This is a sequel to the "Series of Incredible Events", in which the super-powered but unfortunate Parr children find themselves in one sad situation after another, all the while being pursued by the evil and persistent Count Buddy.
All major characters belong to Daniel Handler and Pixar, not me.
The Miser's Mill -- Book the 4th
A writer I much admire wrote many novels that could be fairly be described as "dickensian," a word which here means "woeful and wordy tales about children in heart-rending circumstances who suffer from hard-hearted treatment by the heartless world, novels the like of 'Oliver Twist' and 'Nicholas Nickelby'." Since the writer in question wrote both those novels and was in fact named Dickens, it is no wonder that such writing was called dickensian. This tale is also dickensian, and I would advise you to swiftly seek more cheerful reading material.
The children in this particular set of heart-rending circumstances were the three Parr children: Violet, a melancholy girl who could turn invisible and cast purple-tinted force fields; Dash, her high-spirited brother, who could run at super-speed; and Jack-Jack, still a baby, who could morph into anything he touched.
The three Parrs found Rick Poe waiting for them when they finally got their boat to the shore of Lackluster Lake. (Poe was the government agent responsible for them under the Super Relocation Program. After their parents disappeared under mysterious circumstances, Poe had attempted to place them with one guardian after another. Two of the guardians were no longer available -- in fact, they were dead. The other one, Count Buddy, was entirely unsuitable because he was Syndrome, a meglomaniacal supervillain who constantly schemed against them. Count Buddy had killed the other two guardians and had recently led the children to believe he had killed their parents as well.)
"Aha, there you are," said Poe when they reached the shore. "I've found a new guardian for you. It's a fine local business in the nearby town of Pittanceville where you can work and earn your keep."
"Ummm, aren't there child labor laws against that sort of thing?" asked Violet.
Poe cleared his throat. "When they passed the Super Relocation Program law, supers lost most of their civil rights. Congress is debating a repeal after the heroic way you three saved the city from the Omnidriod, but until they do you're in a legal limbo."
"You mean, we don't count," said Dash sullenly.
"Let's just say the government can do whatever is most convenient," said Poe.
"Yoop! Gomph!" said Jack-Jack, which meant, "It sounds dickensian to me."
The Parrs were feeling down and hopeless, having just been told by Syndrome that they were orphans, so they let Poe lead them to his car and drive them to Pittanceville.
As they drove, Poe explained, "The man who runs this place knew your father and that's why he agreed to take you on. He was once your father's boss. After a little on-the-job accident, crashing through three walls, he decided the insurance business was too dangerous for him and he went to manage a lumbermill with giant buzzsaws instead."
"How could he crash through three walls in an insurance office?" asked Dash.
"He made the mistake of annoying your father," said Poe.
The children immediately understood. Bob Parr was Mr. Incredible, a super-strong and sometimes hot-tempered ex-superhero.
"What's his name again? I'm sure Father told us, but I forgot," said Violet.
"Huff, or something like that. I don't remember either. Just call him Sir and you'll do fine," said Poe. "By the way, it would be better not to reveal to him that you're supers. It would bring back unhappy memories the government went to a lot of trouble to erase."
"We could do that if we had something to wear besides superhero costumes," said Dash.
"Oh yes," said Poe. "I have some work coveralls for you in the trunk. I'll stop and let you put them on."
After the children had put the coveralls on over their costumes, Poe continued the drive into Pittanceville. They passed a fence with newspapers piled up against it, an odd building shaped like a giant eye and soon they passed through the grimy gates of the Salubrious Stench Lumbermill.
Poe led them to the office of the lumbermill manager, known as "Sir". The children never learned his real name, and they never saw his face because it was still almost completely covered in bandages from his accident. He was a very short man with an impatient, lecturing manner.
"So, you're the new workers," Sir said. "The first thing you should know about working for my company is this: A company is like..."
"An enormous clock," said Violet, repeating the phrase she had heard many times from her father.
"An enorm-- Yes, and all the little cogs have to mesh together," said Sir. "The best clocks have cogs that mesh together perfectly, that cooperate by design. You know what I mean by cooperative cogs? That's what you have to be, or out on the street you go. Understand?"
"Yes, Sir," said Violet sadly. There didn't seem to be anywhere else for them.
"My assistant Charles will show you to the barracks," said Sir.
Charles was a smiling, stooping man who seemed very eager to please. "He's a great man, isn't he? When he left Insuricare I just had to come with him, even though it was a cut in salary. I hope you were inspired by his cooperative cogs speech."
As they were walking through the grim courtyard toward the barracks, Dash whispered to Violet, "This place is awful!"
"Gomph!" said Jack-Jack, which meant "Dickensian!"
"I know, said Violet, "But at least we don't have to worry about Count Buddy any more."
It happens that she was entirely wrong about that, as we shall see. Though you don't have to see if you don't wish... you could always read some other story.