The Quagmire's watched in anticipation as their friends ran up on the stage. They barely knew anything about Count Olaf, so they couldn't even help. They could only watch as their friends tried to convince all these small-minded people that this was the dangerous Count.
"Stop the music" Violet commanded as she stepped onto the stage.
Immediately, Count Olaf (or as his disguise was now; Coach Genghis) and vice principal Nero started fuzzing over them interrupting them.
"This so called gym teacher is the notorious villain Count Olaf!"
Everyone in the audience started exchanging looks and words at Violet's statement. Nearly everyone immediately dismissed it. One of the students who decided it was wrong, was of course Carmelita, who demanded they got thrown off the stage, so she could continue twirling.
It was horrible to watch. Everyone was in danger, and they tried to warn them, but no one would listen. The Quagmire's looked around them for any source of help. When they looked behind them, they could see Olivia stand up from her seat.
"The Baudelaire's seem like honest and decent people. I think we should listen to what they have to say"
She sat back down again after what was probably a mean comment from Mr. Remora. But the Baudelaire's knew they couldn't just stop, so Violet went on to tell the school about all the crimes Olaf was suspected for.
"-Who has one eyebrow instead of two" Violet stated before Nero cut her off, saying there was nothing wrong with being 'bushy'.
Violet ignored him.
"If Count Olaf were to take off his turban" She threw her hand up to grab Olaf's disguise, but he grabbed her before she was able to even touch him.
He quickly dismissed her, saying he wouldn't remove his turban, for religious reasons. But of course he couldn't name the religion that one of his hench people told him, and so he just mumbled nonsense. Of course he also refused to take off his left shoe, because that was gross. When Klaus came with the idea to compare "Coach Genghis'" face to Olaf's face in the paper, Nero decided it would be smarter to use the advanced computer system. In a couple of seconds, Carmelita's life guards had dragged the big mechanical device over to Coach Genghis, who took a step back.
"Oh, um... You mean that.. computer?"
"He's sweating; He's nervous!" Klaus sounded hopeful.
"No, I'm not!" Genghis protested. "I-I have naturally leaky pores"
"Will you and your pores please stand in front of this very expensive electronic device, and just clear this matter up once and for all?" Nero asked.
Duncan and Isadora excitedly watched as the Baudelaire's pushed the camera to Genghis' face. This was it - The moment of truth! Finally this irksome school would see some justice.
"This is not Count Olaf"
Their hearts dropped when those words came out of the machine. That was their last hope!
Both Nero and Genghis continued on about how this was not Count Olaf.
"How many of you want to hear more tiresome accusations hurled at an innocent man, from orphans?"
This was their moment. They had to do something to help, at least try to do something. Duncan put his hands by his mouth, forming a sort of funnel.
"Investigate further!"
"We demand that this issue gets further scrutiny!" Isadora did the same.
Devastated at the fact that no one did anything, the triplets looked around them. Not one person seemed to have even cared that they showed their existence. But when Genghis announced his new exercise program, everyone went crazy. After a failed attempt at jumping jacks, he started talking about how unhealthy orphans usually were.
Duncan and Isadora knew this to be lies; and they assumed the Baudelaire's did too, seeing as the only thing that made them unhealthy was eating the cafeteria food, and sleeping on hay bales and broken benches.
"The Special Orphans Running Exercises. Or S.O.R.E" Genghis announced.
S.O.R.E. Sore. The Baudelaire's had told Duncan and Isadora that Olaf wasn't very smart, so they were unsure if he did that on purpose. He very well could have, but it could also just be an unfortunate coincidence.
"I will be offering this exercise to a few select students. Will the orphans in the house please stand"
Hesitantly, the Quagmire's stood up, and a couple of seats away from them, Sunny did too on her chair. A couple of seconds went by, when; to their surprise; Olivia stood up. Genghis looked around at the five orphans on the athletic field, mumbling while he looked at each of them.
"I choose... You" He pointed at Klaus without even looking at him behind himself. "And... oh, you" Same thing with Violet. "And... Little baby secretary I've heard so much about"
Only the Baudelaire's. He was definitely up to something. He explained to them that every sundown, they would report to the athletic field, to run laps with luminous paint. The Quagmire's were unsure how this would help him get their fortune, but he couldn't just be doing it for no reason. This had to be investigated further.
For a once in a term time, Nero decided to not play the violin for six hours, and let them go after fifty minutes. The fact that he immediately after started talking to Genghis told the Quagmire's he had a reason. Well...what to do now except go back to the broom closet to drop off the things they used to keep them entertained during the recital. They followed the Baudelaire's as far as they could before they had to turn. It only took a few minutes to leave the things, and they decided to go to the orphan shack.
