Chapter 11

The Carmelita shot through the water toward the slower-moving pirate ship. The latter began firing its cannon, but the shots simply bounced off the hard metal head and arms of the submarine. The swatter deployed, preparing to smash the other vessel to bits.

Suddenly, the watchers on shore saw another, smaller, metal shape cutting through the water.

"Queequeg!" cried Sunny.

"Who could be piloting it? Violet?" Duncan wondered aloud.

The Carmelita sucked in the Queequeg like an octopus eating a shrimp. A moment later there was a huge explosion and the Carmelita now resembled an octopus that had eaten a sea mine by mistake. Bits of metal tentacles flew everywhere.

The onlookers gasped. Had the Queequeg staged a suicide attack?

The pirate ship pulled into the dock and the Female Finnish Pirates poured out, sabers drawn.

"Stop!" called a familiar voice. "These are my friends!"

"Violet!" Sunny yelled.

Violet strode ashore, dressed in a new purple-red pirate costume. She was hugged by everyone.

"How do that?" Sunny asked her.

"I managed to set the boilers so they would overheat and explode, set the course and lashed the wheel, and got out the diving hatch. We sailed in first, to lure the Carmelita into position. Just as I hoped, the Carmelita took the bait."

Just then, there was a huge rumble and we all turned around. The volcano had gotten much worse and now a wall of lava was crawling toward the small village.

"Oh no!" cried Pirate Ulla. "Our homes will be destroyed!"

"Violet... look at Quigley's map!" Klaus called out.

"I'm so glad you're here, Quigley. What did you map?" Violet asked.

"Just some narrow rock channels, and places where huge boulders could be tipped into them," said Quigley.

Violet took a new purple-red ribbon from the pocket of her pirate costume and tied back her hair.

"I see..." she said. "Given the direction of the lava flow, if we drop boulders in these three places, it will divert the lava away from the village."

Violet showed the pirates the map and three of them raced off to try her plan. It worked; the lava only got a few feet closer to the village before stopping and beginning to cool.

"Pirate Violet, you saved us as the prophecy said," Pirate Jenni told her. "What can we do for you and your friends?"

"First, my brother and Fiona are hurt and they need immediate treatment. Do you have any modern medical supplies?"

"Yes," said Jenni. "We have stolen many medicines from ships. They can be treated in my home."

She gave immediate orders for her crew to help the wounded couple.

"What else can I do for you?"

"Second, tell me about this prophecy. When and how did it come to you?" Violet asked.

"About a year ago, a paper like a large snowflake appeared here in the village square. It told of this time, when we would need the help of a girl from the sea against a metal monster-ship," said Jenni.

Violet drew from an inner pocket the Vessel for Disaccharides. "You left this hidden in the taxi, Lemony," she told me. "I thought we might need it, so I got it while we were getting the Queequeg. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," I said. "I'm glad I didn't have it on me, because the Duchess and I were captured."

"Pirate Jenni, was the message in English?" Violet asked.

"No, in Finnish," said the pirate leader.

"In that case..." Violet opened the sugar bowl and removed one of the doilies that was folded into the lid. "Would you write the prophecy on this paper?"

Jenni handed it back when she was done. "This looks very like the prophecy itself. It was on paper just like this."

Violet attached two metal clips from the device in the sugar bowl to the doily, set a dial, and pushed a button. The doily vanished.

"One prophecy, coming up," Violet said triumphantly. "Or rather, came up."

"Other prophecy today," Sunny reminded her sadly.

"Oh no!" said Violet. "I'd almost forgotten the death message. Klaus! We have to do everything we can to make sure he survives."

The sun was already setting. Klaus and Fiona lay in beds beside each other. They reached out and held hands.

"Tell me, Klaus, did you think of a food you loved very much to remember me?" Fiona asked.

"My heart was broken, but I did," said Klaus. "Custard eclairs."

"That's a nice food," said Fiona. "Thank you. Klaus?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry I got you into this. My stepfather and I were fools to trust that Fernald was reformed."

"It's not your fault. You wanted to think the best of your brother... Fiona?"

"Yes, Klaus?"

"I'm not going to make it, you know. Remember that doily I showed you? A Baudelaire is going to die today. It's going to be me. Just remember, I loved you very much. Custard eclairs."

"You're forgetting something..." Fiona said, gasping. "We were married today. I'm... Fiona... Baudelaire. Goodbye... Custard eclairs..."

Then she breathed her last.