Chapter Four

(Picture of an envelope, with the initials J.S. scribbled on.)

Jake sat himself down on an old wooden chair, and the Baudelaires did the same, yet Kit remained standing.

'How about I get everyone some hot chocolate?' she asked.

'That'd be wonderful,' Klaus said.

'Cinnamon!' Sunny cried.

'She has her own recipe,' Violet explained. ' Maybe she could help.'

'Of course,' Kit said,' It'll give her a chance to see the kitchens in detail, and I know about her knack for cooking. However, it seems a shame she'd have to miss out on Pa's story.' A frown crossed Kit's face.

'I'll cope,' Sunny confessed, and with that, Kit led her out of the room, through an old wooden door, leaving Jake, Klaus and Violet, ready for the story.

The two elder Baudelaire's pulled their chairs closer to Jake, with a queasy feeling in their stomachs. Would this story answer all their questions? They had had talks like this with several people, and they never seemed to find out any more-if anything they had more questions to ask. When they talked with Olivia at the Caligari Carnival, they discovered a little about the V.F.D disguise kit, but had more questions about their parents, and the headquarters in the Mortmain Mountains. When they arrived at the headquarters, and talked with Quigley Quagmire, they learned a little about what V.F.D used, but ended up with questions about the schism. And when they talked with Fernald the hook-handed man, they learned a little about his past, but had more questions about his real father, and his surname. And now, as Jake gave a loud cough and prepared to tell his tale, they wondered if they would just end up with more questions.

'Me and my wife, Rebecca had three children,' he began. 'We both worked in V.F.D, and knew our children were to be recruited as well. First off, we had twins. Kit and Jacques, we called them.'

Violet slowly nodded. The resemblance was similar.

'We met Jacques Snicket,' she said,' Briefly. Before he was…'

'Murdered,' Jake finished grimly, and sighed. 'Sometimes it amazes me how evil people can be.'

'Maybe that's what people think of us,' Klaus pointed out,' Olaf framed us for the murder.'

'I know,' Jake said,' Everyone knows, thanks to Geraldine Julienne at the Daily Punctilio.'

'Mr. Poe mentioned her, back on Briny Beach where Kit picked us up,' Violet said,' but we don't know who she is.'

'She's a lousy reporter,' Jake said,' who wants fame. She always chews gum, and one thing to remember is, she loves Esme Squalor.'

'I remember her,' Klaus said, and Violet gave her brother a curious look. She was at Heimlich Hospital, although you might not remember,' he said, giving Violet a look. She had been under anaesthetic at the time. 'She was also at Caligari Carnival, for the Lion Show. I guess she stood out to me, because I'd seen her before.'

'That's another evil person,' Violet said,' It seemed like they're all around, wherever you go.'

'And that's the truth, Violet Baudelaire,' Jake said, with a sombre expression across his face, a phrase which he means, 'he looked very dark, and sad.' 'No where can you truly escape evil. Not even under the sea, in the V.F.D submarines. Now that Olaf has a hold of some, we've had to retreat to the air.'

'I thought you said you used planes to get around quickly,' Violet said, frowning.

'We do,' Jake said,' but another reason is because of all the evil around.'

'Wait a second,' Klaus said,' this is getting off track. What happened next, after you bore Kit and Jacques with your wife?'

'We had another child,' Jake said,' His name is Lemony. He died too.'

'How terrible,' Klaus said, looking down. He could see in the corner of his eye, that Violet was doing the same. At that short moment, the two elder Baudelaire's thought of all the people that had died around them. Their parents were taken, that morning whilst they were at Briny Beach. Their Uncle Monty and Aunt Josephine had been snatched by Count Olaf. Doctor Orwell had fallen into the saw, and Jacques had been killed with something important to say to them. The Quagmire parents had been killed in yet another fire, whilst Olaf's associates, however evil, had slowly been going down. At that moment, the Baudelaire's realized how many people had left them, and how they wanted people to stay and never leave. It was as if they were moving everywhere, people dying as they went, from Lakes to Mills, from Villages to Carnivals, Mountains to Waters. And now they were on the Hindenburger, they hoped no one else would be taken away from them.

They looked up half a minute later, with the thoughts going through their head, and turned to Jake.

'Of course, I only found out through The Daily Punctilio,' Jake said,' and with all of the lies, who knows if it's true. Anyway, on with the story. They were all recruited, and soon two were dead. Kit and me managed to get together, my wife…she left one day for a meeting, and never returned.'

'That's a terrible shame,' Violet said, and sighed,' I wonder where she is now.'

'Or if she's even alive,' Jake admitted.

'Hot Chocolate, and Cinnamon!' cried a young girl's voice, and they turned to the doorway, to see Kit holding a large wooden tray, with five steaming mugs on it, all bearing the V.F.D insignia, like on the plane's side, and on lots of other things, like a tent, and Count Olaf's ankle. Seeing it was become normal to the children. They were not scared of it, as they knew it could mean good, as well as wicked. Kit stepped into the room, with Sunny following, and began handing out mugs. Soon, everyone had a mug tight in clutch, and Kit sat herself down, and placed Sunny on their lap.

