Eight
Long ago before either you or I were born, that is unless of course you're quite old; there was an old story relating to two disabled people who had eye problems or more specifically they couldn't see at all.
The two men didn't know each other at all, but they were both taking a trip to the same destination. Along the way, the two met each other well actually they bumped into one another seeing as they are blind. This led to both men becoming hopelessly lost and well past their destination and then horribly late, thus resulting in humiliation for both men. So much so that it led to the birth of a familiar phrase, namely that of "the blind leading the blind". Violet and Klaus Baudelaire felt much like the two blind men in the story I just related to you as they stepped into the dark cave in the Quagmire Quarry.
This is not because the two Baudelaire siblings were losing their eyesight, but because they were unfamiliar with the mines and had to put their full confidence in a man who had betrayed them numerous times before.
That man of course, in case you didn't know already, was the deceptive and dangerous Mister Dominic who was currently rubbing his palms together very slowly as they moved deeper into the Quagmire Quarry. In this way Violet and Klaus certainly had reason to feel like they were being led by a blind man and that they themselves were blind because they had no idea what evil scheme their enemy was concocting or whether their two younger siblings were safe outside.
In fact as they moved further from the entrance, Violet asked, "Aren't we going to wait on Sunny and Beatrice?" Mister Dominic stopped in his tracks and turned to the eldest orphan and remarked, "Part of the plan involves the distraction, my young friend. If we wait for those two brats the other workers will surely notice that we have left and come looking for us."
"I'm sorry, you're right," Violet admitted and then followed their archenemy down the cavernous passage. Klaus kept a firm hold on his older sister's arm so that they wouldn't be separated from each other in the dense darkness that now surrounded them on all sides.
Mister Dominic had disappeared in front of them due to this darkness and all the two siblings could do was listen intently to the wicked man's footsteps, which sounded equally ominous and forceful as if with each step their greedy guide wanted to remind them of how much danger they were in. "Why did you apologize? You had no reason to," the middle Baudelaire asked.
"I am not going to argue with him. Would you?" the eldest Baudelaire countered. "Which tells me that he can't be trusted! Violet this is a bad idea!" Klaus whispered. "Quigley is down here somewhere," Violet reminded her brother.
"But to ask Mister Dominic for assistance?" Klaus pointed out. "I don't want to waste time arguing about it, Klaus," his sister remarked. Klaus sighed and didn't say a word, although that singular sound was enough to remind Violet of how much he disagreed with this plan. Up ahead, the soft, methodic sound of their nemesis' footsteps had come to a halt and the two Baudelaires paused as well and waited for their guide to tell them what to do. When no sound came, Violet called out, "Mister Dominic? Why did we stop?" The two Baudelaires, feeling very much like the blind men who were leading each other, waited in silence until at last a light appeared in front of their view. The two orphans had to shield their eyes for a brief moment, seeing as they had grown accustomed to the darkness, and then peered toward Mister Dominic who was now holding a lantern in his right hand. "How much do you children know about Lemony Snicket?" Mister Dominic asked them.
His words echoed for a few seconds thru the dark cavern and the two orphans nervously held onto each other's arms a little tighter.
"We know that he died a long time ago," Klaus commented, and the reason that he said this was probably very obvious. They knew that Mister Dominic had some mysterious connection to the man named Lemony Snicket, but they knew that revealing their knowledge would be dangerous to both them and Quigley.
"Did you know that he and I were partners once long ago?" Mister Dominic asked as he turned about and started walking down the cavern again.
"We didn't know that," Violet commented.
"We explored this cavern together, trying to assist with the mining operation that your parents were involved with. Lemony was an expert at computer logistics. Do you know much about computers, orphans?" Mister Dominic asked them. Each word that he said echoed throughout the cavern making it sound even more dastardly than usual, if that is actually possible. Violet and Klaus kept quiet as they turned down another corridor and listened as their enemy stated, "I seem to recall that while you were in boarding school, a computer failed to warn the teaching staff of Count Olaf's presence."
Mister Dominic came to a stop up ahead and the two Baudelaires realized that they had finally reached the elevator. Their nemesis turned on the lights, causing the entire corridor in front of them to become illuminated as the loud rusty elevator rose to their level. "How deep do you suppose Quigley went into the mine?" Violet asked.
