Hello Again! It's been about a year since I updated this...sorry about that. Here is the next chapter : ). Some cute fluff and some wonderful acting. Hope you enjoy!
Happy reading,
Mangotango101
Disclaimer: I do not own this. Lemony Snicket is a genius.
Late that night, we walked back to 667 Dark Ave, tired but elated from the day's events. I was carrying Bea and Isa was carrying Sunny. We went back to the room with the cage, and tried to make the most comfortable sleeping arrangements that we could with the provisions that we had. We had all endured worse.
The night passed quickly for me, as I was sleeping safely for the first time in years. Quigley was sleeping next to me, and Klaus was on the other side. Bea and Sunny were snuggled between Isa and Duncan.
I woke up with a pair of arms around me, and my head nestled in a chest. I slowly opened my eyes, and saw Quigley's brown hair above me. I snuggled closer. Because I didn't want it to be a dream. I felt safer than ever.
I looked to my lift and saw Klaus's fingers inches from Isa's and it made me wonder what had happened last night. I was getting more and more curious about the two of them, because they both seemed flushed last night when we were walking around.
I heard a stirring from the other side of the room and saw Bea beginning to awaken. She was still at the age at which she woke up early. I quickly pulled out of Quigley's grasp, so she wouldn't see.
"Good morning, Bea," I said quietly as to not wake the others.
"Restika!" shrieked Bea. "restika" is a word which here means, "I'm going well, thank you, but I am a bit hungry."
"Well Bea, as soon as the others wake up, we'll get some food for you, all right?"
Bea nodded.
I turned around when I heard another rustle. This time it was Quigley. I felt my heart fill up again at the sight of his messy hair and his still sleepy face.
"What's going on? Is everything ok?" he asked, a bit frantic.
"Everything is fine. Bea just woke up, that's all. We're going to wait for everyone to get up and then we'll go find some food." I told him with a smile playing on my lips.
He took out a pocket watch and looked at it.
"6:30," he said.
"Were did you get that?" I asked him.
"I found it in the ruins of the hotel. I decided it would be good to have. Look on the back." He held it out to me and on the back, I saw etched in swirly cursive V.F.D.
"Do you think that it's too early to wake people up?" I asked.
"Before we do, do you have any idea of what's going on between Isa and Klaus?" he asked.
"Not a clue. I was going to ask him."
"I see. Well, let's let it be for now. I want to spend some time with you."
I liked that idea.
We sat and talked for an hour. Bea had fallen back to sleep again, which was very nice. We sat and talked about what had happened in the times between we had seen each other. We talked about the dangers we faced and the victories that we experienced. It was an amazing way to begin the day.
We were jolted back into the present day by the cries of Bea, once again. We looked at Quigley's pocket watch and saw that it was 8:00.
"Oh my, we need to wake everyone up!" I exclaimed.
"Everyone, time to get up!" Quigley said loudly. Sunny, Klaus, Isa and Duncan began to stir.
"What time is it?" Klaus asked sleepily.
"Eight in the morning, much too late. We gave you a very nice lie in. Now get up so we can start the day."
"What are we doing?" Isa asked.
"I'm not sure yet. I guess we'll need to find a place to live." Quigley said.
"I have an idea." Sunny interjected.
We all looked at her.
"Why don't we go to Justice Strauss's house? I'm sure she'd be happy that we're going to it."
There was a moment of silence in remembrance of Justice Strauss who had been killed in the fire that destroyed Hotel Denoument.
"Why don't we try it?" Duncan said.
"All right, but we're going to have to get clearance." I told him
"From who?"
"I don't know. That's the problem."
"Oh."
Quigley, ever the logical one, said, "Why don't we go into town and get some food and provisions first, and then we can worry about lodging."
"One problem with that Quigley, we have no money." Duncan said.
"I have a little left that I have escaped with. It's not much, but it should get us through until we can get more. Today while we're in town, Violet and I will find jobs."
"What about us?" Duncan asked.
"Continue keeping you commonplace notebooks and if you want, you can find somewhere to work. We just need someone to look after Sunny and Bea."
"I can do that. I'd rather write poetry." Isa said.
"Wonderful. I want to find a job as a journalist, and Klaus can find work in the library." Duncan said, sounding more excited.
"I want to work too!" Sunny said.
"I know Sunny, but you're not old enough. You can cook all the food that we bring back, okay?" I gently told my sister.