Klaus took a deep gulp of his drink, the last being a bit of salt water when he arose from the Queequeg submarine, onto the beach. 'Wow, Sunny,' he said,' This is better then ever. It's perfect to drink whilst listening to Jake's story.' Violet nodded in agreement, and then everyone turned to Jake, besides Jake himself, and he coughed once more, took a sip of hot chocolate, and carried on.

'Kit and me decided we had to contact V.F.D, and meet up, but everything seemed unsafe. In the end, we decided to write a letter to a certain Sally Selbald, using the Selbald code, which her husband, Gustav created.'

'Gustav,' Sunny muttered to herself, and then her eyes grew wide,' Uncle Monty's assistant!' she exclaimed.

'That's right!' Klaus said, and then turned his face to Jake,' Olaf killed him. Did he work for V.F.D?'

'He did,' Jake said with a small smile, and a nod,' and so did Sally. She replied saying that the members were gathering at the headquarters in the Mortmain Mountains.'

'We tried going there,' said Violet,' When we arrived, it was all in ashes.'

'When we got there, most of it was still standing,' Kit said,' we noticed the fire, and we noticed nobody was there. Our journey had been for nothing. But then, hours later, Sally Selbald arrived, and we all investigated the place. Then, whilst we were there, observing the burnt ice-cream shop, we heard a crash. It was from the kitchen, and we knew what it was. Another fire had been set. With our skills, we knew how to put it out. So we rushed in, and Sally noticed something on the oak table. We gasped at what we saw. The sugar bowl, lying there on a table. The arsonists hadn't noticed. As the fire spread, Sally chucked the sugar bowl out of the window, and with a crash, it passed through the glass, and into the ashen waters of the Stricken Stream.'

Violet gasped.

'We were on the Queequeg,' she said,' we followed it's path. Sunny's life was as risk because of it, and that…that stupid grotto! But yet, no one will tell us about it, and I'm getting so frustrated! It's just a stupid sugar bowl!'

'Violet's right,' Klaus said,' We've done so much to retrieve it, and yet no one will tell us! Look, Jake, please, just start from the top: what is the sugar bowl?'

'Why it's important?' Sunny asked curiously.

Jake took a deep sigh, and then picked up his mug from the coaster on the dining table. He took a long gulp, and then conveyed all three Baudelaire's with his right hand as he spoke.

'Sorry, Baudelaire's,' he began,' The sugar bowl cannot be explained with a simple question. It's complex, and most of all; the sugar bowl is worthless itself.'

The Baudelaire's all raised their eyebrows: if it was worthless, then why did all the volunteers want it?

'But then, why-'

'Why do people want it?' Jake asked,' Because of what's inside. And that cannot be blabbed to anyone who asks…it's a delicate secret, one that can only be tampered with by the most important volunteers. Kit herself only discovered recently.' The Baudelaire's all turned their heads to Kit, who gave a slow nod.

'And even now, I'm not sure I can understand everything,' she admitted,' It's like the Snicket File, children. What's in is so important, but yet so few people know what's in. Even volunteers with no idea with what it is want it…Sally Selbald, for instance, didn't know what was inside. But yet, she knew it was important, and threw it away from the fire, out to safety.' The Baudelaire's looked down. Maybe the secrets were not to be answered. Maybe Jake was right: maybe they were never to know these things.

'Speaking of your events at the headquarters,' Klaus said,' What happened after Sally threw the sugar bowl away?' He was thinking maybe the rest of the story was exciting, and took his mind of the sugar bowl, and maybe even answered other questions, deep in the web of mystery that surrounded them.

'Ah yes!' Kit exclaimed, obviously happy to get off the sugar bowl topic,' Pa, why don't you tell them that?'

'I shall,' said Jake with a small smile, the usual. 'We tried all we could to put out the fire, and eventually, it died down, with some help from us. We looked around, knowing that in a kitchen, there's a refrigerator, and perhaps there was a use of Verbal Fridge Dialogue in it. You kids all know what the Verbal Fridge Dialogue is, correct?' The children all nodded.

'Klaus saw!' Sunny cried, and all eyes turned on the middle Baudelaire.

'I did study the fridge in the headquarters,' he confirmed. 'We saw the very fresh dill, and even the letter's J.S. in the jam. This is where Sunny remembered the initials. We assumed Jacques Snicket, but Captain Widdershins from the Queequeg told us better. And to make it weirder, Quigley sent us a telegram, with the letter's J.S. in the C.C box. Mr. Poe even got sent a telegram with J.S as the initials of the sender. For a while we've been wondering who it is…are you this J.S.?'

'No wonder you're confused,' Jake said, not directly answering Klaus's question like a polite person should,' In the V.F.D, there are many J.S.' Kit gave a fast nod, and folded her arms in comfort.

