The New Adventures of Tintin: The Mystery of the Lion's Mouth Treasure

Chapter 1

It was a dreary, stormy, October day at the grand Marlinspike Hall. Tintin, a young journalist for the Belgian paper Le Petit Vengtieme, & known by the vertical orange tuft of hair over his forehead, sighed as he laid the newspaper on his lap. Snowy, his solid white wire fox terrier, lay asleep on the floor beside him. Outside, the rain pelted against the large panoramic window making silvery streams seep effortlessly down the panes.
However, the dismal weather shed an even more gloomy forecast on the young journalist as he sat deep in thought. He had never mentioned it to the Captain, and quite frankly, he never dared to, but on days such as this Tintin felt very lonely. He knew he had the Captain, Snowy, the two detectives, Thomson and Thompson, as well as a great many other friends made through his adventures...but this sort of loneliness ran deep and sore throughout his body.
When spells such as this began to menace him, Tintin liked to sit and ponder the question why he felt partially empty on the inside; as if there was some sort of void within him that needed to be filled. However, he didn't have much time to ponder these life questions on this particular morning. The thundering voice of Captain Archibald Haddock, great-great-great...well, grandson of the legendary Francis Haddock of the sailing ship, the Unicorn, boomed into the main sitting room.
"Billions of blue blistering barnacles in a blasted thundering typhoon!!"
"Uh, oh." Thought Tintin.
He knew something must be very wrong for his friend to rage on like that. And he didn't have to wait long to find out what as in that same moment, Haddock stormed in holding a crinkled piece of paper in one tightly clenched fist, flailing both hands furiously in the air.
"Those muddle-headed, two-faced sons of monkeys! They can't do this to me!!"
"What's wrong, Captain?" Tintin tried to shout over the din.
"Why, just look at this blistering piece of paper!" Bellowed Haddock as he shoved the now Very crumpled form in Tintin's face. Tintin took the paper and read the main body paragraph which read: "Dear Mr. Haddock, as of now Dr. Mendle is placing you on a strict diet of raw vegetables, fruits, and water ONLY. Your liver is in critical condition from the consumption of too much alcohol...you will need a good 3-4 months of strict dieting to rid the toxins in you bloodstream. Take great care, Signed, Dr. Mendle M.D."
"Well, Captain," began the boy "it looks as if you health has finally become a great concern to the medical world. If I were you, I'd heed the good doctor's advice and get your health back in order!"
Haddock sighed as he slumped into the next chair. He looked as if he had just gotten a notice that he had only a day left to live.
"What's a man to do without his vitals? This is it, Tintin, this is the end of Old Captain Haddock!"
Tintin scolded his being so melodramatic; "Oh, come now, Captain...a few months without whiskey will do you very well. In fact, I'll help you. Just please quit being a child about it!"
All this fussing awakened Snowy, who irritatedly gazed at the two for causing so much noise. Tintin continued; "Why don't we go into market today and find everything you need for the new diet?"
With another loathsome sigh, the Captain conceded to Tintin's plan.
Lifting himself, with much effort, he called in his butler, Nestor, and alerted him of their departure.
"Very well, Sir" said Nestor "Shall I clean the rooms while you are away?"
"Yes, Nestor" the Captain responded as Tintin and Snowy exited the front doors "and be sure to clean Under the clock on the mantle this time. The dust under there is frightful!"
................................................
Within the darkened streets of Brussels, a young woman and her pet dog stalked the shadows. Amanda, and her loyal canine, a small schnauzer she called Silver, stayed out of sight of the crowd while looking for their intended target.
Silver grumbled as she had not eaten in a while.
"Whow whoaa waaa..."
Amanda kindly looked down at her friend, "I know, Silver Dear. I'm hungry too.." The tone of her soft, English accent soothed the little dog, calming it down.
The duo was on the lookout for the only one person who could help Amanda...and that was a young reporter called 'Tintin'.

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