Author's Note
I do not own A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Violet had seen the umbrella swing up past the window, glinting in the moonlight, several times, but was too afraid to try and do anything for fear the Hook-Handed man might see. On the last time, however, instead of falling short yet another time, it came straight in through the window, lodging firmly under the sill. She shuffled sideways, careful not to drag the chair across the floor, to try and hide it.
The sound of footsteps echoed up the stairs, and soon Count Olaf opened a trapdoor and thrust a very confused and angry Sofia into the room.
"Here we are." He gave Violet a scathing look. She stood to try and hide the grappling hook. Sofia rushed to her side.
Count Olaf shook his head as though disappointed. " You know, some people say that the hardest job in the world is raising a child. " He looked them over and gave an overly exaggerated sigh. " But that is nothing compared to conceiving, writing, directing, producing , graciously casting an orphan in and performing in a theatrical showfor the purposes of stealing said orphan's dead parents' fortune. It's a very difficult job."
"Your life is a tragedy," said Sofia flatly.
"Yes it is," proclaimed Count Olaf. "At least someone understands that. Hopefully they also understand that I will not have any orphans mucking up my schemes!"
"You'll never touch our fortune."
"Lavender, Lavender, Lavender."
"Sofia."
"You are? Where's Lavender then?"
"You sent her away," Violet said bitterly.
"Ah yes! Very forward thinking of me. Where was I? Ah yes, Sofia. Sofia, Sofia. I'll touch whatever I want." He laid his hand on Violet's shoulder and squeezed it very tight. "Now, the three of you will be locked in this room until night falls. That way, you're staying out of mischief, and this evening you will be married to me." He ushered the Hook-Handed man out and slammed the trapdoor closed behind him.
Above her, Indigo could hear her sisters speaking, but she didn't dare look around. Slowly, she pulled herself up the tower, breathing deep. As she got higher, the breeze blew harder, and the rope moved and swayed in the wind. Indigo feared that at any moment the cloth of the ugly clothes would tear, or the umbrella would dislodge or slip, and she would fall all the way back to the foot of the tower.
"Why are we up here?" Sofia asked.
"My attempt to rescue Sunny and Noah," Violet replied, turning and hurrying to the window. Sofia followed her.
"It's so high up. You must have been terrified."
"It was very scary," she said, wrapping her fingers around the rope, "but not as scary as the thought of marrying Count Olaf."
Sofia frowned as she looked at the other window of the tower, an oddly shaped round one with a sort of lense attached to wires. She wandered over to it and peered through, finding it to be some kind of magnifying glass. In the distance through it, she could see a fine looking cream mansion with large yellow doors. She frowned, tugging at it. It slid across the window, and she found with dawning horror that she could line it up over the burnt, ashy remains of their own home.
"Sofia! Get over here and help me hold this steady."
"Why; what is it?"
"It's a grappling hook, I think. Indigo must have thrown it up."
Sofia smiled. "Well, I'm sorry your first invention didn't work, but at least this one does."
"It works fine," Violet said defensively. "I just got caught." She leant out the window. Maybe fifteen feet below she could see Indigo's figure making her way slowly up the tower. "Hold tight! We'll pull you up!"
Indigo gripped the rope very, very tightly, and Violet and Sofia pulled very, very hard on the rope, slowly dragging her up the tower. At last Indigo opened her eyes and saw the little twins, who were wriggling frantically in their ropes. She had arrived at the top of the tower, right at the window where her youngest siblings were tied. Violet and Sofia reached out and grabbed Indigo's hands, pulling her in through the window. She fell onto the floor, trembling and gasping for air.
"Omigosh," cried Sofia, "did you climb all the way up?"
"No Sofia; I flew some of it. Yes; of course I climbed."
"Indigo, you're hurt!" Violet exclaimed, tugging at her sister's nightgown.
"Yeah, the hook fell on me. Come on, let's get the twins, grab the others, and get out of here."
