" – And then he told me that I was some sort of code for the VFD." Said Violet, finishing her story about what happened in Olaf's meeting.
"That's why he won't kill you?" Asked Klaus, looking at her concernedly. He had worried the entire time Violet was gone.
"Yes," said Violet, "but he has the Quagmires trapped here as well, so we have to rescue them."
"Can you invent us something to get us out? I mean you made a great mortar – dissolver in the VFD Village." Said Klaus.
Violet ran her hand along the wall, and was disappointed to see that the walls were made of solid cement with no mortar in between, so a mortar – dissolver would be of no use. She ran her hand farther and her fingers brushed against a strange texture, as if something were carved in the wall, and sure enough, there were five words carved untidily into the structure.
"Come see this!" Violet cried to her younger siblings. "There is something written on the wall!" Her brother came and squinted at the words and saw through the dim light something that looked like this:
The World is Quiet Here"Tinka?" Asked Sunny, speaking for the first time, something that meant, "What does it mean?"
"I don't know, but if it is soft enough to carve in, then we could maybe carve a hole in the wall to escape." Said Violet.
"It'll take too long," said Klaus, "days, maybe." Violet squinted at the letters and sighed.
"Perhaps," she said stiffly, "but it'll have to do, it's our only…choice."
All three Baudelaires knew that she hesitated before saying choice because she meant to say hope. The Baudelaires knew it was their only hope, but as it pained all three of them to say this fateful thing over the dismal course of their horrid lives, they had more times than they like.
"How do we scrape the walls, though?" Asked Klaus finally. "We don't even have a knife." Violet pondered this, but smiled after looking at Sunny, who was sitting on the floor anxiously.
"Sunny can –" Violet started, but Klaus interrupted, though it was rather rude.
"We are not using our sister's teeth to scrape the walls!" He cried angrily.
"Then what do you suppose we do then, Klaus, unless you have a knife up your sleeve?" Violet seethed, suddenly hating her brother.
"It's not your job to decide for our sibling." Said Klaus, fuming silently.
"It isn't yours, either," said Violet, her voice suddenly softening, "let's let her decide for herself."
"Sunny?" Said Klaus. He turned toward his younger sister, who looked up at them determinedly.
"Volunteer." Said Sunny simply, a word which means, "I'll do what I can."
She approached the wall, and then without a word she swung her head back and sunk her teeth in the hard cement. For what seemed like hours, the sound of gnashing teeth filled the air.
"Stop." Said Sunny, which meant something along the lines of, "I'm tired, let's stop for a moment."
As much as I wish I could go back in time and warn the children that resting would prove to be fatal, I, alas, cannot. And as a tall figure approached the Baudelaires in their brief resting time, I wish whole – heartedly that I could have found a time machine and told the Baudelaires to keep going, or at least hide.
The cell door opened to reveal a grinning Count Olaf and his hooked assistant.
"We've found the safe place, Brattylaires, so we're going on a little burn and run road trip."
He grabbed Violet's hand and kissed her hard, making her wipe her mouth in disgust.
"You are my ticket in, so you go first." He said, pushing her into his assistant who led her to the car, and somehow Violet knew that they were not going to see the glorious mansion in its splendor again.
