I finished Ch 2 just now so I decided to publish it today. As always, please review, especially if you find a typo.
Review Responses:
JustVilda Potter - I felt like some of the descriptions were better than some of others. Glad you liked them!
VeronicaWeasley - Thanks! originally the first section was it's own chapter and I decided to combine them at the last second. I re-introduce the quads in another chapter and I think will move these descriptions to there. Here's your update:
"Andiamo! Andiamo!" Sunny shouted as she walked through the house banging a spoon against a pot. It was 4:07 AM and Sunny wanted to get out on the road. Sunny had not been able to fall asleep when she woke up at 3:27, so she decided to make breakfast for everyone while she waited for the sun to rise so she could wake everyone else. She had heard what the first stop was from Quigley, even though it was supposed to be a surprise for her.
Quigley was the next child to wake up, he had a lot of anxiety about his maps being incorrect and causing the families to get lost. He used to be very adventurous and not worry about things like getting lost or not being perfect, but ever since his parents went missing he had become afraid of the unknown and wanted his maps to be perfect so he would never get lost like his parents.
At precisely 4:15 Violet, Klaus, Beatrice, and Bertrand all woke up, having set their alarms the previous night for this time. They did not seem to be phased by Sunny's banging and shouting.
Duncan was next to wake up. It was the best night of sleep he had gotten since his 13th birthday. Every night since his parents went missing he had cried himself to sleep and he never slept very deeply due to frequent waking up in the night due to recurring bad dreams about his sibling getting taken away from him.
Even though Isadora was the last to wake up, she was the morning person of the group so she was ready and truly awake before anyone else. Back when she lived on Quills Circle, she would wake up way before her brothers and talk with mother in the garden or write poetry in the sun room. Ever since her 13th birthday when her parents went missing, she hadn't had any desire to wake up early because it just made her think of her mother and made her sad.
Sunny had packed everyone breakfast and lunch for the road, and they certainly weren't ham and cheese sandwiches. She had made each person a restaurant quality dish, and custard eclairs for dessert, Klaus' favorite.
For breakfast she made waffles for everyone and Eggs Benedict for Bertrand, his favorite. For lunch, she made Lox, a dish made with smoked salmon. None of them were really picky, but Beatrice hated Salmon due to an incident at Café Salmonella involving a waiter named Harry. For Beatrice she made a salad of sliced mango, black beans, and chopped celery mixed with black pepper, lime juice, and olive oil. Sunny did not know who came up with the mixture, although he vaguely remembered her mother saying someone at her old prep school came up with it. She had made sure to pack lots of carrots, her favorite, so she would always have something to snack on.
With the help of Isadora, who was the first one ready, she loaded the meals and other cooking ingredients and tools in the RV. Her mother always made her bring a jar of wasabi with her, but she never said why. Once all the food was loaded in the RV, Sunny and Isadora hopped in and claimed the best seats. The beds were assigned yesterday. Bertrand and Beatrice would sleep in the queen bed at the back. Duncan and Quigley took the bunk beds in the middle of the RV. That left 2 double beds for Violet, Klaus, Sunny and Isadora. They made a deal to switch off who slept with who. On the first night, Klaus was with Sunny on the pull out couch, and Violet and Isadora were in the loft above the driver seat.
Next in the RV was Bertrand. Once he made it to the driver's seat, he turned on the RV, he jokingly revved the engine to make the others get a move on so they could get going. Bertrand was the closest thing to a morning person you saw in the Baudelaire family. Being a group of researchers they stayed up into the late hours of the night reading or tinkering. In the Quagmire family however, they would sleep dusk to dawn, and adventure and explore every minute of daylight they got, that is, except for Quigley. Quigley fit the description of the Baudelaires more and more every day since his 13th birthday. He now believed everything needed to be planned down to every turn so it was impossible to get lost.
Bertrand revving the engine certainly made the 'slow pokes' get a move on. Within 5 minutes, everyone else made it to the RR, hopped in, and we're ready to go.
Bertrand shouted "Let's GO!"
In response, Sunny stood up and once again shouted "Andiamo!"
Duncan stood up from his bed. "Will someone please tell me what 'Andiamo' means, Sunny has been shouting it all morning."
Klaus pushed up his glasses, "It's Italian for Let's Go."
"In that case," Duncan said "Andiamo!"
Now everyone else shouted, "Andiamo," as if it were a toast.
Mr. Baudelaire pulled out of the driveway."Next stop, San Francisco!" He shouted, enunciating every syllable of the name of the city. Now, after weeks of planning on Bertrand and Beatrice's pact, and a mere 35 hours on the children's part, they were off.
