Not a Chapter
As you could tell by the end of the last chapter, the Baudelaires and I were separated again. I will continue this narration based on what I can reconstruct. Be aware that the next two chapters occur at the same time and you could read them in either order.
Chapter 3
The popular idea that a drowning person goes down only three times is quite untrue. Klaus, for example, went down at least five times in the cold, churning waves before he was suddenly grabbed from behind in a lifesaving hold. The person who gripped him was an expert swimmer and she towed him through the water to her boat in a matter of seconds.
Klaus shivered and coughed up water. The person brought a blanket and put it around him. At last he looked up and saw her.
"Fiona?" Klaus asked. "My sisters went overboard with me! Are they safe?"
"I saw nobody but you," Fiona said.
Klaus staggered up and looked out into the dark, thrashing water. He called out "Violet! Sunny!" for several minutes but no answer came. The warning of death wouldn't leave his mind. The note mentioned one Baudelaire, but it didn't say only one would die... Finally he turned back to Fiona.
"What are you doing here?" Klaus asked, puzzled. They were on the deck of a fast sailing boat, not a submarine as he might have expected.
"Saving you, for one thing," said Fiona. "Fernald and I got away from Olaf. We took his submarine and we're not working for him any more."
"I heard you did," said Klaus. "But you're not working for the V.F.D. either."
"We're on our own, but that's a good thing," said Fiona. "The V.F.D. is not the noble group we thought they were. Either side."
"Every noble person has failed us. Why shouldn't I join you instead of them?" said Klaus.
"Yes! I'm so glad," said Fiona.
"Fiona, I just noticed. You're not saying 'aye' anymore."
"That's because she has me to say it! Aye!" came a booming voice.
"Captain Widdershins!" exclaimed Klaus. "I thought you were lost!"
"I'm sorry I left so abruptly. Aye! But not to leave abruptly would be hesitating! Aye! And he who hesitates is lost!"
"Or she," corrected Fiona.
"Aye, or she," said Widdershins. "A woman came with a message from Fernald! Aye! Said she would take me to meet him! Aye! So Phil and I went with her in this boat."
"It hurt me when you did that," said Fiona, "But now that we're all together again I forgive you."
Klaus wondered if he and his siblings would ever be together again. He tried to turn his mind from his grief by asking one of the many questions he had wondered about Fiona.
"How did you get away from Olaf?" Klaus asked.
"It was easy, really," said Fiona. "When we got to the Hotel Denouement, Olaf, Esmé, and Carmelita wanted to be rowed ashore first, since they were the 'most important people'. Fernald rowed them. He was supposed to make a second trip for me and the rest of the luggage. Instead, he rowed back to the submarine and we simply took off."
"Olaf still had the Mycelium helmet," Klaus said.
"He kept hold of it. We didn't want to confront him -- it would have been three against two and he's very strong and cunning."
"He used the mushrooms and now scores of people are dead," said Klaus accusingly.
Fiona gasped.
"Hold on! Aye!" interjected Widdershins. "I suppose you did everything in your power to keep him from using those mushrooms? Aye?"
"We ran away," Klaus admitted shamefacedly.
"Then you have no standing to be accusing Fiona, have you? Aye?"
"You're right. I'm sorry, Fiona," said Klaus.
Phil came out of the cabin and embraced Klaus. "This is wonderful! The Captain's family is together again, you and Fiona have been reunited,..."
"My sisters may be dead," said Klaus coldly.
"They may not be. Let's look on the bright side. Not only that, but even Fernald has found someone!" said Phil.
"What?" said Klaus. This was something he had never imagined.
"Aye!" said Widdershins, "The woman who brought us the note loves Fernald, and he loves her. Aye! She's a fine, striking woman, too. Aye! She had to go back to town on urgent business. Aye! We dropped her off at the Gulag Archipelago late Tuesday afternoon and a man in a motorboat was going to pick her up."
"A short man with a high-pitched voice?" asked Klaus suspiciously.
"We didn't stay to meet him. Aye! He was just taking her to shore. Aye! A long, black automobile was going to meet her there. She said she was sad to be taken away from the man she loves, but she'll be back soon. Aye! Fernald is off with the Carmelita on urgent business, too. Once that's over we'll all be together."
"I see," said Klaus, a safe answer.
"Now, what about you two? Aye!" said Widdershins. "You said you'd join us. You wouldn't be trifling with my stepdaughter's affections, would you? Aye? You do care for her? Aye?"
"Aye, I mean, I do," said Klaus.
"And you, Fiona?" Captain Widdershins asked.
"I do, too," Fiona said.
"Then by the power vested in me as Captain of this ship, I pronounce you man and wife! Aye! You may kiss the bride," said Widdershins.
Both Klaus and Fiona were open-mouthed with astonishment.
Phil pushed them into the cabin. "I know you newlyweds would like some privacy. Oh, this is so romantic!"
"A-are we really married?" asked Klaus when they were alone.
"At sea a captain's word is law," said Fiona. "This is all so sudden... but.. I'm glad."
"He really doesn't hesitate, does he?" said Klaus. "But... I'm glad too."
They began to kiss, first shyly and then passionately.
I agree with Phil that they should have some privacy.