Chapter 5

"Well, Klaus. Two questions in. How are you feeling?" Quentin asked as Klaus gave him a small smile.

"Enthusiastic," Klaus replied as Quentin laughed.

"Very well. Let us go to Question Three." Quentin said as the screen flashed once more.

"In the animal kingdom, the Horntoad is what type of creature? Is it…"

A toad

A lizard

A snake

A spider

Klaus gave a light chuckle as Quentin stared on in amusement. Three questions in and the boy seemed unfazed Quentin thought as he could see Klaus smiling at the question, his mind appearing to be elsewhere.

….

Klaus Baudelaire walked towards the birds that were lying in the trees. Careful as to not disturb or provoke them in any way, Klaus waited patiently until one was close to him. Moving as quickly as he could, Klaus grabbed a bird and captured it in his trap before bringing it down into the treehouse.

It had been four months since Klaus had been stranded on the island alone as he placed the bird cage on the table. Removing the note that he had rolled up in a tiny bundle, Klaus attached the note to the bird's feet while bringing the cage out into the open and releasing the bird. Though the effort might seem to be futile and in all logical sense, it was hopeless to assume that the bird may somehow find its way to his sisters or to anyone who knew his sisters, Klaus had written a note a day to send out into the world, praying for another miracle.

If Violet knew I was on the island, she'll come to get me Klaus thought hopefully as he watched the bird fly out into the sky. He had initially attempted to do this using glass bottles and putting them into the ocean but the currents pushing against the island made it impossible for any message floating on the water to be pushed out to sea. Klaus went back to working on his boat, fixing yet another plank on its side. The boat, which Klaus had named Violet, was much larger than the Beatrice and would be more than capable of taking on powerful storms. Klaus sighed, thinking about how much easier it would have been to have Violet helping him or Sunny using her powerful teeth to chew through the wood. As Klaus sat down on the beach to have a breather, he spotted something rustling in the long grass. A closer look allowed Klaus to see a small snake slithering in between the grass. He smiled affectionately at the snake though his heart ached upon remembering their first real guardian, Uncle Monty.

…..

"Do you really think Uncle Monty knows what he's doing?" Klaus asked as he changed into a fresh, white shirt. The abrupt arrival of Count Olaf posing as Stefano had caused his senses to be on alert as Klaus threw himself onto his bed.

"Of course he does," Violet replied as she entered the room. She had worn the same purple blouse as she did, Klaus noted.

"Where's Sunny?"

"Downstairs with Uncle Monty," Violet replied as Klaus gave her a look of concern. "I'm sure she's fine."

"Is she?" Klaus replied, his tone still sceptical about Uncle Monty. Klaus had found himself drawn to the world-renowned herpetologist whose attributes and character made him quite an endearing guardian for the orphans and yet, Klaus could not get rid of the nagging feeling at the back of his mind. Their previous encounter with Count Olaf had him on edge and Klaus could still feel his anger hiding somewhere inside of him.

"Klaus, you have to stop worrying about Uncle Monty. We have Olaf now to deal with." Violet said as she sat on the bed next to his.

"Well, I can't help it, Violet. I'm still angry."

"I know." Violet sighed. "Count Olaf is a monster and we will make sure that he's caught and put behind bars."

"No, not Olaf," Klaus said as he sat up to stare at Violet. "Our parents."

"Klaus…" Violet started to speak but Klaus shook his head.

"No, Violet," Klaus replied firmly. "I'm angry at them. Remember how I said that we don't even know why our parents send us to Briny Beach? Well, think about it. If they sent us there, that means they knew something was going to happen to us. To our family. So why didn't they?"

"Why didn't they what?" Violet asked.

"Come along!" Klaus cried in exasperation. "We're their children, Violet. Parents are supposed to take care of their kids! Not abandon them or send them to live in abusive homes."

"That was because Count Olaf tricked Mr. Poe," Violet whispered, not wanting the conversation to continue.

"So what? Our parents must have known that something like this might happen to us and yet they still intended for us to be by ourselves. Live by ourselves. Why couldn't they have come with us, Violet? Why did our parents keep secrets from us? Why give us away to someone we have never met in our lives?"

