Chapter Three
The next morning, Vicki awoke to someone roughly shaking her about.
"Get off, Tiger," she growled to her brother. "I know you've been smoking that disgusting stuff again. Let me sleep in peace."
A gentle laugh met her ears- much nicer than the sarcastic reply she had expected. "Vicki, it's Tintin."
"Oh!" Vicki sat up, saw her cousin, and felt like smacking herself. "I'm sorry. I'm just so used to waking up to Tiger or Mom or Dad, telling me to go to school when they wouldn't be allowed in public themselves."
Tintin laughed again, then gestured to the clock. "We need to get a move on. Our plane leaves at seven."
Vicki yawned and turned to check the time. "Five in the morning! Tintin!"
"Vicki, when you're in my line of work, you have to get used to getting up early, or staying up all night," he explained. "The captain is already up…"
"Not willingly, he's not. Blistering barnacles, here we go on another wild goose chase…" Captain Haddock's voice faded as he went down the stairs.
Tintin sighed. "Okay, he's almost up. But be down in five minutes, Vicki, we need to be ready soon. The Thompsons are going to be picking us up at 6:30, we need to leave Nestor instructions…" and he kept naming things and ticking items off on his fingers as he hurried out of Vicki's bedroom.
Snowy remained, curled up in a corner, his head tucked under his tail, his eyes shut tightly.
"I guess you're used to this, huh?" Vicki asked him.
Snowy gave a low growl, as if he was saying, You better believe it.
"Snowy! Come here, boy!" Tintin's voice called up the stairs.
Snowy gave a much more audible growl, licked Vicki's hand briefly, and trotted grumpily out the door to his master.
Vicki stood up, stretched, closed the door, and got dressed, randomly tossing things into her suitcase as she went. She was glad she had a way to get back at the people who had destroyed her life, and glad that she had a caring cousin to help her. (And a caring dog, and a caring captain, and two caring-and clumsy-detectives) Yes, life was good.
Once she had finished dressing, Vicki yanked the door open and almost bumped into Professor Calculus.
"Sorry, Professor!" she apologized.
"Yes, yes, they're fine, thank you. But, Vicki, the common custom is to say that you're sorry after you bump into someone, not to ask about their roses." Professor Cuthbert Calculus adjusted his glasses.
"I'll remember. Good day!" Vicki raced down the stairs.
"Pay for what?" asked Calculus behind her, sounding quite confused indeed.
Vicki smiled to herself at the almost-deaf professor, then ran down the hall to the breakfast table.
"Yesterday sure was beautiful." Captain sighed wistfully as he gazed out the window at the slight drizzle of rain and the gray, gloomy storm clouds threatening overhead.
"I'm sure Caracas will be just as beautiful," Tintin assured him. "I've always liked South America."
"I'm sure you have. Thundering typhoons, I can't think of a single place I haven't been after I met you. Let's see, shall we? The Middle East, Tibet, Bordoria, the blasted moon…" Captain let his voice trail off.
"Good morning," quavered Vicki from the doorway.
"Good morning, Vicki," replied Tintin, smiling at her.
"Morning, lass." Captain lit up his pipe. "Welcome to the beginning of the end. You might be excited now, but a year from now, you'll be sick of these little exploits. Trust me. Also, be warned that your cousin is the world's most active globe-trotting reporter." He sighed and ruffled the paper.
"Any word?" asked Tintin glancing at his irritated friend out of the corner of his eye.
"None," the angry captain responded, scanning the pages.
"Your morning tea, Miss Victoria." Nestor put a cup on the table, with Vicki's favorite steaming hot tea inside.
"Thank you, Nestor," she said happily. She wasn't sure whether Captain's warning was to be taken seriously or if he was just kidding around with Tintin, or maybe a bit of both, but she was excited to be traveling. She had never been out of Europe before.
After breakfast, Tintin, Captain, and Vicki each had a little more packing to do, which kept them occupied until 6:30, when the Thompsons pulled up and began to stroll calmly toward the house.
