A/n: my first SOUE story. I'm trying to grasp the writers style but as any
good writer knows he or she has their own writing style and it is very hard
to imitate others a phrase which here means 'impossible for Misfit to copy
Lemony Snickets exact awesome writing techniques'
Chapter 1
If you are reading this sorry tale of the Baudelaire's you have most likely clicked on the wrong link. I suggest you hit the back button on your browser and find another section of the site one which might be more pleasing. This story however contains the pains and troubles of the three Baudelaire orphans and the Quagmire triplets. This is the last warning I shall give the readers of this fanfiction to click back and forget you ever started this story.
The story begins not with 'once upon a time' like so many cliché fairy tales do nor does it end 'happily ever after' This story begins with Violet Baudelaire crossing the banks of the Stricken Stream. She was sopping wet and her two siblings were following in her footsteps as they drudged around trying to find the Hotel Denouement. The were following the meandering tributary not only in the hopes of finding the hotel which was the last safe meeting place for the V.F.D but in the hopes of finding the third Quagmire triplet who everyone seemed to think dead. Quigley Quagmire was very much alive, or at least he had been up until a few hours ago. Now he was god knows where, seperated from the Baudelaires.
However I said our story starts with Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire travelling up the stricken streams muddy and ash laden banks, not with the separation of their companion. The three orphans sneezed and coughed the water had drenched the only clothes they had with them. Sunny was the first to break the awkward silence that hung over the siblings like a blanket. "Klusk!" she wailed which probably meant something along the lines of 'I'm cold and wet and I need to find accomodation fast!' Klaus sighed being Sunny's older brother he could easily understand her childish chatter others may class as nonsense. "We know we're looking for the hotel but even if we get there something could go... wrong." He adjusted his glasses. It was rather miraculous Klaus's glasses weren't smashed to smithereens after they'd just travelled half way down a waterfall only to plunge to what would have been certain death had Violet not happened to have a bread knife in her pocket.
"The world is quiet here." Whispered Violet who at 14 was the eldest of the Baudelaire children. "Huh?" Sunny asked curiously for she had not been with her siblings when they had acquired this piece of information. It was the motto written above the steel archway in the ruined V.F.D building. V.F.D was the secret organisation called Volunteer Fire Department as Klaus and Violet had recently discovered. "Nevermind Sunny I..." Violet sneezed which cut her off mid sentence. She didn't continue her sentence just left it hanging mid air. In most circumstances this is considered extremely rude. There are however some cases in which leaving a sentence hanging is excusable, if by chance you are an author having a rivetting conversation with your loved ones and suddenly the walls begin closing in and the room begins to flood it may be excusable to leave your conversation about cheese at a standstill for the timebeing. It may also be excusable if you are having a long boring conversation with your editor about your next story and a bull suddenly appears and gores him to death. It is also excusable if, like Violet Baudelaire, You had just seen the Hotel Denouement seemingly appear out of nowhere. It was previously masked in the steam from the waterfall. Outside the hotel stood two very familiar faces. Almost identical faces.
"Is this real or just Fata Morgana?" Klaus whispered. The two Quagmire triplets Duncan and Isadora looked up and gasped. "Bravo we knew you'd do it, we just didn't expect you to be so... wet." Laughed Duncan surveying Violet's sodden attire. "Odskip!" Sunny protested. The translation was not needed amongst the Baudelaires as they understood perfectly that their sister meant 'Well that was hardly our fault.' "Come on, Klaus can borrow some of my clothes and Violet Isadora's." "Me!" Cried Sunny. Although her language was very distorted she occasionally spoke in a way others could understand. "Don't worry Sunny I'm sure we'll find you something." Isadora said smiling at her friend. "Not meaning to sound rude but what're you doing here?" Klaus asked. "When we last left you, you were floating around in a giant flying house." "Hector dropped us off here in the Valley so we would hopefully meet up with you, we've only been here a few days." Isadora explained. "Do you know the V.F.D headquarters were burned down?" Violet asked. Duncan nodded gravely. "We also know the Snicket file said someone survived the fire were your... were your parents at the headquarters." Duncan asked tenderly. "Our parents perished in the fire at the Baudelaire mansion." Said Klaus sadly.
