, not like this…” Tintin answered absorbing what Chester had just said.

“Listen mate, I’m not trying to upset you, I’m sure you’re smart enough to realize all of this right?” Chester stared Tintin eye to eye. “Of course” Tintin shook his head.
The reality of the situation Tintin realized was Haddock did as much as he could to shelter Tintin from a lot of ugliness in the world after things had settled down and they began living a quiet life at Marlinspike Hall.

“I can understand why Haddock took a liking to you… well I need to move the boat closer to port and find somewhere suitable to park and radio for the boat tender to come take us to shore” Chester smiled finishing his tea patting him on the back as he went to the bridge. “Well Snowy, let’s go wake the others” Tintin stood up as he finished his tea.

Tintin didn’t have a hard time waking Enzo as he was already awake dressed similar to Chester only with a cream colored shirt, but he did have to shake Haddock a bit to get him stirring. “Come on Archibald Haddock! The tenders will be here soon!” Tintin pushed. Haddock’s eyes opened as Tintin was about to walk away but quickly grabbed Tintin’s wrists with both of his hands. “Where do you think you’re going?” Haddock smiled already being awake lying there. The boat began to slow down as voices could be heard outside, “I guess I better get ready” he said pulling Tintin to him for a quick pop kiss then lettin him go. "Come on captain! Your beard tickles!" Tintin smiled. “Tell Chester I’ll be up there in a few minutes” Haddock said as Tintin shook his head laughing.

Chester was busy positioning the boat to anchor it as there were many boats with many different national flags flying on various places on each ship respectively. Enzo was busy helping Chester anchor the ship down as the boat tender was waiting for them. Haddock finally emerged from below with both his and Tintin’s luggage.

“Tintin, aren’t you forgetting someone?” Haddock put the luggage down handing him his sailor’s sack. “Yea right, he said quickly returning to the common area to collect Snowy. “Come on Snowy, one more time just in case HM Customs walks by us” Tintin said opening the sack with a small hole Snowy could poke his nose out to breathe.

Once everything was secured they boarded the small motored tender boat. Chester had offered the man money but he just nodded and refused to take any from him. “I got a cab waiting on us” Chester pointed as they walked down the dock. “Are you sure you want us coming with you to your sister’s” Haddock whispered to Chester. “What are you talking about?!” Chester gave Haddock a strange look.
“Well I don’t want to put any of your family in danger, me, Tintin, and Snowy can make other arrangements” Haddock said seriously.
“And I said ‘don’t worry about it’ you know how crazy my family can be if they want. Mary Ann still lives out in the country outside Colchester in that cozy cottage. Her kids have moved out and are both married now, so she’ll have room” Chester explained thoughtfully.

“Besides, I called her a couple days ago, so she and her husband are both expecting us all” Chester added.
“You’re a true friend Chester!” Haddock hugged him. “Don’t mention it mate” Chester hugged him back.
“Now get in that cab or we’re going to miss breakfast!” Chester scolded. The cab was a bit bigger thankfully than the one they rode in back in Antwerp.

“Here, I’ll take your luggage” the cab driver said taking their suitcases putting them in the trunk. “I’ll carry the bag on my lap” Tintin waved him away as he wanted to put ‘Snowy’ in the trunk.

“You heard ‘em landlubbers, in the cab!” Haddock ordered. “…on the double!” Chester added.

“Aye! Aye! Captain!” Tintin and Enzo saluted getting in as Chester sat up front and Haddock in the back with Tintin and Enzo. “Don’t worry I know where Mary Ann lives” the cab driver informed him. “Oh, swell! Let’s get going then!” Chester smiled as they disappeared through the waking harbor town. They watched as the sun began to rise into the sky and shine down upon them with a bounty of cheer revealing the bright green fields.
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Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-14-2012 at 05:57 PM..

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#16
Old 12-05-2012, 02:16 AM

CHAPTER 8 (PART - A)

The ride in the taxi was actually relaxing for Tintin. Chester sat up front conversing with the driver who was a middle aged man who knew Chester’s sister. Enzo sat in the middle in the back staring ahead confirming stories or facts to the driver when Chester occasionally would ask him. Haddock had his head leaned against the window already dozing off. Tintin had at last opened the bag for Snowy to poke his head out to see the sun.

“Is this your first time to this way?” Tintin asked Enzo.
“No, this will be my third time” Enzo nodded.
“So which side of Colchester does your sister live?” Tintin spoke up.
“North side” Chester continued pointing at landmarks to the cab driver having a case of nostalgia.
“It seems your friend is sleepy” Enzo laughed noticing Haddock dozed off.
“That’s why you shouldn’t drink, it makes your head hurt and you feel tired all the time” Tintin winked.
“I heard that!” Haddock peeked out of one eye as Tintin and Enzo just giggled. “So Tintin, when was the last time you were in England? Is anyone in your family English or are you a full Belgian lad?” Chester asked.
“Well to answer your first question, the captain, professor, and I…” Tintin started but was interrupted by Snowy barking. “…oh and Snowy too… went to London with Nestor to visit a relative of his three years ago. Second question, I don’t know if I am 100% Belgian but I’m pretty sure I was born in Belgium,” Tintin finished.
“You know, you really look like someone I’ve seen before” the cab driver said fixing his hat giving Tintin a quick glance.
“Really? Couldn’t have been me, this if the first time I’ve come through this part of England. They say everyone has a twin in the world” Tintin joked.
“So how do you like London?” Enzo asked sitting up to become part of the conversation.

“No place like it really, Nestor took us to a few concerts while we were there. The captain did a pub crawl, and I just followed him around of course. The last pub we went to there were a bunch of Scotsmen so naturally the captain and I joined them in a game of darts and whisky shots. I of course only pretended to drink the whisky. The captain got mixed up in a brawl with the Scots against another group of sailors” Tintin paused.
“Let me guess, English?” the cab driver asked unimpressed.

“Unfortunately, alcohol has a way of bringing out the best and the worst in people” Tintin answered tactfully.
“Haddock and I have never been in a fight, a couple shouting matches when we were younger in our earlier days but nothing serious” Chester commented.

“Well unfortunately it took about half of the money we brought to get the captain out of jail and pay his fines” Tintin frowned. “We ended up only staying a week as we were running out of money. It would have been a lot sooner had it not been Nestor’s brother, who’s a successful banker, didn’t let us stay at his place too” Tintin shook his head. “Speaking of money, we need to exchange for some local currency” Tintin digressed.

“Don’t worry about the cab fare, I got it, we can go down town after lunch” Chester smiled.
“Where was Cuthbred during all of this mayhem?” Chester continued to ask.
“He ended up getting lost following a group of Americans, he was furious when we finally found him. He yelled more at the captain for his obsession with whisky as opposed to keeping track of his friends and the captain countered that if he would pay more attention to where he was going and use his hearing aid more frequently he wouldn’t of got lost in the first place” Tintin laughed.

“We got a nice heavy snow during the Christmas there, Snowy of course liked it” Tintin finished.
“That Cuthbred” Haddock mumbled in his half awaken sleep. The whole cab erupted in laughter. About forty minutes later they finally arrived at the nice two story family house. It was nothing like what Tintin had imagined. It was a two story house that looked like two buildings as one side jutted out while the front door seemed to be in the middle. The house was made of old dark red bricks and they were covered with leafy vines. The roof was made of darkened terracotta shingles. One side of the house blocked the view of the yard with a high fence. Once you got to the front door a small white picket fence bordered the edge of the road. This was no cottage. It looked like some family farm house of some type Tintin thought. There was a small car parked on the side in front of a garage. The pleasant site of flowers and rose bushes gave the yard a colorful appearance.

“Great snakes! I wasn’t expecting something this big” Tintin stared.
“Captain Haddock we are here” Enzo said waking him.
“Blisterin’ barnacles, Already? That was fast…” Haddock yawned getting out stretching his tired limbs.
“What do you mean already?” It’s been almost an hour” Enzo laughed.
“That long eh?” he said rubbing his eyes helping Enzo retrieve their luggage.

“Hey!” a short plump woman ran out of the front door waving. She wore a long flowered dress and had shoulder length red hair, she stood just over five feet. “Mary Ann!” Chester smiled after paying the cab fare. “Frederick!” she shouted opening up the gate to give her brother a warm welcome as they embraced.

“Predictable as always brother!” his sister laughed happy to see her brother. “Am I now?” he beamed back. “Archibald!” she said running over to greet the captain with a warm hug. “Mary Ann, it’s a pleasure to see you again” Haddock hugged her back. “It’s been years!” she smiled.

“Years?” Tinin asked curiously. “Why hello to you too!” she greeted him and Enzo. Tintin noticed Mary Ann had exactly the same color eyes and red hair as Captain Frederick Chester did. Tintin let Snowy out of the bag as he began running wildly around glad to be able to stretch his legs.

“Mary Ann, this is my friend Tintin and his dog Snowy” Haddock introduced.
“Nice to meet you Tintin, you can call me Mary Ann, and I like your dog!” she said bending down to give Snowy a nice pat on the head.

“Hey Donald, are you going back to the docks?” Mary Ann asked with a metal lunch pail in one of her hands.
“Hello Mrs. Addinson, and yes I am” he smiled sitting in his cab.
“Would you mind dropping my husband’s lunch off for me, he forgot it earlier this morning” she explained.
“Sure, I’m going right by the peer he works on” he agreed.
“Thanks, I’m grateful!” she smiled placing the lunch pail in the passenger’s seat.
“Well folks, time to get back to work” the driver smiled as he disappeared down the road.

“Come on, I got breakfast ready” Mary Ann prompted rushing everyone inside.
When they walked in there was a huge sofa and a few antique looking chairs with a big television in the center against the wall. Various knick-knacks were placed throughout the room on shelves on the wall. The room was well lit with the many windows draped with light colored curtains and tall grandfather clock with an ornate cabinet sat next to the doorway.

“Just put your luggage down for now, I got breakfast waiting in the other room” She said leading them into their kitchen and dining room. “Uncle Frederick!” a tall thin young woman came running up to him from near the stove to give him a hug. “Alyssa!” Chester beamed picking her off the ground.

“Alyssa, you know Enzo and ‘Uncle Archie’, this is his friend Tintin and Snowy. Alyssa hugged and greeted both Haddock and Enzo. “I haven’t seen you since you were a wee lass!” Haddock smiled. “You’ve grown too!” Alyssa giggled.

Haddock checked his belly, it hadn’t gotten that much bigger he thought. “Come on silly I’m just teasing!” Alyssa laughed. She wore a long brown skirt and a purple sweater. Her long blond hair reached her mid back. Tintin guessed her to be no older than twenty.

“Nice to meet you Tintin” Alyssa greeted him warmly.
“And you as well” he bowed.
“So you’re the one keeping Captain Haddock out of trouble are you” she went on.
“Not a word!” Haddock pointed to Tintin as he only giggled.

“All of you have a seat we got sausages, bacon, fried bread, black pudding, and eggs” Mary Ann announced as everyone took a seat at a huge round table. “What about me Tintin?” Snowy whined. “I’m sorry Snowy” Tintin frowned.

“Snowy huh? Here you go boy!” Mary Ann said dropping a small piece of sausage for Snowy as he jumped in midair to catch it. Mary Ann got plates and served up a nice generous portion for everyone as Alyssa brought each dish with utensils.

“So how did you know when I was actually coming exactly at this time” Chester asked.
“Port Authority gave me a ring yesterday and I know how you are, how you rarely come late” she replied serving the last of the dishes.
“You’ve prepared quite a bit” Enzo commented.
“I’ve got too, sea air seems to make you hungrier” she explained.
“Do you have paper and pens here Mary Ann?” Tintin asked remembering the telegram to send back to Marlinspike Hall.
“Yes I do, I can get you some after we eat” she said as she and Alyssa sat.
“Great I need to send a telegram through the Royal Mail” Tintin replied.
“I’m going into town shortly after breakfast to run some errands, I’ll take you” she said looking over to Alyssa pointing to the oven. Alyssa quickly got up and opened the oven door and the smell of fresh baked pastry sweetened the air.

“Scones!” Chester grinned. “Scones! I love your sister’s strawberry scones!” Enzo said with excitement. Tintin and Haddock were about to begin to eat when Alyssa wearing a couple of oven mitts, placed the fresh baked strawberry scones on the counter.

“Oh Mary Ann, Alyssa, I really appreciate all of this!” Tintin smiled taking a strong whiff of the pleasant smell. “Those smell better than Nestor’s scones!” Haddock was amazed.
“I forgot, you never got to try my scones last time you were here Archie” Mary Ann thought out loud. Haddock shuddered at the name Archie because he didn’t like how it sounded; but his history with Chester’s family went a ways back and some used to call him that.

