Six
There is a legend of a famous cup that is hidden somewhere in the Middle East, unless of course it isn't; that is said to be able to give someone eternal life if they drink from it unless of course they choose the wrong cup among the myriads there in which case other consequences not so pleasant would befall them and then there would be only 139 cups left to partake of so if you were searching for this mythical cup, I'd suggest bringing quite a few people who were either gullible or had nothing to live for; which by the way in the wicked world we live in there are quite a few in both categories especially the later if you're looking for people who are dismally depressed by their lot in life; such as orphans or failed authors that should've died a long time ago.
The point I am trying to make however is that there is no way of knowing whether or not this legend is merely fictional or an actual truth, unless you have a lot of money and can travel to India, or Egypt or some other place with a lot of sand in order to dig up some ancient ruins.
So the reason that the myth persists is because there is neither evidence for or against its existence, and people believe it and tell it to their friends or to people that they don't like so that they will go off on a quest in search of this cup.
Sadly some people waste their entire lives to find this mythical cup instead of focusing on real things that can be found that are much more interesting, such as falsified documents or telegrams that were intercepted before making it to their destination.
But there is one thing that I am certain of, and have known for quite some time ever since I saw it there at a particular wedding and knew right then that perhaps there was still a chance to change things and if I had acted quickly maybe that would've been the case and by now if you are not already aware of what I am referencing it is the fact that although the mythical cup may not exist, there is plenty of evidence that the sugar bowl does.
Other than what I have just told you; seeing it with my own eyes; I'm sure if you've read this far into the series of unfortunate events of the Baudelaires lives that you are aware of the sugar bowl and perhaps were there among the volunteers at the Mortmain Mountains whenever a brave pathologist tossed it from the flames and allowed it to wash down the Stricken Stream or maybe you helped watch for villains as a certain ichthyologist obtained the sugar bowl from the Gorgonian Grotto in order to send it toward the last safe place, or maybe you heard of the treacherous fire that burnt down the Hotel Denouement where the sugar bowl was thought to be in the laundry room but thanks to a fiancé of a missed relative, it was hidden in the pond where someone found it and drove hastily away in a taxi, preventing anyone from obtaining its contents and also using it to clear your name so you could publicly rent an office downtown.
But the Baudelaire orphans had never seen the sugar bowl, nor did they know why it was important to V.F.D. or its members or why villains were also seeking to find it, and apparently destroy it and why others were constantly hiding it so that the vital information within wouldn't fall into the wrong hands.
In fact it had been well over a year since the children had even considered this mysterious part of a tea set that is a good place to hide things and they didn't know what to make of Falo's declaration that the sugar bowl was here in the very diner that they were working in.
Violet possibly thought about Quigley Quagmire atop Mt. Fraught and how they had lost sight of him as they were swept away down the Stricken Stream, trying to find the sugar bowl; and Klaus might've considered what lengths they went thru in order to get to the Gorgonian Grotto to find it and then how Sunny became infected with the Medusoid Mycelium shortly afterward and Sunny must've considered what great lengths her and her siblings went thru at the Hotel Denouement and opened the Vernacularly Fastened Device for Olaf only to discover that the sugar bowl wasn't there and even Beatrice might've thought about how good sugar in a bowl would be preserved and how it would taste.
Once Falo had explained to them this, they stood away from the corner and Violet asked, "How can you be sure its here?"
"Children, I wish I had time to tell you everything that I know; but sadly that could take more time than we really have," he stated and then added, "My brother died trying to find the sugar bowl, and he was aware of its contents… and I am curious to find out what is inside, aren't you?"
"You mean you don't know?" Klaus asked. "I'm afraid not," the evil twin of Count Olaf answered and then explained, "I was in prison during the time that the sugar bowl incident occurred… but I know it is of vital importance to your parents and to the Sn-"
He paused in whatever he was about to say when Sally Sebald entered the kitchen and asked, "Why haven't you children finished your chores? The Anxious Clown needs to be cleaned and swept. I'm afraid you really are turning out to be terrible volunteers."
"It is my fault," Falo offered as he brushed off the dust from his suit and added, "The children were speaking to me when they should've been cleaning."
To which Sally stated, "These children are old enough to bear the responsibility of this dismal day, I think they should be required to stay and finish cleaning up the mess left by our patrons."
