Hi everyone! Thanks to everyone who favourited or followed or reviewed, or even just read the story, it's really encouraged me!

Disclaimer: A Series Of Unfortunate Events is owned by a man named Lemony Snicket, not me. Also: the next time you go to a barbershop, sit on the second stool and ask for the kale. If the barber switches out with another barber, don't speak to your blonde friend for a week.


"Children! Welcome! Are you Violet, Sunny, and Klaus Baudelaire?" Olaf asked, his smile stretching wide, brown eyes gleaming.

"Yes, they are," replied Mr. Poe with a cough. "Nice to meet you, sir, I'm Mr. Poe, the Baudelaire family's close friend and banker." He put emphasis on the word banker. Mr. Poe often wanted people to know about his work, possibly in hopes that they would switch to his bank. "Children, would you like to introduce yourselves?"

The Baudelaires were feeling very overwhelmed, and they didn't really feel like introducing themselves to Olaf, but they had to be polite, and did so anyway. Violet was the first to speak up, as usual. She smiled and said, "I'm Violet, and I'm the oldest at fourteen. These are my siblings. My brother Klaus is twelve, and Sunny is a baby. We're very excited to live with you." Klaus and Sunny nodded affirmative from behind their sister. Count Olaf laughed, a rich, deep sound unlike Justice Strauss', but still beautiful.

He ushered them inside. "Well, come on in, children! I'm ever so excited, you have no idea…" Count Olaf continued to ramble, then Mr. Poe interrupted him.

"Ah, Mr. Olaf, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have so much work to do. It was very nice meeting you, call me if you have trouble with the children. And Baudelaires, you know my number, as well as both your parents'. Goodbye, children, goodbye, Olaf!" Mr. Poe closed the door and continued down the path to his car. Olaf turned to the children.

"Oh, Baudelaires, it's so delightful to have you here! I'm terribly sorry this occurred on such a short notice, but now we can get you all settled in!" Count Olaf grinned as he reached for the Baudelaires' suitcases. The children thanked him, and he lifted the cases as he crossed the living room, which was a spacious room adorned with pictures of eyes. Olaf reached the stairs, then turned and said, "Come along, children!"

The Baudelaires clambered up the stairs after Count Olaf, and he stopped at the first door in the long corridor. He opened the light brown door. Inside were two beds, a dresser, a table, and a lamp. A closet was located beside the door to the right. Olaf placed the suitcases on the floor.

"Sunny, Violet, this is your room. I hope it meets your expectations. Feel welcome to settle in." He picked Klaus' suitcase up again, and continued down the hall to the second door. It was given to Klaus, as expected. The Baudelaires thanked him, and Olaf announced that he had to leave to meet with his theatre troupe.

"But don't worry, children. I'll be back before you know it! Please make yourselves at home, explore the house, but please don't enter the east tower, that's my room. Goodbye, children!" The Count have one last smile and he left the house, leaving the Baudelaires alone in the unfamiliar house. The Baudelaires all turned to each other.

"This place is magnificent," Klaus finally said after a few minutes of silence. Violet and Sunny nodded in agreement. The house's interior was as beautiful as the exterior; creamy walls decorated with paintings and decorations, soft sofas and a cozy fireplace in the living room. The kitchen was nearly spotless, the shelves stocked with all kinds of ingredients. The dining room contained a study dark brown table with matching seats, each chair topped with a soft white cushion. There was a study down the hall through the dining room, which was simple, but tidy. A bathroom with a white tub and many bottles of shampoo was placed a bit farther down the hall, and across from it was a laundry room. Upstairs consisted of Klaus' room, Violet and Sunny's room, another bathroom, and stairs to the tower. All around the house were small ornaments and pictures of eyes.

When the Baudelaires were done exploring, they heading downstairs to find something to snack on. Violet and Klaus settled on apples, and Sunny chewed on crackers. The three felt too tired and overwhelmed to say anything for a while, and they ate in a comfortable silence.

