Beatrice
How could we know that one day the warmth of a fire, would burn through your house and cause you to expire?
Ignorance is bliss. I first heard that expression many years ago as a young man and was instantly troubled. As someone who had a great love of learning, I wondered how on earth people could believe that being kept in the dark was preferable to coming into the light of knowledge.
To my great sorrow, I have learned that knowledge is not always light. Sometimes it is being shown into a dark room and left alone while you try and fight away the monsters lurking in the shadows.
It is a lesson I shall try and teach you now, but in far gentler circumstances. Please, turn aside, away from this terrible story of woe. In your ignorance of the tragic story of the Baudelaire's, you will find bliss. If you continue to read, it will be like I am pushing you into the darkness and soon it will be too late.
Klaus Baudelaire felt like he was staggering down a dark corridor. As it happens, at that moment in time he was staggering down a dark corridor, but it was the figurative one that played the most heavily on his mind.
He'd been unable to sleep and had decided to go down to the kitchen. However, in Count Olaf's enormous new home he felt terribly lost. It reminded him of the story of a Minotaur.
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur was a monster with the body of a man and the head and tail of a bull. The Minotaur was held in a huge labyrinth. Once a year it would feast on seven youths and seven maidens, until the brave Theseus finally slayed it.
Klaus did not feel like the brave Theseus. He had failed to slay the Minotaur, instead rolling over and allowing him to claim the Baudelaire fortune. Klaus knew he would hate this house for as long as he lived. One night he dreamt that he'd set it on fire, watching the flames climb up the towers and laughed. He woke in a cold sweat as he realised the laugh coming out of his mouth was the same cruel laugh as Count Olaf.
The mansion ought to have been called a palace. Every room held an ornate marble fireplace while the windows were draped in red velvet. It screamed opulence and wealth to most, but to Klaus such displays were gaudy.
"Money can't buy class." His mother had said to him many years ago.
He certainly agreed with that now.
The kitchen was not empty. Violet was sat at the table with a glass of water staring into space. A large bruise blossomed on her eye, the skin swelling to the point it looked like she only had one eye.
The two siblings rarely had an opportunity to talk. Since Olaf's return, he'd kept Violet close by his side and Klaus busy with chores. Despite his desperation to talk to his older sister, Klaus felt himself hesitating. She was like a stranger to him. He also feared Count Olaf's reaction if he caught them together.
"He's passed out drunk upstairs." She said softly. "He won't wake for hours."
Klaus stepped into the room shyly. "Sometimes it feels like you can read my mind."
Violet smiled at him. "You and I think the same things."
Klaus took the seat opposite as she poured him a glass of water. She looked tired.
"Count Olaf?" He nodded towards the bruise.
"Count Olaf." She agreed. "I answered back. We argued. This is my punishment." Violet cocked her head at him.
"Can't sleep?"
He shook his head. Klaus hadn't told Violet about the letter from Aunt Josephine or the drawing from Uncle Monty. He hadn't wanted to get her hopes up, and seeing as his were now dashed it made sense.
"You look disappointed."
"I am." Klaus admitted. "But that's nothing new."
Violet gave him a curious look before pulling an envelope out of her dressing gown pocket. It was addressed to him.
"This was on the doormat yesterday. I picked it up before he could."
The handwriting was Aunt Josephine's.
Dear Klaus,
I hope to hear from you soon. My greatest wish is to help you and your sisters.
Remember your grammar.
Aunt Josephine
"Remember your grammar?" Violet asked.
"She said in the last letter it was her greatest joy." He looked at her guiltily. "She wrote to us a few days ago. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner."
The smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "I understand. It's comforting to know there are still some people out there. Even if grammar is their greatest joy."
"I don't think it can be." Klaus smirked slightly. "Her previous letter was full of errors."
"Maybe there's more to her than meets the eye. Maybe-" she was cut off by a wince.
Years ago I bought an old friend and elephant.
"Thanks." She said.
"Don't mention it." I said.
The reason why I didn't want to talk about the elephant in the room was because I actually stole it from Esme Squalor at a time when elephants were "in". She was furious to find her beloved elephant missing, not because she missed the creatures company, but because she missed the object hiding in a bag on its saddle. It was an object that continues to fill me with such sorrow, and although I stole it for noble reasons, I found myself unable to talk about the elephant without weeping at my deceit and horror at what lay hidden away.
