Chapter Three
There is an old saying that is often used by parents after their child has had a tough day. That saying is 'No day is so bad it can't be fixed with a nap'. It pains me to say, that if you have failed a test at school, and you go home and take a long nap, when you wake up, your grades will not have phenomenally changed to an A+-they will still be that taunting F, mocking you for the rest of the year. This was what happened to the orphaned Ariadne, once she awoke from her long and peaceful nap, the memories of what took place hours before still poisoned her mind. Her life wasn't about to get any better, either.
"Just watch over her until she wakes up, then alert us, ok Dilly?" Ariadne caught the last sentence that Kit Snicket said before she heard the door close quietly behind her.
"Okay!" a young girl's voice answered before she appeared in front of Ariadne's cradle.
Once the youngster opened her eyes fully she began to examine her strange new surroundings. She had found herself in a turquoise square room with a window just above where she was lying. A desk that was cluttered with papers and coloured pencils, another bed child-sized that was loaded with stuffed animals and books, on the walls were child's drawings of people and animals. As you may have noticed, this wasn't the usual layout of an adult's office. As Ariadne was about to find out, this was the room of a five year old orphan who was a member of V.F.D.
"Oh ooh! Hello there, little one!" chirped a sweet voice. Ariadne blinked as a minute girl leant over the bars of her cradle, smiling happily at her with large sapphire eyes, her vivid red hair hanging down like tails of a pony. She had an intelligent look about her, her face was slightly chubby and brown freckles peppered her cheeks. She wore a battered pink t-shirt and black skirt and on her feet blue swompers, looking like an explorer. "Are you okay? You had quite a day yesterday, huh? Well, you're safe here. My name is Armadillo Arthurstone; it's lovely to meet you. I hear your name is Ariadne, right? That was the name of the Greek girl who helped Theseus escape the Minotaur's labyrinth!" She giggled.
Ariadne blinked and smiled wide, feeling happy with this small girl who had seemed to go through same trauma she did. Armadillo closed the picture book and looked down at Ariadne. Armadillo pulled down the bars of the white cradle and yanked up a chair next to Ariadne, who was now sitting up curiously watching Armadillo's every move.
"So, how did you end up here, Ariadne? Oh yeah, you can't speak. Well, I'll tell you how I came to be a part of all this." Armadillo said quietly. "Okay then. Well I was born a whole FIVE years ago in 1964. My momma was called Clarice and my papa was called Stefan. I had a big brother called Jared who was 15 years old and my twin sister is called Raven." the youngster began. "When my twin and I were born, my brother Jared had to take us away from our parents to live with my grandmother. It was because they were part of V.F.D, like your parents. One day, when we were 2 years old, while my grandmother was out, Jared bundled us into his car and told Raven and I we were going to see momma and papa. We were very pleased, of course. Then we came to a big, dark warehouse that I'd never seen before. Jared led me and Raven into the scary building and our parents were in an office there. It was lovely to see them after TWO whole years. Then the worst thing happened. A crazy horrible man burst in with a bunch of strange-looking people and tried to kill us!" Armadillo sniffed woefully as her eyes became red and puffy. Although she was close to tears retelling her horrid tale, she continued as Ariadne held onto her every word. "They… threatened to set fire to the headquarters with everyone but them still inside. They wanted something called the 'Snicket and Baudelaire Files'. I had no idea what was happening, I just held onto my sister's hand. That was when Kit and Beatrice grabbed Raven and I and darted from the scene. As we were carried out of the building, loads of other people who worked with my parents ran out of the building looking very frightened." Armadillo wiped a tear from her scarlet cheek. "Before I knew it there was thick black smoke billowing from my mother's office and a crimson flame burnt the entire building. The terrible man with the shiny eyes escaped with his band of freakish people, b-b-but my parents and Jared didn't." Armadillo managed to squeeze out the last words before she burst into tears.
Ariadne crawled over to her and reached up with her miniature hand to pat Armadillo on the shoulder. Armadillo looked up from her hands and smiled softly at Ariadne. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, stood up from her stool and walked to her desk.
