Part 3
Count Olaf glared at the three companions. "Where is the sugar bowl?" he hissed. "Give it to me!"
Violet shook her head. "Not until you give us Sunny Baudelaire."
"Never!" said Olaf. "Without that brat I'll never get the Baudelaire fortune. Give me the sugar bowl now, or I'll throw you off the mountain!"
"If you do, you'll never know where the sugar bowl is," said Klaus.
"I can't let the baby go," said Olaf. "Stealing the Baudelaire fortune is the greater good." No one spoke up to argue with him, because no one else in the troupe but Esmé had known the true importance of the sugar bowl.
"I guess I'll just have to have my associates throw you off the cliff one by one and see if that gets you to talk," sneered Olaf. He gestured to the hook-handed man, the white-faced women, and the three ex-carnival freaks. "Go on, get them!"
"Not me," said the hook-handed man. "After what you did to Esmé, how can I trust I'll get what's coming to me?"
"Oh you will, count on it," said Olaf.
"We quit too," said one of the white-faced women. The other nodded. "For a while it was fun to fight fire with fire, but we've seen enough flames to last our whole lives. What you did to your girlfriend was despicable, Olaf."
"You will obey me!" screamed Olaf. "You, you new employees, throw all the deserters off the cliff this instant!"
"No," said Colette. "I thought what happened at the carnival to Madam Lulu and your man with the long nose was an accident, But now I see you don't care about your people at all. I'm going back to being a freak. Come on, Kevin and Hugo."
"Yes," said Kevin. "I'd rather be laughed at for my two equally-strong hands than work for a man who would booby-trap dresses."
"What were you saying about us being outnumbered?" Violet asked Olaf.
Suddenly, there was a series of shrill whistles blasts and the air was swarming with eagles. The eagles grabbed the hook-handed man, the white-faced women, Colette, Kevin, and Hugo by the shoulders and bore them away screaming. (I haven't been able to find out exactly what happened to them after that, but I fear the worst.)
Violet, Klaus, and Quigley saw that the man with a beard but no hair and the woman with hair but no beard had pulled out shiny silver whistles which they were using to command the eagles.
"Lost control of your subordinates, Olaf?" said the man with a beard but no hair. "I'm disappointed in you. Never mind, we are about to recruit a whole new batch."
"We instructed our eagle slaves to spare you, volunteers, because we still want that sugar bowl and so that you could see our triumph," said the woman with hair but no beard. "When the schism occurred, you may have won the carrier crows and the trained reptiles..."
"Not anymore," Count Olaf said, "All the reptiles except one --"
"Don't interrupt, Olaf. You may have the carrier crows, but we have the two most powerful mammals in the world to do our bidding -- the lions and the eagles!"
"Eagles aren't mammals, they're birds!" Klaus cried.
"They're slaves!" said the man with a beard but no hair, cracking a whip at the eagles.
"On my signal, they will lift the the net we have placed here and carry off a group of young people who think they are here to celebrate False Spring," the woman said.
"The Snow Scouts," gasped Violet.
"They'll be offered the glorious chance to join us," said the man in his hoarse voice.
"They won't!" Klaus said.
"They'll either be recruited or be our prisoners," said the woman in her deep voice. "But we'll burn down every one of their parent's homes in either case."
Even Count Olaf looked uneasy at this. "The main reason we're doing this is to get our hands on all those fortunes: the Spats fortune, the Winnipeg fortune, and the Kornbluth fortune..."
"And because we looove to burn things up," said the woman.
"We're overriding Olaf's decision, volunteers," the man interrupted. "Once you tell us where the sugar bowl is you can leave and take your baby friend with you. But wouldn't you rather join us? We could use more cold-blooded people like you."
"No thanks," Quigley said. "We're not interested."
"It doesn't matter," said the woman with hair but no beard. "Here come our new recruits!"
The Snow Scouts were arriving, marching in two neat rows.