"We can't clean this entire diner by ourselves," Sunny objected. "Now children, don't doubt your abilities. I know you were able to clean the Ned H. Rirger Theater on your own," Falo stated, although this wasn't actually true.
"I need this place to be up and running again by morning, Baudelaires. The townspeople of Lake Lachrymose come to the Anxious Clown for their meals everyday and I can't afford to lose business because of a messy floor or unwashed dishes," Sally Sebald proclaimed and Klaus thought about pointing out the fact that it was the only diner in town, so business probably wouldn't be affected but wisely kept quiet.
"Well... I suppose that the children could clean up now that the restaurant is closed for the night," Falo conceded and much to her siblings' surprise, Violet nodded in agreement and answered, "We would be happy to do this, Sally."
Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice looked at their elder sister in surprise, to which Violet whispered to her brother, "If we stay overnight at the Anxious Clown, maybe we can locate the sugar bowl!"
Klaus nodded in understanding and proclaimed to the two adults, "It's no problem! We will get the Anxious Clown ready for business tomorrow." Sally Sebald seemed pleased with the orphan's response and stated, "Very good, Baudelaires. Since that's the case, Falo and I will return to the Lavender Lighthouse."
"But how will we get to the Hazy Harbor on our own?" Sunny asked in bewilderment. Falo smiled at the formerly youngest Baudelaire and answered, "I'm sure the four of you can rent a taxi to make it there."
Then he winked at them as if this was a code and proclaimed, "We'll see you soon, children." Sally Sebald and their current guardian left the Anxious Clown diner and as they did the blonde switched the sign on the window from OPEN to CLOSED.
She locked the door and then left with the evil twin of Count Olaf. Once they were alone in the deserted diner, Klaus asked, "But how can we be sure the sugar bowl is even here, Violet?"
"That's right, Falo never explained how he knew it was here," Sunny pointed out.
"I have to admit I'm not sure if it is," Violet stated and then muttered, "But there must be a reason that Mister Dominic and those two malicious magistrates were here at the Anxious Clown. Maybe Mister Dominic is searching for it too?"
"They did seem interested in this place," Sunny agreed, recalling the callous conversation their atrocious adversaries had only a few hours earlier.
"It wouldn't surprise me one bit if Mister Dominic was searching for the sugar bowl seeing as he is almost as wicked as Count Olaf," the middle Baudelaire declared to which Sunny replied, "I'm not so sure, Klaus. I think Mister Dominic is twice as terrible as Count Olaf."
Her older brother shook his head in disagreement and answered, "Olaf plagued us with many perils trying to obtain our fortune." "But Mister Dominic has betrayed both volunteers and villains to further his schemes," Sunny pointed out.
"That's true, but Olaf murdered our parents!" Klaus countered to which the former infant remarked, "But Mister Dominic has shown us that our parents murdered Olaf's parents!" And before Beatrice could get involved in the debate as to which villain was more vile, Violet Baudelaire decided, "They are both equally evil enemies but Olaf is dead so let's worry about Mister Dominic, who is quite alive; and find the sugar bowl quickly."
All of her younger siblings saw the wisdom in this suggestion and so each set about a particular portion of the Anxious Clown diner to clean it and to search for the sugar bowl, if indeed it was there as Falo claimed it was.
Sunny chose to go to the front of the diner where the register was at and began to scrub the tile floor where all of the customers walked in with muddy shoes and wiped their feet because the owner of the Anxious Clown had failed to place a rug there.
And Klaus went to the hidden room that Falo had found earlier, using several pans and pots to keep the sliding wall open while he rummaged thru the assortment of junk within and began to put everything back in its proper place.
Violet stayed in the kitchen and began to sweep and mop the floor and continued to wash the dishes and toss away the excess food that the children couldn't eat and Beatrice crawled underneath the barstools of the diner and took off the gum and the trash that certain patrons had stuck there over time and wiped the counters and cleaned the pantries. And while each of the orphans cleaned their portion of the diner, all four of the Baudelaires searched every nook and cranny where the sugar bowl might be hiding.
It was as if Klaus, Violet, Beatrice and Sunny were trying to find a needle in a haystack. If you have ever visited a farm or perhaps were born near a dairy, then I'm sure you're well aware of the phrase that I am speaking about, but since there is a possibility that some of my readers did not live near to a farm or spend some time near a dairy before being grabbed by the ankles and abducted by a secret organization, I shall explain this phrase.
