Author Note: After three years of no new chapters, I realize that Chapter 9 is long overdue! Since my last update, I have graduated high school and begun my third year of university, so as you can tell, it has been a long time.
I hope at least some of my readers will stick with me through my long hiatus. For those who have been asking about Sunny, fear not – she will appear eventually in the story! I haven't forgotten her. To old and new readers alike, happy reading!
The Precarious Plans
When trying to achieve a big goal, one might find it difficult to work alone. Having a group of friends or colleagues with similar interests often makes the job much easier. For example, it would be nearly impossible for you to build a pyramid, throw a fancy dinner party, or put on a corset without at least some assistance – especially if you are a man and you have little knowledge in the matters of corsets.
And so it was with the four young orphans, as they devised a plan to sneak Violet into Prince Quigley's masquerade ball. Although the royal herald had told them that all eligible maidens were invited to attend, Klaus and Violet doubted that Count Olaf and Esmé would allow either of them to leave the manor the next evening.
"You'll have to leave for the ball at least a half hour after Carmelita does," Klaus advised his sister. "That way, they won't sense you on their trail."
"And you'll need the time to get ready!" Isadora exclaimed, patting her newfound friend on the shoulder. "I should be able to help, so long as we can find you something to wear."
Violet bit her lip, as young girls are prone to do when they are nervous about a situation. "None of my clothes survived the fire," she admitted with a sigh. "The only way I could find anything appropriate to wear is if I take something from Carmelita's wardrobe without her knowing about it."
My dear readers, I would normally never encourage you to steal from others. In fact, throughout my lifetime, I have had a number of valuables stolen from me, including a favorite pocket watch, a top hat I wore to dinner parties, and a beautiful woman whose face appears in my dreams every night. Having something stolen from you can be a painful experience, one that you should never try to inflict on someone else.
Of course, in this case, Carmelita was the exception to the rule.
"That's a brilliant idea," Klaus told Violet, his eyes widening. "If you choose something of hers that is out, she probably won't even notice it's gone."
Duncan smiled. "Isadora can help you alter the dress so that it fits you perfectly," he said. "She used to spend a lot of time with our royal seamstress."
"It's true," Isadora agreed with a nod. "In fact, Duncan and I can sneak back to the manor with you, and find a place to hide for the next few days while we help you prepare."
"Now would be the perfect time," Klaus said. "Our guardians are out looking for dresses for Carmelita. They won't be back until supper, I'd imagine."
With that, the four orphans headed to Count Olaf's home, where they became more and more enveloped in their plans, a phrase that here means "excited to win the kingdom back through this very elaborate plot." While Isadora informed the group of all she envisioned for Violet's hairstyle for the first evening, Duncan explained some of the practical logistics, such as when to curtsy, where to enter the castle, and which noblemen to avoid because of bad breath.
"This reminds me," Duncan began as they stepped out to the backyard, "how do you plan to be transported to the masquerade ball?"
With a grin, Violet began to tie her hair up in her trusty ribbon, as she often did when thinking of an invention. "I have an idea," she said, glancing around at the abandoned tools and materials that the previous servants had left behind. Identifying a few pairs of wheels from two very large wheelbarrows, she turned back to her friends. "I can build a carriage out of some of the equipment out here," she explained. "I'll have to do most of the work when the rest of the house is asleep, but I should be able to build something before tomorrow night."
"And the dress, shall we choose something from Carmelita's wardrobe now?" Isadora asked. "That way, of course, we will have more time to alter it."
The Baudelaires agreed, leading the Quagmires inside and upstairs to Carmelita's room. "These are her clothes," Violet said, motioning to a slew of dresses, all in different colors and patterns. Sorting through the mounds of gowns that had gone in and out of fashion, she frowned – although many of the styles had been in at one point, she had to wonder who had actually approved of them.
"Choosing a dress from here might be more difficult than I thought," Isadora mused, holding up a shockingly orange gown with green stripes in the skirt. She continued to rummage through, finally settling for a frilly pink gown.
Klaus wrinkled his nose, as one usually does when one detects a particularly bad smell. "I don't think that's something Violet would wear," he said.
"I agree," Isadora replied, "but it's probably the best choice we've got, isn't it? I can certainly make some… adjustments."
Suddenly, before anyone else could speak, the front door opened, and the group could hear Carmelita's voice downstairs.
"I'm so bored with this amphibian trend!" the girl whined, throwing a bag down on the ground. "Thank goodness polka dots are in again – this dress will look perfect on me tonight."
The four orphans exchanged glances. "Quick," Violet warned the Quagmires. "Hide!" Clutching the chosen dress, Isadora leapt toward the window and hid behind the curtains, while Duncan dove under the bed. Violet and Klaus hurried out of the room and to the staircase, but it was too late – Carmelita was already there.
"Out of my way, orphans!" Carmelita shrieked, holding her brown and white polka dot dress up in front of them. "I need to try on this dress again." Pushing past them, she bounded up the stairs to her room.
"That was rude," Klaus remarked to Violet.
"You cakesniffers!"
Klaus and Violet ran back up to Carmelita's room.
"What's wrong?" Violet asked, afraid that Carmelita would find them out. "Is everything alright?"
Carmelita crossed her arms. "You've been in my room, haven't you?"
"N-No!" Klaus stammered, a word which here means struggled to say because it was an outright lie. "What makes you think that?"
Carmelita sat down on her bed and scowled. "It feels different in here…"
Violet laughed nervously. "Oh, um… I actually was in here earlier," she backtracked. "I did a little cleaning for you. Wanted to surprise you!"
"I knew it!" Carmelita jumped up from the bed and walked toward the window. "Why are my curtains shut? You know how the sunlight makes me happy."
