Point of View: Tintin

Next morning…

"Good morning," I greet the captain who was reading the newspaper. "Good morning, Tintin," the captain greets back. "So," I clap my hands together. "What happened to the thief?" Captain Haddock folds his newspaper into two and shows me the headline: THIEF FINALLY CAUGHT ON MARLINSPIKE HALL. "He was arrested, if it weren't for the young lady who chased him down. If the thief wasn't caught, we would probably lose some of the house furniture. That's what the police found in his sack," the captain tells him, and continues to read his newspaper. "Good," I say. Then, something passes my mind. "Wait," I added. "Young lady?"

"Yes, Tintin. The young lady who caught the thief. Why?" the captain asks. "I thought she was a man!" I tell the captain. The captain laughs softly. "Why did you think of that?" he asks, smiling. "She got great skills, for a young lady. Did she mention her name?" I ask the Captain. "She didn't. Right after she handed the thief to the police and after some short chat with an officer, she left. She didn't even wait for us to give our thanks. But she looked calm and nice. The police seem to know her, as they get along so quickly and talk to each other normally," Captain Haddock answers. "And she's about your age, too."

I was dumbfounded at the idea. But I didn't let it bother me. "Anyway, Captain. Me and Snowy are going to have a little walk in the park," I tell him. "Go on, Tintin. Enjoy and be careful," Captain Haddock says.

"Come on, Snowy," I tell Snowy as we walk out of the room's door.

The park is surprisingly empty today, so me and Snowy have no trouble of walking around. The breeze passes by my face, and the scent of the trees are so nice to smell. "What a nice day, Snowy," I say. Snowy runs around back and forth happily. I decided to sit on a bench while reading a good book. I let Snowy run around, but when he came back he got a bone on his mouth. The odd thing about the bone is that there's a red ribbon wrapped around it.

"Where did you get that?" I ask him. Snowy drops the bone, wags his tail, and barks happily towards the little bridge. "Someone's there?" I ask. I stand up, lay my book on the bench, and take a look at the little bridge. There was a woman standing, facing the opposite way. I couldn't see her face. I look down at Snowy. "Well," I started to say. "We'll go near and say thank you." I pick up my book and tuck it in my arms. But the book slipped and it fell with a loud thud. I sigh as I pick up the book again and as I face the direction of the bridge, the woman was gone.

"Where is she?" I wonder. Snowy barks again. He runs into the bridge and I follow him. He sniffed around the bridge and lets out a whimper. "Whoa, she's fast," I say. Suddenly, a thought crosses my mind. "Wait," I say. "What if that girl is the one who caught the thief? Last night, she chased the thief like a wind, going so fast. Now, this girl is fast, too! Just one look back and she's already gone! We should have said thank you. But, I do have another feeling.."

I looked at the bridge again, visualizing the girl standing there, looking at the opposite direction. Her hair was pulled down in a braid. "Her braid seems familiar," I say. I close my eyes for a moment, thinking of things that may remind me of the girl's braid. I finally got the idea and open my eyes. "Aha! She's the person you chased on the meadow, Snowy?" I say, looking at Snowy. Snowy perks up his ears, wags his tail, and barks excitedly at the idea. "I caught a glimpse of her braid when she hid in the bushes. She is so fast that I didn't see her run away. I've mistaken her for the thief. Let's go home, Snowy. So you didn't chase a thief after all," I say.

We walk on the street, and then, I see Thompson and Thomson on the same street. "Oh, look, Snowy. Friends," I tell him. I walk towards the Thom(p)sons and greet them. "Hello, Thompson and Thomson. How nice to see you."

"Oh, Tintin!" they say together. "The thief was finally caught and arrested. But a pity, your person didn't catch the thief. I thought your person knows the thief's location? Good thing a young lady followed the thief and caught him, thanks to her," I say. "Our person didn't catch the thief? Good gracious, Tintin. You're mistaken! Our person caught the culprit, no doubt about that," Thompson says. "So your person's a young lady, as young as me?" I ask them. Thompson and Thomson were shocked. "How did you know, Tintin?" Thompson asks. "It was top secret! Did you send out a spy or something?"

