Hi guys! DisneyPrincess55 here again with the lovely Mr. Chapter Two! Yay! This chapter started out as slow, but I kicked it into top gear when I got a review on Tintin and the Kidnapped Child that said something along the lines of, "this is boring. i'm done reading" I decided to beat the hater and post chapter two of Tintin and the Locket of Kadolt. Here it is! It's gonna get good pretty soon :)
Two
Amaliada
We arrived in Amaliada shortly after one p.m., and it was Saturday—we had departed on Wednesday. It was a beautiful, small city, and one could hear the ocean from nearly every outside place in the city. The library in Amaliada took almost no time to find—it was the largest building there. Thankfully, Amaliada wasn't a crazily busy town and there wasn't many cars, so we could walk straight across the street with no problems. The clue I had found on the other side of the paper leading us to Amaliada mentioned the Greek Mythology section of the library, a book titled Sparta. Nollie was good at finding books, and we found it quickly.
"Here," she said quietly, pulling the book out of the shelf, "I believe this is the one." Hopefully, this was the only volume of Sparta in the library. I flipped through it and a paper fell to the ground. Nollie bent to pick it up, flashing a confused glance at me. "What's this?" She raised her eyebrow and flipped the paper towards me so I could see the writing.
"Uh—maybe it's an old book? Maybe the pages are falling out?"
"Is this a clue?" She examined it, reading the words a few times over, "It is! You're following clues here? What is this, a treasure hunt?" She looked slightly peeved.
"I…I needed help, finding where we were supposed to go, Noll," I sighed, knowing lying would just make her even angrier. "The book didn't tell me where Amaliada was, and the predecessor of that note told me we had to go to Greece. Sorry, darling."
"No, no, it's all right," she read it again, "It may be fun, following clues around." She gave me the paper, "Just tell me next time."
"Of course." I read it. The woods! That's where the next clue lies, in the woods of Amaliada. It'll be a rough journey, but the next clue is hidden in a tree trunk just west of the Stone Wall. ~H
"Well?" She asked expectantly, "Where are we headed?"
"The woods. Are there woods here?"
"Whose H?" She took the paper from me, as if I knew.
"Perhaps we'll meet him."
The woods weren't that far from the library, and we were there in no time at all.
"So we're looking for a tree trunk just west of the Stone Wall," she noted, "Stone Wall…" She scanned the trees, trying to find anything. "Well he certainly isn't making this an easy treasure hunt, that's for sure."
"It's not supposed to be easy. No pirate wants to give their treasure away, as you know, in Treasure Island, so they make it difficult." She nodded, concentrating on the woods. Concentrating on finding the next clue.
A few hours meandering in the woods trying to find a stone wall, and it was dark. The ocean began blowing its evening breeze, and I saw Nollie tug at her coat to keep warm.
"We should get something to eat," she murmured, kicking a rock with her foot. I gazed out through the trees, trying to see the town.
"It's too far." I hadn't thought about that before we left for the woods—getting food. I figured the woods wouldn't be this dense. "Perhaps we should get some sleep?"
"Good idea," she sighed, collapsing on the ground. I sat down next to her and sprawled out on my back, gazing up at the stars just beginning to peak through the darkness. Nollie laid her head on my stomach and curled herself up in a tiny ball. I didn't mind it when she used my head as a pillow—it was comforting. I rested my hand on her back, feeling the course texture of her coat with my fingers as she fell asleep, waiting for the nightmares that would wrack her mind, tear her from reality and into some horrifying universe that her brain had been taking her to since she was twelve years old. Several minutes later, her breathing picked up and she began to squirm, kicking her legs. I sat up and shook her gently.
"Nollie, wake up," I murmured, "Noll, it's all right, wake up." She opened her eyes and gasped, sitting up and touching the grass underneath us, grabbing at it as if she had never felt grass before. I waited for her to catch her breath before she would tell me what happened. It's how it always went—I would wake her up, she would relax a little, then she would tell me what happened in her dream.
"I was in water—deep, dark, salty water…" She began, staring into space.
"The ocean," I corrected, and she nodded.
"Yeah… the ocean. And there was this girl… with red hair—this long, vibrant red hair… and you saved her? I nearly made it to the top, I nearly did, but then you woke me up, and I'm not—I'm not drowning anymore. But who was the girl? She was so young, maybe five or six at the most."
"I don't know who she was, but you're okay now. It was just a dream, just a false reality. You're safe." She laid down next to me again and fell asleep-the nightmares didn't come back.