"This is a picture of my parents." Armadillo sat back down next to Ariadne and showed her a black and white photograph of two people. "It was taken on their wedding day. Of course I wasn't born then, but they looked so happy. Kit gave me this picture when she set up my room in the new headquarters. Lemony Snicket, the man with the grey hat and suit, and Sally Sebald take turns looking after me at the headquarters. Kit, Lemony and Sally are all terribly nice people. They care for Raven and I and keep us safe from that man with the eye tattoo. My sister is like my best friend, and even though we both miss momma and papa and Jared very much, we are both very happy with Kit, Lemony, Jacques, Beatrice and Sal-"
If you have ever heard of the phrase 'Speak of the Devil' you will know it means that if you and a friend (or enemy or acquaintance or complete stranger) are talking about a certain person and they freakishly happen to walk into the room or onto the boat which will help you escape from the police, you might say 'Speak of the Devil' for no apparent reason to inform them of the weirdness of the situation. The phrase doesn't imply that that person is the Devil just that it is strange that they were to appear at the exact moment when they entered to conversation. To Armadillo's bewilderment, at that exact moment, Kit, Lemony and Jacques Snicket, Beatrice Baudelaire, Sally Sebald and Raven Arthurstone burst through the feeble wooden door in a blur of colour and skin, just as she had finished speaking about them.
Armadillo turned and gasped. Ariadne's mouth took the shape of an O as she leant on Armadillo's knee to get a better view of the jumble of people.
"Speak of the Devil!"Armadillo exclaimed, as she picked up Ariadne and walked towards the small crowd. Kit Snicket pushed to the front of the pack, her hair messed up and her glasses crookedly hanging on her nose, with a firm expression.
"Armadillo, pack up your things. We need to move to a new location, and quickly." Kit took Ariadne from the young girl's arms and passed her onto Beatrice Baudelaire. A girl around five years old emerged from the huddle and smiled somewhat at Armadillo. Her short black hair which curled at the tips bobbed as she walked, her navy blue eyes looked like pools of moonlight. Armadillo's twin wore a long dark indigo button up dress with a large white collar, and shiny black lace up leather shoes on her dainty feet. Although she was the exact same age as Armadillo, Raven looked older and more responsible than her sister, like she understood the ongoing struggle to keep V.F.D from their enemy's fiery grasp. Raven dashed around the room, if you'd pardon the pun, grabbing all her books, pencils and stuffed animals and placing them carefully into a battered suitcase.
"But we've been here so long, Kit. Why do we have to move?" Armadillo queried as she gathered up her drawings and books and coloured pencils and stuffed them into a yellow backpack.
"Count Olaf- I mean the man with the shiny eyes is coming here. He found out where our headquarters are and he's coming, so we have to hurry!" Kit Snicket said anxiously and she took the packed case from Raven and looked around the almost empty room. A sad look misted over Kit's eyes as the remembered when doing her duty was a safe prospect. Now it caused her misery and brings her close to death regularly.
"The others are leaving now with all the books and files in the four trucks outside. We are going to disguise them as delivery trucks and the car will be camouflaged as a mail truck." Beatrice explained, grabbing a few blankets for Ariadne.
"Ok, I'm ready. How far away is the new Headquarters?" Armadillo said, pulling her bulging backpack onto her back.
"It's in the Mortmain Mountains, which is quite a way away. So we'll have go now if we want to prevent them following us. Come on." Jacques clarified, as he took one last look at the room before taking Raven's hand and leaving, Sally Sebald following close behind.
"Lemony, will you hold Ariadne a moment please? I have to collect one last thing from my office." Beatrice Baudelaire asked, smiling slightly.
"Yes, of course, Beatrice." Lemony smiled and took Ariadne before watching the young woman swiftly disappear out of the room, her curly brunette hair billowing behind her like a cape. Ariadne noticed Lemony had a sad yearning look in his eyes as he looked at Beatrice, whilst in hers there was a guilty, awkward edge. But before Ariadne was able to analyze the situation, an ear-splitting crash echoed through the teal room and the unnatural smell of smoke slowly began to tickle their noses. Lemony placed Ariadne in one of Armadillo's play strollers and picked up his and Kit's cases.