“Where’s your husband at Alyssa?” Chester asked as they sat eating.
“He works with dad now” Alyssa said getting up to get a huge pitcher out of the icebox. “Orange juice anyone?” she offered as almost everyone put their glasses up. She walked slowly around the table filling their glasses.

“What happened to the work in Manchester?” Chester asked a bit concerned.
“His bosses were thieving scoundrels, they promised late payment then left town with more than a month’s pay! They left twenty other co-workers of his high and dry. It hurt a lot of us and as a result Nathan and I lost our apartment and had to come back home” she finished pouring the last glass.
“Why didn’t he question them sooner” Chester continued to ask.
“They had always been honest for the two years he had worked for them; furthermore, prospects elsewhere weren’t much better” Alyssa sat down to finish her breakfast.
“Thunderin’ Typhoons! What a bunch of low down brigands!” Haddock shouted.
“Back home in Italy a lot of employers work the people really hard for really little pay” Enzo added.
“Sounds a lot like here too” Alyssa agreed.
“Well the important thing is that we are doing fine now and we are all together!” Mary Ann said trying to change the subject.

They ate silently for a few minutes before Tintin spoke, “This is delicious!”
“Thanks! I’m glad you are enjoying it” Mary Ann replied. They continued to enjoy their breakfast, after they ate there wasn’t much left over.

“Alyssa, do you want to go ahead and show them to their rooms? I’ll go ahead and start cleaning up down here” Mary Ann got up collecting empty plates. “Of course mum” Alyssa got up. “Captain, you want to go up to the room, I’m going to stay down here with Mary Ann and help clean up” Tintin suggested.

“Nonsense, you’re our guest and you just got here!” Mary Ann wouldn’t hear of it.
“I think Enzo and I will get our stuff and get settled in our room too” Chester followed.

Alyssa led them back through the kitchen to a flight of old stairs. There were paintings and old portraits hanging on the walls as well as a huge oval shaped mirror outlined with a swirling carved wood painted in gold. The wall paper was of a dark magenta while the wood paneling was a dark cherry wood. The ceiling borders had fancy carvings as most Victorian homes did and some old candle sconces on the wall still remained for decoration; but luckily the hallway had its own light in the ceiling. Tintin surmised this house was a hundred years old or more.

“This first room on the left is mine and Nathan’s room. The next room is the loo, and the last room will be yours Tintin and uncle Archie” Alyssa pointed. The opposite room will be Chester’s and Enzo’s. Mum and Dad’s room is downstairs if you should need them for anything. Well I’m going to get down stairs and help mum clean up” Alyssa smiled and quickly turned away. Tintin opened the dark looking door as the hinges squeaked in protest.

“Blisterin’ Barnacles, those hinges need oiled, that will be one of my first projects” Haddock said thoughtfully. They glanced into the room as there was a huge chest at the foot of a queen sized bed with green quilts and pillows. The head rest board was of dark cherry wood and ornately carved. The drapes were a pine green color contrasting the mint colored wall paper. An old sewing machine sat full of dust in one corner and a small desk in another. A nightstand on the right side of the bed looked really old and small lamp with a fancy cover sat embellishing the already decorative room. As a finishing touch, there was a huge painting of a pine forest and what appeared to be a cottage deep within it. Tintin was impressed with the room.

“Reminds me of the story of Hansel and Gretel” Tintin laughed as he noticed the painting.
“I get the right side of the bed” Haddock made claims putting his suit case on the small green velvet upholstered daybed. “Where’s Snowy?” Tintin looked around expecting to see his faithful friend not far behind.
“He’s downstairs getting fed, you won’t see him for a while” Haddock smirked.
“Finally some peace and quiet” Tintin put his suitcase down next to Haddocks peeking out the window to see the side road over the tall fence.
“Don’t get used to it lad” Haddock said taking off his boots sitting on the bed.
“You mean…” Tinin’s heart sunk a little feeling weary of this new unseen danger.
“You got it landlubber!” he said tossing his feet on the bed taking his jacket off getting comfortable.
“Things start getting dodgy around here, we’re gone” Haddock said matter of fact.
“Well I don’t want to put any of Chester’s family or friends in danger either. I just wished we knew more! Why is this mysterious group after me?” Tintin asked rhetorically.

“I don’t know lad, I wished I knew too… don’t worry, nothing will happen to you, at least not on my watch” Haddock winked at him. Finally a small scratching noise could be heard just outside. Tintin quickly opened the door, “Snowy” he smiled as he had a bone in his mouth. Snowy dashed across the room and jumped up on the daybed. “That goes double for you Snowy” Haddock laughed.

“Tintin, Mary Ann wanted me to give you this” Chester’s voice could be heard just as he was about to close the door. Chester handed him some paper and a couple of pens.
“Thanks Captain Frederick Chester” Tintin winked.
“Just Chester please” Chester smiled seemingly having the same aversion Haddock did.
“Tintin, don’t go anywhere alone, got it?” Chester reminded him.
“If you do decide to go out, make sure you take someone with you, preferably Haddock or myself after today” Chester went on.
“I think I can take care of myself” Tintin laughed.
“You’ll do as he says Tintin” Haddock agreed.
“…but captain, I’m a grown man…” Tintin thought the idea was silly.
“He’s doing a lot for us lad and the least you can do is honor what the man asks of you” Haddock retorted.
“Fine…” Tintin agreed thinking they were overreacting just a bit.
“I’m going to get me a nap too, Haddock’s got the right idea” Chester said returning to his room as Haddock quietly made a ‘thumbs up’ gesture.

Tintin sat down at the small desk and turned on the small lamp that sat on top. “What to write, I got a lot to tell the professor and Nestor, and hopefully they can reach both Thompson and Thomson” Tintin thought. He took the pen in his hand and began to write.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-16-2012 at 01:22 AM..

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#17
Old 12-07-2012, 05:33 AM

CHAPTER 8 (PART - B) end of chapter 8



Dear Professor Calculus & Nestor,
I wrote to inform you that Captain Haddock and I are in Colchester England at 778 Boxted Road and safe. We would also like for you to get in touch with Thomson & Thompson and let them know where we are at. I sent you this telegram because we have reason to think the phones there and possibly the office precinct may be tapped. We have had a couple of altercations since we left home. The first was a random purse thief, and the last was in Antwerp as we were attacked by a group of sailors while another tried to kidnap a friend. We met up with Captain Chester again who took us across the North Sea in his yacht the Shooting Star. I don’t know how long we will stay. The captain told me not to get used to being comfortable here at Captain Chester’s sister’s house which is where we are presently at. His seafaring intuition usually tends to be not too far off the mark. I hope both of you are safe and sound as I have been concerned for both of your safety. I kind of wonder if leaving the manor was such a good idea. I’m going to close for now but hope to see you both soon
Your Friend Always – Tintin


Tintin finished his long telegram, “This is going to be expensive!” he thought taking out his wallet to count how much money he actually brought with him. He counted almost eight hundred Belgian Francs, “I hope I don’t run out of money” he thought because he hated how anytime he and captain went out it was always Haddock who insisted on paying the bill. This really made Tintin feel too dependent at times. Tintin would even secretly put money in Haddock’s wallet; but Haddock would always end up taking him out and would spend it on him.

Tintin would even go to lengths such as buying groceries for the estate and adding them to the cupboard thus confusing Nestor when he would run into town to buy food. Tintin would occasionally give Nestor small tips here and there when Haddock was not around, but Nestor would sometimes refuse them further infuriating Tintin when it came to their financial affairs. Tintin knew money meant nothing to Haddock in the grand scheme of it all and Tintin knew it and it made him try even harder to shoulder some of the responsibilities.

“Mr. Tintin” a woman’s voice spoke outside his room.
“Alyssa?” Tintin opened the door.
“Mum’s waiting for you downstairs. “Tell her I’ll be down in just a minute” he closed the door as Alyssa returned to her mom.
“Captain, I’m going to town with Mary Ann to send a telegram back home” he bent over the captain as he as lightly snoozing.
The captain slowly opened his eyes, “You keep that reporter inside you on a leash you hear?” he said throwing an arm around Tintin as Tintin planted a gentle kiss on his forehead.
“I’m just going to town, no adventures, I promise” Tintin smiled as Haddock gave him a scrutinizing glare then slowly gave way to a warm smile.
“Ok, but be careful…” Haddock let him go and watched Tintin as he gracefully left the room.

Tintin, Mary Ann, and Alyssa left the house shortly after. The closer they got to town, the more congested the streets became.
“So Tintin, how long have you known Archie?” Mary Ann asked as he sat in the back with Snowy on his lap.
“Almost nine years” Tintin confirmed.

“Wow, and how old are you now?” Mary Ann asked again.
“Twenty-five” Tintin answered watching the landscape and the buildings around as they passed by.
“Frederick tells me you guys have travelled the world extensively, later this evening we would love to hear about it” Mary Ann changed the subject to Tintin’s relief.
“Of course, I’d be more than happy to tell you all about, and if you want to get stuff out of the captain, give him a bottle of whiskey and he’s a walking story book” Tintin laughed.
“I’ll have to remember that…my brother is the same, one night we will make him tell the tales” Mary Ann and Alyssa giggled.
“I know the bankers in town, I can get you more money if you let me make the exchange” Mary Ann pointed out.
“Sure, I have four hundred Belgian Francs I’d like to change” Tintin replied. Mary Ann took the money and parked at the local bank.
“You know that the Belgian Franc isn’t worth much here” Alyssa informed him
“Yea I know” Tintin replied sadly.

The people bustling in town were too busy to notice Tintin or Alyssa sitting in Mary Ann’s small car as Tintin held Snowy to keep him from attracting too much attention to them. Ten minutes later Mary Ann emerged from the bank and handed Tintin his money.
“A little over two quid… it’s not too bad considering the currency you brought” she smiled.
“It should last you awhile…Nathan used to work almost sixty hours a week and bring home about two quid” Alyssa replied.
“I need to go to the farmer’s market nearby. The post office isn’t too far ahead. Alyssa you will know where to find me once Tintin mails his telegram” Mary Ann instructed.

Mary Ann wandered toward the farmer’s market while Tintin and Alyssa went to the post office. The post office wasn’t busy as only a few people were dropping off letters to be sent off. The telegram had indeed cost a bit more than Tintin anticipated; but, he paid it willingly wanting it to get quickly to its destination. Alyssa took notice as a couple of weird stares were drawn their way. One man in particular carrying a sack of letters behind the counter gave Alyssa and Tintin a strange look; but Alyssa thought perhaps it was because they saw her with a different man.

“So what does everyone around here do for fun?” Tintin asked.
“I read, but my husband and my father, go down to the local pub in the evening to socialize” she explained as they left the post office making their way to the farmer’s market.
“I know where Captain Haddock and Chester will be” Tintin smirked.
“Not surprising, Enzo probably too, Uncle Frederick really took a liking to him since he started” Alyssa noted.
“He told me he lost his father when he was younger so he basically supports the family with his wages” Tintin replied.
“Aye, Uncle Frederick has a big heart like Uncle Archie as you know…” Alyssa became quiet as Snowy suddenly began to growl but because of the crowd Tintin didn’t hear Snowy’s warning.
Tintin could not discern the inflection in her voice if she was being sincere or sarcastic since he knew about her financial difficulties. Alyssa turned around briefly seeing a couple of guys who did not look friendly.
“What’s wrong?” Tintin whispered.
“Keep walking and don’t turn around” she whispered back taking his arm leading him into the now crowded farmer’s market. “Call your dog” Alyssa whispered.
“Snowy, come on boy!” Tintin prompted him and Snowy quickly caught back up.
“Was someone following us?” Tintin wanted to turn around.
“I’m not sure but I didn’t like the stares we got from the post office mail sorter earlier” she mentioned. She turned around one more time and the two men were gone. Tintin finally turned around but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
“What do you think those men wanted” Tintin asked curiously.
“Better not to find out…” Alyssa replied. “Mum’s just up ahead!” Alyssa said leading Tintin through the crowd.
Mary Ann was already walking towards them with two sacks of various vegetables in each arm.
“So did you get that letter sent off” Mary Ann asked as Tintin took one of her big sacks in his arms.
“Yes, we did” Tintin smiled.
“Then let’s go home cause I need to get lunch ready” Mary Ann said as they began to make their way back to the car.
“Oi! ---It’s so--- sho—tin!” Tintin heard a man’s voice a ways away cry out over the crowd. Tintin looked around but Mary Ann and Alyssa prompted Tintin to get in the car.
“A wise man walks the other way when trouble approaches” Mary Ann commented as she started the car and they drove off. Tintin looked through the back window unable to make out two men who seemed to be looking for someone, perhaps him.

When they arrived back at the house Mary Ann and Alyssa began to prepare lunch in the kitchen quick and efficiently. “I think your mates are outside” Alyssa commented. Tintin realized staying in and helping them that he would probably get in their way so he walked out the back door.