"However we did meet the survivor." Klaus added dramatically. Isadora and Duncan had politely turned their backs while their friends got changed they were now facing a wall. There are many boring things to stare at in life, a long book for instance, but if however you happen to like long books this may not be so tedious. There was nothing at that moment Duncan and Isadora found interesting about that wall. Duncan kept his eyes from straying by keeping them tightly closed. Isadora seemed very interested in her shoe laces, why her shoe laces she did not know, as shoelaces are one of the tedious things previously mentioned. Tedious is a word often used to describe something so boring it needn't be described. I shall not bother you with a full description of Isadora's shoe laces. "He was a very nice boy." Klaus continued as he pulled on Duncan's shirt. "Klaus stop that this instant!" Violet snapped. "Meanie!" Sunny shrieked which meant something along the lines of 'Klaus Baudelaire don't you dare hold these two in suspense any longer.' Or perhaps it meant 'where are MY spare clothes' It was hard to tell. "The survivor of the fire was Quigley." Duncan and Isadora turned around. Violet blushed and pulled Isadora's blouse over her chest. Duncan quickly closed his eyes again while she buttoned up.
"Quigley's... alive? Where is he?" "I'm afraid we got seperated." Klaus said sadly. "He told us to meet him somewhere we had no idea where so we assumed he'd be heading here. As this is the last safe place." "Last safe place?" Asked Isadora in puzzlement. Together the three Baudelaire children explained exactly what Quigley had told them and what they had discovered on the Mortmain Mountains. "He's still after you? Oh god." Isadora said when their friends had finished the grim tale. "He's coming to torch this place but by my calculations unless he decides to come Via river he won't get here until Friday and by then it will be too late." "Hopefully." Violet mused. "The V.F.D will meet here on Thursday as scheduled." "You three can share our room. It's two small beds so it may be a little cramped." "There's a fold up cot in one of the cupboards." "I'm not a baby." Sunny said indignantly. "Sunny I'm afraid you don't have a choice it's either that or squash your sister half to death." Isadora said sympathetically a word which here means 'she felt sorry for both Sunny and Violet whomever would come worse off in the situation.'
Night fell very soon and the Baudelaires shared the Quagmires food, something that was not unusual for them as they had all gone to Prufrock Prepatory School, where children were deprived of silverware, cups or even dinner did they not obey the simply ridiculous rules. The Quagmires were thrilled to no end with the thought their brother may knock on the door at any moment. "Bed!" Sunny said crawling into the cot. "You Beds!" "Did your sister just call me a bed?" Duncan asked curiously. "How odd." "No I think she means what are our sleeping arrangements? Is it Me and Violet being siblings or Me and Duncan being male?" "It doesn't matter does it?" Violet said shrugging her shoulders. "Duncan kicks." Isadora suddenly blurted. Meaning she suddenly told them something that seemed totally irrelevant. "Yeah well you scratch." Duncan countered. "Well maybe it's preferred you two don't share," Klaus reasoned trying to avoid any bloodshed. "Well then Me and Isadora and You and Duncan?" Suggested Violet. They all nodded. "I have no problem with that." They all said in unison.
Unison comes from the Latin word uni or ono which means one. This does not mean they all merged into one person and spoke it means they said it at the same time in the same tone. Violet lay silently on the bed next to Isadora they were far from the land of nod. "Quigley's Ok right?" Isadora asked nervously. "Yes. He didn't shut up about you." Violet smiled slightly. With that happy thought Isadora was content to fall asleep. There are three kinds of sleep in this world. A dreamless sleep which is just as its name says, a sleep filled with dreams wether happy or terrifying, and the big sleep. I wish I could say Beatrice was sleeping dreamlessly but alas she follows the latter pattern of sleep. Isadora was evidently sleeping peacefully where as Violet fell into a fitful sleep.
Flames licked at the corners of her mind. She could smell the burning. She could hear the screaming. She watched on helplessly as her mother fell to the ground followed by her father. Olaf was in the background laughing maniacally. The smoke choked Violet and she couldn't breathe. She tried to smack it out of her way knowing that her hand would act as a makeshift fan. The scene then changed to a graveyard. She was weeping over four graves. Emily Baudelaire. George Baudelaire. Klaus Baudelaire and Sunny Baudelaire. A hand snaked around her mouth and she thrashed as they tried to drag her. Her hands lashed out and suddenly came into contact with something very real and very solid.
