Chapter 14

Just as Duncan was going to apologize to Klaus, Kit stopped him. She yelled into the rooms, summoning Klaus and Isadora. Violet took Sunny from Duncan and stood next to Quigley.

Kit led the orphans to the kitchen. They sat down. Ben came in.

"Orphans," he said, "we have guardians for all of you. They are trusted members of VFD. You already know them. Now, Baudelaires, your guardians will be Gerald and Candy. You seem to be getting along famously with Leigh and Emmy."

"But Gerald is really…" Violet objected, but was cut off by Ben.

"Don't be ungrateful," Ben reprimanded. "Now, Quagmires, you haven't met your guardians yet, but they have been looking to adopt children."

"Can't we just stay with Kit?" Duncan asked. "All six of us?"

"Goodness children," Kit replied. "I don't think I could handle it."

"But Gerald is Olaf," Violet blurted out before an adult could interrupt her.

"Don't be silly," Kit shook it off. "The Daily Punctilio said that he was caught."

"Last time an imposter was caught, he died," Violet protested, "and it was Jacques."

Kit opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out. A look of sorrow painted her face.

Violet was about to apologize, but Ben spoke first. "Now look what you've done." He put a comforting arm around Kit's shoulder. "Why don't you get washed up for when your new guardians come?"

"Okay," Quigley said, leading the rest of the orphans to room 1313.

As soon as the door was closed, Quigley began to speak. "Let's get things straight. Izzie, Klaus was attacked by Fiona, and if we're not going to get captured, you need to stop being stubborn and let it go."

"Please Izzie," Klaus said.

She couldn't resist his eyes. "Fine, but I still don't trust you," Isadora replied. "But I don't hate you."

"Now that we have that settled," Quigley said, "we have to find a way out of here."

"Actually, I was doing some research," Klaus was back to his old self, "and Gerald and Candy Flicket are actually VFD members. Lindsey's cousins to be exact."

"So that's why we're going there and they're so trusted," Duncan said, copying the information into his green notebook.

"Maybe we can talk to the triplets for help," Violet suggested.

"That's a good idea," Quigley smiled. "I'll see if we can talk to them."

"Okay," Violet said as Quigley left the room. "We better hope this works because I really don't think I can invent us out of this one."