“Come on Snowy, let’s see what the captains are up to” Tintin said enthusiastically.
“I’m all for fresh air” Snowy barked.
He saw Captain Chester and Haddock busy working in the back yard tilling a small plot of land for a garden each with a hoe in their hand. Enzo was busy collecting eggs and cleaning the chicken coop.
“Ahoy landlubber! Get over here and help us you whimpersnapper” Haddock laughed. Tintin walked over observing the area they were tilling a thirty by ten yard plot. They were clearing all the dead plants and debris out from the previous year.
“You’re going to have to earn your keep here mate” Chester grinned while he tilled.
Both Haddock and Chester were wearing gray tank tops and their sailor pants, and both looked pretty sweaty. Enzo had finally emerged from with a broom in his hand cleaning the coop. He too wore a gray tank top. They had already tilled a fourth of the area.
“I got you a tank top upstairs, for you too, Haddock put it on the daybed for you. You don’t want to get your casual clothing soiled” Chester suggested.
“Right!” Tintin sighed.
“Is something wrong?” Haddock noticed Tintin appeared a bit flustered.
“Uh no, it’s nothing captain” Tintin said disappearing back into the house as Snowy ran off.
“He’ll be back…” Tintin thought but knew Snowy would be fine where they were out in the countryside. He found the gray tank top and changed out of his clothes, “Some vacation this is going to be! May as well make the best of it” he thought returning back outside.

The day was long and lunch was not ready until almost three O’clock. Tintin wasn’t used to this kind of manual labor so a break was more than welcome. Enzo seemed to work tirelessly as he too joined them as they plowed the ground manually. Lunch was a nice pot roast Mary Ann prepared with beans and mashed potatoes. Luckily the milk man had come buy so they had three glass bottles of milk in the icebox.

Shortly after eating they were back at it again until they finally finished tilling the soil for the day which was about half the plot. By the time they were finished Tintin felt like he was about to keel over. It was almost six thirty by the time they were done. Tintin ate a couple of apples and retired upstairs to get a shower. Two hours later a small truck finally pulled in the driveway. Bob and Nathan had finally arrived home.

Tintin had already gotten a shower and was reading a good book. Being the good guest he was to be polite even though he was already in his pajamas. The television was on and Chester and Haddock were still sitting with Mary Ann, and Alyssa as a short burly man with sandy blond hair and long sideburns has already joined them. Another young man was pouring himself a shot of rum. He was about Enzo’s height but just a bit more muscular. He wore a red toboggan as tufts of brown hair protruded around.
“Ah, so you’re Tintin!” Mary Ann’s husband Bob greeted with a firm handshake.
“Well met Tintin, Nathan here” Nathan nodded and shook Tintin’s hand as well.
“I’m sorry folks, but we had to move and lost a good fishing spot due to some inconsiderate merchant ship” Bob explained. “They must have dumped something off their ship because we didn’t get anything for hours afterwards. We had to move due north west in our schooner and we barely caught enough” Bob sighed.
“How close were you to it?” Chester asked.
“Close enough that we had to move out of the way, they could have avoided us, but it seemed as if they came straight for us” Nathan shook his head in disgust.
“Did any of you manage to get the name of the ship?” Haddock asked.
“The Sea Serpent I believe” Bob answered.
“What did it look like?” Tintin finally spoke up.
“The entire hull was black, it had multiple decks. It was fairly big” Nathan answered this time.
“It was heading due south, perhaps towards London?” Bob suggested. “We called the HM Customs and reported it but so far nothing” Bob finished.
“Odd indeed” Tintin thought.
“I saw what you guys did in the backyard! It looks good! You guys going to finish the work tomorrow?” Bob complemented.
“Ya darned right we are!” Haddock nodded. “Anytime to help family!” Chester chimed in.
“Cheers” everyone toasted.

“Yea…” Tintin smiled sheepishly thinking how his back is going to hurt the next day. Tintin saw how Enzo was already dozing off on the sofa and how boisterous everyone else was. Tintin sat down on the sofa watching the television but the news was not on. He began reflecting on the today’s events wondering if there was a connection, but could not find one. So he decided to join the rest of them even though he really just wanted to go to bed.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-07-2012 at 02:11 PM..

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#18
Old 12-08-2012, 08:41 PM


CHAPTER 9 (PART - A)




That same afternoon the Sea Serpent arrived in London, as usual the HM Customs were busy doing quick inspections of ships and making sure no contraband or illegal substances were coming on British shores. Allan Thompson acted as the captain of the ship dealing with HM Customs as they were not unfamiliar to him. Allan had advised Herr Wagner to make sure they kept getting legitimate cargo to haul from place to place as cover while other illegal goods they provided would go unnoticed or unchallenged whether they were skilled at hiding their illegal cargo or could afford to pay bribes. If bribes didn’t work they had a friend with a special ability to persuade them otherwise. The ship had its crew then the ship had its ‘Crew’. Allan was not a pleasant captain to work under as he had low tolerance for mistakes. Where Allan missed, Gaspar was always on top of as Allan’s acting first mate.

Gaspar was just as cruel, if not more twisted. Even Allan thought some things about Gaspar were quite disturbing such as Gaspar’s enjoyment of interrogating prisoners or other things. Allan knew though that Gaspar’s inhibited practices could be of some use to him later down the road. They both had discussed their time with their former captain’s which set them on their own common goal for revenge. Gaspar also did a lot of human trafficking of young girls with an occasional boy, anything he thought that could make him money or satisfy his perverted desires. Tom was gullible when it came to listening to Gaspar’s stories about his exploits.

Lento stuck to himself with the two Russian guys who gave him little problem, for like Lento they too, were unfamiliar with the folk on the boat and were completely untrusting. Herr Wagner really unnerved him more than anyone but that was who was giving him license to higher privileges on the ship. Lento did not care to be around Herr Wagner for too long due to the fact there was something about him that seemed more evil than any of them were. According to Allan, Herr Wagner was a very mysterious man, but kept him employed and anything he did was not of any consequence to Allan. The rule was, legitimate work by day and the real operation by night. Allan oversaw some of the daily operations and let Tom supervise with some competent support to make sure Tom’s lack of common sense was in check.

The day drug on as Lento and his followers sat down in the mess hall slowly eating their food which wasn’t always so good by other accounts. The minutes passed like hours and they had little to do since the ship was already fully manned. Later that evening, Allan, Tom, and Gaspar were preparing to do their nightly work in the city while Lento received yet another invitation to dinner from Herr Wagner from a crew member.

“What do you think he wants?” the short Russian guy asked.
“I don’t know Ivan…” Lento nodded as they sat drinking some ale in the mess hall.
“He’s a strange one they say” the taller Russian guy commented.
“We are all strange Mikhail” Lento commented.
“So when are we going to go and find Tintin?” Ivan asked with some boredom.
“When they tell us too…" Lento whispered observing the crew entering and leaving the mess hall.

The ship was a dismal place as groups of crew hung out only with each other and the environment always seemed to have tension in the air. The mess hall was the least tense place to be so they spent a lot of time just sitting and listening. Another hour passed as it was now almost nine O’clock at night and Allan along with his entourage joined them in the mess hall.

“So are we going now?” Ivan asked eagerly.
“Yes, you and Mr. Vodka are going to accompany me to help do deliver the cargo” Allan replied sitting down lighting a cigarette.
“That’s Mikhail” the taller Russian corrected, but Allan paid him no attention.
“How many kilos do we got boss?” Tom whispered.
“Enough” Allan replied.
“We got enough to get all of London high a hundred times” Gaspar laughed.
“We need to start loading the truck outside” Allan informed them.
“It must be worth a lot of money” Lento commented.
“Indeed, chasing all around the world and paying a crew isn’t cheap you know” Allan explained.
“Got to keep the coffers filled, and the other cargo…” Gaspar snickered. Lento closed his eyes in distaste listening to Gaspar.
“We’ll deal with that after we take care of this cargo” Allan pointed out as he took a long drag calm as he’d ever been.
“You don’t look worried in the least” Lento noted.
Allan nodded. “After dealing with HM Customs and local police I don’t think we will have too many problems” he finished with a deep breath.
Allan stood up flicking his cigarette on the floor stomping it out. “Ok boys let’s do this…and Lento, Herr Wagner is waiting for you in his quarters” he concluded as Lento’s companions gave him a confused stair but Lento only shrugged.


They unloaded all the cargo on to the dock. Everyone quickly got the crates on the truck as Tom drove in another car following Allan with Gaspar. “Oh bloody ‘ell! I ‘ate damned East end!” Tom complained.
“Why do you hate it?” Ivan asked.
“Too many little wannabe blokes who think they’re tough and all like…” he said straightening his hat.
“Do you guys usually have problems when doing this delivery?” Mikhail’s curiosity began to grow.
“Not usually, but sometimes new gangs who think they run the streets will demand tribute for coming through their territory!” Tom continued to rant.
“Then just get rid of them” Mikhail simply answered.
“Killing attracts too much attention, da boss likes to avoid it when we haul precious cargo like this” Tom explained.
“If a kid wants to play adult games, there should be adult consequences” Mikhail replied coldly.

Ivan took mental note watching as the quality of the neighborhood began to diminish. The truck finally pulled down an alley and stopped halfway behind an old abandoned building. Allan and Gaspar pulled up next to the dock of a loading area where two young men stood each wearing red bandanas.

“This looks a bit suspicious” Allan narrowed his eyes taking a small hand gun out of the compartment.

The two young men were nervous, “So if we get these drugs we can get our legal documents?” the African young man asked the other. “Yea, something like that…” the local young man answered trying to put on a brave front.

“Those drugs they are bringing are worth more than fifty thousand quid!” the local young man replied. “We can disappear once we get our cut from our leader" he almost stuttered.
“If we get them, we’ll not have to worry about money for a long time” he promised.
The young African man nodded, “They come” he pointed as the truck approached them.


“Can we kill ‘em?” Gaspar smiled.
“No, we don’t know who they are, let’s see if they know the secret phrase, if not we know they are not the folks we are dealing with” Allan said calmly as he and Gaspar got out of the truck.

Tom, Ivan, and Mikhail got out of the car cautiously. Allan and Gaspar approached a young looking unkempt older teen and a young African man standing by the back door of the building.

“So you like a good chimney sweep?” Allan said eying the two young men carefully with one hand on his gun in his coat.

“Deathly powders fly in the air” the African young man replied.
Allan was taken aback that they knew the pass phrase. Gaspar began eying the other guy warily and noticed he was trembling.

“So for this shipment I wants eighty-thousand quid!” Allan took a step closer to the short African male who stepped back a pace.

“We got someone coming with the money” the younger dusty faced boy almost shouted.

“That ain’t how it works boy!” Gaspar too advanced, “It’s a shame you didn’t plan this out properly” he said grimly.

Suddenly that instant, gunshots rang out. Gaspar’s leg was grazed and Ivan got was grazed on the shoulder. Everyone took cover behind the vehicles except Gaspar and Allan who rushed at the two young men. The African man took out a gun but wasn’t quick enough and Allan shot him as he fell lifeless to the ground. Gaspar grabbed the other young man as he pulled a knife out quick enough to nick Gaspar with the tip.

“You’ll pay for that you rat!” he yelled disarming the young boy stabbing him twice as he fell to the ground. More gunshots rang out and finally two more bodies fell from above. Tom, Ivan, and Mikhail looked around for they knew they didn’t hit these other assailants until finally someone spoke.

“Mr. Thompson and Mr. Schnider, we apologize for this, but thank you for getting rid of these Crimson Head initiates” a man applauded.

Two older men drove up on two motor bikes. They walked up to inspect the other two assailants they sniped from a distance. One was a young African woman and the other, a local girl both more than likely runaways who had joined a gang possibly with their boyfriends.

“It’s a mighty shame!” one guy shook his head. Gaspar walked up to look and he agreed.
“I could have sold both of these girls for some good coin” Gaspar lamented.
“Well I hope you don’t expect us to get rid of the bodies” Allan replied sarcastically.

“No, we’ll take care of it-I do believe this is what you are looking for” one guy wearing a long grey trench coat said handing a small suitcase to Allan.
Allan immediately sat the case down and opened it as it was full of five pound notes. Allan jostled the bills just to make sure they weren’t phony and inspected a couple of bundles. After he was satisfied he nodded.

“Alright men, unload!” he ordered. Another truck came by to reload the crates.
“That little rat cut me!” Gaspar complained.
“Don’t be such a big baby! You’ll live now help them so we can get out of here!” Allan scolded as he too began to help unload. Two other men loaded the corpses into the truck as well.

After five quick minutes they reloaded the crates into of opium in the other truck. One man inspected the crate just to make sure it was indeed the product they were looking for. Satisfied he nodded toward the man in the grey trench coat.