"Ow." Muttered Duncan rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Are you ok Violet?" There are some questions in life that are simply so stupid they do not warrant an answer depending on who said them, if a waiter in MacDonald's asked you your shoe size you may feel very inclined to dump your super- sized milkshake over his or her head, if however a shoe salesman asked you your shoe size there would be no quibble whatsoever. 'Are you ok?' is one of those questions everyone seems to ask when it is perfectly evident that you are not ok. Such a question is called a rhetorical question, meaning they do not want an answer, under normal circumstances. Violet could tell by the silver slit of light the moon cast through the curtains Duncan was genuinely worried about her. "I'm... It was...Just a dream..." "Yeah. Just a dream." He whispered comfortingly to her. Violet didn't see it as just a dream though although it had been her that had first said it. It had seemed so real. Was she really to be the last Baudelaire standing? Oh god. Violet buried her head in her hands. She must not cry. She wasn't allowed to cry.
Duncan put a reassuring hand on her shoulder but that only made her feel worse. As the oldest she felt a responsibility to look after them all be they Baudelaire or Quagmire. Here she was having a break down over a dream where she had let her family down. "It's just a dream Violet." He whispered again. She stood up and crossed to the window. The moon shone onto her face illuminating her features. Duncan sighed. "Come on back to bed, you'll be fit for nothing tomorrow" "What if there isn't a tomorrow?" Violet questioned. She knew it was an impossible maybe even rhetorical question. For nobody could tell if there was a tomorrow until tomorrow came, if it came that is.
"That's an impossible question." Duncan said. "Nobody knows if tomorrow will come until it comes." Violet nodded. "I still don't feel like going back to sleep." She muttered but she acted on instruction she climbed into the bed. "Izzy come on, out." Duncan shook her. 'Watch this' he mouthed to the eldest Baudelaire. "Come on back to your own bed." She stood up and wandered vaguely in the direction of Klaus's bed. There was a dull sound of mattress springs creaking as she climbed into bed. "Feel a bit better?" he asked her as he slid into her bed. Violet nodded. She looked at him. Quigley was an exact carbon copy. Klaus was the most well read of the three Baudelaire orphans and would have had no trouble in telling his sister that triplets are rarely three identical it's usually one set of twins and an extra. Isadora happened to be the extra. Quigley had kissed her earlier, upon the waterfall. She had not breathed a word of this to her siblings, nor did she know if she would ever see Quigley again. When Quigley had kissed her it had felt... odd. Odd is a word often used to describe a pair of socks that don't match or a writer who feels she has to record these events. In this case odd means it didn't feel quite right.
The bed was extremely small. Violet was nearly falling out of it keeping to the edge so as not to intrude on his half of the bed. Duncan seemed to find this amusing. "What?" "nothing... come here." "I am here." Violet said in a polite and patient voice. It was rude to speak in the no nonsense tone Carmelita Spatz often spoke in. Carmelita was a terrible girl who up until recently had only been a brat now she was an evil brat working for count Olaf who was somewhere plotting terrible deeds. Duncan decided Violet was pretty naïve and wrapped his arm around her gently pulling her a little closer. "You're falling off." "Thanks." She muttered in embarrassment. "Now, are you going to tell me what your dream was about then?" She looked at him hesitantly she knew she could trust him. She explained about how because she was the oldest she felt obliged [a word which here means felt like she had to even though it wasn't REALLY her job] to look after her siblings. About how she felt so useless about her parents dying and about how she felt if she cried she'd look weak and she needed to be strong for Klaus and Sunny.
"Feel better." He asked her when her rant was well and truly over. "Yes." She muttered. "You know how you said you don't want to cry in front of Sunny and Klaus? They're not looking so if you need to cry then..." "I don't want to cry." "Putting on a brave face doesn't make you brave Violet. A famous journalist once said 'The man...'" he paused "Er... 'woman who shows great bravery shows it only by facing him...er... herself.'" Violet nodded. Duncan squeezed her shoulder lightly. "Goodnight. Sweet dreams." He whispered in her ear. There are as far as I know two types of 'crush' in the world. One is describing a particularly rough way of squashing someone. I was once crushed between a wall a luggage rack and a very large liverpudlian man on a train on my way to deliver this to my editor. The other type of crush is a strong romantic flare for someone of the opposite... or even same gender. When Violet was 'Crushing' on Duncan I can only assume it was the second type of crush and she was not crushing him against the headboard. "Goodnight." Violet returned. She fell asleep in his arms a dreamless sleep. This felt right.