"Probably as far as he could go," Mister Dominic guessed. The old metal elevator came to a stop and the grates slid open so that the three of them could step inside and Mister Dominic commented softly, "That is the problem with computers, children. They only do what we program them to do." Klaus and Violet stood at the back of the elevator, both wondering why their enemy was discussing computers with them whenever they were deep inside a winding cavern. But the two orphans decided to remain silent as the metal grating slid closed again and Mister Dominic asked, "Were you aware your parents helped fund this project?"
Violet shook her head softly and the dangerous man smiled slightly before remarking, "It would seem there were quite a few secrets that your mother and father kept from you." "Maybe they were trying to protect us?" the middle Baudelaire suggested.
"We shall see," their adversary said ominously as the elevator came to a stop. As the three of them stepped out of the elevator, Violet gazed up at the roof of this cavern and noted several pipes were running down the cieling toward something in the wide cave in front of them.
"Where do those go?" the eldest orphan wondered. "Let's find out," Mister Dominic suggested as he walked down the corridor without hesitation. Klaus and Violet kept to the wall, afraid to trip over anything in the dense dark den they were now deep within. As they traveled, they heard the soft hum of machinery somewhere up ahead which became louder and louder with each step that they took.
So much so that they couldn't hear Mister Dominic's steps in front of them. Suddenly Violet hit her head on something and fell backward into her brother, who then tumbled onto the ground as Violet rubbed her and muttered, "Ow. That hurt."
The pipes they had been following jolted down from the ceiling and into the side of the wall in front of them, and the eldest Baudelaire wished that the cave had been brighter so she wouldn't have to experience such a headache. Mister Dominic was busily studying the pipes and commented to the children, "That sounds like a lot of machinery going on the other side of this wall."
"Do you suppose Quigley is close by?" Violet asked as she continued to rub her forehead. "I don't care about him, you fool. I told you that already," Mister Dominic commented and then walked off down the cave and disappeared around the corner. Klaus got up and said, "We can't lose sight of him or we'll be completely lost!" "Help me up then," Violet told her brother.
The middle Baudelaire did so and Violet brushed off the sand on her clothes and muttered, "This is just as sandy as the pits in the quarry." "It looks like the workers were hauling out sand," Klaus discerned. "Then why are they also bringing sand to the quarry?" she wondered.
Her brother shrugged and then the two orphans followed the wall until they turned the corner and came to a metal staircase which led deeper into the Quagmire Quarry. "I can hear Dominic up ahead. It sounds like he is talking to himself again," Klaus stated.
"Or he found Quigley!" Violet said excitedly and then rushed down the stairs to find out. In the story of the two blind men, one of the things that they did foolishly was attempt to run to their destination, which is foolish because since they are blind they tripped over many stones and got bruised and wound up lost, as I aforementioned.
In the case of Violet Baudelaire, although she wasn't blind, she shouldn't have run down the stairs toward Mister Dominic because in doing so she was ensnared in a trap. As she reached the bottom of the flight of stairs, Mister Dominic caught her by the arm and stopped her from running any further and then pushed Violet down toward the wall, where she fell against Quigley Quagmire. "Quigley!" she yelled in surprise and then realized her friend was unconscious.
"What's going on here?" Violet asked as she looked up at Mister Dominic, who had a cold look on his face and then spotted the other figure, who was none other than the genderless troupe member whom the Baudelaires had once thought got lost in the fire of Heimlich Hospital. "Violet?" Klaus called out from the top of the stairs.
"Klaus! Don't-" But before she could make another statement, Mister Dominic snarled softly, "Say another word and your friends life ends here." Violet held her breathe and then watched helplessly as Mister Dominic caught her brother by the arm and covered his mouth to keep him from screaming. "Dominic! You tricked us!" Violet said in frustration. Ignoring the older orphan's comment, their nemesis turned to his henchperson and asked, "Have you made any progress?"
"The boy refused to cooperate! So I decided to wait until I heard from you," he or she stated. "Our schedule has been cut short due to the interference of these children. I need to make my way toward the Winnipeg Estate shortly," the villain remarked. "This was a trap all along!" Violet shouted. "Can you get that one to be quiet?" the genderless troupe member asked.
"Orphans, I know this may come to you as a shock, but I didn't come down here for your benefit! I fulfilled my part of this deal and found your friend. This is where we go our separate ways," Mister Dominic commented dryly.
