Author's Note: What an Unfortunate New Year is in store for the Baudelaires! I hope you're having a better one! Also in response to several requests, i have sectioned out my first story into 15 chapters; to make it easier to read! ^_^ now on to bigger and better things!
Eight
To go as far as you can usually means that you have reached the end. But as I have emphasized several times, although it seemed that the Baudelaires had gone as far as they could go; this wasn't the case and their series of unfortunate events was far from over.
So whenever they had gone as far as they could go in the dark tunnel behind the Anxious Clown, this was not actually as far as they could go; it was simply as far as they could go for now.
The end of the Baudelaires' story wouldn't take place for quite some time; so it is obvious to conclude that the flooded passage in front of Klaus, Beatrice, Sunny and Violet was a mere obstacle and not in fact as far as they could go.
Their conniving companion, Mister Dominic frowned at this discovery; because apparently the dangerous villain wasn't expecting to find the tunnel flooded and turned toward the four siblings as if this development were their fault.
His shiny eyes passed over each of them until he met Violet's gaze and stated, "I suppose this is somewhat of a setback for me, orphans. We can't go any further down this tunnel."
"What was down there?" Klaus asked in confusion as he looked into the murky waters and could tell that the tunnel continued for quite a while. "
I'm sure you would like to discover that, Klaus. But some things are better left unknown," Mister Dominic stated, calling to mind the recent rash action he took in smashing the sugar bowl on the floor of the Anxious Clown's kitchen.
"You're giving up?" Sunny asked in surprise, for she had never known of their enemy to do so in the past.
In answer, the Baudelaire's nemesis shook his head and said, "I am not the type of person to give up easily, children. But is obvious that I won't be able to swim the rest of the way, especially in these clothes."
"So what're you going to do?" Violet wondered.
The vile villain gazed at the eldest Baudelaire for a moment and then replied, "Why, the very same thing that you children are going to do… head home and have a good night's rest."
Then their opponent strode back the way he had come as if the statement he had just made was the most reasonable one of all.
But so much had happened in the short amount of time since Mister Dominic had arrived, so the children weren't quite sure what to make of this especially since their adversary had apparently been rather interested in finding out what was at the end of the tunnel; so Klaus, Violet, Sunny and Beatrice were all aware that this simply couldn't be as far as their nemesis wished to go.
Still, for the time being; the orphans recognized that they couldn't stay inside the dank tunnel, especially since it was possible that Mister Dominic might slide the ice machine back in place thus trapping the Baudelaires inside.
So the four of them walked back the way they had come, realizing that for now this was as far as they could go. Once they had made it back to the Anxious Clown diner, Klaus stared down at the remains of the sugar bowl that were scattered across the floor and commented, "We came so close to finding the answers that we sought and then Mister Dominic shattered them into a million pieces."
"I suppose we'll have to search for answers elsewhere," Sunny conceded as she and Beatrice got a broom and a dustpan and began to sweep up the mess that had been made.
As they continued to do this, Violet shed a few tears and Klaus turned to her and cried softly as well. Their two younger siblings looked at them in surprise and Sunny asked, "What is the matter?"
"I was just thinking about all of the brave volunteers who sacrificed so much for the sugar bowl," Violet explained.
"Me too," Klaus said and began to list them, "Dewey and Kit and Phil and Justice Strauss and Jerome Squalor and so many others. Even our parents."
"And now with one swift move, Mister Dominic has destroyed it and whatever else was inside," the eldest Baudelaire declared.
"That's what I've been wondering," Klaus muttered as his sisters finished cleaning the mess and added, "What else might have been in there?"
"I wonder if the map we found was the only thing hidden in the sugar bowl?" Sunny asked and quickly added speculatively, "Perhaps someone took whatever was inside and replaced it with the map?"
"Speculation will get us nowhere," Violet commented and then said, "We should head back to Hazy Harbor and inform Falo that we have failed."
"How are we going to get there? It's across town," Sunny pointed out as she looked at the clock that now said it was one o'clock in the morning, although the former infant was fairly certain it was later than that.
"Why I can give you a ride, orphans," a voice said to their right. Klaus, Beatrice, Violet and Sunny stopped what they were doing and turned to see that Mister Dominic had been waiting there for them the whole time.
The dastardly counselor from the Very Fine Dwelling was no longer smiling because of all the wicked deeds that he had done, but he was still clutching the map that the Baudelaires had found within the sugar bowl and was now looking at each of the orphans thoughtfully.
But what was almost as frightening as Mister Dominic himself was the suggestion that the villain had made to take the children home and Klaus asked, "What is it that you want here?"
"I think you misunderstand, Klaus. I've already accomplished my mission and that tunnel is as far as I can go; so it is time for me to move on," Mister Dominic answered and then added, "This is a one-time offer children. I am choosing to take you to the Lavender Lighthouse rather than dispose of you right now."
"But why would you help us?" Violet wondered.
"Just as noble people can do wicked things, wicked people can do noble things," their adversary replied and then asked again, "Do you want a ride or not?"
Realizing that they really didn't have a choice in the matter, Sunny stated, "All right, we'll go with you."
Their former instructor nodded in satisfaction and then led the way outside of the diner where his vehicle sat. Actually, the automobile that the Baudelaire's nemesis had was more than just an ordinary car; it was a taxi.
Klaus thought back to Falo's comment about the orphans hailing a cab to take them back to Hazy Harbor and wondered if their former guardian had known anything about Mister Dominic's plan to come to the Anxious Clown.
Their opponent opened the back door of his car and remarked, "All right, get in; I have a tight schedule to keep."