Violet ran after her, standing between Carmelita and the window. She could practically hear Isadora's heart pounding. "I really think you need to keep them shut!" she insisted. "Too much sunlight will be bad for you before the ball. You want to try and look as pale as possible if you want to really stand out tomorrow night."
Carmelita shrugged. "I suppose you're right, Victoria," she agreed. "I'm already much prettier than you and every other girl in the kingdom, but I still can't take any chances. We must go downstairs immediately – Mother will want to give you all of your orders for tomorrow night. You will have to make me even more beautiful for the ball!"
"I don't know how Violet will be able to manage that," Klaus replied sweetly. "Why don't you two go ahead, and I'll finish Violet's cleaning up here?"
As the two young girls headed back downstairs to meet with Esmé, Klaus opened the curtains and signaled for the Quagmires to escape their hiding places.
"That was close!" Duncan exclaimed, heaving a sigh of relief.
"I thought she was about to find me," Isadora admitted. "I cannot believe she has the nerve to treat you that way. When Duncan and I are restored our rights to the throne –"
"No time to discuss that now!" Klaus urged her. "Let's hurry to the back of the second floor and take the service elevator down to the servants' quarters. Olaf and Esmé will never find you there."
That evening, Violet and Klaus prepared a meal of poultry and vegetables with a Hollandaise sauce, which is one of the five French mother sauces created by Auguste Escoffier. The sauce was a particularly difficult one to make, but of course their guardians did not thank them for their troubles in the kitchen. When Violet and Klaus had the chance, they ate a few bites of what was left over, and then snuck the rest downstairs to Isadora and Duncan, who were currently in hiding.
Once Olaf, Esmé and Carmelita had gone to sleep, Violet began construction on her carriage outside. Notebook in hand, Duncan joined her, taking notes by moonlight. Meanwhile, Isadora and Klaus snipped away at frills on the stolen dress and began its alterations. After making some significant progress late in the night, the four young orphans went to sleep, knowing full well that the next day would be a busy one.
"Veruca!" Carmelita screamed out, her feet pounding down the stairs. "Veruca!"
Violet awoke with a start. "Yes, Carmelita?" she called back tentatively, not bothering to correct Carmelita or inform her of how impolite it is to wake someone up by screaming orders at them.
"We must spend the entire day getting ready! Have Carl make me breakfast at once."
Violet and Klaus emerged from their quarters, shutting the door quickly behind them to obscure the Quagmires from sight. "Right away, Carmelita," Klaus answered, as they joined her in the parlor.
"Carmelita, darling, perhaps you should watch your figure before the ball," Esmé advised, entering the room from the kitchen. "Clarence, fetch my princess-to-be a goblet of lemon juice. And you, –" she pointed at Violet "-follow us to Carmelita's room. Elaborate hairstyles are very in right now, so you'll need to start early."
The three women retreated to Carmelita's room, where Violet began by combing through the many knots in her stepsister's hair. "How would you like your hair?" Violet asked, not knowing much herself about styling hair. "Would you prefer loose curls, or would you like me to pull your hair up?"
Carmelita yawned as though bored already. "I don't know, orphan," she said. "Try every style you can think of, and I'll choose the one I like the best."
"So long as you don't style her hair in that awful ribbon that you're wearing, of course!" Esmé cackled. "No one could catch a prince wearing something like that."
"Catch a prince?" Violet repeated. "Surely tonight should be about more than just that… it should be about adventure and finding true love. Quigley is more than just a Prince, I'm sure."
"Learn your place, orphan!" Esmé glared at the young inventor, whose cheeks had grown quite red upon her outburst. "All you should concern yourself with is making sure Carmelita looks the part of a princess."
Violet sighed. This was going to be a long day.
"It seems you've worked a miracle on that dress," Klaus remarked, watching as Isadora worked diligently on the hem. "But how will you create Violet's mask? It is a masquerade tonight, you know."
Isadora laughed. "Do you realize how much excess material I have cut from this dress?" she asked. "I can use it to create a matching mask."
Klaus smiled at her. "If I didn't know for a fact that you are a princess, I would be convinced that you have been doing this professionally your whole life."
Blushing, Isadora looked back down at the dress. In turn, Duncan looked up from his notebook, where he had been recording all of the days' events. "Don't forget that I am still in the room," he reminded them.
Isadora cleared her throat. "We realize that Violet may not be able to safely identify herself to Quigley tonight," she said, changing the subject, "but hopefully she will at least have the chance to dance with him and make conversation. While everyone is out at the ball, we will select her dresses for the second and third night."
"Every night when she returns to the manor, we will have to discuss the events of the evening," Duncan added. "As in, who she saw, what her interactions with Quigley consisted of, et cetera."
"I agree," Klaus said. "We will have to work out all of the details tonight. The ball ends at one in the morning, so I think it would be best to ask Violet to return to the manor by midnight to avoid being caught."
The three orphans continued to plot, growing more and more hopeful that their plans could save them all.
Acknowledgments: I would like to thank imagine everything, Macabre-Melody, Stardust- Formerly Dewkit, , Second daughter of Eve, ikffrox, Swanwhite2, Metaphorical, Maximum Baudelaire, RedCloakedMaiden, Silver Souhait, HowObjectionable, LOLemonade, kind of hungry, the Sudoku kid, Lizzmeister yo, copiousyouth, kumori13, tomboy, Sissy aka Irisgray, song-baka, Graziella, iMaximumPuckett23, Kahlan Aisling, , Moo Moo Marshmallow, dawn, Camberleigh Fauconbridge, XD You're On Camera, and Lady Badger for their reviews on Chapter 8. I hope you keep reading!
