Tintin and the Farmgirl

Chapter 2: The Storm

It was an hour before my shift was over when a storm alert came in the TV. "ALERT! A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM IS HEADING TO THE CASSIA COUNTY REGION. RESIDENTS ARE URGED TO STAY INDOORS FOR THEIR SAFETY." The TV then went back to its regular channel. "You want to head home sweetie? I'll look after the place." Jenna said giving a customer her change. "Are you sure?" I asked serving a hamburger to an old man. "Yeah. You need to lock your animals up and I want you to be safe when the storm hits." She said patting my back. I smile at her and head to the truck. Sylvia is outside on the patio dining waiting for me. "Come on girl, let's get home before the storm hits." I said running to the truck and driving back to my house.

 When we get home, the wind is blowing and dark clouds are looming over the sky. We ran over to the cow pen and went inside. "Round 'em up Sylvia." I said to her. She ran to round up the cows as I opened the barn door. Sylvia drove the cows and the horse inside the barn and I shut the door. I continued to lock everything up outside when I felt a few raindrops fall on my head. "That's our cue to head inside Sylvia. Let's go." I said running to my house. We got inside, but sadly got soaked from the rain. Sylvia shook herself off getting me even more wet. "Sylvia! Well, I needed a shower anyways." I said taking off my muddy boots. I head to my room and grab a pair of old basketball shorts and a t-shirt and head to the shower. After my shower, I went to the living room and turned on the TV. Sylvia jumped on the couch and shoved her head under my hand. She never liked thunderstorms. I heard a strange noise outside my front door, like scratching. "Crap! I forgot about Sylvester!" I jumped off the couch and ran to the door. I opened the door to see my black and white cat that looked like Sylvester the Cat from Loony Toons, hence the name, sitting on the porch soaking wet, looking at me with a scowl. "I'm sorry buddy. I was so busy getting everything locked up I forgot about you. You needed a bath anyway." I said drying him off with a towel. He growled at my little joke and batted my cheek. That's his way of slapping me. He walked over to the couch and cuddled up to Sylvia. Sylvester loves dogs, he was basically raised by dogs as a kitten. I smiled at the two as I changed the channel to the news. "The forecast for this week is going to very stormy but will clear up by Friday next week. Back to you John." The weatherman said while pointing to a map of the storm. "Thanks for the weather Brian. Further following the mysterious disappearance of famous reporter Tintin and his partner Captain Archibald Haddock, police have discovered that the crime lords that escaped the Illinois state prison have something to do with their disappearance." The newsman said as a picture of the two showed up on the screen. "HA! I KNEW IT! I TOTALLY CALLED IT!" I yelled at the TV and jumping up from my seat. A crack of thunder stopped my loud ranting as the power went out. My phone rang and I looked at the screen to see Jenna's name. I answer it. "Hey there Sam. Did your power go out?" she asked. "Yep." I said popping the p. "But did you see the news? I TOTALLY CALLED IT!" I said waving the now useless remote in the air like a sword. "I saw. Where do you think they could be?" she asked. "I don't know. Hopefully not six feet under the ground or dismembered." I said stroking Sylvia's ears. "You watch too many of those murder mysteries darling." She chuckled. I laughed along with her. "Can't help it. I like to watch them." I shrugged. "But I'll admit, That Captain Haddock man is quite the looker." She said. "I know where this is going. He is strong and brave, but he's an alcoholic. And he's very stubborn. And I know this because if Tintin's blog." I said lighting some candles. "And we're farmers and ranchers. We're stubborn beyond belief." She said laughing. I was about to counter when I heard a loud noise zoom over my house. I ran to the window that showed the backyard and looked out to see a flaming plane crash a few fields away. "Jenna, I'm going to call you back." I said as I hung up I grabbed my dad's old coat along with my keys and called Sylvia. We ran out into the rain and into my truck. I started it up and sped down the dirt road to the crash site.

As soon as I saw the flames I rammed through the gate and through the field to the plane. Sylvia and I ran out of the truck towards the small plane. "Sylvia search!" I commanded as I smothered some of the flames with the fire extinguisher I had in case of emergencies. "IS THERE ANYBODY IN THERE?!" I called as I extinguished more flames. I heard a bark, but not from Sylvia. I saw a white Fox Terrier pinned underneath a seat with Sylvia trying to push the seat off. I ran into the plane and pushed the seat off the dog. The dog then ran further into the plane. I continue to extinguish the flames as I followed the dog. I heard the dog barking and I followed the sound to find it in top of two bodies tied up with hoods over their heads, trying to pull them away from danger. "Sylvia, retrieve!" I said pointing to the larger one while I grabbed the smaller one and dragged it out of the flames with Sylvia following behind me. I laid the body on the ground near my truck and helped Sylvia with the larger body. I checked their pulses and both were alive and breathing. I looked to their clothes and saw them full of bloodstains, some looked fresher than others. I was about to take off the hoods when I heard gunfire. "Sylvia, help get them into the truck." I said lifting the larger one as she hopped inside the car and dragged it into the cab. As we finished getting the last one in the truck, I felt a stinging sensation in my right cheek. The white dog started barking and was about to bolt towards the plane when I scooped him up and tossed him into the front seat. More bullets fired towards my truck, missing me but hitting the truck. "YOU HAVE THE ACCURACY OF A FREAKING STORM TROOPER!" I yelled as I got in and drove out of the field and down the dirt road to my house.

I pulled into my driveway and parked the truck. I opened the truck door in the back seat and grabbed the larger one and brought him inside and set him on the couch. I did the same with the smaller one as well. The white dog stayed by the smaller body and kept whining. I went to the bathroom and grabbed my large First Aid Kit from the bathroom and brought it to the living room. When I came back in, the two people were awake and struggling to get free, but froze when they heard me come in. I took a deep breath before approaching them. I pulled a chair in front of the two and sat down with the kit in my lap. "I know that the two of you are scared and confused on where you are, but just know that I'm here to help." I said as I yanked the hoods off their heads. My eyes nearly fell right out of my head. In front of me were the two most known adventurers in the world. Captain Archibald Haddock and Tintin.  

TA DA! ANOTHER CHAPTER! I loved writing this chapter. The next one is going to be a good one.