The sky has beginning to give way to nightfall as the sky began to change its color from a bright blue to a hazy yet slightly light shade of pink. Tintin watched as the sun slowly disappear beneath the clouds. "Tintin!" a voice called out. Tintin slowly forgot about his sudden revelry in the sun and went downstairs to the foyer at Marlinspike Hall.
"Tintin, my boy!" Captain Haddock said as he greeted his friend and former adventure sidekick. "You daydreamin' about the sun again?" "Sorry I'm late," Tintin said. "Where are Miwa, Meimei, and Benton's kids?" "In the main hall," Haddock said. "Those wee landlubbers kept asking and asking when you're going to play with them soon." "I'll go right now," Tintin said while holding Snowy in his arms. "Thanks for watching them."
"Brother dear!" Benton said as his slightly-younger-than-he-is twin brother came into the main hall. Tintin smiled as he saw Miwa and Meimei playing a ball game with their baby brother Ming Shen. Matthew and Heidi were both coloring pictures with crayons. As Tintin picked up the baby and sat cross-legged by the the chiar Benton sat in, Lucille happened to walk in. "Well, there's my babysitting brother-in-law," she said, eyeing Tintin with the baby. "Hi Lucille," Tintin said. "Anything new yet?" "Nothing yet," Lucille said. "But sometime, I'll keep you posted."
"Guys, quiet down!" Benton exclaimed. "The Le Petit Vingtieme radio program's about to begin!" Tintinedged closer as Benton turned up the radio. "...and now for the 4 o'clock news," a tinny, almost static man's voice said. "Details have just circulated of strange disappearances of brand-new coal shipments at the docks of Belgium. Nobody knows why the coal deliveries have suddenly vanished. In other news, people have just reported mysterious power outages in the streets of everywhere are ensuring that everybody remains in their homes until this situation is..."
Before the radio program could finish its last statement, the lights suddenly went out. "What the...?" Tintin wondered as the lamp automatically flickered off. Little Ming Shen began to cry. "No no no baby, don't cry," Tintin said, rocking the baby in an effort to comfort him. "I'm scared," Heidi said, hugging Matthew. Miwa and Meimei stopped their game and began to look around.
"Well!" Benton said, surveying his surroundings. "Now there's something you don't see every day." "But how did the power go out?" Lucille said. "I don't get it." Finally getting the baby to calm down, Tintin stood up. "Something must be wrong with faulty wiring in here." "TINTIN!" Captain Haddock shouted from the foyer. "What is it, Captain?" Tintin said. "Thunderin' typhoons, what is going on in here?!" the Captain was already beginning to rant. "I was just talking to Nestor and mindin' my own business when BOOM! The lights just turned off!" "Whoa slow down, Captain," Tintin said. "There's got to be a reason why the power went out."
Suddenly, Benton came out to see if Tintin was still in one piece. "Brother, what's going on?" he asked. "Everything's fine," Tintin said. "The Captain's just raving at me again because the power is out." "Lad, is there anything we're gonna do?" Haddock asked. "We can't just sit here on our butts and think this through."
"Right," Tintin said. "Let's go and see why the power got out in the first place."
As soon as they were outside, Tintin and Benton checked the coal box that was used to make the power in the estate run efficiently. "I don't understand," Benton said. "I just checked the col box this morning and it was running just fine."
"It must be the faulty wiring in this joint," Tintin said. "But...disappearing coal? Now there's a mystery." "A mystery?" Benton asked. "Correct," Tintin said. "And you're gonna go and see what it is?" Benton asked again. "I can't," Tintin said. "I got to look after the kids. Besides, what with these little girls, they really need a lot of attention. After all, exploring the shipment docks requires the mind and expertise of a sailor and mechanic." "Who's the ideal person for that?" Benton said. Tintin smiled.
"Hey, Ginger Boy," Malina greeted Tintin as she and her friend Enzo Zuppino arrived at Marlinspike Hall. "What do you want?" "You see, the power went out, and they said that nobody knows why," Tintin said. "Hey I got the same problem too!" Malina said. "The power went off at my house too!" "Same here," Enzo said.
"Yea, but people said the new coal shipments have stopped coming," Benton said. "Maybe that's what everybody else is thinking!" "Of course," Tintin said, "but we don't have that kind of knowledge to understand this situation. So that's why we called you two. To see why there's no single piece of coal left in this town."
Malina pondered Tintin's notion, then came up with an idea. "Tintin," she said, "that idea sounds just too crazy enough to work. But if there's a coal mystery to be solved, then count me in!" "Me too!" Enzo said. "If there's gonna be a coal mystery, then let's go solve a coal mystery!" "Okay, but first things first," Tintin said. "You guys need to track down the coal shipments in order to find out where the missing coal's gone. That's means you both need to go down to the shipyards for that." "You can count on us," Malina said.
As they both left, Haddock approached Tintin and asked, "You're making those two go find out the coal mystery? Why don't you go with them too?" "Because I have to look after the kids," Tintin said. "Besides, Malina's a great friend and partner in adventure. What could possibly go wrong?"
To be continued...