"This is amazing," Violet finally said. "I just wish our parents told us earlier, then we'd have had more time to adjust and we'd be less dazzled." Sunny gave a small shout in agreement, and Klaus nodded.

"Olaf must work very hard to have a house so extraordinary. Our parents inherited a fortune from our great-grandparents." Klaus examined the dining room once again. "Do you reckon he has any books?"

At the mention of reading, the Baudelaire sisters raised their heads. The three children had always loved to read, Klaus especially, but Violet sometimes spent hours at a time absorbing the words, and Sunny couldn't understand the alphabet yet, but she liked to listen to the stories. Olaf seemed like an educated man who would spend hours reading, so the Baudelaires began to search.

Their hearts sank more and more as they searched, but to no avail. It seemed strange, that this kind, smart man wouldn't own a single book. TheBaudelaires ended up at the kitchen table again, disappointed.

"Bootowala?" Sunny asked. This meant something similar to do you think he keeps his books in his room?. Violet and Klaus agreed in realization, and Violet gave Sunny a pat on the head for figuring the mystery out. The children were all thinking of the same thing, but they didn't want to lose their new guardian's trust so quickly.

It was at that moment there was a knock on the front door. The Baudelaires ran to open it, and there stood Justice Strauss. She had gotten rid of her gardening gloves and trowel, obviously done with pulling weeds. She smiled cheerfully.

"Hello children!" Justice cried. "Olaf is always leaving—once I saw him come and go ten times in a day— so I was wondering if you'd like to come to my house for a while? I imagine it must be awfully lonely to have your new guardian leave almost immediately after he's taken you in! Don't worry about his house, I keep a close eye on it while he's gone, so he'll understand if he comes home to an empty house." The Baudelaires smiled. It was lonely having Olaf leave, and Justice was very kind. She reminded the children of their own mother.

Klaus and Sunny looked at Violet expectantly. She was the oldest and in charge. Violet saw the pleading look in her siblings' eyes, and gave in. She gave Justice a smile.

"Thank you, Ms. Strauss. We'll come over." The Baudelaires filed through the door to Justice Strauss' house, a charming white building with shining windows and vibrant flowers blooming along the stone pathway. Justice opened the door.

"I don't have a ton of attractions here, but I do have a rather impressive library," Justice explained as she led the children through her house. The Baudelaires' eyes lit up. A library was exactly what they were looking for.

They entered the room, which was large enough to run around in, had it not been filled with shelves stacked with books. It wasn't as large as the children's' parents' collection, but it was more than enough to satisfy their thirst for reading material. Klaus quickly found many of his favourites, as well as a few titles he'd never heard of before. The boy was soon huddled in the corner perched on the chair, piles of books surrounding him. Violet found a book on great inventions, which she flipped through with great fascination. And Sunny found a few books about teeth, which she couldn't read, but there were many interesting pictures for her to look at. The Baudelaires finally felt relaxed.


The Baudelaires opened the door to a delicious smell. It was the smell of pasta, but not one they could quite place. Olaf came out of the kitchen, and greeted the children with a hug.

"Justice Strauss gave me a call telling me you were at her house," he told them. "I'm glad you're getting used tour neighbours. While you were gone I started cooking dinner. We'll be eating pasta, though one I can never quite remember the name of. Wash up, it'll be ready soon." The Baudelaires breathed in the rich scent again, and turned to go tidy up when a tall, handsome man with a hook for one hand stepped out of the kitchen. He looked at Olaf.

"Dinner'll be ready soon. Oh, are these your children?" The Baudelaires paused in surprise. Olaf clapped his hands and laughed.

"Oh Baudelaires, I'm so forgetful! Tonight my theatre troupe will be dining with us!"


So, chapter three! I hope it's long enough. I'm going to attempt to update the story again really soon!

Also, sorry if it takes a while, as the editing takes a long time, and I have to edit the chapters twice because the line breaks never show up for the first editing round. Thanks again to all of you for being patient!

"And what might seem like a series of unfortunate events may in fact be the first steps of a journey." -Lemony Snicket

(Jaguar)