“I got a bonus in there for you since you got rid of some of these territorial brats for us” he smiled.
“Yea don’t mention it” he said sarcastically.
“It was a pleasure doing business with you Mr. Thompson and Mr. Schnider, hopefully we can do more business in the future” he said jumping on his motorbike following the truck.

“Let’s get out of here!” Allan shouted.
“Don’t have ta tell me twice!” Tom nodded.
“That really is a shame” Mikhail sighed as they drove off.
“What was?” Tom asked curiously.
“We didn’t even get a chance to really get any shots in” Mikhail sighed.
“You’ll get yer chance” Tom laughed.

They quickly returned back to the ship with Allan in a foul mood realizing they were used to flush out a small territorial gang.
“Next time they want more product the price is doubled! I'm quite sure they purposely leaked the passwords so this would happen!” Allan growled.
“We should have demanded more money there” Gaspar went on.
“You know a gang is desperate when they allow girls to do their dirty work too! No, it’s ok but I’ll remember this!” Allan vowed.
“Harboring illegal immigrants, using scared youngsters, that gang won’t last much longer…Bad choices… lead to bad futures…” Gaspar said chillingly.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-17-2012 at 07:01 PM..

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#19
Old 12-09-2012, 05:48 PM

CHAPTER - 9 (PART - B) end of chapter 9


Lento watched everyone leave the mess hall and could feel a cold draft subside once they were gone. Lento could sense something bad was going to happen but wasn’t sure. He dreaded going to see Herr Wagner, but why? Wasn’t he just as evil? Not wanting to incur Wagner’s wrath Lento hastened to Wagner’s quarters. His heart pounded more intensely and his palms began to get sweaty as he approached Wagner’s quarters.

“Come in Signore Lento” Wagner’s voice echoed as he stepped up to his door. He slowly turned the door handle and entered. When he walked in Herr Wagner was dressed in long black robes smoking a cigarette as what appeared to be a prostitute collecting her things.

“Danke my lady” he said kissing her hand. “Signore Lento, I have a favor to ask of you” he said gently. “Please escort this fine lady off the ship safely to her taxi and come see me when you return” he smiled. Still wearing his shades and his white officer hat he was busy at his desk reading through a book. “Please be quick about it” he requested.

“As you wish sir” Lento scratched his chin escorting the woman out of his quarters.

The woman was a few inches shorter than his self as he stood almost five feet and ten inches. She was a fine looking woman with an hour glass shape and a black knee length skirt. She wore a bright red blouse and had long black hair with green eyes and fair skin. When they walked out she took him by the arm to be led off the ship without saying a word. Crew members who spotted the two gawked as they passed by. Lento was completely confused but mesmerized by how beautifully seductive this woman was.

“Herr Wagner has high hopes for you Mr. Lento” the woman finally spoke as they approached the gangway guarded by ship crew with guns. She spoke with an English accent so she had to be from the area Lento thought.

“Is that so?” Lento acted surprised.

“Don’t be a fool and don’t let your talents go to waste” she whispered as they walked onto the dock. They continued until they reached the last light post at the end of the pier.

“Do not disappoint him, it would be most unwise” she spoke again.

“Why would I do such a thing” Lento acted somewhat surprised.

“Only you know the answer to that question” she responded archaically.

“Who are you?” he finally asked. The woman smiled and looked at him.

“You think I’m a mere prostitute… but far from it…” she smiled again as the taxi arrived.

“Wait! Please tell me, what is this mystery that unfolds?” Lento pleaded as she got into the taxi.

“If I have to tell you, then Herr Wagner is wrong about you… but if he is right, you will figure it out in due time” she laughed enticingly as she closed the door and the taxi disappeared into the night.

Lento sighed again with dread to return back to where he started. He regained his composure trying to figure out exactly who she was, what was her total purpose for coming to the ship, and why did they need Tintin alive? Maybe Wagner is wrong about him he thought. It finally occurred to him that she was the same as he but that still left a lot unexplained.

“Come in” he heard the dreadful voice again.

“Signore Lento, I would like you to meet someone” he said introducing someone wearing a hooded burgundy robe. The man pulled his hood back revealing an Indian man.
“We owe this man much for his powers of persuasion” Herr Wagner smiled pouring two glasses of wine handing one to Lento.
“This is the Fakir” Herr Wagner announced.
“Pleasure to meet you sir” Lento nodded.
“Thank you, you want to drink the glass quickly?” the Fakir smiled looking him in the eye.
“Don’t try that on me” Lento quickly averted his gaze.
“Good for you sir, most others find my gaze—irresistible” he laughed.
“I can see I’m right about you” Herr Wagner laughed.
Lento was not amused, but played along with the whole scenario in hopes of gaining new insight as to what was going on.
“You were?” Lento acted surprised with a smile.

“Of course Signore Lento, tomorrow night is full moon and your skills will have a chance to shine tomorrow night” Herr Wagner smiled pushing a switch on his desk revealing secret chamber.
Lento held his composure as the Fakir continued to stare at him as if he was trying to find a weakness. One advantage for Lento was he too wore his shades not allowing the Fakir to easily read him.
“This way gentlemen” Herr Wagner said leading them down a flight of stairs.

The stairs led into a somewhat large chamber within the ship. The room had an altar at the front with several chairs on the side and in front of the altar was a huge pentagram with two points facing up. Several candelabras were placed in the room. The altar appeared very clean as it was made of black marble. There were two leather bound books lie on top of it with a large dagger and a small looking wooden stick. There were a few interesting and creepy looking paintings hung on the wall. Behind the altar a huge black mirror hung well adorned on the wall.

The floor was that of a black and white chess board except in front of the altar, the walls were painted black as the ceiling was the brightest thing in the room. The room itself was illuminated with a couple of strategic placed lights. A painting of a couple people hanging naked by their wrists above an inferno hung on one side, but the features were blurry not revealing all the details. Another painting was of that of some huge octopus. Another was that of an alien spaceship over the great pyramids with a ray of light emitting from below to the top of the biggest pyramid.

“So Signore Lento, what do you think?” Herr Wagner proudly displayed his secret chamber.
“I don’t know what to say, extraordinary!” Lento was amazed still taking in everything.
“So we have four and we are patiently awaiting the fifth” Herr Wagner mentioned as they took a slow walk around the chamber.
“We need a full circle of seasoned well studied cultist” Herr Wagner continued.
“We have four?” Lento asked curiously.
“Ya… me, you, the Fakir here, the lovely lady you met earlier, and the fifth will arrive soon” Wagner replied admiring his chamber.
“Who shall the fifth member be” the Fakir asked a bit interested.
“That gentlemen shall be a surprise…” his thin lips curled into a smile.
“Are you sure this lady has such skill?” the Fakir asked a bit concerned.
“Without a doubt Fakir” Wagner quickly replied.
“I see…” he nodded quietly. “I need to meditate on the evening events and start spiritually preparing myself for tomorrow” the Fakir explained.
“As you wish” Herr Wagner led them out turning off the lights.
“I bid you good night Herr Wagner, Signore Lento” he nodded as he returned to his cabin.

Lento was still trying to take everything in trying to understand the events about to take place as it was all happening so fast.
“You look like a lost puppy, is something wrong?” Herr Wagner looked at him curiously.
“Oh no, it’s just I have no proper books to help me prepare for such powerful rituals” Lento half-way confessed. “Demonology is not something I’m too familiar with…but I’m not without any knowledge” Lento spoke carefully.
Herr Wagner walked over to his bookcase scanning his books for a moment and pulled a small black covered hard back out.

“I do believe this should help you…please Signore Lento make the preparations for tomorrow night. We need to be leaving London soon; therefore, we must not tarry much longer with the proceeded plan and take advantage of tomorrow’s night of power” he finished as he handed Lento the book.

“Thank you Herr Wagner, your understanding is so much appreciated” Lento bowed as he opened the door to return back to his cabin when suddenly a loud explosion made him spin around in surprise. Lento quickly ran out to rail to see what all the commotion was as Herr Wagner followed him. Gunshots were ringing out as various curses could be heard being shouted in the night.

“What a mess” Lento thought. “It seems we have some adversaries…” Herr Wagner nodded without a care. “I’m sure Herr Thompson and Schnider are perfectly capable of neutralizing any external threats to our operation” he replied.
Lento could see the transport truck completely engulfed in flames as the car appeared to have several bullet holes and a shattered back window. Lento hoped his Russian companions were safe but knew that in this business things could go really well one moment and horrific the next. After ten minutes of gunfire being exchanged everyone from the group returned. Everyone had minor nicks and burns.

“We’d better be ready to explain things to the police” Lento mentioned.
“That’s the least of my worries” as Allan approached.
“Who’s responsible for this?” Herr Wagner asked curiously.
“Crimson Heads” Gaspar said sourly.
“How do you know?” Lento asked suspiciously.
“We saw two people with the red bandanas they wear, we were set up to flush them out, but the cargo was delivered and I have the money” Allan said holding the suitcase up to Herr Wagner.
“Das ist gut! Come” Herr Wagner and Allan returned to his quarters.
Lento saw Tom and both of his Russian companions singed but still intact. “So why are they attacking us?” Lento asked.
“’Cause we killed four of their members” Gaspar said licking his lips.
Lento nodded disgustingly not because they had killed but because Gaspar really made him sick to his stomach. “I leave you to deal with this, ciao...” Lento replied returning to his cabin.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-17-2012 at 07:21 PM..

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#20
Old 12-11-2012, 04:57 AM

CHAPTER 10 (PART - A)


Tintin could feel his arms and back ache as the evening progressed. Enzo, Captain Haddock, Captain Chester, and Chester’s family were all busy drinking and socializing happily; however, Tintin felt really exhausted. He couldn’t believe both of the captains had the vitality to stay up chattering away while putting mugs of ale down.

Tintin knew that when Bob brought a keg of ale in from the garage that he’d made, there was going to be drinking that night. Tintin made a long face and turned to go upstairs, but Chester saw him and discreetly walked away to check on him. Haddock, like the others, was too busy listening to Bob sharing one of his perilous tales when Nathan had just started working on their boat during a bad storm.

“Are you ok?” Chester tapped Tintin on the shoulder.
“Ouch! Yes…I’ll be fine…I just need some rest if we are going to work like that again tomorrow” Tintin explained. The strong stench of ale wafted from Chester’s mouth. Tintin backed away just a little.

“Yea I’m starting to get drunk…” Chester sighed. “Listen, I’ll be there to dig Haddock out if he puts his foot in his mouth…you know what I’m talking about” Chester said secretively.

“Captain Chester, I don’t know how to thank you for all you are doing for us, I feel like the old man and you and Haddock are the youth” Tintin laughed as he gave Chester an unexpected hug.

It was a little awkward for Chester because he was afraid Haddock would think something else if he walked up and saw them in the stairwell; but then he put one strong arm around Tintin and smiled. “Haddock is a lucky man!” Chester replied.
"You think so?" Tintin answered surprised by Captain Chester's candidness.
“Of course, Haddock and I go a long time back kid, maybe one day we will tell you all of our tales” he laughed returning back downstairs.
“I would love to hear them all” Tintin nodded.

Tintin stopped to look at his self in the mirror. He was wearing light blue pajama pants and shirt that seemed to still be a little big on him. Tintin made an assertive masculine look at his reflection which satisfied him even if he was a man with a small frame. He managed to build some toned muscle, but he still appeared unchanged much by time.

“I got to stay in good spirits! After all, I’m ‘Action Man’!” he joked to his self.

He suddenly heard the pitter patter of small feet coming up the stairs, “Snowy!” he smiled happy to see his best friend. “Sorry Tintin, making new friends” Snowy barked.
“I’m going to bed Snowy, you can join me too!” he smiled walking down the hallway opening the door to the room. Tintin shuddered as the hinges creaked loudly with the slightest of movements.

“We’ll hear the captain when he staggers up here tonight” Tintin joked.
“Hopefully he won’t do that horrible snoring tonight” Snowy whined.
Tintin shut the door behind him as snowy jumped on his little spot on the daybed curling up. Tintin closed the door and got on his side hiding underneath the sheets and the soft green quilt. It wasn’t long before sleep overtook him.



XXXXXXXXX



Tintin sat up lying on the ground in a dense forest. He could see the darkened sky behind the many branches above and around him. He continued to look around but couldn’t see far as a fog seemed to roll in the area.

A young boy stood in front of him with blond hair and green eyes wearing a long blue night shirt that covered just below his knees. “Come on, they’ll find us, we got to keep moving!” He looked anxiously around.

Tintin stood up and was the exact same height as he was, wearing the same Sunday outfit he wore during their last encounter. Tintin realized he was a child again. The other boy grabbed his wrist and began to lead him quickly through a network of bushes and briars. Tintin could hear dogs and men’s voices.

“They’re coming!” the boy cried. Tintin kept up as quickly as he could. The briars were cutting up his Sunday looking jacket and the boy leading him had scrapes and cuts all over as his night shirt was torn in many different places too. “They won’t find our safe place, we just got to make it there!” the boy gasped for air as they kept running.