"I'm sure they had their reasons." Violet sighed

"Well, then it's their fault. It's their fault all this is happening to us." Klaus growled as he clenched his fists.

"Klaus, our parents loved us more than anything else in this world," Violet said as she sat next to him. "They wouldn't have put us in this situation unless they absolutely had to."

"Then why not at the very least write us a letter or tell us what was happening or pass us a message of some kind?" Klaus replied. "Come on Violet, you're not naïve. Our parents abandoned us."

"Klaus…"

"They left us to fend ourselves.

"Klaus…"

"Left us in the hands of strangers and do you know why?"

"Klaus, please, I'm begging you…"

"Because they hate us," Klaus said as Violet stared at him in shock before walking over to the next bed. As soon as Klaus saw his sister's face, he felt his anger disappearing as a look of concern came over his face. There were only a few moments in his life that Klaus had ever seen his elder sister cry and yet, none came close to that evening just before dinner when Violet's face was streaming with tears. Klaus immediately sat next to his sister, throwing a comforting arm around her.

"Violet, I'm sorry. I should have kept my mouth shut."

"Why? You're right." Violet said as she continued to cry. "Why shouldn't we feel angry towards our parents? I could have been married to that monster and you and Sunny might have been…" Violet could not bring herself to finish the words as Klaus pulled her into a hug. In the years that Violet and Klaus had spent together, the number of times Violet would comfort her brother would always surpass the number of times Klaus would do the same. In the moments where he had to step up, Klaus would often try to see the positive light of things, taking a leaf from his sister's book in an attempt to cheer her up.

"Our parents did save us though," Klaus said as he stroked his sister's hair lightly. "If it wasn't for them, we would have perished in the fire as well."

"Not to mention if it weren't for them raising us, we wouldn't have the skills to survive," Violet added as Klaus pulled away from the hug to smile at his sister.

"At least we still have each other. That's what important." Klaus said as his sister smiled at him.

"And we have Uncle Monty, whom you have to admit, is a pretty cool guardian," Violet said as Klaus nodded in agreement. "We should do everything to make sure that Olaf doesn't do anything bad to him."

"Of course!" Klaus said as he spied a book on the table. He had taken one of the books on herpetology to read the night before and an idea came into his mind.

"Klaus?" Violet asked with concern. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm feeling…" Klaus said as images of reptiles and creatures filled his head until one came into view. Clapping his hands in delight, Klaus smiled excitedly at his sister. "….Horny!"

"What?!" Violet exclaimed as Klaus dragged himself away from his thoughts to see his sister staring at him with a mixture of confusion and amusement in her eyes. "You're feeling horny?!"

"What?! NO! I mean…." Klaus stuttering, flushing red with embarrassment as his older sister broke out in giggles. "No! What I meant is that I could ask a question about reptiles that would cause Count Olaf to stumble and be distracted. I was thinking of this creature called the horntoad or horny toads which, you might think are toads or frogs but are actually lizards!"

"Righttt…" Violet said as she tried to stifle a giggle while grinning at her brother. "That makes more sense. Come, let's head down for dinner."

Klaus could still feel the heat emanating from his face as a quick glance from the mirror showed that he was still crimson-faced.

"Klaus?" Violet called out as they headed for the bedroom door.

"Yes?" Klaus asked.

"Thank you for comforting me," Violet said before giving her brother a cheeky grin. "Although the next time you do comfort a girl, best not to tell her that you're feeling horny."

"You're never going to let me forget this, are you?" Klaus groaned as they left the room.

"What do you think?" Violet chuckled.

…

"The answer is B, a lizard. Final answer." Klaus said as Quentin beamed at the boy. "Correct!" Quentin cried as another round of applause echoed throughout the arena.

"My, my. That is impressive." Quentin said as he took a moment to study Klaus. The boy had just answered three questions without even a shred of nervousness and Quentin couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of hope that Klaus Baudelaire would actually be able to win the competition. He felt a wave of affection for the young man, whose look of resolve appeared to be as steady as the day he first met him.

