Dear Reviewers:
Nny11: Glad I could make your day a little more unfortunate!
Powerof1P3PadfootsGrl: Thanks! I'm not sure who Ms. Garcia is either... I guess you'll have to figure it out yourself!
WonkaVision: "Caramel Cake," yes, that is kinda funny... I wasn't sure how well that would work because some people pronounce it "Car-a-mel" while "Car-mel" sounds more like "Car-mel-ita." I pronounce it car-mel, in case you weren't sure... But still, I think it's just funny that Duncan has a pet name for Carmelita!
Phoenix72389: I love to do that! Just when you start to get comfortable on the roller coaster, throw in another twist!
Animeomega: Yes, poor Klaus... I wish I could say that he's been living happily ever after, but, like Lemony says, "That is not how the story goes..."
MlynnBloom: Gracias, Merci, thank you, and however you say it in all those other languages!
QuigleyRules: Thanks also! And, yes, Quigley does rule! Sorry he hasn't been mentioned in the story much...
Lady Emily: I thank you again for the reward, and I hope I will live up to the name! If I get slow with updating, just say so and I'll give it back. ;)
NewbiaTheElf: Yep! Enough said.
Micartne: Thank you, and I will keep writing as long as you keep reading! ;)
VisualPurple: Yay! I'm so happy for you. Now onto the rest!
Sorry I didn't update this time as fast as I did with the others, but yesterday I tried writing, got halfway through, and my computer froze. I had to restart it, only to discover I didn't save the chapter! So, I had to rewrite it, and by the time I had gotten as far as I had before, it was late. And the day before that, I had a concert to go to, and the day before that, I just didn't have time. Yeah. So... Here it is, Chapter the Tenth!
P.S. I forgot to mention this in the last one: Thank you to Samantha from the Snicket Source for your "Loopiness" quote! I hope it's okay that I used it.
Chapter 10: The F l o w e r s of E v i l
The next morning, they all met in Klaus's room for breakfast. They could have gone down to the café, but there were things they needed to discuss, things that didn't need to leave the hotel room.
The first matter was about Carmelita and the information she had on Violet.
"I didn't see her after the show," Isadora said. They had all gathered around the small table, on which a meager continental breakfast had been laid out. Sunny sat at the narrow desk, inspecting the typewriter.
"We should go back and ask around for her," Klaus said. "It sounded like she knew something."
Duncan was quiet.
Klaus glanced at Sunny. She was peacefully entertaining herself by pushing down keys and listening for the ding that rang from the typewriter when she completed a row of words.
Isadora lowered her voice. "Do you guys think that maybe there's something Sunny hasn't told us? Maybe...something she didn't want to?"
Klaus blinked. He hadn't considered that. "What do you think she would have to hide?"
"It's been ten years, Klaus," Isadora said. "There's probably a lot she hasn't told us yet."
Klaus nodded and looked down. She was probably right. But he didn't want her to be. He was still trying to accept the fact that Sunny had spent the majority of her existence out of his life. He had wanted to be there, to be the big brother she needed. But here she was, a mature, intelligent young lady. It was as if she didn't need him after all.
There was still a lot he didn't know about his own sister.
"Of course, there's probably a lot Violet hasn't told her to begin with," Isadora added.
Yes, Klaus thought. That could be correct also.
Duncan spoke up, although his voice was quiet. "When Quigley and I finally escaped from Olaf..." He didn't let his gaze leave the cup of coffee he held in his hands. "We should have gone back for them. We had the chance, we just..." Duncan shook his head regretfully.
"It wasn't your fault, Duncan," Klaus said. "Olaf was a tricky guy. It makes me wonder if he's still around..."
The three looked down. Count Olaf was never a very good conversation topic, and the very thought of him still being out there, hunting them down, sent chills up their spines.
Apparently, they hadn't been speaking quietly enough, because Sunny chimed in as if she had been part of the discussion the entire time. "Well, I'd just like to know why Duncan was down at the hotel café drinking coffee with Carmelita last night."
Duncan froze, cup halfway to his mouth, and looked up cautiously at his sister and Klaus. They blinked at him, waiting for him to come up with an excuse for not telling them in the first place.
"What, no one's wondering why she was up so late?" Duncan asked.
"I was thirsty."
"There's a sink in your room, you know."
Sunny stuck out her bottom lip. "Fine. I heard voices outside the door and I followed you. But if she knows where my sister is, eavesdropping could be considered necessary."
"Well?" Isadora said. "What have you got to say for yourself?"
Duncan took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I didn't bring it up because there isn't anything to tell. She didn't mention Violet. Carmelita wasn't the mood to talk about much. She just said that she thought someone was following her and she wanted to hang out until it was safe to go home."
"Oh..." Isadora said.
"Wait," Klaus interjected. "Someone was following her? What did he look like?"