The next morning, we set off again, and I could tell by the way Nollie acted she was hungry. We needed food—but we were so close to finding the next clue, we couldn't turn back now.
"Just a little further," I heard myself say, "It should be nearby. Just a little further, and then we can get something to eat." It's not like it was blazing hot or freezing cold—it was rather cool for January. We were walking along, scanning the trees, when I heard the sound of a creek—water running through the deep forest. Nollie heard it, too.
"Water," she whispered, quickening her pace. I followed her closely, making sure I didn't lose sight of her. She followed the sound to a thin creek cutting its way through the forest, most likely dumping out into the ocean. If there were any animals here it was probably the only way they could get fresh water. She dropped to her knees and began to drink. I did the same, watching her. The way she lifted the water to her mouth gracefully, the way she bent over the water. A few drinks later, she sat back on her haunches and looked up, around at her surroundings. "The Stone Wall," she whispered, pointing towards a tall, gray wall made entirely of stone.
"We found it," I smiled, looking at her. She smiled back before getting to her feet. She leapt across the stream and towards the wall. Once she reached it she stopped and looked across the trees for the stump with the hole in it—where our next clue was hidden.
"That one," she whispered, hurrying towards a tree and reaching inside of it. She obviously enjoyed the treasure hunt we were on—despite our hunger and fatigue, she still seemed eagar to find this clue.
"Is it there?"
"Yeah!" She grinned, pulling out a tiny slip of paper, "Here," she gave it to me with a grin.
The beach is where the next clue lies. You're very, very close now, don't lose hope yet! ~H
"The beach," I murmured, pocketing the paper, "That's where we're going next."
"That sounds fantastic!" She grinned, "If only we could get something to eat first."
"We will. Come on." I turned and was gazing out at the woods when Nollie grabbed my arm and yanked me behind a tree.
"Someone's coming," she whispered, peering out from behind the trunk ever so cautiously. Just as she said this, a girl of maybe nineteen with jet-black hair emerged from the trees, three boys around the ages of sixteen and seventeen following her.
"This must be the Stone Wall," she stated, gazing around for the stump, "And this is the stump!" She hurried up to it and reached in. I felt Nollie's hand brush mine and I took it, squeezing it as I realized this was our new enemy. We watched as the girl's lips turned into a frown and she retracted her hand.
"Is it there, Coraline?" One of the boys, the shortest of the bunch, asked the girl—Coraline.
"No," she hissed, "Someone's taken it. Looks like we've got some competition, boys." She scanned the perimeter of the trees, and I wrapped my arm around Nollie's chest and pulled her backwards. She had ceased breathing, trying not to draw any attention to herself. "Matthew, you and I will head back into town. I'm tired. Nicholas and Harry, you'll stay here and see if you can find the clue. It's got to be here somewhere. Come, Matthew!" Coraline and Matthew walked off through the trees and Nollie and I watched them go. I released my arm from around her chest and she exhaled. Nicholas and Harry were talking about something back by the Stone Wall, and I nudged her with my elbow, telling her silently it was time to go. She nodded before turning and looking back at the two boys, making sure they weren't looking in our direction before she started to run through the forest quietly, trying to make sure she didn't make a sound. I followed her, clue still hidden away in my pocket. When we got far enough away from them, she slowed to a stop and I fell into step beside her, reaching for her hand. She smiled at this.
"Coraline," she whispered, "What an awful name. It sounds like something scary, like a witch."
"She has hair the color of a witch's," I remarked, and she laughed. "What? She did. It was black as night, chilling as the howling of a wolf, far off in the wood of Transylvania…" Nollie laughed again and leaned into my shoulder, smiling.
We walked back to Amaliada—it was a shorter trip going back than going in, talking about what the Locket might look like. We reached a small grocery where I bought a loaf of bread and some fruit, and we sat down outside of the library and ate. Everything was as it normally was when we went on adventures—we had the enemy, we had the quest, and I had my girl by my side.
Yup! Coraline. I decided to have a girl bad guy for once. Oh, and Nollie's dream? Yup, that was a snapshot of the future. Heehee :)
So I was thinking, you know ~H? The guy who made the whole treasure hunt thingy? He's based off of a real character from the series. I thought I'd have a little contest to see if anyone can guess it! Just PM me your guess & your name and whoever gets it right first gets their name added in the next Tintin and Nollie story! Good luck to all, and please review so I can post chapter three! ~DisneyPrincess55