"Perhaps we could motivate the boy to help us?" he or she asked his superior. Mister Dominic got that familiar gleam in his eye as if he found something amusing and then nodded slowly before stating, "Yes perhaps we could. Wake the boy up."
"Leave him alone!" Violet pleaded and saw Klaus trying to loosen Mister Dominic's grip, which caused their nemesis only to tighten it further. Count Olaf's former member shook Quigley lightly until the dark-haired, wide-eyed seventeen year old awoke and mumbled "Violet, I'm sorry."
"You can save your apologies for later, my young friend," Mister Dominic said with a wicked grin and then went on to explain, "Seeing as you've managed to obtain a head start in exploring these mines, would you mind telling us what you uncovered?"
"Why should I help you?" Quigley asked bravely. "Because if you don't, then both you and the Baudelaire brats will not make it out of here alive," Mister Dominic snarled. "He's bluffing. He tricked us into helping him sneak down here," Violet told Quigley.
"What your dear one means to say is they asked me for help to get inside here. I didn't require any assistance whatsoever," Dominic remarked. "You asked him for help?" Quigley said in surprise. "Now tell us, Quagmire. Have you found anything?" the genderless troupe member asked. Quigley sighed and shook his head before remarking, "A few feet that way there is a device that is being powered by sand, I think that's why those dump trucks have been bringing sand to the quarry, but its not moving fast enough to accomplish anything."
"What could Sir hope to gain by powering that old thing?" he or she asked Mister Dominic.
"It would seem my business partner has once again breached our contract. I believe this matter deserves further discussion," the children's adversary remarked. "What're you going to do with us?" the oldest of the Baudelaires asked nervously.
"An excellent question. I can't have you warning your siblings of what I am plotting, so therefore you can't be allowed to leave this mines alive," Mister Dominic decided. "I thought you said no one would get hurt!" Klaus shouted after their nemesis had shoved him toward his sister. "I might have misspoken," Mister Dominic conceded and then added, "I think the safest thing to do with you is toss you into the sand pit."
"Good idea," the genderless troupe member said with a snicker and then told the children, "On your feet!" Nervously the three orphans did as instructed and were pushed by the two atrocious adults towards a smaller hole in the cavern which seemed to drop down quite a ways.
"You're going to keep us in there?" Quigley asked nervously. "Seeing as your map skills are useless to me, I don't have any reason to not shove you down this hole," Mister Dominic pointed out. "Wait! I think I know where the system is that you're looking for," the Quagmire triplet told the Baudelaire's enemy.
"How does he know about that?" Count Olaf's former troupe member asked in surprise. "Quiet you twit," Mister Dominic remarked and then stared at the oldest of the Quagmire triplets and asked, "Where did you find this out at?"
"What matters is I won't be of much use to you if I'm trapped down here in this mine," Quigley commented.
"Maybe, but how can I be sure that you're telling the truth?" their nemesis asked. "I can assure you that I know much more about these mines than you do," Quigley Quagmire said bravely and then added, "But I won't cooperate if you throw us down there."
"How about this," Mister Dominic said as he took a step closer toward the children and stated, "You tell me where the system is or I will dispose you right now, my young friend." He towered over the three children and then added, "So how about you tell me now."
Quigley felt his confidence drop and then muttered, "Its closer to the front of the mine, buried deep underneath that main passage. I doubt you'd get to it unless you used dynamite." "Quigley!" Violet and Klaus both said in surprise and then their friend muttered, "I'm sorry, I had no choice." "Good choice Quigley, I knew you would be of great help," Mister Dominic stated and then added, "It just so happens I have dynamite with me. So I no longer need you three."
Then without another word, their nemesis pushed them down the hole and Klaus, Violet and Quigley tumbled into the dark hole, sand covering them all over. Mister Dominic laid the dynamite quickly and shouted down to them, "I'm sorry it had to be like this children, but I've had enough of your meddling. I will miss the time we spent together." "Wait!" Quigley shouted up, but it was too late, the hole had been covered and a soft boom told the orphans that they were now trapped deep underneath the Quagmire Quarry with little chance of escape and more than ever Klaus and Violet felt they had been blinded by the truth of Mister Dominic's wickedness.