"No. Certainly not," I reply. "The thief was caught at Marlinspike Hall. Captain Haddock seen her when he talked to the police. But he didn't know her name," I explain to them. "Well," Thomson starts. "You shouldn't—"

"Thompson and Thomson!" somebody shouts. The three of us was taken aback by the voice. Then, I see someone running towards the three of us. It was the young lady I saw in the bridge earlier!

She stops in front of the two detectives, holding a piece of paper, and started talking. "I got a message from the—"

"Sssh! What are you doing here?" Thompson asks, gently pushing her aside. "You're not supposed to show yourself in public." The girl was surprised. "You mean, not fully expose myself?" she asks innocently.

The girl has long, black braided hair, and she wears a dress that goes down the bottom of her knees, some combat boots, which was a bit weird; purple round-edged square eyeglasses, black pearl earrings and a gold necklace. She really looks familiar to me. I looked at her in the face, and those sea-green eyes are fascinating. She's a bit chubby, but not too fat. You can't see her fatness by looking at her figure. Then, I look closer at the gold necklace she wears. The string was simple gold, and there are two pendants hanging on it. One was a tiny, gold circle encrusted with one crystal; with two curled end tails on one side that is encrusted with one crystal gem each. The other pendant was a tiny, gold hourglass filled with pink sand. It looks really familiar. And then, I remembered something. A mere memory…

I was still a little child then. In the park where I used to play. The park with the little bridge. I was playing, running around. Bigger and taller kids came up to me and telling me to go away. I wouldn't want to. At that time, I have no friends and I wanted to play alone. I refused to go away, and so they hurt me. Beat me up with little sticks. I was already lying on the ground when someone came and stood in front of me, with her back facing me. "Stop it!" she said with her little voice. I looked up, opened my eyes, enduring the pain I got from having a right black eye and bruises on my cheeks. "Stop it! That isn't right! You're hurting him! Or I'll…" her voice faded.

"Or you'll what little girl?" the bully asks proudly. I see the little girl's fist shaking. She is also afraid. But she stomped her right foot and fought her fear. "You don't want to get hurt, do you? Stop hurting this boy, or I'll give back his pain you gave!" I felt braveness and fear in her voice. The bully smirked and raised his stick. But before the stick reaches the little girl's head, her right leg raises and she gives the bully's tummy a kick.

The bully fell down, and gave a whimpering sound. He groaned so much. His other friends ran away and left him lying on the ground. When the bully felt less pain, he's so scared he ran away from the little girl. The little girl was also surprised of what she did. It was obvious that she didn't know she had such strength until that day. She turned around and picked me up. I remember the two of us running into their house, with one arm of mine slumped on her shoulders and her other arm wrapped around my waist, supporting my weight. She shouted at her mother, who was reading a book. Her mom dropped the book when she saw me. "Mommy, this little boy needs help!" she shouted. The mother helped her child carry me and laid me on a bed and treated my bruises and wounds. But I don't remember anything after that, because I lost my consciousness.

When I woke up, I was already home. My mother and father introduced me to the little girl who stood up for me and saved me. And this girl became my best friend. We do almost all things together. We're so close to each other. But when were twelve, her adoptive parents are going back to their hometown with her, which means that we'll be separated. I remember the day when they left, I gave her a beautiful gold necklace as a sign of our friendship. We hugged our last hug, and then, she disappeared. From then on, I didn't hear anything about her. She's completely forgotten. The girl who stood up for me.

But not anymore.

I move closer to her, staring at her.

"It seems that I know you," I say to the young lady. The Thom(p)sons looked at me skeptically. "I suppose your name is.. Diana?" I ask, holding her shoulder. The young lady widened her eyes. "Wait, how did you—wait. I think I know you, too," she says, cupping her hand over her mouth. "Tintin?"

"Yes! It's me!" I say delightfully. "Oh my! Tintin! I never seen you for so long!" she exclaims. I give her a hug and I feel her hugging back. It's another hug from her again—after six years.

"I thought I'd never see you again! How are you?" I ask her happily. "Well, I'm fine! We went back here at Brussels when I was sixteen! I'm already working—"

"Uhm, excuse me," Thomson says, clearing his throat. "Sorry to interrupt you but, you're not supposed to tell people that." Diana smiles at the two detectives. "Don't worry. I trust Tintin. He can keep my secrets," she says. "Besides, he's going to be involved here." Diana then shows the detectives the paper in her hand. "What's all this about?" Thompson says as he and Thomson begins reading the paper.