"How did you know the answer?" Quentin asked as Klaus appeared to be slightly taken aback before composing himself.

"I had an uncle who took care of my family once. Uncle Montgomery Montgomery was probably the greatest herpetologist the world had ever seen." Klaus replied proudly. The use of past tense in that sentence indicated to Quentin that there was more to the story than meets the eye. However, sensing that nothing good can come from prompting Klaus further, Quentin gave him a smile and introduced the fourth question.

"Question number 4. What is the phobia assigned to the specific fear of objects in the house that can be perceived to be potentially dangerous? Is it…"

Domatophobia

Emetophobia

Claustrophobia

Oikophobia

Quentin could see Klaus frowning at the question as he stared at the question. Clearing his throat, Quentin intended to remind Klaus that he still had two lifelines to use. However, before he could say anything, Klaus looked at him and smiled. Quentin could hardly believe it.

He knows the answer!

….

The fourth question wasn't one that was too difficult for Klaus to answer as he knew the answer but rather what made it difficult was the memory attached to it. The third question had prompted the reminder of the deceased Uncle Monty, one that Klaus couldn't help but feel a sense of survivor's guilt. Survivor's guilt, Klaus knew, was a term used to describe a mental condition that occurs when one believes they had done something wrong by surviving a traumatic event when others did not. Klaus had felt it during the early hours after Uncle Monty's murder and he felt it on the day he was stranded on the island again though the latter did not last long as Klaus took faith in his sisters and Beatrice's survival. Instead, the fourth question had prompted a memory of survivor's guilt that was carried by Violet that Klaus had no idea existed until one night at the island treehouse where he caught Violet sitting on a tree branch.

Klaus had just put both Beatrice and Sunny to sleep. They were only about three months away from escaping the island and he and Violet had split tasks amongst themselves to prepare for the sea voyage ahead. One of the tasks they had assigned to themselves was to write a recollection of events that had happened to them since the day Mr. Poe visited them on Briny Beach to inform them of his parents' demise. Klaus had spied the book open on Violet's bed and the open window next to her bed indicated that Violet had gone out to sit on her favourite branch. Sure enough, as Klaus stuck his head out the window, he could see his sister in a white nightdress, carefully balancing herself on the branch. Taking the book with him, Klaus made his way outside.

"Hey," Klaus said as he climbed up the branch to sit opposite his sister. Violet smiled at him before groaning at the sight of the book.

"Urgh, I left the book on my bed for a reason. I don't want to see it right now, Klaus." Violet said as she averted her gaze from him.

"Why?" Klaus asked as he gave his sister a puzzled look. "Which event were you writing about?"

"Lake Lachrymose." Violet sighed as Klaus's eyes widened with realisation. He could understand why the particular event was difficult to write. Although Count Olaf had already committed murder with Uncle Monty, Lake Lachrymose proved to be the murder site of one Aunt Josephine whom Count Olaf had thrown mercilessly to the leeches.

"It's okay," Klaus said as he closed the book. "Sunny and I can write up this event."

"No, I have to do it." Violet sighed as she turned to look at Klaus. "If I'm ever going to move on from what I did, I have to write it down."

"What you did?" Klaus asked, looking confused. Instead of replying him, Violet gestured at Klaus to sit closer to her as Klaus heeded her call by hoisting himself onto her branch. The strong branches of the massive tree were more than capable of taking their weight as Klaus sat across his sister.

"Klaus, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Violet."

"Did you ever blamed yourself for anyone of the deaths caused by Count Olaf in his pursuit of our fortune? Like if our fortune never existed, wouldn't these people be alive?"

"Violet, you can't…"

"Klaus, please," Violet said, cutting him off. "I really want your honest answer."

Klaus sighed out loud before nodding. "Of course, I feel that way sometimes. Uncle Monty, Aunt Josephine, Olivia Caliban, Jacques Snicket…so, so many others. But we can't let it get to us. This is what is called survivor's guilt. A term used to describe a mental condition that occurs when one believes they had done something wrong by surviving a traumatic event when others did not. But the thing about survivor's guilt is that the survivors shouldn't blame themselves. It isn't that fault that these horrible things happened. You shouldn't blame yourself, Violet. That's all on Count Olaf."