"Kit, we have to get out of here! They're already here! It's him!" Lemony cried grabbing his sister by the arm and yanking her down the stairs, the black smoke by now beginning to thicken the air.
"Lemony! Where's Ariadne! Where's Armadillo!" Kit yelled as her younger sibling dragged her from the now burning warehouse. "Lemony! The children are still in there!"
But it was too late. The door of the warehouse disguised as a dairy farm disguised as a lumber mill hidden on the edge of Finite Forest was already engulfed in orange flickering flames, as was all the offices downstairs, the kitchen and the colossal library.
"Kit, Lemony, where are you?" Armadillo gasped, as she turned to see that the two adults had vanished from the room and nauseous smoke polluted the air. Ariadne began to cry and Armadillo followed to sound to the small orphan. "Don't worry, my little friend. I'll get us out!" Ariadne looked up through the smoke to find Armadillo's determined face, her eyes red and her ruby hair turning black.
Armadillo coughed violently as the smoke became a shroud around the two orphans. The youngster stumbled towards the door, pushing Ariadne's stroller, which was enveloped in soot, as was the entire contents of the room. She twisted the round handle and staggered onto the landing. The sound of burning from the foundation of the warehouse spluttered up the large staircase. Armadillo wheezed and held herself up with Ariadne's stroller as the baby cried louder than ever, the sound in her voice becoming scared and threatened, as if a lion was approaching. The increase of Ariadne's screams was not due to the revolting smell infesting their noses, or the fact that her life was in danger once more, but due to the tall, gangly man standing in front of her, the source of all the misery in her life. He smiled viciously and raised his one eyebrow.
"Hello, little Armadillo Arthurstone." The sound of his voice made the orphans' skin crawl. "Ariadne Citrusseed, what a pleasure it is to see you again." A chill slithered down Armadillo's back as the disgusting man cackled haughtily, his own shiny eyes red and irritated, his clothes torn and his hair grimier than usual. Although he seemed happy in pursuing the two children, his voice made it clear he was also in pain.
"Leave me alone, you horrid man!" Armadillo wheezed, the fire creeping slowly up the staircase now, roaring like a lion in agony. She pushed the stroller forward, but the man pushed it back with his foot, and took a step closer. "Let me go! The headquarters are falling apart! We're going to die!"
"No no my child, just and your baby friendwill die. I will miraculously escape like I always do. I just need one tiny piece of information from you." The malice male spoke with venom in his voice. He cleared his throat and smiled like a vulture closing in on its prey. "Where are the new V.F.D headquarters, my darling?"
"I'm not your darling! I will never tell you!" Armadillo screamed, ramming the stroller into his legs, Ariadne sitting up inside, staring at his grubby face.
The man, as you have hopefully guessed, was the one and only man who could do this to two orphans and not feel a drop of guilt. Count Olaf. His shiny eyes were shiny flames, almost as violent as the one raging downstairs and his mouth turned down into a sharp grimace. His jagged fingernails jutted out in front of him like claws as he went to spring up at the children.
To both the orphans and Count Olaf's extreme surprise, the forgotten woman who was so crucial in this story, leaped from behind the door of her office and smack! Count Olaf was lying on the sooty floorboards and Beatrice Baudelaire was in his place, the leg of a chair in hand. She had a handkerchief tied over her mouth to prevent smoke entering her lungs and her curly brown locks tied back with a ribbon.
"Armadillo, give me your hand! The building is falling apart!" Beatrice rasped, holding out her hand over Count Olaf's crumpled body. Armadillo picked up Ariadne and carefully stepped over the Count and into Beatrice's open arms. Armadillo began to cry quietly and Ariadne joined her. Beatrice smiled down at the two misfortunate orphans. As if to break up the moment of relief, the smouldering staircase finally collapsed into a mound of ash and wood, shutting off their only escape route. Beatrice quickly guided Armadillo into her office, which was cloaked in smoke. She took a photograph of her family from the wall, and behind it was a square hole in the wall-a small lift that is used to transport packages and important files throughout the building. She opened it up and turned to Armadillo.