So for weeks we did not talk about the elephant in the room, until my dearest Beatrice came to visit and admonished us for being rather unkind to the poor creature who had not asked to be there. We freed the elephant and I hear that she is now making a lucrative trade stopping fires in the amazon rainforest. I am very proud of her.
I digress.
In the case of the Baudelaire's, the elephant in the room was not a literal elephant. Instead it was the baby who would make their appearance in only a few weeks.
Klaus had encouraged his sister to research all she could on child rearing, however he had stayed away from the subject himself. He reasoned it was because he would leave with the man with the beard and no hair and the woman with the hair but no beard, before the baby was born.
The truth was quite a different matter.
Klaus was avoiding anything to do with the baby because of the amount of guilt he felt. The baby represented his failure in protecting his sister, a guilt he would carry for the rest of his life.
He also felt guilt because he knew he could never love something that was part of Count Olaf.
If he had spoken to Violet about this, he would have seen they were in the same boat.
"Are you in pain?"
Violet gave a tight smile. "Discomfort. I'm being kicked in the ribs most of the time. Everything aches. I want to lie in bed, but when I do I can't get comfortable."
"Can you go to a doctor?"
"That's what we argued about." Violet said softly. "I asked if I could give birth in a hospital. He said no. He said there were too many people who would volunteer to take us away from him. I shouldn't have answered back."
"Yes, you should have!" Not for the first time, Klaus wondered where his fiery sister had gone. "You should fight him every step of the way."
"Would you fight a tiger, Klaus?" She sounded firm. "A hungry prowling tiger, do you think you could fight one? Or would you wait for it to fall asleep? Besides, I promised our parents I would keep you and Sunny safe. The two of you are alive because I have kept you alive."
Klaus felt himself flush. He fought the urge to scowl. "I expect he wants a boy?"
To his surprise, his sister shook her head.
"He wants a girl." Violet said sadly, her hand gently resting on the swell of her stomach. "A pretty girl."
"What do you want?"
She didn't meet his eyes. "If the baby is a boy, I'm afraid he'll look like him. I'm afraid whenever I look at him I'll see his father. I'm afraid I won't love him." A tear slipped down her cheek. "If the baby is a girl, I'm afraid I won't be able to protect her."
"What are you doing here?"
Olaf's voice cut through the air making the Baudelaire's jump. Normally in the evenings, Olaf would be sagging against the door frame, too drunk to hold up his own weight. However, in this moment he looked as cold and calculating as the day the children knocked on his door.
Klaus hurriedly pocketed the letter.
"I didn't feel well." Violet sighed. "And Klaus couldn't sleep. We're just having some water."
Olaf raised his eyebrow. "Two little birds chirping together at this time of night. You know that won't do." He made his way over to Violet and offered her his arm. With reluctance she accepted it and Klaus was astonished to see how gently Olaf helped her up from the chair.
Months ago, Violet would have shyed away from Olaf yet, due to the late stage of her pregnancy, she allowed herself to lean against him.
"Clean up in here, orphan." Olaf called over his shoulder.
There was no point resisting. The job needed doing and it wouldn't take long. He washed up the glasses and put away the rest of the crockery. As he walked past the table, he felt his leg brush against something sharp.
A bag filled with all sorts of random items. There were elastic bands and whisks. Forks and hammers. Scraps of wire and a colander. To the unsuspecting eye it looked like a bag of junk. To Klaus Baudelaire, it looked like the sort of supplies his sister would get together.
What was she planning?
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"What this?" Sunny Baudelaire held up the letter. When she'd woken to find her brother gone, Sunny had stayed awake for him, desperately hoping he would return.
"Another letter from that mysterious Aunt Josephine." Klaus sighed. "We'll reply when our lives aren't quite so turbulent."
"Read it." Sunny insisted.
Dear Klaus,
I hope to hear from you soon. My greatest wish is to help you and your sisters.
Remember your grammar.
Aunt Josephine
"Violet wondered if there was more to it than meets the eye." Klaus glanced over it again. "But I think she was just getting her hopes up."
"Trojan?"
Sunny Baudelaire of course was referring to the Trojan Horse. Many many years ago, long before even your grandparents were born, the Greeks needed to enter the city of Troy. After ten years they decided to try a different tactic and instead offer a large statue of a horse as a peace offering.
The horse was accepted into the city, it broke open and the Greek soldiers leapt out ready to slaughter anyone who got in their way.