"AH!" was the sound Duncan and Violet awoke to. "What're you doing in my bed?" Said two very shocked voices. Violet had to stop herself bursting into uncontrollable fits of giggles by stuffing her fist into her mouth. Duncan looked tempted to do the same. "You're in my bed...Look you used to be over there." Klaus said. Isadora then realised he was 100% right. "DUNCAN QUAGMIRE!" she yelled angrily. Duncan shrugged. "Sorry Izzy..." "Don't call me Izzy." She said chewing her bottom lip. "Only Quigley calls me Izzy." "So why did you switch with Isadora then?" Klaus asked in puzzlement. Violet squirmed awkwardly she didn't want to admit she had been having nightmares although she was almost certain that Klaus and Sunny would have nightmares in the same train of thought.
"You were sleepwalking." Duncan lied smoothly. "So I got up tried to get you back to bed and you whacked me." He pointed to the small mark on his nose where Violet had struck him the previous night. "So I just let you when you got into bed with Klaus and came in with Violet." Violet nodded as if to confirm this lie. As we all know from a very young age it is wrong to lie especially to those close to you. in some cases though a lie is more pleasing to hear than the truth. For instance it may be better to lie and say you're on Vacation instead of telling your mother you do not want her round for tea because she is an insufferable know it all. This was one of those times. "Noisy." Sunny yawned. "Yes we are aren't we..." Sunny then said something even her siblings couldn't quite comprehend. 'Knock knock." Was she trying to tell a joke? "What?" "Knock knock." Sunny repeated more firmly. Violet slid from the bed and opened the door. "YOU FOUND US!" she cried. There in the doorway was the unmistakable if a little wet form of Quigley Quagmire.
We shall leave the Baudelaire Quagmire group there for now as this chapter has exceeded five pages. I shall not keep you in suspense too long though.
Chapter 1
If you are reading this sorry tale of the Baudelaire's you have most likely clicked on the wrong link. I suggest you hit the back button on your browser and find another section of the site one which might be more pleasing. This story however contains the pains and troubles of the three Baudelaire orphans and the Quagmire triplets. This is the last warning I shall give the readers of this fanfiction to click back and forget you ever started this story.
The story begins not with 'once upon a time' like so many cliché fairy tales do nor does it end 'happily ever after' This story begins with Violet Baudelaire crossing the banks of the Stricken Stream. She was sopping wet and her two siblings were following in her footsteps as they drudged around trying to find the Hotel Denouement. The were following the meandering tributary not only in the hopes of finding the hotel which was the last safe meeting place for the V.F.D but in the hopes of finding the third Quagmire triplet who everyone seemed to think dead. Quigley Quagmire was very much alive, or at least he had been up until a few hours ago. Now he was god knows where, seperated from the Baudelaires.
However I said our story starts with Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire travelling up the stricken streams muddy and ash laden banks, not with the separation of their companion. The three orphans sneezed and coughed the water had drenched the only clothes they had with them. Sunny was the first to break the awkward silence that hung over the siblings like a blanket. "Klusk!" she wailed which probably meant something along the lines of 'I'm cold and wet and I need to find accomodation fast!' Klaus sighed being Sunny's older brother he could easily understand her childish chatter others may class as nonsense. "We know we're looking for the hotel but even if we get there something could go... wrong." He adjusted his glasses. It was rather miraculous Klaus's glasses weren't smashed to smithereens after they'd just travelled half way down a waterfall only to plunge to what would have been certain death had Violet not happened to have a bread knife in her pocket.