"Tell that to Aunt Josephine," Violet muttered as Klaus shifted closer to his sister.

"What are you talking about?" Klaus asked as Violet heaved a sigh.

"It's my fault that she's dead."

"No, it's not!" Klaus replied indignantly, flabbergasted that his sister would say such a thing.

"Yes, it is."

"Why?"

"Because…" Violet sighed as she looked away from Klaus. "Because I was the one who pushed that we look for her, remember? I convinced you that we had to take care of her because she was our guardian and look what happened. Count Olaf had no idea she was still alive as she had faked her death. I took us to Curdled Cave and got Aunt Josephine out and look what happened. If we had just allowed Count Olaf to take us, we could have figured out another way to escape him and Aunt Josephine would still be alive."

"Violet," Klaus said, not believing his ears. "Firstly, I was there with you on all of that and so was Sunny so you can't blame yourself for it. Secondly, no one could have possibly predicted that Count Olaf would have done such a horrible thing."

"You were still sceptical about guardians, Klaus and Sunny would have listened to whatever we wanted to do." Violet sighed. "This one is on me."

"No, it's not," Klaus said firmly. "If you're going to blame yourself for Aunt Josephine, I'm going to blame myself for Uncle Monty."

"How could you possibly say that?"

"Because I knew who Count Olaf was and I did nothing to prevent Uncle Monty's death that night," Klaus replied. "You know that the nights prior to movie night I would often stay up late just to make sure that Uncle Monty didn't have something sinister up his sleeve. If I hadn't fallen asleep on movie night, I could have woken up and prevented his death."

"Then you would have been killed, Klaus," Violet exclaimed. "It's absurd to think that."

"Exactly." Klaus sighed as he gave Violet a sympathetic look. "It's absurd for either of us to think that we could have changed the outcome of what happened in the past. I'm sorry that Aunt Josephine is dead as well as the others but we shouldn't blame ourselves for things that aren't our fault. Count Olaf has caused us more pain than anyone should have to endure and we shouldn't allow him to continue to hurt us even after he's gone."

"I know that." Violet sighed before giving Klaus a bittersweet smile. "I know. I'm trying to move on but I guess I just needed to hear it from someone else rather than me trying to convince myself that Aunt Josephine's death wasn't my fault. It's just difficult, you know?"

"I understand." Klaus sighed as he looked at his sister. Though she wasn't crying, Klaus could sense the pain and despair in his sister's eyes as she recalled loved ones from the past that had perished. It was strange, seeing his sister so fragile and vulnerable when Klaus always imagined her as a strong and confident figure and yet, it was in these moments between the pair that Klaus always felt were the foundation of their relationship.

There are moments in life if you choose to comfort someone that you might think of putting a comforting arm around them and pulling them close might be the way to do things. Perhaps you might take it a step further and offer them chocolates or a bouquet of flowers. But Klaus didn't do any of that. He knew, better than anyone, that Violet would be fine and that she would move on. What she needed right now was space. Maybe even a small distraction from her thoughts. Klaus stared at the book where Violet had written down the event starting from the introduction to Aunt Josephine up to the moment where she made chilled cucumber soup. Klaus gave a light chuckle as Violet looked curiously at her brother.

"What?" Violet asked as Klaus slowly made his way down the tree to Violet's wide window.

"Well, it's just that I realise you've made several grammatical errors on this page right here," Klaus said as he pointed to a page while his sister stared incredulously at him. "Not to mention you used the wrong term for one of the words. The phobia that Aunt Josephine has isn't domatophobia."

"But that's the word I found in the library!" Violet cried indignantly.

"Well, it's the wrong one. Domatophobia refers to the fear of the house itself, but not the objects inside." Klaus replied as he smirked at Violet who stuck out her tongue at him. Chuckling, Klaus reached for the window and pulled himself in.

"Klaus!" Violet called out before Klaus's body could fully enter.

"What?"

"Thank you," Violet replied as she beamed at him. "Thank you for being here."

"Always," Klaus replied with a grin on his face.