"You have to trust me, Dilly. This will take you downstairs and into the basement. There you will be able to escape through the tunnel I showed you when you first came here." Beatrice said, helping Armadillo and Ariadne climb into the lift. She smiled sadly at them as part of the ceiling caved in, the flames spreading like a virus through the building.
"You'll be okay, right? You're going to escape right after us, right?" Armadillo whispered, tears streaming down her rosy cheeks.
Beatrice smiled, trying not to cry herself. "Of course, silly - now go! This place is going to collapse any second."
Armadillo closed the hatch and began to pull the rope which lowered them down to the basement. Ariadne huddled close to Armadillo, her filthy, black clothes causing her to cough. As the two young girls passed the lower floor they could smell the burning furniture and feel the heat radiating through the wall. Once they hit the bottom of the shaft, Armadillo gingerly opened the door to a thick curtain of darkness. Armadillo climbed out and began to rummage in her bag for something.
"Don't move, Ariadne. You might fall out of the shaft." Armadillo warned. A few seconds later she pulled out a large flashlight. The orphan flicked the switch and illuminated the room, as if she'd pulled the curtain of darkness to the side, and uncovered a colossal secret. "Wow."
The room was packed with paintings, beautiful canvas paintings, watercolours and mosaics. Once Armadillo had picked up Ariadne, the two gazed in wonder at the many pictures scattered everywhere in the basement. They were not your average paintings. There was one of a burnt down mansion, one of a dairy farm, one of a crow and one-possibly the strangest-of Beatrice Baudelaire. They intricately designed using the upmost care; each with a stunningly designed wooden frame. You could see every little detail right down to the crumbling paint of the dairy and the wrinkles in the crow's claws. To an untrained eye, these painting would just be a work of fine art, however to a member of V.F.D, these pictures held messages of great importance.
"Ariadne, these are V.F.D's secret coded paintings from the Duchess of Winnipeg's home! They are some of V.F.D's most precious objects! Why are the paintings being left behind?" Armadillo pondered, investigating the entire room. These paintings were displayed in the Duchess of Winnipeg's mansion at her Masked Ball, the last public event the member of the good V.F.D dared to attend together, to give messages to the members in a way that any intruders would be oblivious to-a clever code that only the V.F.D could invent. Armadillo's flashlight discovered a ominous passageway, behind a painting of a submarine named The Queequeg and a vase with the V.F.D insignia painted on it. "Ariadne, there's our escape route! We need to tell Kit about all these paintings!"
Armadillo retrieved Ariadne from the elevator shaft and began to climb into the tunnel. She crawled through on her hands and knees, Ariadne on her back holding the heavy flashlight. The orphans began to smell the fresh forest air, which was a blessing to them as for the last thirty minutes all they had smelt was the horrifying smoke created by the fire, as they climbed closer to the surface. Out of the blue, Armadillo's head smacked onto something hard and wet.
"Ouch!" Armadillo yelped, helping Ariadne down from her back and sitting up as best she could. "I think this is where we escape, Ariadne! Come on; push as hard as you can." Armadillo shoved hard on the wooden door until it finally gave way and the orphans tumbled out onto the thick jade grass.
"Armadillo, Ariadne! Children are you okay!" Kit Snicket screamed, darting towards them, closely followed by Raven, Jacques and Sally. She and Raven kneeled next to Armadillo, who was lying on the grass, and Sally picked up Ariadne as Jacques examined her.
"Kit, Raven, it's so nice to see you two!" Armadillo cried, tears flowing from her eyes, like streams flowing from a lake. "Kit, I forgot something! Beatrice!" But before the six could rejoice in reunion, there was a strident, a word which here means 'it's so loud it's make you cry with pain and sorrow', screech and crash as the headquarters finally collapsed, where it once stood a mound of ash and burning wood, the life-claiming fire almost laughing at the survivors. There was a silence in the group which can only be described as deafening. All of the seven people stared at the wreck as the last word that was said echoed in their ears. Silent tears began to fall from Kit's sooty face, Sally Sebald held Ariadne close as she began to whimper, Jacques held Raven's hand, completely taken aback and Armadillo felt guilty for what was the fault of the most menacing band of people in the world.
