HELLO FRIENDS! I have returned at long last from the depths of homework land to bring you CHAPTER ELEVEN! So sorry for the long absence, I kept thinking about the story and my heart would ache because I'm so close to being done with my final Tintin and Nollie story for the foreseeable future, which is killing me, because I love these characters that I've brought to life throughout the past four and a half years (dang!) and I just don't want to say goodbye just yet. I hope you can all bear with me as I face both my final weeks of fall term + come to terms with saying goodbye to Tintin and Nollie and putting them to rest. Again, I apologize for not updating sooner. I opened the Scriv doc containing all of the Tintin and Nollie stories just this evening and discovered THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER was DONE but just needed a few more sentences...I don't know why I didn't post it sooner. All right, onto the story! :) Sorry for keeping you so long. Love you all! ~DP55

Eleven

Plan

It sounded easier than it would probably turn out to be: Tintin wouldn't actually leave tomorrow morning. Rather, I would dress him up to look like a girl (a task that also sounded easier than it probably was), he would come downstairs with me and I would introduce him as a new recruit. Before he went in to sign his contract, however, he'd expose the Marlboroughs for murder and have them arrested. Then I'd be set free, returning on my honeymoon once more with my husband.

I stifled a laugh as I swiped a makeup brush across Tintin's face. He was trying his best to hold still, but the ends of his mouth kept curving upwards in a smile. "You're pretty," he said, and I shot him a look filled with a thousand darts.

"And you're supposed to be a girl," I teased.

"I can't even muster a girl voice."

"I'll do all your talking." I'd swiped a red wig from Elizabeth's room and fitted it to my husband's head, and we'd taken a dozen pieces of tissue paper and stuffed them in his blouse to make him appear endowed. He had on an ankle-length floral skirt to hide his plain-giveaway, masculine legs. I prayed with every fiber of my being that nobody would notice she was actually a he.

"Do I really have to wear makeup?"

"It's just foundation. Besides, if I have to, then you do, too," I winked. "For better or for worse, right?"

"I…I never said for better or for worse." His vows echoed through my head again—as if I could forget them. Anyone can say 'in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer'—but we are not just anyone. With this ring, I promise to love and cherish you in all the days of my life. I promise to be your light in the dark, a beacon for which you know you are safe beside and you know you can always return to. This ring exists as a reminder that I have chosen you above all others to share my life with.

"Weeeell…" I struggled to find the words to back me up.

"It's all right, Nollie. Now I look pretty." I giggled at his remark, which only made him smile wider. "Gosh, I love your laugh. I cannot wait until it's just the two of us again."

"Me either." I played with the wig until it looked like it had fallen naturally over his shoulders. "What's your name, pretty girl?"

"What about Magnolia?" He asked, flicking his eyebrows upward.

"Well, we don't need to put that much thought into it. It'll only be used maybe five times, so Magnolia is fine. Magnolia what?"

"Magnolia McGregor."

"Perfect."

I ushered my husband—er, Magnolia McGregor—downstairs to the red room a few minutes later, praying nobody got suspicious. To my luck, none of the girls even looked up upon our arrival into the room. I led Magnolia over to the Marlborough's door and knocked on it firmly. It opened, and Cesare stepped out.

"Cesare," I smiled. "I have a new recruit."

He gave me a puzzled expression and was about to turn away when Tintin—Magnolia—stopped him, speaking quick Italian in a girl voice. My heart stopped. "Aspetta! Non andare, voglio un lavoro!" [Wait! Don't go, I want a job!]

"Tu? Vuole un lavoro? Non una possibilità. Troppo brutto!" [You? Want a job? Not a chance. Too ugly!]

Aroldo appeared in the doorway behind his brother. "Cesare? Qual è il problema?" He stepped into the red room and, upon spying me, sneered. "What do you want, Hilton?"

"My friend wants a job. This is Magnolia McGregor."

"Does she know the rules?"

I exchange a glance with Tintin, his gray eyes wide as he looked at me. "No, she doesn't."

"Ah. Well, sweetheart, this is the best job in Venice! We feed you, give you clothes and a place to live, all for free!"

"But what is the job I will be doing?" Tintin raised an eyebrow at Aroldo, "Because you have yet to tell me…"

"I'm sure you've heard of prostitution, haven't you, Miss McGregor?" Tintin swallowed at the audacity of Aroldo's question, but he still nods. It's then that I noticed we had the attention of every person in the room—Vivian, Elizabeth, Josephine…all of their girls. Perfect time to expose them.

"Is that the line of work I would be doing?" Magnolia looks horrified. "What if I decide to quit?"

"There is no quitting," Aroldo said with a sneer, "If you accept, then you sign a contract. If you try to back out of your contract, well, you get to meet a good friend of mine."

"Who is your friend?" I could hear Tintin's voice quiver, and I was unsure if he was faking it or if he was really scared.

Aroldo rolled his eyes and pulled a gun from a holster attached to his belt and displayed it in front of Tintin. I let out a shriek and clutched Tintin's arm tightly. "Oh my God," I gasped, "Put that thing away, you fool."

"Or don't." I was confused to hear Tintin's voice rather than Magnolia's, and even more concerned when I watched him remove his wig. "Aroldo Marlborough. Do you realize that the pistol you are holding is a very rare one?"

"Why if it isn't Tintin," Aroldo snarled, his gaze snapping to me, "And I assume Catherine Hilton is just your wife in disguise, then?"

Tintin ignored him. "That pistol is a nine millimeter Gilsenti, the very gun you used to shoot Lucille Ravenna and Moira Chatfield." He reached into the pocket of my dress and pulled out the bullet shell we'd found by the crime scene. "This is my proof."

Vivian stepped forward courageously. "That's right, he did shoot those girls. They tried to escape, and—"

Aroldo whipped around, pointing the barrel of the gun at her forehead. "Shut up, you ignorant slut," he spat, "Or I'll put you six feet under as well." Vivian stiffened at his threat, and Tintin tugged at my arm as Aroldo turned back to us, gun still pointed at Vivian. "Now, Cesare and Leonard are going to escort you to the holding room, where you'll stay until we can figure out what to do with you."

"Probably shoot us," I said, rolling my eyes. I'd dropped my American accent by then.

Aroldo glared at me. "I want Signora Nollie here gagged."

The next thing I knew, I was sitting in a cramped room with Tintin and all of the girls who'd been in the room with us, more than likely awaiting our execution. "I should've called the police," Tintin huffed for the twelfth time. He'd gently removed my gag a minute after we were locked away.

I gave him a sad smile. "Everything is going to be all right."

"I don't think so," said Vivian, leaning against the wall furthest from the door, staring at her shoes. "We won't be the first ones they kill, that's for sure."

Elizabeth looked lost in thought. "I just cannot believe that they murdered Moira and Lucille. They'd been here for two days at most. And they were so pretty. They most certainly did not belong here."

"Do any of us belong here?" I scoffed. Tintin shot me a look that was a mix of him telling me to shut up and agreeing with me.

"No, but they sure make you feel that way," Josephine murmured softly, hugging her arms close to herself. "They make you feel worthless in every single way except for what you do with customers behind closed doors."

I glanced at my husband, who was somberly staring at the floor. I shouldn't say somberly, because I could see the gears turning in his head as he plotted a way for us to get out of here. The girls went quiet, and the room was suddenly painstakingly silent.

At long last, he looked up at me and smiles.

All right, that's it for now. I'll see you all very soon, and happy December! :) ~DisneyPrincess55 (aka Katy)