Note: Hello there, readers! If you read the first chapter, you will see that there are errors in my writing, for example, the conversations. I'll try to edit them, so if you're reading this note now, it means that I haven't edited the chapters yet. My way of writing changes at Chapter 11, and I'll try editing all chapters in the writing format as Chapter 11. Happy reading!
Point of View: Tintin
"Good morning."
I told Snowy, who was lying beside the bed on the floor, as I wake up. It's seven o' clock in the morning and I stretched my arms to start the day. "I think it's going to be a beautiful day."
I put down my legs, put on my fluffy bed slippers and placed my warm robe on my shoulders. I opened the door and sniffed the morning scent. Nestor passed by and greeted me. I greet back. I walked along the house and opened a few curtains here and there, when the doorbell rang.
I heard Nestor coming by to open the door, but I told him I'll handle it. I walked down the steps of the stairs and opened the door. Two identical men greeted me a good morning.
"My good old friends, Thompson and Thomson!" I say. "How are you two?" I ask. "Oh, we're very fine, Tintin," Thomson says. "There's less work to do."
"Well," I say. "What made you come here so early? It's just seven in the morning." They look at each other and look back at me. "There's a thief scampering about the neighborhood. We've been tracking the thief down for days but we haven't caught the culprit yet," Thompson says. "The thief has been victimizing people, going in their houses through windows during the night and steals numerous items of people. Be up and about, this thief might target Marlinspike Hall next," Thomson continues.
"Thanks for warning us, gentlemen," I say. "Would you like to come in for something to eat?"
"Ah! Certainly. Thank you very much," the two men say together.
Thompson and Thomson explain more about the thief as they nibble down biscuits. "Fortunately," Thompson says. "There's someone from the Interpol who is seriously tracking down the thief. We assume that that person already knows the location of the thief."
"So why is the thief still victimizing some people if your person already knows the location?" I ask. "Well, we only assume that," Thomson says. "Who is that person?" I ask them. "Sorry, Tintin, we cannot tell you," Thompson says defensively. "It's a secret."
After one hour of the thief explanations, the Thom(p)sons left the Marlinspike Hall. "Thank you for the nice snack, Tintin," they bid me goodbye.
I got inside and the captain was already awake. "Good morning, captain," I tell him. "Good morning, Tintin," the captain says back. "Say, have you seen the professor?" he asks. "No, captain, I haven't seen him. What about Nestor? Have you asked him?" I suggest. "Not yet," he answers. "I'll go ask him." He walked away. "Wait," I say. "Where is Snowy?" I walk around the house calling him, but there's no answer. "I'll try looking for him outside," I tell myself.
I went at the back of the Marlinspike Hall to look for him. He wasn't there. I look in the meadow, and he was there. "Snowy! Here Snowy!" I call him. Snowy looks at me and wags his tail, but he turns away from me and runs into the stream. "Snowy! Come here at once!" I call him once more, but he seems to be hard of hearing me. I run after him.
Snowy passes by the stream and so did I. My shoes and socks and a bit of my pants are wet now, so my voice becomes a bit aggressive when I call Snowy. "Snowy!" I shout. He disappears in a pile of big trees. "Oh, that hard-headed dog," I say to myself. I run after him once more. I hear his distant barks from the big trees, so I run faster.
Snowy's barks are getting louder. I finally saw him running around and barking at a bush. Then, I catch a glimpse of a braid, before it disappears in the rustling bush. Snowy barks at it more. "Snowy, is someone there?" I pat his head as I look towards the bush. I stand up, and examine the bush. Surprisingly, no one's there, but there's someone that have been there. "Someone's in here," I say. I held out my hand and planted my fist on it. "Great snakes! That must have been the thief!" I exclaim.
Snowy barks some more and wags his tail. I gesture at him to come home. Minutes later, we are already at the Marlinspike Hall. "Where have you been, Tintin? I've been looking all over for you," Captain Haddock asks me. "I just went to look for Snowy. Here, I found him," I told the captain, pointing at Snowy, who's beside me. "So, did you find Professor as well?"
"Yes, he's tending his garden. And about that," the captain says, pointing his finger up. "Me and the professor was talking when we heard something on the roof. Then I saw someone in the roof, but I didn't see the person clearly. I yelled at him to go away, and he did. I pointed at his direction and told the professor that someone was on roof, but it seems he does not pay any attention."
I was shocked at was he said. "Crumbs! Captain, that must have been the thief!" I tell him. "What thief?" the captain asks, completely confused. "I forgot to tell you. Thompson and Thomson went here just this morning and told me that there's a thief wandering around the neighborhood. The Interpol has assigned someone to track the culprit, but unfortunately, the thief is not been caught yet. They warned us that the thief might target the Marlinspike Hall next!" I explain to the captain.
"Blistering barnacles! So that must have been the thief! I'll tell Nestor to keep watch. Where is he? Nestor? Nestor!" the captain calls. "Coming, sir," I hear Nestor say as he walks towards the captain. "I'm just wondering how he got there so fast," I tell the captain. "On the roof? Why?" the captain asks. "Well, just these last minutes, I chased Snowy. Then, I noticed that he was chasing somebody. I expect it was the thief. But I didn't found the thief there by the meadow where Snowy chased the thief. But when I got here, you already saw the thief on the roof," I tell the captain. "That's quite odd," the captain says. "Excuse me for a moment, Captain, I need to do something," I tell the captain. "Alright, Tintin," he replied.
That night…
I wake up from the sound of distant footsteps. I was puzzled for a moment, and then I look at the pitch black darkness and suddenly realize what's happening.
"The thief!" I shout.
I stand up immediately and run into the room's windows. I push it open, and there! Only one window away from me, is the thief up to his tricks! He's carrying a big sack, and he starts going down already!
"Captain! Professor! Nestor! The thief! He's here! Quick!" I run outside calling them. Their doors slam open and Captain Haddock yelled curses as he started running towards me. "Thundering typhoons! Where is he, Tintin?" he asks me furiously. "He's holding on the third window! Quick, before he escapes!" I tell him. We pushed the door together on the third room and make a run for the window.
"Great Snakes! He's already down there! How did he get down so fast?" I exclaim. "Quick, make a run for the entrance door! We can catch the thief if we run fast enough!"
Captain Haddock run downstairs as I follow him. Nestor quickly telephones the police as we open the entrance door. "There!" I point towards the running thief as he makes a run for the gate. With the gates closed, I felt some hope of catching him. Captain Haddock was now ahead of me, when something catches my attention.
A dark figure started going down the Marlinspike Hall. It passes by the windows so quick, like the house is playing catch with each other. At first, I thought it was just my hallucination. But as the figure lands on the ground, it runs so fast towards the thief, and I realize it's also a human, not just a hallucination. The running human was now ahead of me and Captain Haddock.
"Blistering Barnacles! There are two of them!" Captain Haddock screams. The thief started to climb on the gate when the running man reaches him and plucks him out of the gate.
"Drop the bag! Put your hands up!" I heard the running man say, now on his knees, on the top of the thief, and pointing a gun at him. Me and Captain Haddock stops running and looks at the scene. Cars arrive as the thief was caught by the strange man. "The police are here. Nestor had a great job calling them to arrive," Captain Haddock says as he walks toward me. "Who is that?" I ask. "Get back to bed, Tintin. Me and Nestor will handle this. Tell the Professor what happened," the captain says to me. "Alright, captain. Thank you," I reply. I looked back, wondering who the strange man is.
