Chapter One
During a long car ride, one usually sings joyfully, excited for where they're going, takes a nap, whines and says he or she has to go to the bathroom, or asks the usual question; "Are we there yet?"
However, the Baudelaire orphans did not do any of these while riding in the small car with Kit Snicket. They sat quietly staring out the window in deep thought wondering where this kind lady was taking them.
"Well, you're a gloomy bunch aren't you?" she asked.
"Charmeeh!" cried Sunny, which probably meant; "If you went through what we've been through you would be as gloomy as us."
"Well, I don't know what 'charmeeh' means, but I guess it's a sign that you don't want to be bothered."
"Oh no, Miss Snicket, we're not bothered. We're just in deep thought." said Violet.
"Please, call me Kit. Miss Snicket is far too fancy. Just Kit."
"Okay... Kit." said Violet. Kit Snicket smiled.
"Come on! I know you have all been through a rough time, but where we're going is a very fun place. I'm sure you'll enjoy it greatly, if you turn those frowns upside down!"
"Lert!" said Sunny, which probably meant; "This lady's nuts!"
"Sunny!" said Violet.
"Thank you so much for taking us with you." said Klaus.
"Oh it was my pleasure." said Kit.
"Greesh." said Sunny, which meant; "If she hadn't, we would be stuck with Mr. Poe again and he would take us to another awful home."
Violet and Klaus nodded in agreement.
"We're here!" sang Kit.
The three children looked out their window and saw the most magnificent thing they had ever seen.
It was a hotel, but a beautiful one. It had roses growing in front of every window, there was a beautiful fountain with a statue of a dolphin in the middle, and there was an enormous doorway that led to the inside lobby.
"Isn't she beautiful?" said Kit looking up at the hundreds of windows getting smaller as they went higher. "Welcome children, to Hotel Denoument!" she said raising her hands in the air.
"It's beautiful." said Violet quietly.
"It is, isn't it? Well, let's not waste any more time on the outside, you have to see the inside before you can judge. Remember; never judge a book by its cover."
The phrase we have just used here is a common phrase, one that you have probably heard several times in your life. It means that if you see a beautiful picture of a lady on the cover of a book, don't immediately think that the book will be about beautiful ladies walking the streets of Paris in short, short skirts and spaghetti strapped tank tops. It may be a cover of a magazine that an alien enjoys reading, while relaxing on the beaches of planet Juno with his alien posse surrounding him. So to put it short, 'don't judge a book by its cover' means get to know something better before judging it.
"I agree." said Klaus.
"Dar!" said Sunny which probably meant; "You are both so pathetic!"
Klaus glared at her. They went through the enormous entrance and reached a large circular table in the middle of a lobby. It was a rather large lobby, but from the outside, it seemed as if the lobby would be much larger. There was a pot on the table, and a few desks lined along the left wall where men and women in beige uniforms were addressing people to their rooms.
"It's not as grand as you thought it would be, huh?" said Kit. "Some people come and pay here so they can take their tent in the courtyard and camp out there instead of in here. And I suppose they're right. I'm sorry, but I don't have a tent, which means we will be forced to buy a room. I'm sure they have a vacancy."
Violet looked at Klaus and he shrugged. Kit walked over to one of the desks and started talking to a man in beige.
"This is the one time that the phrase 'Don't judge a book by its cover' is actually right." said Violet with a sigh.
"Eva!" cried Sunny. And for the first time ever, Violet and Klaus didn't know what she was saying.
"Sunny, what are you saying?" asked Violet bending down by the youngster.
"Eva!" repeated Sunny with a foolish grin.
"I think she's messing with our minds. Come on let's go to Kit."
"No, no, no. Sunny wouldn't do that. She's trying to say something. Come on, what is it Sunny?"
"Evar!" said Sunny, which meant; "Look, it's Eva!"
"Whose Eva?" said Klaus and Violet in unison. Sunny pointed at a girl wearing a long brown dress with straight hair up to her shoulders. She was talking with one of the women in beige and she looked about 10 years old.
"Who is that Sunny?"
"Cherytugasto?" said Sunny, which meant; "Remember that time when our parents got into a fight and us and dad went to the market?"
"Yes, but so what?" said Klaus.
"Jeranomo?" said Sunny, which meant; "Well remember you two were playing tag and running around the store while I was cheering you on, and Klaus you bumped into a little girl and she started crying?"
"Yes."
"Agulokis?" asked Sunny, which probably meant; "Remember then you became friends even though she was younger and she came to visit us often before the terrible fire?"
"Yes, but—"
"Eva!" said Sunny, pointing at the girl again.
"So you're saying that's Eva?" asked Klaus.
"Yes!!!" said Sunny jumping up and down.
"Come on, we must say hello." said Violet, picking up Sunny.
"Uh, Eva? Are you Eva?" asked Klaus.
"Klaus!? Violet!? Sunny!? Oh my gosh, it's really you!" said Eva jumping and giving Klaus a hug that nearly pushed him into the round table with the flower pot in the center.
"I can't believe it! You guys are alive!" she said.
"Of course we are, what did you think we were, dead?" said Klaus sarcastically.
"Yes! That's what everyone is telling us at school! That the Baudelaire family all perished in a terrible fire that ruined their home and blahdy blahdy blah! But you guys are alive! Oh, where are your parents I must say hello!"
"They—uh, they—" he was interrupted by Violet stepping on his foot.
"They're not here right now. But if we do meet up with them I'd gladly take you to them."
Klaus and Sunny stared at Violet in surprise.
"Aga?" said Sunny, which meant; "Our parents are dead Violet, why are you lying?" Violet put her finger to her lips when Eva turned away.
"Still speaking in that strange language of yours, aren't you Sunny?" said Eva.
"Kleo!" said Sunny, which meant; "It's not a strange language!"
"Sunny says it's not a strange language." said Klaus.
"Trojew?" said Sunny, which meant; "Do you have to tell her every single detail about our lives?"
"She's right you know." said Violet.
"Right about what?" asked Eva.
"She said we should get back to our room. Klaus, why don't you and Sunny go ahead? I'll meet you at the elevator. I need to ask that lady where she got her watch."
Klaus raised his eyebrows but took Sunny's hand and said; "It was nice to see you Eva. When are you leaving?"
"Oh I was just on my way out. But it's so good to see you guys! I missed you so much. Well, hopefully they'll rebuild your house and you could move back to our neighborhood again. See you until then!"
"Bye Eva." said Violet as she walked over to Kit.
"Kit, we're gonna go upstairs and look around a bit, ok? What room are we in? 401. On the 4th floor. See you then and be careful!"
"We will." said Violet as she ran past Eva and her family to the elevators.
"Don't you wish that it were true?" said Klaus, once they were in the elevator.
"If what were true Klaus?" asked Violet.
"That mom and dad had come with us to the beach that day when our house burned down and they were here with us and enjoying this hotel and waiting for our house to finish being remodeled so we could move back into our old neighborhood and back into our old lives? Don't you wish that were true?"
"Of course I wish it were true. All of us do. But the fact is that's not true. And we should start living in reality and not some other world if our parents had lived. They didn't survive Klaus. And I'm sorry to say that they're not coming back."