"I say, Thomson, I don't see why we couldn't have taken a later flight."
"Precisely, Thompson, we couldn't see a fight later," agreed Thomson.
The sentence was no sooner out of his mouth when they both simultaneously tripped on the stairs leading up to the majestic Marlinspike Hall.
Nestor opened the door, staring in shock at the two detectives.
"We demand in the name of the law that you get these stairs fixed!" cried Thomson.
"That's right! We name the demand that the stairs get fixed by law!" Thomson and Thompson gathered their belongings and marched up the stairs to face Nestor, who hurried to get Tintin, Captain, and Vicki.
"Really are outrageous, these stairs are," complained Thompson.
"Really!" Thomson supported.
"Really what?" asked Tintin as he hoisted his heavy suitcase up almost effortlessly. Standing in the background with Captain, Vicki admired her cousin's strength. Captain noticed her staring.
"Comes from years of pulling impossible feats. That boy thinks he's a superhuman," Captain grunted, fondly paging through memories.
Vicki smiled. "But it looks like he is!"
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was," Captain agreed.
Snowy let out a whimper of understanding near Vicki's feet. She grinned down at the fox terrier, and she could have sworn he winked at her.
"Snowy! Captain! Vicki!" Tintin summoned them. "Come on, we must hurry." He followed the Thompsons out the door, with Snowy, Captain, and Vicki trailing behind.
They all piled into the Thompsons' car, which, Vicki noted, was rather scratched up. She smirked a little as she wondered whether each scratch had a story behind it. Knowing its owners, she figured they did, and probably wild and crazy tales, too.
"So I gather you're a little scared by Captain's stories," Tintin whispered in her ear.
She squirmed a little. "Yeah, just a bit," she agreed. "I mean… I really don't want me or you or our friends to get hurt. If this guy is as dangerous as you say…"
Tintin sighed, and stroked his cousin's hair as if comforting her. "Vicki, just let me tell you something. I will never, never, ever abandon you or my other friends, no matter how dangerous it is. Do you understand?" His tone was fierce, and his eyes shone with a passion. He cared about his friends. He would never leave them to die. His expression scared Vicki, but it also made her feel safer than she ever had, her whole life.
"I understand," she promised.
"Good." Tintin's face relaxed into its usual expression: a sincere smile, blue eyes greeting the sights they were taking in warmly. Vicki smiled back, and gazed out the window, feeling warm inside. Now that there was someone who cared about her, she felt like she could conquer the world.
The airport was busy. Very busy. Tintin navigated it like an expert, his companions following close behind.
"I've never been in an airport before," Vicki marveled.
"Lucky," muttered Captain. Tintin rolled his eyes.
"You'll warm up to the trip soon, Captain, Caracas is absolutely stunning." Tintin said this rather absent-mindedly, as though his focus was elsewhere.
"There's our plane," said Thompson, pointing.
Tintin glanced up from the tourist book on Caracas he was reading. "Goodness, you're right," he agreed. He strode toward it. His friends flocked behind, as always.
Tintin stopped mid-stride, sending Captain flying into him. "Blistering barnacles, now what?"
"What?" asked Vicki, skidding to a stop.
"What is the cause for this fuss?" demanded Thompson.
"Yes, for the cause of the fuss."
"Something's not right," muttered Tintin, studying the plane.
"Oh," groaned Captain.
"Nonsense. I purchased these tickets myself, the plane is perfectly safe," coaxed Thomson.
"Yes, the tickets themselves are safe," clarified Thompson.
"No, no, no, I'm positive!" cried Tintin.
"You always are. Now get in the plane!" Captain pushed Tintin on, then followed himself.
"Mark my words," Tintin whispered to Vicki as she sat beside him. "Something just is not right."
Thank you for reading! Please review! Little Christian, thank you for reviewing. I'm glad you like it! :)