Count Olaf glared at the three companions. "Where is the sugar bowl?" he hissed. "Give it to me!"
Violet shook her head. "Not until you give us Sunny Baudelaire."
"Never!" said Olaf. "Without that brat I'll never get the Baudelaire fortune. Give me the sugar bowl now, or I'll throw you off the mountain!"
"If you do, you'll never know where the sugar bowl is," said Klaus.
"I can't let the baby go," said Olaf. "Stealing the Baudelaire fortune is the greater good." No one spoke up to argue with him, because no one else in the troupe but Esmé had known the true importance of the sugar bowl.
"I guess I'll just have to have my associates throw you off the cliff one by one and see if that gets you to talk," sneered Olaf. He gestured to the hook-handed man, the white-faced women, and the three ex-carnival freaks. "Go on, get them!"
"Not me," said the hook-handed man. "After what you did to Esmé, how can I trust I'll get what's coming to me?"
"Oh you will, count on it," said Olaf.
"We quit too," said one of the white-faced women. The other nodded. "For a while it was fun to fight fire with fire, but we've seen enough flames to last our whole lives. What you did to your girlfriend was despicable, Olaf."
"You will obey me!" screamed Olaf. "You, you new employees, throw all the deserters off the cliff this instant!"
"No," said Colette. "I thought what happened at the carnival to Madam Lulu and your man with the long nose was an accident, But now I see you don't care about your people at all. I'm going back to being a freak. Come on, Kevin and Hugo."
"Yes," said Kevin. "I'd rather be laughed at for my two equally-strong hands than work for a man who would booby-trap dresses."
"What were you saying about us being outnumbered?" Violet asked Olaf.
Suddenly, there was a series of shrill whistles blasts and the air was swarming with eagles. The eagles grabbed the hook-handed man, the white-faced women, Colette, Kevin, and Hugo by the shoulders and bore them away screaming. (I haven't been able to find out exactly what happened to them after that, but I fear the worst.)
Violet, Klaus, and Quigley saw that the man with a beard but no hair and the woman with hair but no beard had pulled out shiny silver whistles which they were using to command the eagles.
"Lost control of your subordinates, Olaf?" said the man with a beard but no hair. "I'm disappointed in you. Never mind, we are about to recruit a whole new batch."
"We instructed our eagle slaves to spare you, volunteers, because we still want that sugar bowl and so that you could see our triumph," said the woman with hair but no beard. "When the schism occurred, you may have won the carrier crows and the trained reptiles..."
"Not anymore," Count Olaf said, "All the reptiles except one --"
"Don't interrupt, Olaf. You may have the carrier crows, but we have the two most powerful mammals in the world to do our bidding -- the lions and the eagles!"
"Eagles aren't mammals, they're birds!" Klaus cried.
"They're slaves!" said the man with a beard but no hair, cracking a whip at the eagles.
"On my signal, they will lift the the net we have placed here and carry off a group of young people who think they are here to celebrate False Spring," the woman said.
"The Snow Scouts," gasped Violet.
"They'll be offered the glorious chance to join us," said the man in his hoarse voice.
"They won't!" Klaus said.
"They'll either be recruited or be our prisoners," said the woman in her deep voice. "But we'll burn down every one of their parent's homes in either case."
Even Count Olaf looked uneasy at this. "The main reason we're doing this is to get our hands on all those fortunes: the Spats fortune, the Winnipeg fortune, and the Kornbluth fortune..."
"And because we looove to burn things up," said the woman.
"We're overriding Olaf's decision, volunteers," the man interrupted. "Once you tell us where the sugar bowl is you can leave and take your baby friend with you. But wouldn't you rather join us? We could use more cold-blooded people like you."
"No thanks," Quigley said. "We're not interested."
"It doesn't matter," said the woman with hair but no beard. "Here come our new recruits!"
The Snow Scouts were arriving, marching in two neat rows.