Duncan shrugged. "Carmelita said she didn't get a good look at him but she knew he was tall and he was wearing a long coat and a hat."
Klaus's eyes widened.
"What is it Klaus?" Isadora asked.
Klaus looked back at Sunny, checking to see if she had gone back to amusing herself with the typewriter. He lowered his voice again. "Sunny and I saw that guy back at the train station," he said. "She thinks she's seen him somewhere before, like he's been following us."
"Following us?" Isadora asked, her eyes growing bigger. "But what could he want?"
The world was quiet for a moment. No one said anything, but the three were thinking the same thing.
Sunny.
. . .
Later, Klaus, Isadora, and Duncan went downstairs to the small diner that branched off from the lobby of the hotel. It was about lunchtime, and they had left Sunny in the room while they went to buy sandwiches. She seemed rather interested in the typewriter, and Klaus didn't want to tear her away from her new discovery.
Duncan was starting to revert back to his natural, slightly sarcastic self, and Isadora even laughed at the jokes he had already told about a hundred times, glad that her brother wasn't so unusually quiet anymore. He mentioned Carmelita often, and Klaus and Isadora could tell that part of him wasn't over her yet.
They were just about to go back up to the room when Isadora caught sight of someone out of the corner of her eye. He was running towards the stairs, and he had a large envelope tucked under his arm. Isadora's eyes widened when she saw him. She grabbed Klaus's wrist.
"It's him," she said.
Klaus whirled around. Tall. Long coat. And the hat.
It was him.
Klaus broke into a run and raced up the spiral stairs after the man. He didn't know who he was. He didn't know if he was armed. He just knew that he had the answers to so many questions.
Finally, after stumbling over several long flights of stairs, he reached the right floor. The stranger had been far ahead of him, and when Klaus paused to rest at the top, he just barely caught a glimpse of the man ducking into a room with an open door.
Klaus's heart stopped. It was his room.
"Sunny!" Klaus screamed. He launched into a sprint down the hall.
Klaus came to an abrupt halt when he reached the doorway. He almost died with relief when he saw that Sunny was standing there, wide eyed and confused. In her hands was the envelope. The man was nowhere to be seen.
Sunny looked at Klaus. Her eyes were scared. He followed us, they seemed to say. We aren't even safe here.
Slowly, Klaus approached his little sister. She silently held out the envelope to him. He opened it and pulled out the single sheet of paper that was tucked inside it.
La gloire du soleil sur la mer ruban,
La gloire des cités dans le soleil couchant,
Allumaient dans nos coeurs une ardeur inquiète
De plonger dans un ciel au reflet alléchant.
Dans les planches d'anatomie
Qui traînent sur ces quais poudreux
Où maint machine à écrire cadavéreux
Dort comme une antique momie.
"Can you read that?" Klaus asked, handing the paper over to Sunny.
She took it and looked over the words briefly. "Yes," she said. "Yes I can."
"I've read this somewhere before," Isadora said when she read the passage.
"What did it say again?" Duncan asked.
Sunny recited it:
"The glory of sunlight upon the ribbon sea,
The glory of cities against the setting sun,
Kindled in our hearts a troubling desireTo plunge into a sky of alluring colors.
"In the anatomical plates
That lie about on dusty quais
Where many cadaverous typewriters
Sleep like an ancient mummy."
"Well what's that supposed to mean?" Duncan asked. "It doesn't even sound like they're from the same poem."
"That's because they aren't," Isadora said. "I recognize them. It's on the tip of my tongue, I just can't place it!"
"There's something strange about some of those words," Klaus noted. "'The glory of sunlight upon the ribbon sea.' That doesn't sound right."
"And 'Where many cadaverous typewriters sleep like an ancient mummy.' That's kind of weird also," Sunny added.
"Do you think it's a Verse Fluctuation Declaration?" Isadora asked.
"A what?" Sunny asked in return.
"It sounds like it," Klaus said, ignoring Sunny's question. He didn't want to lie again. "But that would mean that that guy was a..."
"...Volunteer," Duncan finished.
"A volunteer what?" Sunny asked, starting to become frustrated that nobody was answering her questions.
Suddenly, Isadora gasped. "I remember now!" she cried. "I remember where I read this!"
She dashed out the door to get something from her room. When she returned, she had a book in her hands. Klaus recognized it as the same book Isadora was reading on the train. "Les Fleurs Du Mal," she said.
The Flowers of Evil.
"'The glory of sunlight upon the violet sea... Where many cadaverous books sleep like an ancient mummy,'" Isadora read.
She shut the book and looked up at Klaus. He was staring past her, but not at any particular thing. Everyone could tell he was deep in thought.
Just two very significant words in Klaus's life.
Violet. Books.
But what in sanity's name could it mean?