'There's Justice Strauss, for example,' she explained,' Yet, she's a simple neophyte: a beginner. Just like I am at aeronautics. There's Josephine Spats, yet she married to become Josephine Anwhistle. And there was Jerome Squalor, who isn't in V.F.D, but some people think differently, as he had connections through Esme Squalor, and the floor above the penthouse. There's Jacques Snicket, as you said, and there's my Pa, Jake Snicket…'

'The message was for me,' Jake said grandly. 'We checked the fridge for the dill, finding it in the crisper, and then we saw my initials. It was telling me that we were meeting at the Hotel on Thursday.'

'But why just you?' Violet asked,' Didn't other volunteers need to know?'

'They already did,' Jake said,' Volunteer Factual Dispatches were sent, luckily before the telegraph devices were broken. We were busy on our journey, trying to meet up at the headquarters.'

'There was a couplet,' Kit said, and recited it,' "We left to early, you came to late

In the fridge reveals your fate." Of course, by then, we had already looked in the fridge, but it was nice for a pointer.'

'So, we set off on our way,' Jake said,' We heard Olaf had a submarine, The Caramel or something, so we decided to take to the air, with a woman named Harriet, who's the pilot when I need to do other things…'

'The Carmelita,' Sunny corrected.

'Then what?' Violet asked,' what about Quigley's telegram?'

'We got it,' Kit said, her grin dropping slightly ' we have a telegram device in the control room. We had to land somewhere safe, so that we would be hidden, whilst we came to collect you.'

'In the end, Kit went,' Jake said, and scratched the back of his neck embarrassedly. 'I'm not much of a driver,' he confessed,' I'm better at aeronautics.'

'And then we picked you up,' Kit said,' and now here you are.'

'That's our story,' the Snicket father said, with a slightly larger smile on his face,' Hope you enjoyed.'

'I don't know about the other two,' Klaus said,' But I certainly enjoyed it.'

Violet nodded, and clapped her hands together in applause. 'I thought it was fascinating.'

'Yay!' Sunny cried, which meant something like 'It was great, especially with this hot chocolate.'

Violet quickly translated, and then added, 'We should all finish off our hot chocolate, before it goes cold.'

'And I should start getting dinner ready,' Kit said,' Care to help, Sunny?'

'Of course!' replied the young girl, and Kit stood up, Sunny in her comforting clutch, and they wondered off to the kitchen.

'I ought to let Harriet get some rest, actually,' Jake said, also standing up,' I'll see you two soon.' With that, Jake Snicket-the mysterious J.S-left the main room, leaving the two elder children rather alone. Through the large window, in the middle of the 'D' of the insignia, the children could see the sun was starting to set beneath the hills, and Klaus gave a small yawn.

As you know, when someone yawns, one can hardly help but yawn themselves, so this usually ends up with a group of people weary and tired, which is why it's a good idea not to yawn on a busy underground train, or when you go to visit a popular orchestra. But as there were only two humans in the room at that moment, it was okay for Klaus to yawn, and okay for Violet to follow, because even if they did end up feeling weary and tired, it was getting fairly late anyway, and they needed some sleep after the day they had been through.

The next few minutes of the Baudelaire's lives were peaceful ones, as they watched the sun go beneath the hazy clouds through the large window, letting thoughts flow through their mind. They barely noticed much as they thought and watched, they didn't even notice Harriet come through the room minutes later, her jaw moving up and down making a dastardly noise as she chewed on something. They didn't even notice the wonderful smell of Chicken Tika Masala, a wonderful Indian dish my sister once prepared for me, as she did the Baudelaire's. They were only awaken from their deep train of thought, as Kit and Sunny came through from the kitchen area, Kit holding a large pot with a ladle poking from the top, and Sunny holding a smaller one, which looked empty, as well as a wooden spoon. As Violet and Klaus turned their heads, they were curious as to why Sunny was carrying these items, but they sound found an answer, when a loud banging waffled, an word which here means 'came surprisingly' through the room.

'Dinner!' Sunny cried, banging the wooden spoon against the empty pot. Kit placed the large metal pot with the ladle in the centre of the table, and hurried back to the kitchen to retrieve some bowls. Harriet wearily entered the room, and took something out of her mouth, and stuck it under the table, whilst the two elder Baudelaire's took their seats. Kit took the ladle, and put a large amount of the chicken and the sauce in one bowl, which she put on the side.

'Father's flying the plane at the moment,' she said,' It would seem a shame to make him go without.'

'It certainly looks very nice,' Violet agreed, peering through the top of the pot.

'And the smell is wonderful,' Klaus said. 'I've always liked Chicken Tika Masala. I haven't had it since…' He stopped, and everybody at the table knew what he meant, and so did not ask him to continue.

And so the crew of the Hindenburger ate the wonderful recipe, but the children's-except for Sunny, who was fully focused on the meal- minds were elsewhere as they chewed on the chicken, and sipped at the sauce. They were thinking about Jake's tale, about how he was J.S. But there was another thing the children were thinking about. Like all the other things, Jake had said it, but it was not part of his tale. They were thinking about what he said about them not truly being able to escape evil anywhere, and they agreed with him, through their own tale, but they wondered if they could truly escape on board the plane, or if evil was just around the corner.