Chapter 11: The Photograph
And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now
And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
And sooner or later, it's over
I just don't wanna miss you tonight
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies
When everything feels like the movies
Yeah, you bleed just to know, you're alive
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
(Iris, Goo Goo Dolls)
Count Olaf rounded on his associates.
"How could you fall asleep?" he demanded. "Your only job was to guard the baby brat and you couldn't even do that."
"Sorry, boss," the hook-handed man said, "We got distracted."
"Keep them locked up here from now on then and keep the baby in the birdcage," Count Olaf said. "Now, orphans step away from the birdcage or my associate will drop that baby to her tragic death."
The hook-handed man raised his hook-hand holding a pad with a button attached and his finger lingered near the switch.
"No," Klaus cried. "Stop! We'll be good!"
"How did you get in here?" Count Olaf demanded. "How did Violet get up here?"
"We sang your associates asleep," I said.
"And Violet used a grappling hook," Klaus said.
"A grappling hook?" Count Olaf asked. "How did you manage that?"
"I made it myself," Violet said.
"A pretty girl like yourself shouldn't be making a grappling hook or plotting a scheme," he said. "Though I suppose it sounds familiar. You two will be my brides."
"I'm not anyone's bride," I said, "I'm only a child."
"Very soon you will be," the hook-handed man said. "In the meantime, the four of you will be locked in this room until night falls. That way, Count Olaf can be sure you will all stay out of mischief. I'll lock the door until it's time for the play. Don't let me catch you asleep on the job again."
The hook-handed man was glowering at me as he followed Count Olaf to the door.
"No monkey business, you three, or I will have to tie you up and let you dangle out of the window as well. You don't want your boyfriend to get scratched." He added the last part for me. He stomped out of the room, locking the door behind him.
"Our plan failed," Klaus said with a sigh and turned to me. I stretched out my hands and embraced him in a hug.
"We tried," Violet said, "I'm sorry it didn't work Jane."
Klaus was staring outside the tower window where Sunny dangled. Violet and Klaus walked over to pat Sunny on her head. I stood near a pile of paper and watched them, their shadows cast against the wooden floor in the light of the moon's glow. "It's so high up," Klaus said. "You must have been terrified."
"It was very scary," Violet admitted, "but not as scary as the thought of Jane and I marrying Count Olaf."
"I'm sorry your invention didn't work," Klaus said sadly.
"I'm sorry your plan didn't work," Violet said. "The invention worked fine. But we weren't prepared to get caught. Now we're doomed. The hook-handed man said he'd keep us here until tonight, and then it's The Marvelous Marriage."
"Do you think you could invent something that would help us escape?" Klaus asked, looking around the room.
"Do you still have the lock pick, Jane?" Violet asked.
I nodded and pulled it out of my pocket. I gave it to Violet and she began picking the lock. With a click, the gate opened and Violet grabbed Sunny and held her close.
"Sunny," Violet cried. "We were so worried."
"We can sneak out now," Klaus said. "And tell Mr. Poe."
"Let's go," I said and we hurried across the room to the door. Violet unlocked the door with the lock pick and we came face to face with the hook-handed man.
"Trying to escape again?" he asked. "Who was it this time?"
"It was me," I said. "I was the one who had the lockpick."
"I told you the consequences," the hook-handed man said. "You and Sunny will be tied up." He pulled out a long rope from his pocket. He grabbed the lock pick from Violet and then he and the associate who like neither a man nor a woman grabbed my wrists and bound them securely. He shoved me back in the room. Sunny was placed back in her cage and I was tied to it stuck at the edge of the tower.
"I know you wouldn't leave either of them behind," he said to Klaus and Violet. "Any more mischievousness and you'll be next."
Klaus went to my side as the hook-handed man left and took my hand.
"I'm sorry we couldn't save you Jane," he said.
"We can't give up," Violet said. "Why don't you go through those books and papers? Perhaps there's some information that could be of use."
Violet and Klaus spent the next hours searching the room for information to help us. I searched the area near my feet and tried to ignore the long drop before my eyes. I stepped on a pile of documents with smooth photographs on top. My eyes were drawn immediately to a wedding photo. I gasped and picked it up and saw a picture of a blonde woman and a tall man with brown ear-length hair with their arms around each other. It was a photo of my parents. How could Count Olaf know my parents? Why would he have a wedding photo?
I searched the documents and found a newspaper article of theater criticism along with a story of a fire of a cottage and a large mansion belonging to Abigail Murray and Henry Murray. But why would there be two fires?
"What are you looking at Jane?" Violet asked.
"Look," I said and picked up the photo. I showed it to them and Violet's eyes widened.
"Who are they?" she asked.
"My parents," I said. "What could Count Olaf possibly have to do with my parents? Why would he have their wedding photo?"
"Perhaps he knew them," Klaus said. "Could he have known our parents too?"
"And if you look at these documents, they suggest that there were fires at a cottage and a large mansion belonging to my parents."
Violet frowned. "He must know something about their deaths," Violet said.
"He knew my parents," I whispered and my thoughts faded away to imagining my parents knowing Count Olaf but all that came up was a blank image. I couldn't imagine what my parents were like. All I knew about them is what they looked like and my imagination drew up only a faded view of them. I could barely imagine my parents and therefore, imagining them knowing Count Olaf made it even harder to imagine. What could my parents have to do with such an awful person as Count Olaf?
Before we could say any more, the door opened and Count Olaf entered with a wicked gleam in his eye. He was dressed in a fancy suit with a waxed eyebrow and he stood with the hook-handed man.
"Come, orphans," Count Olaf said. "It is time for the big event. My associate here will stay behind in this room, and we will keep in constant contact through our walkie-talkies. If anything goes wrong during tonight's performance, your sister will be dropped to her death. Come along now."
I grabbed the photo and stuck it in my pocket before following Count Olaf out the door. I remembered what Monty Kensicle had told me before I went to stay with Count Olaf—to sign the document with my left hand.
And you asked me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
'Cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And designer love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
So take these words and sing out loud
'Cause everyone is forgiven now
'Cause tonight's the night the world begins again
I need some place simple where we could live
And something only you can give
And that's faith and trust and peace while we're alive
And the one poor child who saved this world
And there's ten million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them
So take these words and sing out loud
'Cause everyone is forgiven now
'Cause tonight's the night the world begins again
I wish everyone was loved tonight
And somehow stop this endless fight
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
So take these words and sing out loud
'Cause everyone is forgiven now
'Cause tonight's the night the world begins again
'Cause tonight's the night the world begins again
(Better Days, Goo Goo Dolls)