"So what's the phobia, genius?" Violet asked as Klaus proceeded to bring himself into the room. Turning his head to face Violet, Klaus smirked at his sister.

"Well, that's easy. The fear of objects in the house refers to the phobia known as….

….

"D. Oikophobia. Final answer." Klaus answered as Quentin locked in his answer. As he stared at the screen, Klaus tuned himself out from the roaring gales of laughter and cheers for his successful answer to the question. He could see Quentin being positively giddy with joy. Sighing, Klaus thought of his answer and the last time he had read the word.

Klaus placed the book detailing the life of the Baudelaire orphans on the table before adding the pages to his own. Taking one last look at the place he had called home for two years, Klaus made his way to his boat and pushed it off to sea. He had considered remaining on the island for a while longer as it was once told to him by his mother that if ever he should be lost, Klaus ought to stay in one spot so that it would be easier for people to find him. However, the overwhelming loneliness and lack of companionship on the island had prompted Klaus to set sail without so much as giving the island a second glance. He, like Violet, was ready to move on and so, Klaus set sail on his boat.

It is here that one should fast-forward the story as Klaus's voyage to the nearest land was not one without events. Rather, the days in the sea, though few in number, were the furthest thing from uneventful as Klaus had to deal with all sorts of obstacles like the day he had to sail his boat past a giant squid. Nevertheless, less than a week later, Klaus Baudelaire found himself reaching the coast which was surrounded by some strange and tall-looking trees. Taking only the necessary amenities needed, Klaus made his way through the forest.

After an hour of combing his way through the forest, Klaus came across a brown, sandy road. Looking around at either side, Klaus could only make out the forest in both directions. Dismayed at the lack of a signpost, Klaus continued to trudge slowly down one of the paths. He had been so lost in his thoughts that Klaus did not realise a car was fast approaching him behind. Noticing it at the last second, Klaus jumped out of the way as the car, a white coloured sedan, stopped next to him. Klaus watched as the front door of the car opened to reveal a chubby man with black hair and a warm and friendly smile on his face.

"Are you lost?" the man asked as Klaus took a moment to assess him. The man seemed harmless enough but then again did so many others before they took advantage of Klaus and his sisters.

"Yes, kind of," Klaus replied warily.

"Well, how about I give you a lift to the nearest town?" the man asked as Klaus contemplated the offer. The man did seem innocent enough and with the night approaching, Klaus couldn't see a better option. Nodding his head, Klaus helped himself to the front seat of the car.

"My name is Bobby but everyone calls me Bob." the man called Bob exclaimed as soon as Klaus entered the car.

"My name is… Herman." Klaus replied not wanting to disclose everything to the man just yet.

"Nice name," Bob replied as his enthusiastic and cheery face reminded Klaus of another optimistic person they had once crossed paths with.

"So tell me what is it a boy like you is doing alone in these woods?" Bob asked as he switched on the car's engine.

"I was travelling and got separated from my family," Klaus said, not wanting to reveal more. "I was trying to make my way to the nearest town where I'm sure my family would have gone to ask for help finding me."

"Dear me, of course!" Bob replied looking concerned. "I will take you there as soon as I can but unfortunately there is a place I need to get to. See, I work for a company that intends to require a piece of land that's been abandoned. It's along the way to the town and it would only be a quick stop, no more than ten minutes."

"Of course," Klaus replied, feeling grateful towards Bob. "You offering to help me is more than I could ever ask for. Thank you for doing so."

"Don't mention it," Bob replied as he beamed at Klaus. The car was now moving at a steady pace. As Klaus peered out the window, he couldn't help but feel the slight rise of optimism.

"Where are we headed to, anyways?" Klaus asked, feeling curious as to the land Bob had to see.

"Oh, it's just the former site of a small village that has a lumber mill. Been abandoned ever since a fire broke out and workers revolted against the poor working conditions."

"What's it called?" Klaus asked, feeling a sense of uneasiness. The next few words from Bob's mouth confirmed that despite one wanting to feel optimistic about one's chances at achieving something, it was also prudent for one to be cautious as well.

"Lucky Smells Lumbermill."

….