Chapter 5-In which the reader's escape takes quite a different turn

"You idiots! You didn't think I'd let you get away with that, did you?" the hook-

handed man snarled. "I'll kill all of you except Sunny and Olaf will be extremely

pleased." Sunny growled-something you usually don't hear from a child-and opened her

mouth, revealing an array of sharp teeth just before sinking them into the hook-handed

man's arm. He let out a terrific shout and flung her into Klaus's stomach. The man

stood up cautiously and dove for Quigley, opening the door in the process. Quigley was

thrown out of the car and hurled into the Stricken Stream. Violet screamed, and, jet-

powered with adrenaline, pushed him out, into the stream as well.

"WHEEL!!!!" Sunny cried and Violet immediately grabbed the steering- wheel,

taking control of the car that was now dangerously lingering near the edge of the

stream. She was about to jump out of the vehicle and swim after Quigley when Klaus

pulled her back.

"No. It's too risky. Quigley is resourceful and he will be able to swim ashore. Our

task now is to get to Hotel Denouement," he said, gritting his teeth as Violet fought to

get out. She stopped trying to struggle against Klaus's grip and sighed.

"You're right. I'm sorry, Klaus and Sunny. I couldn't think properly," Violet

apologized sheepishly. "Well...let's get on to Hotel Denouement."

"How are we going to get there? We don't know where it is?" Sunny asked.

There are some times when we are extremely confused and there is nothing to

do but blink. The Baudelaire siblings did just that. Simultaneously, they all blinked, the

possible dilemma never crossing their mind.

"Oh," was the only think Klaus was able to say.

"Oops..." Violet sighed. "Well, we'll just have to keep on driving. I'd suggest we

go back to the headquarters, had the troupe of villains be after us. I have no idea what

to do now."

"I'm not sure if this helps, but while I was searching through the ruins of the VFD,

I found something that may be of use to us," Klaus said, pulling a sheet of nearly

disintegrated paper." I grabbed it off of a shelf in the refrigerator in a hurry, but it

appears to be blank. Ah well."

"Wait! May I see it?" Violet asked. He handed the paper over to her and she

studied it carefully. "Look. There's a word written in brown...more like a syllable, rather.

'De.' Just 'De.' It might be the beginning of 'Denouement, but we won't be able to find

out until we get a hairdryer."

Now, you have probably heard some very strange things said to you in your life.

Me, myself, have heard "The moustache was hungry" and "Why are you waiting for

the pear to cross the street," but when you are in a dire situation and someone asks

for a hairdryer, that just about tops it all off.

"A hairdryer? What for? Really, Violet, our looks aren't important at the moment

as much as finding the hotel," Klaus said, surprised.

"No, not for looks. For the paper. The message is written in milk. Once dried, it

becomes invisible and can only be read with a hairdryer blowing on it. The volunteers

must have blow-dried only a segment of the message in order to alert the intended

readers that it was no ordinary piece of paper," Violet explained.

"So...then we have to find a hairdryer now," Klaus finished.

"I know where to find a hairdryer!" Sunny exclaimed.

"Where?" Violet asked.

"Oh...never mind. At the hotel," she replied, embarrassed.