Despite living in California their whole lives, neither the Baudelaire children nor the Quagmire children had ever been to San Francisco before. If Mr. and Mrs. Quagmire were going to take their kids on a vacation or an "adventure" as they liked to call it, they would go somewhere exotic like Egypt or Peru, rather than just going upstate to a "tourist town." The Baudelaire's on the other hand, rarely took any vacations(or even left the house) and only really ever left their mansion if they had a specific reason to.
After driving for about an hour and a half, Sunny and Mrs. Baudelaire served breakfast to everyone after warming it in the small toaster oven in the RV. Once everyone except Bertrand had finished, their breakfast Mr. Baudelaire pulled the RV over. He and Mrs. Baudelaire switched seats so he could eat while she drove. Sunny, Violet and Duncan had fallen back asleep, Klaus and
Quigley were playing chess, and Isadora was sitting up in the loft writing poetry.
When Quigley beat Klaus at Chess for the 146th time in a row, Klaus went up to the loft to read a book about the history of the Golden Gate Bridge. Not realizing Isadora was up there, he grabbed his book and went right up. When slid the loft door open, he found Isadora quietly crying with her notebook in her hand. Even though he was normally polite, he went in and laid in the bed next to her. Isadora was facing way from him but he was pretty sure that she knew he was there. After a few moments, she rolled over and hugged Klaus and didn't let go for a long time. Klaus hugged her back, reluctant at first.
Klaus was the kind of person who was slow to warm up to new people and didn't trust people until he knew them very well. It had taken months for him to feel comfortable around the triplets, and after almost a year he still felt a little uncomfortable around Duncan. He was first comfortable around Quigley, who he bonded with over games of chess. Months later, he bonded with Isadora about poetry and now they often read/wrote together in the Baudelaire library. He and Duncan did not have much in common so they have yet to find something to bond over. He had come to trust Duncan through Quigley and Isadora, but they rarely 'hung out'. Isadora on the other hand, was the least bit shy and trusted everyone she ever met. She found it strange that Klaus and even sometimes Violet were awkward when new people came to the house. On the rare occasion the family went out eat, (Sunny's food was better than most restaurants, Isadora would have full conversations with the wait staff, while Klaus had his nose in a book the whole time.
Isadora continued to cry with Klaus in her arms. Klaus just laid there silently, enjoying Isadora's company and slowly rubbing her back, like his mother did whenever he was sad. When the pillow they were sharing was damp from Isadora's tears and she had stopped crying, they sat up and started talking about Les Fleurs Du Mal by Charles Baudelaire, her favorite book. It made her instantly happy every time they talked about it. Next thing they new, Sunny was calling for lunch. They got down from the loft, washed their hands, and got their food from Sunny. Isadora wasn't the biggest fan of the Lox so she had some of Mrs. Baudelaire's salad for lunch. When all of the children finished lunch, Mrs. Baudelaire turned into a gas station so to get some snacks and fill up the gas tank of the RV. Once again Mr. and Mrs. Baudelaire switched who was driving and who was supervising the kids.
Mrs. Baudelaire opened the door to the RV. "Were about an hour away from San Francisco, so start collecting your trash so we can throw it away when we there."
There a mixed murmurer of "Yes Mom" and "Yes Mrs. B" from the children.
Klaus and Isadora headed back up to the loft to continue their conversation but ended falling asleep. Klaus's normal wake up time was 8:30 a.m. so he had lost more than 5 hours of sleep, Isadora was tired from crying for multiple hours straight, and it didn't help that they were laying in a comfortable bed.
Quigley had started teaching Violet chess, to pass the while Klaus was asleep with Isadora up in the loft. "Pawns can move directly forward two squares on their first move only. Pawns can move diagonally forward when capturing an opponent's chess piece." Violet wasn't even really listening, She was daydreaming in her head about a machine that could play chess perfectly and end Quigley's winning streak. No one knew what Duncan was doing, last they heard he was going to go write an article about the trip so far, but no one had seen him since.
Note: I've already written the scene where the Bauds/Quags meet the Quads, but I don't know how to take the story from here to there. I was originally going to have them go to San Francisco and Lake Lachrymose before Boulder, but I can't think of a way to write it with out it just feeling like filler. If you want to hear about San Francisco(more) and Lake Lachrymose tell me below, otherwise I'll probably just skip it.
Also, one other reason I'm posting today is I'm really busy tomorrow and Friday so don't expect to see chapters then, but I do have next week off of school (for Thanksgiving), so I will most likely publish a chapter or two everyday next week.