They hurried down the halls, anxiously hoping they wouldn't run into Carmelita, Nero or Genghis. To their relief and luck, they didn't, and they reached the tin shack without having to say a word to anyone. Through the thin and hardly sound proof walls, they could hear the Baudelaire's talking.
As they reached the door they could hear a voice in there saying; "I just can't believe he fooled everyone again"
Duncan swung the door open.
"Not everyone"
"Don't worry Baudelaire's, don't feel disgrace. The Quagmire triplets are on the case" Isadora recited as they stepped in and closed the door.
"You're kind and generous friends, but we can't let you get involved"
"Violet's right; Count Olaf is too dangerous" Klaus said.
"He's too dangerous for you to face alone"
"We can run away. All of us" Isadora suggested.
She fixed her posture slightly before quickly explaining how.
"Our parents owned the famous Quagmire sapphires, so when we come of age, we can live on our own"
"We're not of age yet! Besides we tried running away, and we ended up working in a lumber mill" Klaus turned his head to the wall.
The Quagmire's followed his glance, and their eyes landed on a picture hanging on the wall. When they saw what it presented, their jaws slightly dropped. They could never mistake the faces of Karen and Quentin Quagmire.
"That's... a picture of our parents" Isadora told them.
"Our parents too" Violet pointed at a couple, who's faces were covered by a stain of the green fungus.
"They did know each other"
That just opened more mysteries. Now it was confirmed that their parents had some kind of relationship with each other, but the kids had never met before. Why?
Why was the only question spinning around in their heads.
Isadora explained their situation with their photo, and that they never really paid attention to it.
"I bet there were other mysteries we never noticed" Duncan stated, thinking about all the books they never read, drawers and boxes they never opened, and questions they never asked.
"Just like a spyglass"
"Or a book... We just have to survive Count Olaf long enough to see it"
"The librarian said to check back in a day or so"
"We don't have a day or so, it's almost sundown"
Sunlight hit their faces and backs as the door to the shack was opened. When the five friends turned their heads there, what they saw wasn't pleasant. Carmelita, and her lifeguards. One of them placed a tap stage before the door, and Carmelita stepped onto it.
"I'm here to deliver a special message to the Baudelaire's"
The Quagmire's and Baudelaire's looked at each other for a second before Carmelita broke out in song and tap.
"The sun it setting, hooray hooray. Coach Genghis sent me here to say; The Baudelaire orphans go to the field! And my name is CARMELITA!"
As always she ended in a dramatic pose.
"That doesn't even rhyme" Isadora said and sighed.
"Only Cakesniffers care about poetic form!" Carmelita stormed off, and one of her lifeguards slammed the door, causing the Quagmire's to flinch.
"Well... We have to go these special orphans running exercises" Klaus picked up Sunny.
"We'll check if Olivia has gotten the book yet" Isadora suggested.
The Baudelaire's smiled at them, as a way of saying that idea was great. Duncan and Isadora couldn't help but smile as well, before the friends went off in different directions.
The Quagmire's went straightly to the library; no shortcuts or detours. They reached the library just in time to see Olivia closing up. Isadora ran up to her before Duncan.
"We know it's after hours but were you able to find that book?"
"I'm sorry. I know you're desperate to get your hands on it"
"There's not just the book. There's a whole mystery" Duncan had caught up.
"There certainly is"
Duncan and Isadora frowned, confused at Olivia's statement.
"I couldn't find the book in our system, so I poked around. It's not in any system at all. It's like it doesn't exist"
They were interrupted by Nero, who was furious at them for not being where they should be. It turned out he was there to close the library, by order from Genghis. This not only meant they couldn't get the book, it also meant Olivia lost her job.
Over the next following days, they spotted her serving food in the cafeteria. They also noticed the Baudelaire's getting more and more exhausted from running laps all night, every night. But things took a vastly sharp turn when they got called to Nero's office. Later that day, they gathered in the shack, and Violet and Klaus broke the news.
"We're getting home schooled"
"And we have a big test to take in front of everyone; about everything we've learned. Nero's expelling us if we fail"
"But we still have to run laps"
"And come to the recital"
Duncan and Isadora listened in horror.
"But that's impossible. You'd have to be ubiquitous"
"Violet, do you think you could come up with something we could do to help, so you can study?" Duncan suggested.
"I hope so" Violet pulled out her ribbon, tied her hair back, and sat down on a hay bale.
She closed her eyes, and the others waited as the thought. A not short amount of time went by.
"Violet, I don't think we have much time" Klaus warned, as he could see it getting darker through the tiny window"
"I think I've got it" Violet opened her eyes, and explained her plan.
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