Chapter 11
Just as realization dawned on Tintin, he heard heavy footsteps coming down the corridor outside the hold. The wheel lock on the door turned and clicked. Snowy started whining and covered his muzzle with his paws. Tintin sat in a corner of the hold, appearing harmless, but preparing to leap on his attacker and punch the lights out of him.
The door flung open, and in walked a person that Tintin wished he would never see again in his lifetime - Allan Thompson.
"Tintin," Allan sneered.
"Mister Mate," Tintin replied coldly. Allan smirked and tossed something heavy into the holding cabin. Tintin gasped. It was Eden, and she was unconscious.
"Not so tough, are you, when your girlfriend's in trouble?" Allan laughed harshly. "You thought you were so clever, didn't you, Tintin? Well, guess what? After seeing your tricks so many times, we know better now."
"Who's 'we', Allan?" Tintin demanded. "I know you're not smart enough to work this plan out on your own. You probably relied on someone else's brains to come up with it. Tell me who you're working for!"
"Work it out yourself, Brainiac," Allan sneered. "One stupid move and I crush the girl's throat with my foot." Tintin's eyes burned, but he knew there wasn't much he could do. "That's more like it," Allan went on, shifting Eden over with his foot. "Now show me your hands." Tintin complied, but not without an acidic glare in his captor's direction. Alan merely smirked, whipping out a length of chainmail. He bound Tintin's wrists together and sauntered towards the door. "I'm going to leave your dog in here," he said, looking over his shoulder. "Because your dog can't chew you to escape this time."
Several minutes later, Eden felt a dull throb in the back of her head. Her eyes fluttered open and she dragged herself up into a sitting position. As her surroundings swam into view, she caught sight of Tintin's blue eyes looking directly at her. She held her head and groaned.
"What...what happened?" she asked groggily.
"Well, you learned that there's a first time for everything," Tintin quipped, relief overflowing his voice.
"What do you mean?" she demanded. "And why does my head feel like a tonne of bricks?"
"What I mean is that you said you've never been in a stupid, potentially dangerous situation before, and this is your first time," Tintin explained, smiling sheepishly. "And as for your head, you were clubbed with something heavy and thrown rather unceremoniously into this hold."
"Lovely," Eden groaned, leaning up against the cool metal wall. "Remind me, whose idea was this?" A small smile appeared on her face.
"You know that perfectly well," Tintin chuckled. "Now, are you sure you're all right? You haven't gotten a concussion or anything?"
"I don't think so," Eden said. "I mean, now that you've reminded me, I remember exactly what happened up on the deck. That foul Allan Thompson."
"Yeah, tell me about it," Tintin agreed. "I know you've probably read about him in various accounts of my adventures, but you don't know what that man can do. This ship used to belong to Captain Haddock, and Allan had him addicted to alcohol. Soon enough, Captain was perpetually blind drunk, so Allan could carry on with his drug smuggling operations."
"That's awful!" Eden exclaimed. Then something occurred to her. "Tintin, listen. When I was talking to Allan up on the deck, he already seemed to know that we were on the same page since we've been in this city. In fact, I'm sure he knew we were on our way onto the ship long before we came up with our plan. They've been several steps ahead of us all this time."
"How's that?" Tintin demanded. Eden shushed him warningly. She whistled softly for Snowy to come over, and the dog complied. Eden ran her fingers through the fur on the little terrier's neck and found his collar. She felt around the leather fabric until her hand closed around something small. Pulling it off the collar gently, she showed it to Tintin.
"It's a bug," she whispered. She found the jug of water that the mates had left for the two of them and dropped the bug in there.
"Where did it come from?" Tintin asked.
"Remember that day when Snowy went missing suddenly?" Eden reminded him. Tintin nodded. "I couldn't shake the feeling that someone had lured him away. And the dog treat in his mouth just added to that suspicion. I think one of Allan's cronies found him and bugged his collar, while distracting him with a biscuit. Does that make any sense?"
"Perfect sense, actually," Tintin said. "I can't believe they'd use my own dog against me."
Just then, the sound of the ship' foghorn blared, causing Tintin and Eden to jump.
"They're preparing to set sail," Tintin whispered. "This can't be good. The Captain and the Professor were supposed to get us off this tub!"
"They might already be on here and biding their time," Eden said. "Oi, what's that around your wrists?"
"Chains," Tintin sighed, holding up his hands helplessly. "They've bound me like a slave."
"Hmm, well, it seems they've forgotten about me," Eden grinned, holding up her hands. They weren't bound at all. "Why do all bad guys make one stupid mistake?"
"Because they're bad," Tintin said, returning Eden's grin. "All right, if the porthole directly above us is open, then I have an idea."
All righty, Chapter 11 is up! I wonder what happens next! Are Haddock and Calculus on board or did they not make it? And who is Allan working for?
Disclaimer: All Tintin characters belong to Herge. I only claim Eden and the plot.