Drawn To You: A Tintin Fanfiction

Chapter 4

Emma and Captain Haddock whispered to each other as they left the police station.

"There's no way of knowing where it's safe to talk," Emma said quietly. "They may have bugged our homes, the police station. They may already be onto us."

"But that video must have been made nearby," the Captain reasoned. "Otherwise, how would they have gotten it here so quickly?"

Emma pulled out a compact mirror and pretended to check her face. "We have a tail," she said.

"What? How could we..."

"It's spy talk, Captain. Like from the movies. It means there's someone following us," she said as she put her mirror away.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to just say that in the first place?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "What we should be worrying about is how to lose him."

"There's just one, right? We can split up. He can't follow both of us at once."

"But nothing would keep him from calling his friends. We need some way to distract him without allowing him time to alert anyone. Turn here." She turned quickly into an alley.

"Why here?" Haddock asked, but he followed her anyway.

"I'm going to keep walking," she explained. "You get behind him while he's focused on me. Once he's down, we should go back to the alley where Tintin was kidnapped. I think it could use a more thorough investigation. Now quickly, hide."

Captain Haddock hid behind a trash bin just before the man following them turned the corner. Emma kept walking. She had to get him past the Captain. As the man passed his hiding place, Captain Haddock slowly crept up behind him. He hit him on the head with a wood plank, knocking him unconscious.

"Let's go," Haddock called to Emma.

"Wait," she said. "We can't just leave him here. The first thing he'll do when he comes to is call for backup."

"Well, we can't take him to the police. They're sure to have someone watching there." Emma sighed in frustration.

"We'll have to tie him up and come back for him."

"I'll take care of that. You get Snowy from the police station. While you're there, maybe you can leave a note for the Thompsons about this guy." He gestured toward their unconscious stalker.

"I will. Remember, meet me at the alley where Tintin was kidnapped."

...

After leaving a note on Thomson's desk, Emma arrived in the alley with Snowy. Captain Haddock was waiting for them.

"Alright, Snowy," she said. "See what you can sniff out about where they took Tintin."

Snowy barked in understanding. He put his nose to the ground. After going in a few circles, he started to follow a trail. Emma and the Captain followed him. Suddenly, Snowy barked and started to run off. A cat screeched and ran away. Snowy started to give chase, but Emma stopped him.

"Snowy, Tintin needs your help. We don't have time for you to go after every stray cat." Snowy whimpered.

"Come on, Snowy. You've got to find Tintin. You're our best chance of getting him out alive."

Snowy looked longingly in the direction of the cat, but he turned his nose back to the ground. Cats could wait. Tintin was more important. Snowy continued on the trail, and Emma and Haddock kept close behind him. He stopped abruptly in front of a wall. He barked angrily as if trying to scare the wall into submission.

"Not another dead end," Captain Haddock said. He leaned against the wall.

"Poor Snowy's gone crazy with grief. At this rate, we'll never find..."

"A secret passage!" Emma exclaimed. The Captain stared at her.

"What?" he asked stupidly. Emma might have been annoyed with him if she hadn't been so excited.

"Captain, look where you're leaning. The wall is caved in ever so slightly. There must be a secret door! That's how they were able to get away without being noticed. It's probably a secret passage to their base! And if we find the base..." Captain Haddock smiled at her.

"If we find the base," he repeated. "We find Tintin."

...

Emma ducked under a low hanging support.

"Watch your head," she called back, just in time to hear a thud and the Captain's groan.

"Thanks for the warning," he replied sarcastically as he rubbed his temple. "How much longer do you think this tunnel is? It feels like we've been walking for hours."

"Captain, it's been twenty minutes."

"Seems like forever," he complained. "Do you think they wanted to deter invaders by making their tunnel so long?"

"I'm sure it's not too much further. Speaking of which, we should probably keep quiet from now on. We don't know how far away the kidnappers might be, and we don't want them to know we're here." They walked in silence for a while until they came across a wall.

"Great, this time it's a real dead end," Captain Haddock said. "This was a complete waste of time, and we're no closer to finding Tintin."

"Quiet," Emma whispered. She put her hand to her ear, silently telling the Captain to listen. There were sounds of movement above them. They looked up to see a trap door.

"This is it," Emma said. "Hold on Tintin, here we come."

A/N: Hey readers! What do you think is behind the trap door? Feel free to comment below. I'd love to know what you guys think. Don't forget to vote and share if you liked it. Thanks!