Suddenly the ground gave way and they both fell into an old sink hole as they both hit the bottom with a hard thud. “We got to climb out of here before they find us!” the boy said climbing roots and vines sticking out of the ground.

Tintin followed his same route climbing out of the hole desperately trying to get out. When he got out he saw two men and one had the other boy struggling to get free. “We’re not going to hurt you boy” one man said walking closer to him. Tintin couldn’t see the man’s face as if some shadow prevented it. The other boy bit the other guy’s hand, “Run brother! Run! Don't let them get you!” he screamed. Tintin turned to run but almost fell back into the sink hole when someone scooped him up. “No! Let me go!” Tintin cried.

“Tintin! Tintin!” a familiar voice said shaking him. Tintin woke with a sweaty start. Captain Haddock had him in his arms.
“Captain? What’s going on?” he asked confused.
“You were about to jump off the bed again” Haddock said putting him back on the bed already dressed in his usual beige pajama set.
“What were you dreaming about boy?” Haddock asked him with much concern.
“I dreamed I was a little boy again. I was running away from some bad men in the woods with another boy who kept calling me brother…” Tintin recalled.

Haddock cocked an eyebrow as he locked the door and got in bed cutting off the lamp.
“Brother you say? Did they get you?” he asked as he got under the covers.
“Yes they got us both…” Tintin kept trying to remember if there was more about the dream but couldn’t. He just lied there silently in deep thought.

Haddock wrapped his strong hairy arms around Tintin spooning with him under the covers, “Don’t worry my little angel, if anyone dare tries to harm or take you from me I’ll turn into the devil himself…and they don’t want to see that” Haddock whispered.
Tintin put one of his hands on Haddock’s, “Thank you captain! I love you too” Tintin replied.

Before he could finish his sentence Haddock was already lightly snoring. Tintin felt better in the safety of Haddock’s arms, but that nagging in his head continued and each time he dreamed it seemed that the dreams increasingly became more vivid. “They’ll never find our safe place” Tintin thought just before he drifted back to sleep.


The next morning felt just like being at Marlinspike Hall. When he came downstairs the smell of breakfast brought a smile to his face. Mary Ann was bustling around the kitchen just as Alyssa came back inside the house with a small basket full of eggs. Haddock and Chester were sitting on the sofa smoking their pipes, while Enzo sat watching the television on a nicely upholstered chair near the fireplace.

“Well lookie who got up” Mary Ann smiled.
“Morning Mary Ann, how are you?” Tintin said still stretching his muscles and yawning.
“Fine, nothing like a good night’s rest to put you right,” Mary Ann laughed. “We should have breakfast ready in ten minutes, why don’t you sit for a moment and get your thoughts straight,” Mary Ann suggested.

Tintin sat down as Enzo sat with his eyes closed facing the television. Tintin guessed with the hard work and perhaps the drinking that last night put him over the edge.
“Morning landlubber!” Haddock smiled.
“Decided to join us eh?” Chester commented as Tintin sat on the love seat adjacent from them.
“It’s hard to sleep when you have the wonderful smell of breakfast filling your room” Tintin said taking a whiff of the air. Snowy was already in the kitchen following Mary Ann around just waiting for her to drop a treat for him.
“Are you ready for another hard day of work?” Haddock asked enthusiastically.
“I guess…” Tintin sighed still feeling just a bit sore.
“Come on! Where’s your sense of adventure?” Haddock joked. Everyone erupted in laughter by the sofa.
“I know, all of those moles and other perilous creatures we may encounter…” Tintin played along.

“Wait a moment” Alyssa interjected walking over. “I’m afraid I need to borrow your lad” Alyssa continued looking at Haddock. Chester and Haddock quickly gave each other a startled glance but quickly recovered.

“Sure, that’s fine, isn’t your mom going with you?” Haddock asked.
“No, she asked me to take the car and run the daily errands at the farmer’s market. She has to get started on the laundry, so if you have anything that needs washed I suggest you see her after breakfast” Alyssa explained smiling coyly at Haddock then Chester.

Chester locked gazes with her for a moment. Her aqua eyes were full of intrigue, but her uncle Chester’s grey eyes could hide mountains and she realized that. Chester whispered into Haddock's ear as his eyes seem to dart to Tintin then to Alyssa.
“Go straight to town and don't dawdle anywhere else, got it?" Chester sounded adamant
"You two hurry back now you hear?” Haddock replied seriously.


“Breakfast is ready folks!” Mary Ann announced.

Enzo turned the television off as they sat at the breakfast table with plates, utensils, another full English breakfast, and glasses filled with orange juice waiting for them.
“So this is what it feels like to have a full family…” Tintin mused quietly to his self.
“If anyone needs anything washed, now’s the time to speak up” Mary Ann mentioned as they ate.
“I think we all have something that could be washed,” Chester commented.
“Well gather your things up and put them in the basket I sat out in the hallway,” Mary Ann instructed.
“Uncle Frederick, how much longer do you intend to stay?” Alyssa asked.
“Are you trying to get rid of me that quickly” Chester joked.
“No! Not at all, as a matter of fact, I was hoping you planned on staying awhile,” Alyssa smiled.

“Alas, we set sail Thursday, my daughter will be expecting me. That gives me a few days with her and her family, then we must return back to Antwerp for work by no later than Tuesday,” Chester said figuring out his schedule.
“You do mean to go by train don’t you?” Mary Ann asked with some concern.
“It depends, if Haddock and Tintin wish to come along, we will take the Shooting Star if the choose to do so,” Chester answered.
“It’ll be a long ride” Mary Ann disapproved.
“I’ve sailed around the world before, so cruising around to Glasgow would be a cake walk” Chester pointed out.

“If me and Tintin go with him you’ve got nothing to fear” Haddock put his two cents in. “We’re among the best sailors you’ll find in this part of the western world” he bragged.

“Well, you just check the weather and make sure you don’t be taking any petty risks” Mary Ann warned. She realized she wouldn’t feel as bad if Haddock was with him having sailed out with the two a couple of times in the past noting their skills as sailors.
“Don’t forget about me,” Enzo finally spoke up.
“You’re still a child,” Mary Ann dismissed him jokingly.
“Oi! He’s still a good sailor! He’ll make a fine one someday,” Chester defended him giving Enzo a good slap on the back.
“Easy now” Enzo grinned.
“Let’s go Tintin, so we can hurry and get back” Alyssa prompted standing up after she had finished eating.
“Wait!” Haddock reached into his pocket pulling out his wallet. He handed Alyssa a five pound note and her eyes widened looking at him and the note.
“You went to the bank already?” Tintin asked not remembering Haddock even leaving the house.

“No whippersnapper, I brought it from home thinking we may come here” Haddock smiled. “If you don’t mind, pick me up some tobacco and a bottle of whiskey please; and Tintin, you know the brand I like. Fill up your mom’s gas tank Alyssa,” Haddock smiled.

“You don’t need any more whisky Captain, you still got a bottle or two left don’t you?” Tintin asked.

“All gone, now you’ll get me whiskey or else!” Haddock pointed closing one eye at him. “Now hurry back, we got work to do” Haddock instructed.
“Would you like to come with us Enzo?” Tintin offered.

Enzo glanced at Captain Chester curiously, “You can go if you want, but remember, you’re still being paid so hurry back” Chester nodded.
“Yes sir!” Enzo’s spirit soared.
“Captain can you get my dirty clothes too when you get yours” Tintin reminded.
“Mine too” Enzo smiled looking at Chester.
“Go on, both of you!” Chester laughed.
“Well let’s be off then!” Alyssa said leading them out to the car.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-19-2012 at 01:36 AM..

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#21
Old 12-12-2012, 04:01 AM

CHAPTER 10 (PART - B)


“Don’t worry about washing the dishes, Alyssa will take care of them when she returns” Mary Ann mentioned.
“You may want to phone your daughter before you go. She does come down this way quite a bit as of late,”
“I will. Did your husband bring the seeds and a list of what he wanted in his garden?” Chester asked.
“Yea, he told me this morning they’re in the garage near the shovels and other gardening tools…here’s the list” she said pulling it out of her apron.

Chester looked through what he wanted and started laughing handing it to Haddock.
“This will be an all-day project, at least we don’t have worry about plowing the rest of the soil” Haddock sighed in relief.
“We’ll see how fast we get done, well let’s get changed and go play in the dirt!” Chester laughed.

Once they were got their gardening tools out of the garage with the seeds they began planting away. The weather was nice, not a cloud in the sky and it was fairly warm. This place felt so much like home at Marlinspike Hall to Haddock. He began to remember when he and Tintin planted their first garden. It wasn't as successful as he would have liked it to be, but the next year's garden was much better with a little help from Nestor.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better day!” Haddock replied taking a nice whiff of fresh air.
“I know it, I guess I really couldn’t blame those youngsters if they decided to stay gone a bit longer,” Chester snapped his fingers.
"I don't know if it was such a good idea letting the three of them go like that..." Haddock said with much doubt.
"Well, I don't want to clue Alyssa or Mary Ann on what could possibly be developing, so we will just have to trust they will do as their told" Chester sighed.
“Chester, not to be darkening the mood, but we really need to know exactly about this All-Seeing-Eye and what those four did on your ship” Haddock inquired.
“I think we should wait for Tintin to get back and I will divulge the details later tonight, mind you I've told you most of what I know…speaking of which, tell me again how you and Tintin met” Chester asked as they continued to work.

“It’s a long story mate, but we got time. Well it all started when Allan’s behavior became treacherous as and he had Tintin kidnapped as a prisoner on MY ship,” Haddock paused as he and Chester both began slowly planting using hand shovels.

“I’ve had similar problems toward the end with Gaspar, he increasingly became more defiant and had a fascination with the macabre,” Chester said grimly.

“I don’t want to know what it was he did but it sounds like you should have put him out of his misery” Haddock said with disgust.

“Aye, I know, well… enough about him continue with your story,” Chester prompted as he moved around Haddock to plant the next seeds.

“Well it was when he climbed through that window where Allan had me holed up drunk on whisky, that I first met that baby faced tuft ginger. Who would of thought he’d pull me out of the bottom of the barrel and turn my life upside down…in a good way!” Haddock pointed with a smile.

“That’s a nice ring you got, it’s silvery, yet dark and not in the least dainty” Chester commented.

“That was a gift from Tintin when I turned forty. I specially had his made for his twenty-first birthday,” he said taking off his ring to let Chester look at it.
The ring had two anchors and Haddock’s initials engraved on it, “That’s pretty clever, nice to look at but not tacky in the least” Chester complemented handing it back. “Continue…” Chester urged him on.
"It was then Tintin became the voice of reasoning and awakening for me..." Haddock contined.


XXXXXXXXXX


The country air was invigorating as they rode with the windows down. Alyssa’s long blond hair blew in the wind as Tintin sat comfortably up front with Snowy in his lap, while Enzo sat in the middle of the backseat just taking in the view. The lush green countryside was more than relaxing to view.

Tintin realized they were going on a different route but wasn’t sure if the way led to downtown Colchester.
“Alyssa, are we going somewhere else?” Tintin asked suspiciously.
“Oh come on, we got extra gas and money, let’s go run the errands up near Ipswich” she smiled.
“…but if we don’t get back within a reasonable time Captain Chester will have my job!” Enzo worried.
“Don’t be silly, my Uncle Frederick wouldn’t dare do that to you. Do you think if he didn’t like you so much that he would allow you to be here with his family?!” Alyssa reasoned.
“I mean I guess not…” Enzo didn’t know what to say.
“Besides, I was about to go bloody crazy if I didn’t get out of that house. I don’t get the car that much so this is exciting for me” she smiled.
Along the way they had to slow down to avoid some horsemen in the road, but the way was really scenic and nice. Alyssa began search the radio for some music and found a popular radio station.
“That’s more like it” she smiled as they raced down the road.

“Wow Alyssa, you put on a different front at the house” Tintin observed.
“Well I’m still the same but being at the house day in and out sometimes gets really stressful that sometimes you just have to let your hair down” she laughed.
“I see…” Tintin said as she turned he got a mouthful of her hair in his mouth.
“Oh sorry” she laughed. Snowy was excited as the cool air blew through his fur.
“Do you always have this much fun?” Enzo asked.
“Not really, usually the hubby wants to go with dad to the pub and drink with his shipmates, he takes me out about twice a month,” Alyssa frowned.
“Don’t you feel bad about not helping your mom back at the house” Tintin asked.
“Trust me, she won’t do everything… I’m sure I will have work to do when we get back” she emphasized.

They rode for almost thirty minutes, Tintin couldn’t deny that he felt pretty free and even Enzo seemed to be loosening up some. The town was nicely sprawled out as had little ports around until they finally reached an area inaccessible by car.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-20-2012 at 12:16 AM..

