Author's Notes: I hope you thoroughly enjoy this chapter.
Chapter III: The Assumptions and the Guest
Now this was extremely horrific. But since the incident with Klaus' 'death' the girls had to check to make sure he wasn't being a fraud. But of course, Duncan wasn't faking. This was absolutely terrible.
At this point in the story I think you have a right to know where the teens are. The Baudelaires, Quagmires, and Widdershins were residing in three mansions right next to each other that had been abandoned for quite some time. Lemony Snicket had brought them there only a year ago, disguised as an old man. He stripped out of his old man disguise only a month before the action of this story takes place. There must be many more questions that you have. If there are, you would be pleased to know that they can be answered in the prequel to this novella in novella titled Love Hexagons. But this novella will only impose questions that can be answered in another novella that is not written. Yet.
Now we shall return to the situation with Duncan Quagmire, his sister, and his friend.
"What kind of a person would do this?" questioned Isadora.
"I don't know," admitted Fiona, "But my father once spoke of an evil greater then Count Olaf." Isadora gasped.
"Of course!" exclaimed Isadora, "The woman with hair but no beard and the man with a beard but no hair!"
"That's a queer way to identify people," remarked Fiona, "So who are these hairy people?"
"We don't know their names," said Isadora, "But Quigley and the Baudelaires encountered them on Mount Fraught. The Baudelaires witnessed their evil doings again when they worked as concierges at Hotel Denouement. They are the employers of Count Olaf. They're his bosses."
"Hmm," said Fiona, "Why would they want to bother us?"
"They probably want our fortunes," assumed Isadora.
"But we have no way to prove that these assumptions are true," admitted Fiona.
The phrase "jumping to conclusions" has nothing at all to do with physical labor. The phrase simply means that you are assuming many things in order to answer a question and have no proof of these accusations. Jumping to conclusions, like jumping into a pool full of electric eels, or jumping onto a person highly skilled in the arts of Karate is not always a safe thing to do. It could lead to the arrest or harm of innocent people. You now know why jumping to conclusions was not a fantastic thing to do. Yet Fiona and Isadora were doing it anyway. They were quite close to the accurate answer too. But I will tell of that story another time. We must continue with our story now.
"What should we do?" questioned Isadora, "With Lemony gone anyone could attack us."
At this point I feel the need to pause the story once more to explain something. Lemony Snicket, the man who put the mansions into the possession of the Widdershins, Quagmires, and Baudelaires was currently absent from the mansions where this story just that it was important. They assumed Lemony had gone in search of the Sugar Bowl, the mysterious object that had been so close to the hands of noble and evil people. But none had captured it yet. I will tell you that Lemony, in fact, is not searching for the Sugar Bowl. Yet. You will know what his search was for quite soon.
"Oh," admitted Fiona, "This is absolutely horrible! Here, Isadora you take care of Duncan. I'll try to track down this rock-thrower!" At that, Fiona went outside to look for clues. Fiona hadn't found anything as a long black car pulled into the driveway. It was Lemony. But it wasn't Lemony alone who came out.
"Impressive home you got, eh?" said a voice unfamiliar to Fiona. The stranger exited the car. Fiona saw that the stranger was a male sailor (for he was wearing a sailor suit) and had lost a leg sometime (for he was wearing a peg leg). Then Lemony got out of the driver's seat and noticed Fiona outside. Fiona aborted her search for clues.
"Ah," said Lemony, "Come inside to greet our guest Fiona!"
"Mr. Snicket," explained Fiona, "There is a slight problem…"
"Tell me when we get inside, please," whispered Lemony, "I'm afraid they might be watching."
So Lemony, Fiona, and the mysterious sailor went into the home of the Quagmires. The situation inside wasn't so pretty. Duncan was sprawled out on the loveseat in the sitting room with Isadora kneeling beside him, placing ice onto his head where the bruise was located.
"Oh, what perfect timing!" joked Isadora, apparently not happy that a guest had arrived. While Lemony offered the guest a drink in the kitchen the girls talked in the sitting room.
"He's woken up," said Isadora, referring to Duncan.
"Hi," said Duncan, sounding exhausted.
"That's good;" said Fiona smiling, "But I haven't found any clues in the yard at all. And remember the locket; we have to find Klaus' other girlfriend. And this new guest…"
"I know," said Isadora shuddering, "There's something creepy going on and I don't like it."
"I don't blame you," said Lemony, entering the room, "This will all seem a little odd at first but I can explain a bit to you. But even I don't know the rest. Please gather the others and tell them of our guest. Tell them that the guest would be thrilled to meet them." Fiona and Isadora agreed and went off to find the Baudelaires, Quigley, and Fernald.
"Oh yes," said Lemony, "and tell them to be prepared fro what is to come. For they know not of the dangers that will occur soon." With that, Lemony Snicket smiled and closed the door on the girls, leaving only him, the mysterious guest, and Duncan in the house.
Author's Notes: I'm terribly sorry about the lacking of speed when updating. I've been writing this off and on for a month now. The next chapter hopefully will come sooner.