"Great Scotland Yard! So, it's an invitation for Tintin, Captain Haddock, and Professor Calculus to board the ship Cassus? Then, we must tell the captain and the professor at once! Tintin, lead us to the Marlinspike Hall," Thompson and Thomson says. "What ship, you say?" I ask them.

"Cassus. You're being invited there to go to.. uhm.. " Thompson's voice fades as his eyes went back to the paper. He must have forgotten the name of the area.

"I think you should just go with Tintin back to Marlinspike Hall. You can discuss that with the captain and the professor," Diana says. "Come on, Tintin," the two detectives gestures at me. "Won't you be coming, Diana?" I ask her.

"Well, uhm," Diana scratches her head. "I don't know if I'll be welcomed in there. I'm just a stranger," she says. "Of course, you'll be welcomed! You caught the thief, and if you didn't do that, Marlinspike Hall would be ransacked and some valuables will be lost," I tell her. "Come on."

At Marlinspike Hall…

"Hello, Captain," I greet Captain Haddock. "Oh, Tintin! You're back," he says, popping his head out of his newspaper. "And I see you brought some visitors."

"Captain, it's Thompson and Thomson," I tell the captain. "And—"

"Blistering barnacles, you're the young lady who caught the thief!" the captain exclaims as he points Diana. Captain Haddock stands up, folds his newspaper and places it in the table beside him. He walks towards Diana and gives her a handshake. "Thank you, thank you. We owe you a lot. Say, what's your name?" he asks.

Diana looks at Thompson and Thomson, and they both give her a nod. Diana smiles and tells the captain, "My name is Diana, Captain—"

"Haddock. Archibald Haddock," the captain says. He lets go of Diana's hand. "It's very nice to meet you. So, what's this all about?"

"Captain, we've been invited by someone to board the ship Cassus. And Thompson, Thomson, and Diana will tell you all about it," I tell the captain. "Go on," Captain Haddock says.

"We just received a message from Interpol that detectives Thompson and Thomson, assisted by me, that we are assigned to guide, guard, and protect you in any way possible in the Cassus expedition. You are invited by Professor Mike Wilson to join him and board his ship, Cassus, together with Professor Cuthbert Calculus, who could help with his research in the mysterious appearance of the island, Borione. You are requested to join him in his expedition with five other professors and ship crew on the 30th of April," Diana explains.

"Hmm, well, I think we should go," Captain Haddock says. "Wait a minute, Diana," I say, confused. "What is Borione, by the way?" Diana takes a deep breath. "Borione is a mysterious island that appeared just this February on the Western part of Greenland. There's already two expeditions sent there—which was unsuccessful. Locals near the island say that Borione is a very dangerous and mysterious place. But despite the dangers what the locals say, professors and researchers still sends expeditions to the island to carry some samples. It's rumored to hold lots of new animal and plant species, and new elements. And also, locals near there said that beneath the mountain that lies in the island is a city. They don't know what's in the city, but some say it's what people go crazy for."

"And.. what is it?" Captain Haddock asks, clearly interested in the topic now.

"Treasures. Numerous treasures such rubies, diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and other precious stones. That's why a lot of people make trips there, and those people don't come back anymore," Diana explains.

"I don't think we should go," Captain Haddock says. "It's dangerous there."

"But it will be important for the researchers. And, it could be a story," I tell the captain. "We should go." Captain Haddock frowns. "Too dangerous, lad," he says.

Again. Like the past adventures. I'm going to use my old trick that can make him accept the invitation.

"I guess so, Captain," I say. "We are not brave enough to go there."

Suddenly, Captain Haddock stands up. "Me? Afraid? Blistering barnacles in a thundering typhoon! Never! Haddocks are brave! We're going!" he says furiously. "I'm going to prepare to go there! I'm not afraid!" Captain Haddock continues as he leaves the room and slams the door.

"Well, that worked," I say, smiling. "So, that means we're going, right?" Thompson says.

Snowy barks excitedly and wags his tail. "Come on, Snowy. We're going to Borione!"