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#22
Old 12-12-2012, 04:21 AM

CHAPTER 10 (PART - C) end of chapter 10


“We’ll have to find somewhere to park” Alyssa said turning around. It took them almost ten minutes to find a parking spot.
“We’ll let’s get mum’s shopping list, then we’ll go get Archie’s tobacco and whisky,” Alyssa said taking out and viewing everything her mom had written down.
“This place is crowded” Enzo commented.
“It is a port town so you get some different folk in these parts” Alyssa explained. “Nathan and I came out here to drink with mum and dad one weekend…it was interesting,” she added.
"What happened?" Enzo asked curiously.
"Let's just say some people made some not so nice comments to my mom, and my dad went flying off the handle at them" Alyssa explained.

Small stands were placed in intervals and so were tiny trucks where they were selling fresh fish and some poultry.

“We’ll fill the car up with gas on the way back” Alyssa mentioned.
“We don’t want to get stranded on the side of the road and hours later explain to your mom, husband, and the captains why we got stranded in Ipswich” Tintin agreed.

“What do you think Ezno? You’re always so quiet, are you having fun?” Alyssa asked.
“Si, I mean yes, this is all new to me, I haven’t been here before so this new place is interesting” he smiled brightly.
“Let’s see… carrots, peas, beans, oats, sugar beets…” Alyssa said reading some of the list. “Ah! That stand over there!” she pointed where an old man stood.

Alyssa ran over to the stand and told the old man what she wanted. "Stocking up?" the old man commented. Alyssa smiled and nodded. He put the contents into her sack and almost looked at her flabbergasted when she handed him a five pound note.

“Young lady, I cannot make change for that” he shook his head.
“Oh no, can you hold my sack and I will be back with something smaller” she explained. The old man looked at her in agreement.
“Come on blokes, let’s go get Haddock some tobacco and whiskey at the store up the block,” Alyssa led them through the crowd.
“You really know your way around here,” Tintin commented as he, Enzo, and Snowy were jogging to keep up with her.
“Sometimes Mum and I sneak up this way from time to time” she replied as they arrived at the spirits shop.

They walked in the shop as it was kind of a small little store with all of the spirits behind the counter while the glass counter displayed many antique looking spirits with some high price tags. One bottle was supposed to be a hundred years old. Alyssa looked briefly to see what kind of spirit it was, "Rum, not my favorite..." she muttered under her breath.

“I’m sorry mam, but pets are not allowed in my store” a quirky man with a bowler hat, thin mustache, and a beard stated.
“I’m sorry Alyssa, me Snowy and Enzo will wait outside. We need to get Loch Lomond Alyssa, come on Snowy!” Tintin whistled for him to follow.
“Um, what the young man said” Alyssa looked at the quirky man. “Do you have tobacco as well?” she asked.

The tall lanky man looked her strangely, “Yes I do… but what is a fine lass such as yourself up here getting this so early in the day?” he asked suspiciously.
“My business is my own, are you going to sell to me or do I need to take my business elsewhere?” she retorted back.
The man gave her a reproachful stare with his dark eyes and villainous looking mustache and goatee. “Suit yourself!” he exclaimed taking a bottle of the Loch Lomond Haddock liked and a pouch of fine tobacco.
Alyssa ignored him and just handed the five pound note to him. He gave her another suspicious look, “Your husband must be a very successful man...” he commented as he handed her change and put her purchases in a paper sack.
“I guess if you measure success by money” she snatched her purchases and change dashing out the door.

“Is everything ok?” Enzo asked as she had a flustered look on her face.
“Let’s just go back and get the vegetables and go, that guy was a creep” she commented.
“Sorry about that” Tintin frowned.
“Don’t worry about it, let’s go” she shrugged off.
They returned to the old man’s stand and gave him florins instead of pound notes. “I’m sorry mam, I just don’t make that kind of money to be giving that kind of change” he replied sincerely.
“It’s ok sir, think nothing of it” Tintin smiled as he took the almost full sack of produce.
“We need to return, it’s getting closed to noon” Enzo reminded them.
Tintin fumbled out an old silvery pocket watch the captain gave him for his twenty-first birthday. “Great Snakes! It’s almost eleven O’clock!” Tintin gasped.
“Cativo! Chester is going to be mad at me!” Enzo stressed.

Right as they turned to return to the car, a young man wearing a grey trench coat zoomed past them almost knocking Enzo down.
“Ma che, sei scemo?! Piano, piano!” Enzo shouted in his native language not thinking.

“Sorry!” the young man turned around glancing at them for a moment with his hands up but locked gazes with Tintin just a moment longer. The resemblance was uncanny, too uncanny. His hair was the same color as Tintin’s only he had let his hair grow out as he had it tied back in a ponytail. His hair probably wasn’t much more than shoulder length. His eyes were a greenish hue like Tintin’s. His frame looked to be not much different. Each Tintin and the mysterious young man dropped their jaw in awe.

“Benton! You get back here now! You still owe us tribute!” a voice shouted from behind them.
“I’m sorry, I must go!” he apologized again bolting down the lane.
“No wait! Please come back!” Tintin shouted.
“Now we gotcha you little scoundrel!” three men came running upon them as one grabbed Tintin spinning him around almost causing Alyssa to drop the whisky and Enzo quickly grabbed the vegetable sack as Tintin had dropped it. The man looked threateningly as he began to shake Tintin but immediately let go when Snowy quickly reacted biting his leg.
“Ow you little devil!” the man shouted.
“That’s not him you idiot! He’s up there, after him!” another guy with a low hat shouted.
“I’ll deal with you later punk!” he pointed at Tintin as they took off after this enigmatic person.
“I’ll be back I got to help him” Tintin explained dashing after them. “Come on Snowy! After them!”

Tintin pursued after them for almost five minutes until they came upon a small car. The mysterious young man was trying to get into his car but wasn’t fast enough to get in and drive away.

“You know the deal Benton, cough it up, two quid right now or else!” one man yelled.
“That’s one week’s pay! I simply don’t have it, I got a family to feed!” the young man pleaded.
“So do we mate, now cough up the bloody money NOW!” a man screamed.
The three men were bigger than the mysterious young man in height and stature.
“You brigands!” Tintin shouted as he approached.
The three guys turned to see who the idiot they thought would be dumb enough to get in their way was.
“You! You want to settle the score of your stupid mutt biting my damned leg!” he shouted back.
“I’m not here to settle any score, but you three gentleman are going to turn around and walk-away right now!” Tintin threatened.

One guy had the young man by the cuff of his jacket and he quickly drew back and punched at him barely missing leaving a horrible dent in his car.
“Fine we’ll give the both of you a beating then!” one shouted.
One guy lunged and swung wildly at Tintin but Tintin ducked to his left and drew back his right arm and elbowed the man in the side knocking the wind out of him while Snowy delivered another good bite to his other leg.
“My car!” the young man cried taking a swing at the man who hit his car connecting with a solid right hook.

The man turned and grabbed him and punched him in the stomach. The other guy lunged at Tintin, with a left hook grazing Tintin on the side. The other guy on the ground was recovering quickly and got up only to be knocked down as Enzo appeared and jumped on top of him pulling him back down as they rolled around struggling.

“Tintin look out he’s got knife!” Alyssa cried as they caught up with them.
The other guy punched the mysterious young man again in the stomach. Alyssa saw what was happening simultaneously.

“Better go home girlie, unless you’re going to give me some love you’d best beat it?” the man with the knife smirked.
“Go to Hell you prick!” she spat. Tintin was taken aback by her ferocious language.

“Why you bitch!” he screamed angered that a mere woman would dare speak to him in such a tone. Tintin took that chance to grab his wrist with the knife. “I’ll gut you! You little cheeky piece of sh—“ his curse was lost as Tintin head butt him in the chin and kneed him in the stomach stunning him. This gave Tintin just enough time to give him a good left hook and a jab in the stomach then kick his knee out from under him making him fall.

Alyssa ran up with the bottle of whiskey and shattered it over the guy’s head that was choking the young man. He fell into a pile on the ground smelling like a distillery.
The young man regained his breath and Tintin ran to him, “Are you ok?”
“Yes, thanks, Benton…Benton Hadley” he breathed.
“Well met, Tintin here” he said putting his hand out as Benton shook it firmly. “That’s not you’re your real name is it mate? Well at any rate you’ve earned my friendship follow me, and I’ll get you another bottle of whiskey…” he said urgently. “Before they get up, there’s another spirits store on the way home, let’s go!”

Quickly Tintin, Alyssa, Snowy, and Enzo got into the car which luckily was only a few car lengths away.
“Sorry for getting you into this mess Alyssa, Enzo, but Snowy is used to it” Tintin apologized.
“It’s ok, you just need to promise me you will protect me from Chester’s wrath” Enzo said sheepishly.
“Of course I will” Tintin nodded as Alyssa started the car.
“Are you kidding? I haven’t had this much fun in quite some time!” she laughed. Tintin and Enzo just glanced at each other as Snowy jumped in Tintin’s lap and barked.

“Well at least he lives along the way home” Alyssa commented. They stopped at a smaller spirits store and the whisky was a bit pricey but Tintin still bought it. They stopped once more for gas and continued back towards Colchester for almost fifteen minutes until they arrived in a small home off a side road. Once they parked at Benton Hadley’s place, all kind of thoughts began running through his mind. This meeting had been no coincidence and he needed to find out what.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-20-2012 at 12:36 AM..

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#23
Old 12-13-2012, 10:48 PM

CHAPTER 11 (PART - A)


Tintin could feel the anticipation building up in his mind, something in him knew that there was a strong connection with this young man, could they be related? Alyssa parked the car in the driveway. The guy lived in a small stately home. There were a couple of bigger houses not too far away so Tintin surmised that they lived not too far from the landlord. There were wheat fields in the distance as well as tractors and a small pasture not too far away with a couple of cows grazing peacefully.

The scenery was relaxing, but this was a bit much for Tintin with all the excitement and yet the peaceful setting. They all got out of the car as Benton stood with his grey bowler on leading them to his front door.

“Welcome to my home friends, it’s not much…” he welcomed. He opened the door and led them into a small den with two sofas and a small television by the front window. The furnishings were simple as an old rocking chair also sat near the window. The floor was littered with wooden blocks. The windows had long violet drapes as the walls were a lavender color. High up on a mantel above the fire place sat various glass jars that were all of a purple hue. The floors were made of hardwood and quite clean despite the mess of toys on the floor. Benton took off his coat and hat putting them on a coat rack behind the door.

“Someone must like the color purple” Alyssa commented.
“Yea, that’s my wife, she loves purple” Benton laughed.

That moment Alyssa and Enzo could not stop comparing the uncanny resemblances of Tintin and Benton. The nose curves were exactly the same, the few freckles they had were almost in the same places on his face, and the green color for their eyes matched perfectly. They couldn’t believe it.

“Please, sit down,” Benton motioned as he disappeared down a small hallway.

“He’s married with little ones!” Tintin thought amazed as they sat on the sofa finally noticing that in one corner a small castle like structure was built with the wooden blocks. The fire burned low by the fire place with a strong iron cage to keep curious children safe. A small wooden chest lay in the corner with more toys. More vague memories began flooding back to him; and in a distant past he remembered building a small town with another boy, possibly his brother, making a shop, a fire, police, and train station using wooden blocks. He could hear lots of laughter in this memory. He remembered lots of smiling and his mom and dad helping them even though he couldn’t remember their faces as a single tear began to roll down his cheek.

“Tintin, are you ok?” Alyssa asked with concern noticing it almost looked like he was about to cry.
Enzo glanced at him in confusion trying to make sense of what was happening.
“Yes…” Tintin sniffled lightly rubbing his eyes returning back to the present.
Alyssa could see that this was an important moment for him and did not want ruin it.
“What time is it?” Enzo asked nervously.
“What did we tell you back in town Enzo?” Alyssa said a little annoyed.
“I’m sorry…” Enzo shifted uncomfortably.

They sat for a couple of minutes and could hear more footsteps and a woman’s voice as Benton returned back to the main room. Tintin looked up eagerly to see who this young man’s wife was. Benton came back out slowly leading two beautiful children, a boy and a girl almost identical in look. They both had blond hair while the girl had her father’s green eyes and the boy had a greenish hazel color.

“Behave now, we have guests” Benton spoke to his children.
“Who’s here dad?” the little boy asked curiously.
“Someone who helped daddy” Benton smiled as the children entered the living den waving. Suddenly a loud scratching was heard at the door.
“Oh Snowy, we forgot poor Snowy outside, do you mind if I let my dog in?” Tintin frowned.
“Of course!” Benton opened the door and Snowy came running in. The kids came over to pet him for a couple of minutes then returned back to their toys as Snowy lied next to Tintin.