Sometimes at these places, parents play a game with their children to occupy the youths' time while the adults tend to matters not pertaining to young ones. This game involves bales of hay and a sewing needle, both of which are quite common on farms or dairies.
Before the children awake, the parents go out and hide a single needle amid the many bales of hay that are on the farm and then whenever their children get up and finish eating breakfast, their mother or their father informs them that there is a needle somewhere hidden in the barns and their son or their daughter needed to go find this needle.
As you can now surmise, this activity isn't as fun as it may sound seeing as bales of hay are rather large and needles are very small. So the task of finding a needle in a haystack is like trying to find the sugar bowl in the Anxious Clown because this activity seemed impossible to the Baudelaires and just as time consuming as searching for a needle in a haystack, which although not impossible could take quite awhile and the end result would actually be quite the same, because the search for needle in the haystack is rather pointless once you realize what you are doing and it will also be the same for the Baudelaires whenever they find the sugar bowl.
So before they even realized it, half of the night had passed by and the Baudelaires had accomplished nothing whatsoever. Although Klaus had succeeded in reorganizing the pots and pans that Falo had tossed about earlier and even though Sunny had finished cleaning the entrance of the diner and despite the fact that Violet had washed all the dishes and the kitchen was orderly and even Beatrice had finished dusting the counter and the barstools, not one of the children had succeeded in their primary task, that of finding the sugar bowl.
So when the clock struck eleven, if it was accurate or not the children never knew; Klaus, Sunny, Beatrice and Violet gathered in the backroom of the Anxious Clown, each exhausted from the long day they'd had serving customers, dealing with evil enemies and searching fruitlessly for the sugar bowl. In fact the youngest Baudelaire had already fallen asleep as the others convened and Klaus lamented, "This is like trying to find a needle in a haystack."
"Maybe Falo was mistaken?" Sunny suggested and then added, "Our current guardian is a tad scatter-brained."
"I just feel like we wasted the night!" Violet stated as she gestured at the diner and muttered, "We've cleaned the entire diner and searched every nook and cranny of the Anxious Clown. I guess Falo was wrong."
"You searched behind the register and under every loose tile, Sunny?" the middle orphan inquired, to which his younger sister answered, "All I found was more guck that needed to be thrown out."
"I've only not been able to push aside the stove because it weighs too much," Violet told her younger brother and sister. Klaus examined the stove and muttered, "Do you suppose someone might think to hide something behind this stove?"
"Even if they did, how would we manage to find out?" Violet answered to which her brother replied, "I'm sure if all three of us work together, we could."
"What's the point?" Sunny asked and Violet added, "I'm too tired." Klaus looked at each of his sisters and stated, "But everything that we're searching for could be behind this stove. Violet, Sunny, don't give up now."
The two female Baudelaires sighed and decided to let Klaus have his way. As the three of them leaned against the stove, the eldest orphan remarked, "If all three of us push at the same time perhaps we can jar it loose." Klaus and Sunny nodded in understanding as Violet added, "On the count of three?"
"One," Sunny said.
"Two," Klaus added.
"Three!" all of the Baudelaires said at once and then shoved the stove with all of their might.
The large iron stove shook and slid across the tile floor slightly and Klaus beamed, glad that they were succeeding. Again the Baudelaire orphans pushed the stove a little further, and with each shove they slid it a tad farther out and also became more exhausted.
"Stop!" Sunny declared abruptly and her older siblings complied, collapsing onto the cold floor. As Klaus and Violet caught their breathe, Sunny reached into the opening that her and her siblings had just made and got her grasp on something small and firm. Using her small size, the former toddler reached a bit further and pulled it all the way out into the open.
It is here at this moment that I am happy to say the Baudelaire orphans were triumphant, a word I feel that I do not get to use often enough in their stories; but at this moment they indeed word triumphant a word which here means that Sunny had succeeded in finding that which they'd spent the half of the night searching for within the Anxious Clown, and that others had spent a whole lifetime trying to find; and even more had died for and quite a few had fallen in love over.
The Baudelaires had found the sugar bowl.
What lies ahead for the orphans? Truths? Lies? Or something inbetween? The secret is out! Read and review, please! :]