It made my heart swell to see my family and friends (who are now actually are my family) working so hard together to make our lives easier.
"Let's begin," said Quigley.
"Wait – how are we going to get jobs, we don't look old enough. And even if we did, Klaus at least will probably need parental consent. How will we do that?" I asked, concerned, feeling the plan going downhill.
"Don't worry. I've got it covered. Violet, we need to find a way to make you taller, and to make you look older." Quigley said.
I immediately reached for my ribbon to tie back my hair. What could I use down here to make me taller? I saw the bent pieces of metal in the corner and I went to them.
"If we can break these, I'll put them on the bottom on my shoes to make ersatz heels. What do we have that can break these?"
I looked around and found nothing.
"I have a knife, but that won't do," Quigley said.
Then I remembered the trap door.
"Wait, I have another idea." I walked to the trap door and found some pieces of wood. I brought them back and used a knife that Quigley had. I sawed away until the wood block and I attached it to my shoes with twine that Duncan and Isa took from the balloon. They made me a good three inches taller. I put my hair around my face to hide some of the younger features that still lay around the corners of my face. Quigley already looked old enough to be a father. Basically, we made it so Quigley and I were the parents, and the five Klaus, Duncan and Isa were ours (triplets) and we were babysitting Sunny and Bea.
"Wait, there is one more problem," Isa said.
"What's that?" I answered.
"You're parents we're famous around here. We need to make up new names for you. Also, we don't know what these people know about us. We should make up new names entirely for now until we can get out of here."
"Very true. All right. I will be Vanessa Baxler, and Quigley will be Quinton. Duncan can be Dylan, and Klaus will be Kyle. Isa, Sunny and Bea don't need aliases because they aren't getting work." I said. "Okay, now are we ready?"
Everyone nodded.
Finally, we were ready to find every one jobs.
We went outside and first went to find Klaus his work at the library. The walk was pleasant – the weather was warm and the air smelled sweet. I felt at ease for the first time in years.
"Well, here we are," said I when we reached the entrance to the library. "Let's go get you a job."
"Hello, and welcome to the Briny Library, how may I be of assistance today?" asked a woman wearing too much make up.
"Hello, my name is Vanessa Baxler, and this is my son Kyle. He is looking for a job today."
"And how old is he?" the lady asked.
"15." I answered.
"Well, we can't pay him very much; it will have to be minor's wage, is that all right with you?"
"Anything is fine with us."
"Perfect. We'll expect him Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, from eight to twelve and again from three to six. On Sundays, we only need him in the morning, from nine to twelve. He will make three dollars an hour. Is that all right?"
"It is wonderful. Thank you."
"No problem, we always love to get new people working here. I just need you to sign here Mrs. Baxler. "
I quickly signed the necessary forms and we said good bye to Klaus and continued on.
"Duncan, let's find you work now." Quigley said.
We walked to the local newspaper, The Briny Times. I let Quigley do the talking this time.
"Good day sir, my name is Quinton Baxler, and I am looking for a job for my son, Dylan. Do you have any vacancies?"
"Possibly. How old is he?"
"15."
"What experience has he had?"
"We just moved here a month ago, but he took a journalism course in school last year, and edited the lay out for the local newspaper, The Daily Dosage of Drama."
"I see. Hold on a moment please."
The man walked away and we could see him talking with another woman, frowns on their faces. Quigley and I looked at each other, hoping that this would work out. We needed it to.
The man came back and said, "I'm sorry, but we cannot offer you a paying job, but we can offer you a volunteer job. Here, if you are fifteen, you must have at least a year of volunteering before we can offer you a job. Next year, when you're sixteen, we can pay you minimum wage."
"I see," Quigley answered. "Well Dylan, do you want to do it?"
"Yes, dad." Duncan answered, trying to be positive even though he wasn't going to be making any money for the family.
"Wonderful!" Quigley turned back to the man. "My son would love to intern with you. We'll drop him off tomorrow morning at say, eight thirty?"
"All right Mr. Baxter. We'll see you then. So long!"
The "family" walked out into the bright sun light once again.
Ahh, nice to see you again. I hope you liked that. In the next chapter (which will not be in a year) will have more job hunting and more fluff. Just as a note: this is a fluff piece. Don't expect any bad guys. Leave a review if you're feeling peechy. ~mangotango101