Alyssa and Enzo smiled at the beautiful children as they quickly returned back to playing with their toys on the floor.

A woman walked in wearing a long green dress with a small brown house coat. She didn’t appear to be a model of beauty, but more of a ‘Plane Jane’ kind of look. She had long golden brown hair braided all the way to her lower back. Her face was delicate looking and she stood only a few inches shorter than her husband. She had light amber colored brown eyes. One could tell by looking at her she was an active woman. She looked very lean and athletic.

“Hello everyone! My husband tells me how you stood up for him against those nasty scoundrels who strong arm folk around here,” she replied in a sonorous tone.
“It was nothing, I wasn’t going to stand there and let an innocent man get robbed” Tintin nodded.
“Lucille, this is Tintin, at least that’s what he says…” he smiled jokingly introducing them.
“I’m sorry, but could the both of you tell me your names again?” Benton asked politely.
“I’m Alyssa, pleasure to meet you” she smiled.
“I am called Enzo” he bowed politely.
“No need to bow here, no royalty in this family” Lucille laughed.

“These are my children Matthew and Heidi” Benton finished. The two children looked up momentarily to acknowledge their father’s introduction and quickly went back to playing with their toys. Heidi retrieved an old doll from the toy box that was made of rags.
Lucille suddenly became affixed to Tintin’s face and kept looking back at her husband.
“Holy mackerel! You two look like you could be the same person!” Lucille exclaimed the more she stared at them both.
“Yes, the resemblance is amazing isn’t?” Benton said as he too began to look at Tintin.
Alyssa and Enzo too could definitely see it the more they looked between the both of them.
“The facial structure, everything about them, the color hair, the eyes, even the stature…” Lucille pointed out.
“Dear could you fix us some tea?” Benton asked politely.
“Certainly” she dashed off to the kitchen.

“So Mr. Tintin, what is your last name?” Benton asked a bit more seriously.
“Truthfully, I don’t know… I really don’t have any birth records other than what I’ve been told--I've never really used a 'real' last name” he replied sadly.
“Horrible,” Benton couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Enzo began playing with the kids on the floor making small blocked structures. Matthew began to watch Enzo carefully stack the blocks as Enzo was building a tower. Heidi remained content whispering to her doll near the toy box.

“So what do you remember of your past?” Benton sighed taking a deep breath.
“My earliest memory was maybe about nine maybe ten?” Tintin confessed.
“An orphanage?” Benton asked curiously.
“Yes, that’s correct…” Tintin nodded.
“Outside Brussels?” Benton continued.
“Yes!” Tintin nodded liking where this was leading.

“That’s where I was too!” Benton said in amazement. He quickly dashed back down the hall for a moment and returned with a really old photograph. It was black and white and a dingy manila color on all of the edges. The picture was of a young woman wearing a long white gown with her hair up holding a little boy’s hand wearing similar Sunday clothing that Tintin remembered, while a young man with a thin mustache and goatee held another boy’s hand dressed in the same outfit. Both boys were identical in appearance. The presumed father was dressed in a pair of trousers with dress shoes, dress shirt covered by a stately vest with a chain hooked to his right side. He also wore an old puffy hat.


Tintin stared at the photo and could not take his eyes off of it. Could this be his mother and father? He felt warmth from the photograph as it looked that the background was at a train station, but because the photograph was a full picture of the family, not much was revealed other than some train tracks and a field.
Tintin turned the photograph over and there was writing on it. It looked like the photo had been exposed to some water on the back because a lot of the ink had smeared and was no longer legible except for the a few words.

‘Pierre L------ & Elizabeth Hadley & Benton & Fenton at age 7…’ and that was all that was written.
“So they were never married?! Pierre’s last name looks different from Elizabeth’s” Tintin pointed out.
“Yes, I know… the whole family is shrouded in mystery” Benton said darkly.
“Ok, I gave you my account, now you tell me your story” Tintin questioned.
“Maybe you are my long lost brother Fenton” Benton said clasping a firm hand on Tintin’s shoulder drawing a small tear from his eyes.

A flood of emotions were beginning to overtake Tintin. Too much at once it seemed so overwhelming; but, Tintin had to listen, he had to know the truth or as much as it that he could get from Benton. Enzo and Alyssa sat quietly both amazed at what was unfolding before them.

“Tea time!” Lucille came in holding a large silver tray with a tea pot and numerous tea cup and saucers.
“Thanks!” Enzo and Alyssa said as Lucille poured them tea.
“Come Fenton, I mean Tintin…” Benton said leading Tintin back down the hallway he came from earlier.
“Don’t you want any tea?” Lucille asked.
“We will. We’re in the middle of something very important right now dear, we will return shortly,” Benton nodded. Snowy got up and trotted behind them with a keen ear.

“So are they learning anything?” Lucille asked looking to Alyssa and Enzo.
Enzo shook his head, “I am trying not to listen as it is none of my business” he said busy showing Matthew how to build a high tower without all the blocks falling down.
“It sounds pretty serious” Alyssa admitted.
“So are you two just friends of his or what?” Lucille sat down in the rocking chair as they began to drink their tea.
“Yes, we are just friends” Alyssa nodded not really wanting to go into too much detail without Tintin being present.


Tintin and Benton went back to his bedroom, it was decked out in purple wall paper, drapes, and even the furniture was all painted purple, even an old antique dresser. The bed sheets and quilts were purple too.

“Lucille really likes purple doesn’t she?” Tintin grinned.
“Oh yes, purple is definitely her color” Benton nodded as he began to look through his closet. Finally he took out an old shoe box.

“These are the only mementos I have left of mom and dad” Benton said taking out two silvery lockets on silver chains handing them to Tintin. Tintin opened the lockets to see one more picture of his presumed father and the other of his presumed mother. Each locket had initials engraved on it. One locket had P.L. engraved while the other locket had E.H.

“So tell me your story” Tintin urged him.
“Just as you were I was put in the same orphanage but for some reason they kept us apart” Benton explained. “Do you not remember when you arrived at the orphanage?” Benton asked curiously.

“No, that’s about as far back as my memory goes…it’s all foggy somehow, but I’ve been having dreams as of late about our childhood perhaps?” Tintin paused for a second.

“You know, I think I do remember seeing you but I was told you weren’t my brother and they called me ‘Tin’ thus how I came up with my pen name Tintin,” Tintin continued.

“They had only half of a birth certificate on me with my original name Benton. They couldn’t figure out father’s last name so I got mother’s last name instead which you know is Hadley. Oddly enough, I only remember seeing you a few more times and shortly thereafter I was adopted by an old widow in Manchester England by the name of Wendy Hadley,” Benton paused for a moment to show Tintin his old crumpled and half burnt birth certificate. The date of birth was missing, his parents’ name except Hadley was missing, so his last name was listed as Hadley.

“Do you remember before being at the orphanage?” Tintin asked eagerly.

“Like you, my past is a mystery as well. There are only bits and pieces of my younger childhood I can remember. I also have a family tree of the Hadley’s. Continuing on, two weeks after I moved in with Ms. Hadley in her estate, which was only a two story home with a couple acres of land, it mysteriously caught fire one night and burned to the ground. Ms. Hadley died in the fire,” Benton paused again pulling up his shirt showing Tintin where had been burned.

“How did you survive?” Tintin couldn’t wait to hear the next part.

“Her cat woke me up, and I tried to save Ms. Hadley, but at the time I called her grandmother because for the first time I felt I was with someone I could trust then I lost her...but you saw my wounds. My wife’s parents were in Manchester during the tragedy, I only had the clothes on my back and this shoe box of memories. They took me in their home and I have lived with them ever since. I of course ended up marrying their only daughter Lucille. They own this property and it was given to us as a wedding gift. They aren’t extremely wealthy but they are fairly well off,” Benton paused again.

“So you went to school and worked in this area all of this time?” Tintin asked in disbelief.
“Yes, I worked in banking for some time, but it was too boring, so I became a fisherman because…” Benton stopped.
“You like adventure!” Tintin finished.
“Exactly!” Benton nodded. “So how long were you in the orphanage?”

“I do remember seeing you as your hair was always unkempt. It wasn’t too much longer after the last time I saw you that a middle aged widow by the name of Mrs. Finch came and adopted me. I was about eleven I want to say. She owns an apartment building down just downtown in Brussels. She kept me busy always doing chores for her and made me go to school which I am glad for her discipline she taught me. She was very strict with me and I had curfews I absolutely had to abide by or she would have tossed me out,” Tintin sighed.

“It was hard work, but Mrs. Finch showed me love in her own way. I got a break when I turned fifteen at school when my writing talents in journalism were discovered by a news agency. I started writing about the locale and the happenings and next thing you know I had a job. When I turned sixteen I became a full time reporter selling my stories to agencies who would buy them. Mrs. Finch was really proud of me and gave me my own apartment and charged me nothing for the first few months. Next thing you know I ended up traveling the world! Even traveling as far as the moon!” Tintin recounted. Benton gave him a skeptical look when he mentioned the moon.

Both brothers were enthralled by each others' tales of growing up.
“Benton? Mr. Tintin?” Lucille’s voice could be heard.
“One more second dear,” Benton cried out.
“One more thing before we stop” Benton said taking out a small stone that was perfectly carved on the edges as if it was a piece of a puzzle. The etching was yellow and had a foreign looking type of hieroglyphics on it.
“Wow, what is it?” Tintin was intrigued.
“I don’t know, but Ms. Hadley told me to protect it with my life the night before that awful fire” Benton explained putting it back in the box.
“Wow, I would really like to study that” Tintin replied.
“I would lend it to you, but just not yet” Benton smiled returning the shoe box back in the closet.
“Let’s join the others, we’ll talk more in private later” Benton promised as they returned back to the living den.


XXXXXXXXXXX


“You do realize it’s almost three O’clock?” Alyssa mentioned as they entered the living den.
“Oh no, didn’t think it was that late!” Tintin stressed.
“Is there a problem?” Lucille asked with concern.
“I’m afraid we are staying with friends and family and we were supposed to be back before lunch” Tintin explained.
“Well we just had tea and biscuits” Lucille explained.
“They’re going to have us for lunch if we don’t hurry back” Alyssa agreed with Tintin.
“I’m too scared to see Captain Chester when we return” Enzo said nervously.
“Here’s my phone number, ring us later and the two of you can talk some more” Alyssa said handing Benton their phone number on a piece of paper.
"Call the house tomorrow if you can" Tintin beamed.

“We know the way back if mom doesn’t take away the car privileges. They’re staying at 778 Boxted Road toward Colchester” Alyssa mentioned.
Benton wrote down the address, “I think I may know where that is, maybe we can meet up tomorrow again?” Benton finished.
“I’m sure it won’t be an issue,” Tintin said as they walked out the door to the car. Snowy dashed out the door and jumped in the car unable to believe everything he saw or heard.

“Talk to you soon…Fenton, my brother,” Benton said whispered as he watched them drive away.

Tintin had butterflies in his stomach full of excitement. He could not wait to share with Captain Haddock and Chester everything that had just transpired. "So my real name is Fenton...Fenton Hadley?" he thought to himself and liked how it sounded. Could this all be really happening or was it all just a dream he kept thinking expecting to wake up in his bed.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-21-2012 at 01:20 AM..

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#24
Old 12-14-2012, 04:57 PM

CHAPTER 11 (PART - B) end of chapter 11



Tintin had to be realistic, he knew that before he got his hopes too high he needed to brace himself for the possibility of a huge disappointment although there were just too many coincidences. This had to be right. He knew that he and his friends were going to get an earful from both Captain Haddock, Chester. Mary Ann he thought may not be so upset except for the fact they had her car.

“So what are you thinking?” Alyssa asked as she could tell Tintin was reflecting.
“It’s so much to grasp, I never really knew that I had a brother all this time…” Tintin trailed off back into his mind.

Enzo sat back with Snowy petting him nervously. The more nervous Enzo became the more vigorous he stroked Snowy, but Snowy didn’t mind it as he liked to be scratched.

“What are you thinking Enzo?” Alyssa asked him.
“What do I think? I think Lucille is a nice woman, Benton is a nice host, and his children are really wonderful” he commented.

Alyssa continued driving not looking forward to the tongue lashing she would receive from her mother for keeping the car out too long and that the blame would most likely fall completely on her, but she figured Tintin would take a bit of it as well from her uncle and Captain Haddock. It wasn’t long before they finally returned back home. Alyssa, Tintin, and Enzo just looked at one another waiting for the barrage of tongue lashing to come bursting out of the front door once they stepped out of the car. It wasn’t more than ten seconds the front burst open and out rushed Chester, Haddock, and Mary Ann. At first their faces were of concern and worry.

“Alyssa! Where on earth have you been?” Mary Ann came out running.
“It’s ok mom, we uh, ran into some trouble” Alyssa was looking at Tintin.
“What kind of trouble?” Mary Ann asked worriedly.
“We took the car for a run where we usually go once a week” Alyssa whispered.
By this time Haddock and Chester had already arrived outside.

