How to Flirt With a Journalist without even Really Trying

Chapter Two

“Hazel, you’re late. That’s a first for you.” Mrs. Finch noted her tenant’s tardiness. “Is everything alright?”

Hazel shook her head. “No, Mrs. Finch. Nothing is right.”

“Oh, Hazel-”

“Everything is PERFECT! That Tintin fellow is handsome, Mrs. Finch; you were right.”

The elderly landlady smiled lightly. “I thought you might like him. He just brought home a model ship from the marketplace not two minutes ago. He actually just left for the library, if you would like to catch him there.”

The seventeen year old flung her arms around Mrs. Finch. “Oh, thank you, Mrs. Finch!”

=+=

Tintin flipped through the book’s pages desperately for an answer; Hazel could see that from her table three aisles down from him. She couldn’t quite find the proper way to approach him.

He kept flipping through pages until he finally stopped, landing on a peculiar page. “Here it is. The Unicorn.”

Hazel listened into the read aloud and learned both legend and curse of the Haddock family and the man-of-war ship The Unicorn. It didn’t take long to find a similar book that held the same information and walked toward him.

“I don’t know if this will help.” Hazel offered him the encyclopedia.

“Thanks- you’re the girl Snowy was chasing in the marketplace.”

Hazel blushed slightly. “Really?”

“Yeah, he was! Good boy, Snowy.”

The dog pounded his stub of a tail against the ground, as if saying, My mission is complete.

“So,” Tintin pulled a chair away from under the table and offered it to her. “Are you new around the area?”

“No. I live on Labrador Street with Mrs. Finch.”

“Same!”

While the two began to converse, the duo also felt each other being watched. Turning their heads away for observation, lightning lit up the library.

“Something tells me we should go.” Tintin thought aloud.

“Alright.”

=+=

Pulling her key out of her pocket, Hazel watched Tintin’s hand gently push the key back in her pocket. “Please, I’ll get it.”

Hazel smiled as lightly as the rain was falling. Tintin Avontuur was a gentleman. I wonder if he has a girlfriend yet?

Tintin picked his wet coat off her and motioned her upstairs. Snowy had beaten the duo up the stairs and had nudged the door to have it open. Glancing at one another, Tintin and Hazel crept in.

Everything seemed to be in order, nothing out of place. Not to Tintin, at least. It seemed completely tidy.

Flipping on the light, Tintin gasped. The Unicorn, that had a broken middle mast, had disappeared from the stand.

“Of course it’s gone!” Tintin snapped his fingers.

“What?” Hazel wondered.

“My model ship is missing, but, I think I have an idea where it is.

“Would you join me?”

“Where am I joining you?” Hazel asked.

“You’re joining me on a short walk to Marlinspike Hall, if that’s alright?”

The mail carrier looked surprisingly at him. “Are you kidding me?”

“No, I’m not. Would you?”

Quickly Hazel nodded. “Let me grab my jacket.”

=+=

Her jaw dropped at the beauty and age of the worn, weather-ridden mansion. It most likely was surrounded by a beautiful garden during it’s heyday. No one had tended to it in years, it seemed, as vines crawled up the walls. The drive was cracked and the gate was locked.

Tintin pushed and pulled at the bronze lock, begging for it to open. When nothing came unstuck, he looked at Snowy though the gates. Wait... through the gates?

“How’d you do that, Snowy?” Hazel wondered, reached through the gate to pet him.

Bolting for a wrecked part of the wall, Snowy peeked out from the hole, as if to say, Well, here, duh!

TIntin, on hands and knees, crawled through the opening. Hazel quickly followed, being helped up by Tintin.

Walking around the courtyard, the duo shone their flashlights on a concrete family crest above the main doorway. A fish, Hazel identified as a Haddock, was the main center of the crest.

“Is it unlocked?” Hazel wondered, going for the door.

“Hazel, now might not be the time.” Tintin shone his flashlight toward a Rottweiler glaring him down.

A chase began. The Rottweiler shot after the duo, chasing them through the property. It wasn’t until they found a stone wall mid run.

“Oh, this can’t be good.” Hazel spoke Tintin’s thoughts.

Another barking began, yet it was higher pitched. Turning to another hole in the wall, Tintin and Hazel watched as Snowy sprung through the hole and barked loudly at the other animal. The larger dog dropped to its back and stooped to the greatest Snowy had over it.

“Good boy, Snowy.” Tintin chuckled, rubbing Snowy’s ears.

=+=

Wandering the empty halls of Marlinspike Hall Tintin and Hazel played their flashlights around the rooms. Everything was covered in white cloths.

“Feels like a ghost moved in.” Hazel whispered.

“Hazel, in here. I think we found my ship.”

Unveiling a glass container, Tintin smiled as he opened the box and took out the ship.

“There you are...” Tintin spoke.

An ominous shadow peered over the red-headed journalist’s shoulder.

“Tintin look out!” Hazel screamed.

With a strong swing, the ominous shadow smacked both Hazel and Tintin across the back of their heads with a candlestick.