Sunny Baudelaire was not saying that Aunt Josephine was planning on slaughtering everyone in the house. But she was suggesting that perhaps Aunt Josephine's letter wasn't quite as innocent as it appeared.
"Her grammar has improved." Klaus said.
"Improved or changed?"
In the new house Klaus and Sunny were still kept in a tiny attic room, but the floorboards had not been laid down properly and therefore they had a wealth of hiding places. Checking over their shoulders, the Baudelaire's pulled out Aunt Josephine's previous letter.
Klaus
You wont know me. My name is Aunt Josephine. I've heard that your a very bright boy, which is good as one of my greatest joys in life is grammer. Its important to neva forget the importance of how to write properly!
I write to congratulate the three of you on Violet's marriage, I hear she iz very happy. I hope now she is devoting her time to her new husband you're not feeling to left out. My dearest husband Ike is no longer with us, but are marriage was a happy one and I wish the same for your sister to.
Its been years since I saw your parents and I miss them dearly. We used to have such wonderful adventures. They were goud people and the world is at a loss without them.
I hope to meet you all soneday.
Aunt Josephine
"Won't should have an apostrophe." Klaus wrote the word down. "And it's you apostrophe r e not your." He wrote that down too. "Then there's the spelling of grammar."
Sunny was still of an age where she couldn't read yet, but as Klaus worked she offered plenty of encouragement.
"Won't you're grammar never is too our too it's good someday." Klaus read.
"Huh?"
"It's hopeless." Klaus wanted to kick something. "It didn't mean anything. She's just crazy."
"Try 'gain!"
"Sunny, I-"
"Please, try 'gain. My can't do it." Her big brown eyes peeped up at him. "Kows try 'gain."
It was the first time she'd said his name. Kows was close enough. Sunny needed him. She needed him not to give up.
"You go to sleep." Klaus ruffled her blonde curls. "I'll work on this."
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Sunny was having a marvellous dream. She was the Queen of the rabbits. All of the rabbits marvelled at her amazingly sharp teeth and brought her carrots to bite all day long. She'd just grown long floppy white ears when her brother shook her awake.
"Train Station." He was beside himself with excitement. "Sunny, the code is train station."
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The two siblings managed to meet again as they prepared lunch.
Olaf and his troupe were rehearsing some rather horrible new play and had made it perfectly clear they were not to be disturbed. It suited the Baudelaire's fine. They did not wish to be disturbed either.
"Father told me that map makers add in false locations so that other map makers don't copy their work." Klaus kept his voice low, just in case one of the henchmen decided to check up on them. "But what if there was a real station masquerading as a fake one?"
"Where?" Sunny checked the doorway.
"Where I went before." Klaus' cheeks were flushed. "Where the stain was on the map. That's why I didn't see anything. It's underground." He froze.
"What is it?" Sunny asked worriedly, suddenly concerned they had been caught.
Klaus' face softened. "I remembered something. Father used to tell me about an out of use railway station. It was when I was reading a lot of ghost stories. He said the railway station would be the perfect setting for a ghost story. He promised to take me there one day."
"Go now?" Sunny's face was eager.
Klaus shook his head. "We need to make a plan first, Sunny. We cannot afford to get caught again. For now we have to play the waiting game."
Another elephant in the lives of the Baudelaire's was time. Like sand slipping through an hourglass. Time was running through their fingers. Time was running out.
Time is also running out for this story! Only two chapters left. Thank you so much for all your gorgeous reviewers, I love reading your messages!
What do you think is going to happen?
Do you think the baby should be a boy or a girl? (Not gonna lie, I don't have the name Beatrice factored in as a baby name)
Would you like a sequel from Violet's perspective?
I had some messages from people who weren't sure about Aunt Josephine's letter and how Klaus decoded it, so here it is!
Klaus
You wont know me. My name is Aunt Josephine. I've heard that your a very bright boy, which is good as one of my greatest joys in life is grammer. Its important to neva forget the importance of how to write properly!
I write to congratulate the three of you on Violet's marriage, I hear she iz very happy. I hope now she is devoting her time to her new husband you're not feeling to left out. My dearest husband Ike is no longer with us, but are marriage was a happy one and I wish the same for your sister to.
Its been years since I saw your parents and I miss them dearly. We used to have such wonderful adventures. They were goud people and the world is at a loss without them.
I hope to meet you all soneday.
Aunt Josephine
So not massively perfect, but close enough for Klaus!
I look forward to reading your messages xx