"The world is quiet here." Whispered Violet who at 14 was the eldest of the Baudelaire children. "Huh?" Sunny asked curiously for she had not been with her siblings when they had acquired this piece of information. It was the motto written above the steel archway in the ruined V.F.D building. V.F.D was the secret organisation called Volunteer Fire Department as Klaus and Violet had recently discovered. "Nevermind Sunny I..." Violet sneezed which cut her off mid sentence. She didn't continue her sentence just left it hanging mid air. In most circumstances this is considered extremely rude. There are however some cases in which leaving a sentence hanging is excusable, if by chance you are an author having a rivetting conversation with your loved ones and suddenly the walls begin closing in and the room begins to flood it may be excusable to leave your conversation about cheese at a standstill for the timebeing. It may also be excusable if you are having a long boring conversation with your editor about your next story and a bull suddenly appears and gores him to death. It is also excusable if, like Violet Baudelaire, You had just seen the Hotel Denouement seemingly appear out of nowhere. It was previously masked in the steam from the waterfall. Outside the hotel stood two very familiar faces. Almost identical faces.
"Is this real or just Fata Morgana?" Klaus whispered. The two Quagmire triplets Duncan and Isadora looked up and gasped. "Bravo we knew you'd do it, we just didn't expect you to be so... wet." Laughed Duncan surveying Violet's sodden attire. "Odskip!" Sunny protested. The translation was not needed amongst the Baudelaires as they understood perfectly that their sister meant 'Well that was hardly our fault.' "Come on, Klaus can borrow some of my clothes and Violet Isadora's." "Me!" Cried Sunny. Although her language was very distorted she occasionally spoke in a way others could understand. "Don't worry Sunny I'm sure we'll find you something." Isadora said smiling at her friend. "Not meaning to sound rude but what're you doing here?" Klaus asked. "When we last left you, you were floating around in a giant flying house." "Hector dropped us off here in the Valley so we would hopefully meet up with you, we've only been here a few days." Isadora explained. "Do you know the V.F.D headquarters were burned down?" Violet asked. Duncan nodded gravely. "We also know the Snicket file said someone survived the fire were your... were your parents at the headquarters." Duncan asked tenderly. "Our parents perished in the fire at the Baudelaire mansion." Said Klaus sadly.
"However we did meet the survivor." Klaus added dramatically. Isadora and Duncan had politely turned their backs while their friends got changed they were now facing a wall. There are many boring things to stare at in life, a long book for instance, but if however you happen to like long books this may not be so tedious. There was nothing at that moment Duncan and Isadora found interesting about that wall. Duncan kept his eyes from straying by keeping them tightly closed. Isadora seemed very interested in her shoe laces, why her shoe laces she did not know, as shoelaces are one of the tedious things previously mentioned. Tedious is a word often used to describe something so boring it needn't be described. I shall not bother you with a full description of Isadora's shoe laces. "He was a very nice boy." Klaus continued as he pulled on Duncan's shirt. "Klaus stop that this instant!" Violet snapped. "Meanie!" Sunny shrieked which meant something along the lines of 'Klaus Baudelaire don't you dare hold these two in suspense any longer.' Or perhaps it meant 'where are MY spare clothes' It was hard to tell. "The survivor of the fire was Quigley." Duncan and Isadora turned around. Violet blushed and pulled Isadora's blouse over her chest. Duncan quickly closed his eyes again while she buttoned up.
"Quigley's... alive? Where is he?" "I'm afraid we got seperated." Klaus said sadly. "He told us to meet him somewhere we had no idea where so we assumed he'd be heading here. As this is the last safe place." "Last safe place?" Asked Isadora in puzzlement. Together the three Baudelaire children explained exactly what Quigley had told them and what they had discovered on the Mortmain Mountains. "He's still after you? Oh god." Isadora said when their friends had finished the grim tale. "He's coming to torch this place but by my calculations unless he decides to come Via river he won't get here until Friday and by then it will be too late." "Hopefully." Violet mused. "The V.F.D will meet here on Thursday as scheduled." "You three can share our room. It's two small beds so it may be a little cramped." "There's a fold up cot in one of the cupboards." "I'm not a baby." Sunny said indignantly. "Sunny I'm afraid you don't have a choice it's either that or squash your sister half to death." Isadora said sympathetically a word which here means 'she felt sorry for both Sunny and Violet whomever would come worse off in the situation.'