"The others!" Sofia exclaimed. "Count Olaf sent them away in the automobile!"
"He did what?" shouted Violet, who was now grabbing frantically for the cage in which Sunny and Noah were sitting.
"He said they were going on a trip before the performance; he sent them all off with that terrible bald man! Here Indigo, let me see." Quickly, she tore a sleeve from Indigo's ripped nightgown to make a bandage for her shoulder.
"We'll have to clean it up once we're out of here, and treat it with antiseptic."
Violet finally succeeded in grabbing the birdcage, dragging it in towards them. "The key; where's the key?"
Sunny babbled something through the tape, wriggling in the ropes. Violet looked around the room, but she couldn't see any sign of a key.
"I can just pick the lock," Indigo said, pulling one her slides from her hair and scrambling over to the cage. Violet, meanwhile, reeled in more of the cloth rope and looked around the tower room.
"We need to secure this better. Sofia, help me."
"What do you think he's going to do to the boys?"
"Nothing good. Help me!"
The two girls gripped the rope tightly and looked about the tower room before deciding on the large metal bar Sunny and Noah's cage had been hung from. They threw the rope over it and tied it firmly in place before throwing it back down to the foot of the tower.
Indigo, meanwhile, had managed to get the cage open and lifted the twins out, pulling them out of the ropes. They were now crying, both from fear and relief.
"It's okay. It's going to be okay, I promise. It's all going to be okay."
Violet gave a good pull on the rope. "That should hold, but we'll go down one by one just in case. Sofia, you take Noah. I'll take Sunny."
"I can—" Indigo started.
"No, Indigo, you're injured. You shouldn't put any more strain on your arm."
Indigo lifted her hand to her shoulder and fingered the injury there. Sofia moved to pick up Noah, while Violet scooped up Sunny and carefully fastened her to her front.
"It's okay Sunny. We're going to get out of here."
The Bald Man drove and drove, while the five Baudelaire siblings sat in the backseat. They had tried pulling on the doorhandles and banging on the windows, but the doors were locked and there weren't many people around at this time of night.
"What are we going to do?" Klaus whispered to Elias.
"We could kill this bastard," Elias replied hopefully.
"We're not doing that," said Finn.
"There's more of us than there is of him," said Loki, which was true. There was almost always more Baudelaires than there were the people they were opposing.
"Excuse me?" ventured Klaus. "Where are we going?"
"The Boss-man wants me to take you on a very important trip."
"To where?" pushed Elias.
"You'll see."
"Can we stop for a toilet break?" Finn asked. "I really need to go."
"Hold it."
"I'm really desperate," Finn said, nudging Klaus with his knee.
"Yeah, me too!"
"Yeah, you dragged us all out the car without giving us any time!"
"Yeah!" shouted Kyra, kicking the back of the driver's car.
The Bald Man leant over and rummaged in the footwell of the passenger seat, producing an empty beer bottle, which he passed wordlessly back to them. Elias held it for ten seconds, giving it a look of pure disgust and hatred, and then dropped it.
Finn sighed.
So much for that idea.
Violet climbed down first, Sunny secured to her front. It was less stable than her wings, she thought bitterly, but the Hook-Handed man, after being unable to get them off her, had gone for the next best thing and ripped out a chunk of the wiring and gears. She had gathered them up and stuffed them into her pockets, planning on making the repairs later.
Sofia was next, Noah strapped to her chest and clutching her nightgown. She climbed down a little slower and steadier than her sister, her hands trembling and her arms aching. Violet hovered at the bottom, as though she might be able to catch her if she fell.
Indigo was last, shimmying down the rope. Going down, she found, was easier than going up. Violet continued to linger at the bottom of the tower, whispering encouragement and hoping she would be able to do something if her sister's injured shoulder were to cause her to fall, but at last she was back on solid ground. Violet gave her a quick hug before taking her hand. "Come on. Let's get out of here."