“Enzo, whose idea was it?” Chester asked him seriously.
Enzo’s eyes darted to Tintin then to Alyssa and he only nodded slightly quite anxiously.

“Tintin! Thousands of Thunderin’ Typhoons! Where on God’s creation have all of you been?!” Haddock rumbled to him. “Don’t lie lad, you know how I despise lies…” Haddock reminded him grabbing him by the shoulders.

“What?! All of you drove up to Ipswich!?” Mary Ann shrieked.
“What!?” Chester and Haddock echoed loudly.
“Here it comes,” Alyssa thought.
“So you’ve been out joy riding all this time while we’ve been slaving away here? That’s not right Alyssa, I’ve brought you up better than that” Mary Ann went on.
“No mom, we got what you asked for, the produce, and uncle Archie’s whisky and tobacco” Alyssa defended herself.

“That’s not the point girl! I know you’re a grown lady but we’ve been waiting since almost nine this morning. It’s now nearly four O’clock! I left dishes for you to do and you can dry the clothes. I got to start dinner,” Mary Ann walked away with the produce sack in her arms. Alyssa followed her mother in the house to attempt to explain what had happened that day.

“Enzo, I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt, but you are still going to help Tintin out in the field for the next few hours, we’ll talk more about this later…” Chester remained calm knowing Enzo wasn’t really an adventuresome type and almost never deviated from orders.
“Yes sir,” Enzo nodded.
“Good, now go get changed” Chester said slapping him on the back.
“Tintin, where’s my whisky first of all?” he asked. Tintin quickly handed him the bag of the whisky and tobacco.
“Well at least you didn’t forget” his anger subsided. “We still need to discuss what happened, meet me up in the room and get ready to work in the fields with Enzo for a few hours,” Haddock turned around to walk back in the house.

Tintin knew that waiting until the Captain was ready to speak was always a more favorable time from past experiences, even before they became a couple. That Captain was more stubborn than any mule that existed and when his mind was set there would be no turning back.

Tintin quickly returned to the room figuring once the captain’s anger subsided, a little bit of effortless teasing calmed him down quite nicely. Alyssa was already busy washing dishes while explaining what really happened in Ipswich. Mary Ann seemed to be listening carefully. He noticed a couple of baskets of clothes that needed to be hung outside so he figured she’d be out doing that as well. Chester and Haddock were wearing what they worked in yesterday. Chester was busy trying to open the bottle as they had two shot glasses ready. Tintin returned upstairs to his room to change into those grimy clothes. It wasn’t long until Haddock came in with a nice glass full of whisky.

“Tintin, I need to know what happened from you” Haddock said sitting on the day bed.
“I’m sorry Tintin I don’t want to hear this” Snowy snuck out the door.
“Snowy! You traiter!” Tintin accused as he watched Snowy disappear downstairs.
Tintin shut the door as Haddock took a drink looking at him but noticed he had an envelope in his hand.
“What’s that?” Tintin asked curiously.
“It’s a telegram from Cuthbert, we need to return to Marlinspike, we won’t be able to accompany Chester and Enzo to Glasgow,” he sounded a bit disappointed.
“Well Captain you had to know this holiday was going to end sooner or later. We all have our own lives… Captain Chester has his with I’m not sure… and you have yours with me,” Tintin explained nicely.

“I like your optimism my boy, you’ve always been able to cheer me up. It seems Marlinspike was attacked again after we left. Luckily neither Cuthbert nor Nestor was hurt; furthermore, we don’t know if we are still being pursued. We need to return, so Thursday we are taking the ferry back home” Haddock informed him.

“Well that’s a good thing…” Tintin smiled. The Captain sighed and took another drink.
“I want to know where you went” Haddock finally came out with it.
“Well, we did go to Ipswich and we got into a fight with some knavish brigands” Tintin explained partly.
“Tintin, you know I don’t like it when you go out getting yourself in over your head in trouble” Haddock’s tone of voice changed getting a little more aggressive.

Tintin noticed how handsome Haddock looked in that grey tank top and with those sailor pants. His muscles were bulging all over his hairy body with only a little beer gut.
“Those three were nothing, we took care of them fairly quickly” Tintin dismissed Haddock’s worry.

“Don’t try to make light of it landlubber! You know how I hate when you do that! What if something would have happened to you?! Then what?” Haddock seemed to get more agitated. Tintin began to undress to change and Haddock noticed Tintins lean smooth legs and nice round buttocks.

“I had Enzo and Alyssa who were both quite helpful” Tintin nodded walking over to Haddock sitting on his lap. Haddock put an arm tightly around Tintin holding him in place.

“Stop trying to seduce me you little siren of a ginger devil!” Haddock tried to sound agitated but failed.

“Captain, I have a twin brother” Tintin came out with it.
“What?!” Haddock sounded flabbergasted.
Haddock smelled Tintin’s breath, “Have you been drinking behind my back laddie?” he started to smile looking him in the eye putting his drink down turning Tintin’s cheek.
“No captain, I’m serious, the person we helped was someone who looked like me to the hilt” Tintin said seriously.
“You didn’t get hit on the head did you?” Haddock started rubbing his head to feel for bumps.
“No I didn’t captain, but Alyssa put a bump on the other guy who was choking poor Benton” Tintin explained.
“Two of you eh?” an evil grin spread across Haddock’s face.
“He’s married captain…with two children,” Tintin replied.

Haddock couldn’t even picture it, as he remembered how Martine pursued Tintin for a short time; but, that didn’t work out in her favor. Haddock admitted to Tintin he was more than little worried for a couple of weeks. It was especially difficult while he was gone on a commissioned delivery to from Greece to Paris for a large sum of money. While he was away Tintin became ill with a bad fever. All of this happened before they officially became a couple. It was shortly thereafter that Tintin put any worry that Haddock had to rest making him a very happy man.

“Is he as cute as you?” Haddock whispered.
“Close, but I’m cuter” Tintin laughed. Haddock embraced Tintin for a long passionate kiss as their lips and tongues met, but before things could get too hot someone began knocking at their door.
“Tintin, it’s me Enzo, are you coming?”
“Thundering Typhoons he’ll be there when I’m done with him!” Haddock shouted annoyed.
“Sorry…” Enzo walked away.
“Captain!” Tintin gave him a somewhat mortified look for yelling at Enzo.
“Tintin!” Haddock said holding him closer for one last kiss.
“I found out my name is Fenton” Tintin got up putting on his grimy pants.
“Fenton you say? Not bad… let’s go downstairs lad, but this still doesn’t let you off the hook completely” Haddock reminded him.

They returned downstairs as Tintin joined Enzo outside in the garden working and plowing more land. Alyssa was out there with them hanging washed clothes with as much clothes line as they had. Haddock and Chester were having another drink and comparing Tintin’s and Alyssa’s story while Mary Ann listened and prepared dinner.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-21-2012 at 01:33 AM..

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#25
Old 12-16-2012, 12:15 AM

CHAPTER 12 (PART - A)


The next day on the Sea Serpent was a tense one. Allan’s crewmen were getting restless. The original crew members continued on with their duties, but Allan’s handpicked crew members helped him with special missions. The daily duties were getting piled up on the original crew members and they were getting sick and tired of having to carry the slack. Arguments and fist fights erupted and even a knife fight occurred.

Allan got so sick of it all that he announced to all the crew on the ship that those who participated in the next brawl would be shot by him personally. No more fights took place but Allan’s members of his inner circle were also getting restless. Why were they delaying the search for Tintin? Allan and Herr Wagner were having more dialogue as of late and Lento didn’t know if that was good thing or not.

Lento knew that Allan may not have been extremely book smart, but his common sense was impeccable he noted on many levels. The fact that someone who seemed to have come from a poor background, Allan was fluent not only in English but in German and French, but preferred German because it sounded stronger. Allan had called him, Ivan, Mikhail, Tom, and Gaspar to meet up in the conference room, also a gambling room amongst high ranking crew members.

Everyone had been sitting in there for almost half of an hour and was beginning to get antsy. Gaspar kept pounding the table with a smug look on his face slipping a curse word every other minute.
“What’s wrong with you?” Lento finally asked.
“My girls, my girls!” he pouted.
“What do you mean my girls?” Lento looked confused.
“Herr Wagner said he needs one… and won’t be returning her” Gaspar snorted.
His bulky frame heaved with angst and dissatisfaction. He looked as if he were going to bust out of black tank top. He took off his black bandana revealing his bald head.

“Wait a minute? Your girls?!” Lento exclaimed.
“Yes, my girls! You got a problem with that slinky!” Gaspar said offensively.
“I’m just confused, I haven’t seen any girls” Lento clarified.
“Good, no one’s supposed to see them” Gaspar smiled darkly.
Lento began to think for a moment and began to realize what they may be doing later that night. He didn’t like doing these kinds of dark rituals he grabbed rubbed his temples.
“Why you ask, do you know something?” Gaspar wasn’t sure of what Lento was getting at.
“Don’t worry about it, you wouldn’t understand if I told you” Lento sighed.
“I’m getting tired of your riddles lasagna man!” Gaspar glared at him.

Lento only looked stoically at him without emotion. Luckily Allan entered the room with a confused look on his face as he took his seat. He rolled his eyes for a moment as if he was forming a thought.

“It seems for right now we got a side mission to accomplish,” Allan sighed shaking his head as if he really didn’t agree with it.
“What is it?” Gaspar quickly interjected. Lento looked at his two Russian associates as they scowled at Gaspar.
“Herr Wagner wants us to capture the remaining Crimson Head gang members…alive!” he almost thundered.
“But why?!” Gaspar was quick to respond again.
“I don’t know…revenge?! All I know is that is what we are supposed to do…in the meantime, Tintin will most likely disappear from our sites!” Allan seemed more than a bit perturbed by this new order.
“Well, if that’s what he wants, I suggest we not keep him waiting” Lento shrugged. “How hard could tracking them be? You said you had vast networks in London Admiral!” Lento finished his snide remark, but it was wasted as Allan was too preoccupied with the order.

Allan became silent for a minute then his mood lightened considerably. “Ah, I know some ‘old friends’ who owe me a favor. I’m guessing these may be the last of this ‘gang’ so flushing them out with another should be quite easy to eliminate the competition,” Allan completed his thought.
“What are you saying boss?” Tom spoke finally.
“It’s simple Tom, we let another gang do our work for us,” he grinned at his solution.
“Oh I get it! Ole Tessie!” Tom blurted out idiotically.
“Shhh… don’t go blurting out all of my secrets!” Allan scolded.
“I’m sorry boss…” Tom frowned.
“Ok, I know what we’re going to do…Mikhail, I want to take you with me and Tom. Sorry Gaspar, you will need to stay behind, can’t take any more chances getting unwanted attention” Allan finished.

“So when do we leave?” Mikhail asked absently.
“Right now, we will be back by evening” Allan grinned.
“Damn! I wanted to kill!” Gaspar pounded the table.
“I said there will be no killing, Herr Wagner wants them alive!” he reminded Gaspar.
“We’ll be back in our cabin if you need us” Lento stood up leaving the room motioning for Ivan to follow. Lento grew more distrustful and disliking of Gaspar as each day passed.

Allan, Tom, and Mikhail left the room leaving Gaspar alone with his twisted thoughts.

XXXXXXXX

“Lento, the man is becoming more and more of a…” Ivan whispered as they were returning to their cabin.

“Shhh…we’ll talk more when we return to the room,” he warned. Lento noticed more and more of Allan’s special crew as time went on making mental note of where their loyalties lied. He already knew what Ivan wanted to discuss for it too was on his mind. It was about Gaspar. He was a more than ruthless killer and would turn on someone in a second, even if they had the same goal. Lento felt that Gaspar was a loose cannon and a time may come when he may need to be dealt with. After five minutes of walking through the network of corridors, they returned to their room.

“He’s a very dangerous man…” Ivan said as he took a seat on his cot.
“I know…” Lento said going to his knap sack to take out a book.
“What are we going to do about it?” Ivan asked with concern.
“Nothing right now, you just focus on making sure you and Mikhail know where your true loyalty lies” Lento whispered. Ivan nodded with understanding.
“Leave this problem to me, I will address this issue as opportunity presents itself” Lento explained.
“You think Mikhail and I could get rid of him?” mused.
“I don’t think you or Mikhail cold beat him if it came to it. He’s much more dangerous than he appears. No, right now he has his use, but I have another way of dealing with him, I’ll just need some time” Lento said opening his book.

Ivan thought about Lento’s last statement but knew that Lento had never led them wrong for the past couple years they have worked together. He nodded silently and quietly stared out the window.
__________________
Art by Lost Writer

Last edited by Kole_Locke; 12-22-2012 at 06:42 PM..

 


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