Night fell very soon and the Baudelaires shared the Quagmires food, something that was not unusual for them as they had all gone to Prufrock Prepatory School, where children were deprived of silverware, cups or even dinner did they not obey the simply ridiculous rules. The Quagmires were thrilled to no end with the thought their brother may knock on the door at any moment. "Bed!" Sunny said crawling into the cot. "You Beds!" "Did your sister just call me a bed?" Duncan asked curiously. "How odd." "No I think she means what are our sleeping arrangements? Is it Me and Violet being siblings or Me and Duncan being male?" "It doesn't matter does it?" Violet said shrugging her shoulders. "Duncan kicks." Isadora suddenly blurted. Meaning she suddenly told them something that seemed totally irrelevant. "Yeah well you scratch." Duncan countered. "Well maybe it's preferred you two don't share," Klaus reasoned trying to avoid any bloodshed. "Well then Me and Isadora and You and Duncan?" Suggested Violet. They all nodded. "I have no problem with that." They all said in unison.
Unison comes from the Latin word uni or ono which means one. This does not mean they all merged into one person and spoke it means they said it at the same time in the same tone. Violet lay silently on the bed next to Isadora they were far from the land of nod. "Quigley's Ok right?" Isadora asked nervously. "Yes. He didn't shut up about you." Violet smiled slightly. With that happy thought Isadora was content to fall asleep. There are three kinds of sleep in this world. A dreamless sleep which is just as its name says, a sleep filled with dreams wether happy or terrifying, and the big sleep. I wish I could say Beatrice was sleeping dreamlessly but alas she follows the latter pattern of sleep. Isadora was evidently sleeping peacefully where as Violet fell into a fitful sleep.
Flames licked at the corners of her mind. She could smell the burning. She could hear the screaming. She watched on helplessly as her mother fell to the ground followed by her father. Olaf was in the background laughing maniacally. The smoke choked Violet and she couldn't breathe. She tried to smack it out of her way knowing that her hand would act as a makeshift fan. The scene then changed to a graveyard. She was weeping over four graves. Emily Baudelaire. George Baudelaire. Klaus Baudelaire and Sunny Baudelaire. A hand snaked around her mouth and she thrashed as they tried to drag her. Her hands lashed out and suddenly came into contact with something very real and very solid.
"Ow." Muttered Duncan rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Are you ok Violet?" There are some questions in life that are simply so stupid they do not warrant an answer depending on who said them, if a waiter in MacDonald's asked you your shoe size you may feel very inclined to dump your super- sized milkshake over his or her head, if however a shoe salesman asked you your shoe size there would be no quibble whatsoever. 'Are you ok?' is one of those questions everyone seems to ask when it is perfectly evident that you are not ok. Such a question is called a rhetorical question, meaning they do not want an answer, under normal circumstances. Violet could tell by the silver slit of light the moon cast through the curtains Duncan was genuinely worried about her. "I'm... It was...Just a dream..." "Yeah. Just a dream." He whispered comfortingly to her. Violet didn't see it as just a dream though although it had been her that had first said it. It had seemed so real. Was she really to be the last Baudelaire standing? Oh god. Violet buried her head in her hands. She must not cry. She wasn't allowed to cry.
Duncan put a reassuring hand on her shoulder but that only made her feel worse. As the oldest she felt a responsibility to look after them all be they Baudelaire or Quagmire. Here she was having a break down over a dream where she had let her family down. "It's just a dream Violet." He whispered again. She stood up and crossed to the window. The moon shone onto her face illuminating her features. Duncan sighed. "Come on back to bed, you'll be fit for nothing tomorrow" "What if there isn't a tomorrow?" Violet questioned. She knew it was an impossible maybe even rhetorical question. For nobody could tell if there was a tomorrow until tomorrow came, if it came that is.
"That's an impossible question." Duncan said. "Nobody knows if tomorrow will come until it comes." Violet nodded. "I still don't feel like going back to sleep." She muttered but she acted on instruction she climbed into the bed. "Izzy come on, out." Duncan shook her. 'Watch this' he mouthed to the eldest Baudelaire. "Come on back to your own bed." She stood up and wandered vaguely in the direction of Klaus's bed. There was a dull sound of mattress springs creaking as she climbed into bed. "Feel a bit better?" he asked her as he slid into her bed. Violet nodded. She looked at him. Quigley was an exact carbon copy. Klaus was the most well read of the three Baudelaire orphans and would have had no trouble in telling his sister that triplets are rarely three identical it's usually one set of twins and an extra. Isadora happened to be the extra. Quigley had kissed her earlier, upon the waterfall. She had not breathed a word of this to her siblings, nor did she know if she would ever see Quigley again. When Quigley had kissed her it had felt... odd. Odd is a word often used to describe a pair of socks that don't match or a writer who feels she has to record these events. In this case odd means it didn't feel quite right.