You may think the most devastated by this would have been Armadillo, but the one who felt his heart snap violently in two was Lemony Snicket. He was outside the small crowd of people, on his knees, staring into the ash where Beatrice was thought to be buried, along with Count Olaf. Tears trickled down his crimson cheeks. Once he broke his gaze at the rubble, Lemony Snicket held his head in his hands. He jumped as he felt a soft caring hand on his shivering shoulders. Lemony stole a glimpse at the person trying to comfort him, and he leaped forward when he realised who it was. Lemony stood to face the woman who he had loved since first sight, the woman who had astoundingly escaped a raging fire and a deranged villain.
"B-B- Beatrice." Lemony Snicket stuttered. Beatrice Baudelaire smiled her clothes torn and grubby, her face splattered with mud. Her tangled hair flowed behind her and her scratched arms rested elegantly at her sides. In Lemony's eyes, she was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, even after fleeing from a burning building.
Raven was the first to notice Beatrice and Lemony embracing a few paces away. She tugged at Jacques's sleeve and he looked as well.
"Kit, Sally look!" Jacques whispered, tapping Sally on the shoulder. Sally and Kit turned and so did Armadillo. She was the first to call out.
"Beatrice! You're alive!" Armadillo squealed, standing up and running toward Beatrice, who was not waiting with open arms. "How did you escape?"
"I climbed from my office window onto the tree the V.F.D crows always used." Beatrice said, squeezing Armadillo and Raven who had joined her sister. "I was surrounded by fire and there was no other way."
Kit, Jacques, Sally and Ariadne soon reunited with Beatrice, Sally and Kit crying and Jacques wiping a few stray tears. Sally passed Ariadne to Beatrice, the orphaned youngster nestling into Beatrice's mucky dress, happy that her makeshift family was once again together.
"Oh, Beatrice, we thought you were dead!" Jacques said.
"But we knew somewhere in our heart that you'd find a way out." Sally said, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief.
"It's so wonderful to see you again. I don't know what I'd have done without you, my dear friend." Kit said meaningfully, sobbing quietly.
"We need to go now, my friends. The others will already be halfway to the new headquarters." Jacques explained, taking Raven's hand and walking towards the car disguised as a mail truck that would transport the unfortunate bunch of individuals.
"You're right, Jacques. I'll get our cases." Sally offered, picking up the four large suitcases and joining Jacques.
"Come on, Armadillo. Let's get out of here." Kit Snicket said, taking Armadillo's hand and following Sally Sebald. It was only Beatrice Baudelaire, Lemony Snicket and Ariadne Citrusseed left standing before the building now.
"I have to get home, Lemony, to my family." Beatrice told Lemony, handing Ariadne to him for the second time today. "Take good care of this child, Lemony. She has great potential. Keep her safe, for me." She smiled slightly before turning to climb in her black car, and without saying goodbye; she swiftly drove off into the distance. Lemony Snicket stood watching as the love of his life became a tiny speck in the silhouette of the city. He sighed and looked down at Ariadne Citrusseed who was gazing at the city's outline.
"I guess it's just me and you, little one. I'll keep you safe, Ariadne. Don't you worry." Lemony smiled a little before joining his siblings and Sally in the car disguised as a mail truck.
Once everyone was buckled in and there was no spies in sight, Kit, Jacques and Lemony Snicket, Sally Sebald, Raven and Armadillo Arthurstone and little Ariadne Citrusseed drove towards their new destination, their new life. Away from the trauma and misery of the arson attack that destroyed the orphan's home and buried the forgotten V.F.D coded painting, perfectly preserved in the basement.
Away from Count Olaf, who was sitting on the grass in front of the ruins, laughing insanely holding a piece of paper in his hand…a piece of paper which would destroy the lives of 3 children in the near future-a page from the Baudelaire file.