The bed was extremely small. Violet was nearly falling out of it keeping to the edge so as not to intrude on his half of the bed. Duncan seemed to find this amusing. "What?" "nothing... come here." "I am here." Violet said in a polite and patient voice. It was rude to speak in the no nonsense tone Carmelita Spatz often spoke in. Carmelita was a terrible girl who up until recently had only been a brat now she was an evil brat working for count Olaf who was somewhere plotting terrible deeds. Duncan decided Violet was pretty naïve and wrapped his arm around her gently pulling her a little closer. "You're falling off." "Thanks." She muttered in embarrassment. "Now, are you going to tell me what your dream was about then?" She looked at him hesitantly she knew she could trust him. She explained about how because she was the oldest she felt obliged [a word which here means felt like she had to even though it wasn't REALLY her job] to look after her siblings. About how she felt so useless about her parents dying and about how she felt if she cried she'd look weak and she needed to be strong for Klaus and Sunny.
"Feel better." He asked her when her rant was well and truly over. "Yes." She muttered. "You know how you said you don't want to cry in front of Sunny and Klaus? They're not looking so if you need to cry then..." "I don't want to cry." "Putting on a brave face doesn't make you brave Violet. A famous journalist once said 'The man...'" he paused "Er... 'woman who shows great bravery shows it only by facing him...er... herself.'" Violet nodded. Duncan squeezed her shoulder lightly. "Goodnight. Sweet dreams." He whispered in her ear. There are as far as I know two types of 'crush' in the world. One is describing a particularly rough way of squashing someone. I was once crushed between a wall a luggage rack and a very large liverpudlian man on a train on my way to deliver this to my editor. The other type of crush is a strong romantic flare for someone of the opposite... or even same gender. When Violet was 'Crushing' on Duncan I can only assume it was the second type of crush and she was not crushing him against the headboard. "Goodnight." Violet returned. She fell asleep in his arms a dreamless sleep. This felt right.
"AH!" was the sound Duncan and Violet awoke to. "What're you doing in my bed?" Said two very shocked voices. Violet had to stop herself bursting into uncontrollable fits of giggles by stuffing her fist into her mouth. Duncan looked tempted to do the same. "You're in my bed...Look you used to be over there." Klaus said. Isadora then realised he was 100% right. "DUNCAN QUAGMIRE!" she yelled angrily. Duncan shrugged. "Sorry Izzy..." "Don't call me Izzy." She said chewing her bottom lip. "Only Quigley calls me Izzy." "So why did you switch with Isadora then?" Klaus asked in puzzlement. Violet squirmed awkwardly she didn't want to admit she had been having nightmares although she was almost certain that Klaus and Sunny would have nightmares in the same train of thought.
"You were sleepwalking." Duncan lied smoothly. "So I got up tried to get you back to bed and you whacked me." He pointed to the small mark on his nose where Violet had struck him the previous night. "So I just let you when you got into bed with Klaus and came in with Violet." Violet nodded as if to confirm this lie. As we all know from a very young age it is wrong to lie especially to those close to you. in some cases though a lie is more pleasing to hear than the truth. For instance it may be better to lie and say you're on Vacation instead of telling your mother you do not want her round for tea because she is an insufferable know it all. This was one of those times. "Noisy." Sunny yawned. "Yes we are aren't we..." Sunny then said something even her siblings couldn't quite comprehend. 'Knock knock." Was she trying to tell a joke? "What?" "Knock knock." Sunny repeated more firmly. Violet slid from the bed and opened the door. "YOU FOUND US!" she cried. There in the doorway was the unmistakable if a little wet form of Quigley Quagmire.
We shall leave the Baudelaire Quagmire group there for now as this chapter has exceeded five pages. I shall not keep you in suspense too long though.