Violet, Beatrice, Sunny and Klaus were too tired to argue and even though they didn't trust this fiend in the slightest; they knew that Mister Dominic had once been a noble person and so conceded that maybe wicked people could do noble things, recalling how Count Olaf had tried to save Kit Snicket and helped her give birth to their adoptive sister who was now fast asleep in Violet's arms.
Mister Dominic started up the engine and then drove thru the town of Lake Lachrymose toward Hazy Harbor. For a moment, Violet thought that perhaps the villain planned to kidnap them and for a second Sunny had suspected that their nemesis might throw them out of the car at full speed; but only Klaus had a feeling as to why Mister Dominic had offered to give them a ride but for now the middle Baudelaire chose to keep these thoughts to himself.
"It is a pity that the tunnel was as far as we could go," Mister Dominic was stating as he looked out across the lake and then added, "Had you orphans traversed it, you could've found another sinister secret relating to your parents."
Klaus, Violet and Sunny resisted the urge to sigh; because they all knew that this particular subject had been a favorite pastime for Mister Dominic since they'd first met him, a phrase which here means "the orphan's opponent enjoyed bringing to their attention the fact that their parents weren't quite as noble as the children had originally thought they were".
And he had succeeded in doing this at least twice, first by showing that wicked people could be noble whenever the Baudelaires found an article he'd written during his time working for The Daily Punctilio entitled "Why It Is Better To Start Fires Rather Than Stopping Them" and had revealed that noble people, particularly their parents,
could be wicked by forcing them to discover that at least one of their parents was connected to the murder of Olaf's parents.
So whenever Mister Dominic made this comment as they drove toward the Lavender Lighthouse, the children suspected that he was once again bringing this to their attention and they were quite right.
"There was a certain itchytologmist who was devoured by the Lachrymose Leeches some time ago who enjoyed diving from time to time. He would borrow equipment from the Captain of the Queequeg and explore the Rancorous Rocks or the Wavy Whirlpool," Mister Dominic in such a tone that made the children wonder if he was speaking to them or himself and the villain added, "Unfortunately, on that last journey to Curdled Cave to meet with some dangerous realtors; he failed to take his diving equipment with him and perished shortly afterward."
They had almost arrived at Hazy Harbor and the children weren't sure whether to ask him to go on or to remain silent, but thankfully their enemy kept talking by stating, "If my guess is right, somewhere in this old lighthouse he left that equipment. Of course, I'm probably wrong."
He stopped the car in front of the structure and commented, "This is as far as I can go, Baudelaires."
Getting out of the back seat; Klaus, Sunny, Beatrice and Violet started walking toward the lighthouse, but the oldest orphan turned to their adversary and said softly, "Thank you."
"We are not so different, you and I," Mister Dominic whispered back to her and then added, "You should reconsider which side you're on."
She took a step back as the villain rolled up his window and then drove off into the night, leaving the four children there befuddled by his unexpected act of generosity.
"I am so tired," Sunny commented.
"Me too," Klaus added.
"At least we have a few hours to catch some sleep before returning to the diner," the former infant remarked as she cooed to Beatrice. "
Do you suppose it's true about the diving equipment?" Violet asked her siblings as they entered the Lavender Lighthouse. Before any of them got a chance to speculate, however; they saw their hostess, Sally Sebald in the main room waiting for them.
"About time you made it home! What were you children wasting your time with? Were you snooping about the Anxious Clown?" the young blonde wondered suspiciously.
Before Klaus could tell their host about the incident involving the sugar bowl, Sally stated, "And who was driving that taxi that brought you here? He appeared to be a dangerous individual."
And before Sunny could explain the situation surrounding Mister Dominic breaking and entering into the diner, Miss Sebald exclaimed, "Now it's almost time to open up and you've wasted your precious hours of sleep! I'm sure my business will flop because of you, Baudelaires!"
All four siblings were too tired from the night to argue, but Violet said, "It's only one o'clock, isn't it?"
Sally frowned and remarked, "Now I'm really beginning to wonder if any of you will qualify as volunteers. It is almost seven-thirty in the morning and the Anxious Clown opens up at eight!"
Sunny, Violet and Klaus all moaned in dismay as their hostess added, "I'm sorry children, but there just is no time to sleep now; we should leave immediately to start cooking breakfast for our customers who will arrive this afternoon in the morning," Sally stated, making yet another comment about time that didn't sound reasonable.
"Please, can't we rest for a moment before heading back to the diner?" Klaus asked, feeling all of his muscles ache with pain.
"Baudelaires, I'm sorry that you failed to be hasty in your work of cleaning the café; but now time has run out. Not to mention when I woke up I found that your guardian was already gone, so I'm guessing he is headed toward town already," Sally Sebald remarked.
"Falo already left?" Violet asked, rubbing her eyes from exhaustion.
"Yes, in a taxi," the young blonde answered and the four orphans guessed this was what their guardian had meant about a taxi coming to get them.
"So we should be going," Sally insisted, grabbing her car keys.
"Sally! Wait!" the eldest Baudelaire stated and decided to go out on a limb.
This does not mean of course that the oldest of the four children found a tree to climb and chose to go out on one of its branches for amusement as she might've done some time during her childhood; but rather the teenager was going to go out on a limb in another way because this phrase here means "Violet Baudelaire was choosing to trust Mister Dominic" and said to Sally Sebald, "Sally, do you happen to have some old diving equipment stored in the lighthouse?"
The young blonde looked at her suspiciously and then replied, "As a matter of fact, I do; in my bedroom. But why do you ask, Violet?"
"I am an inventor and like to study things, I was curious about it," the eldest Baudelaire fibbed, to which Sally Sebald remarked, "We don't have time to waste on that useless inheritance! We need to get to the diner!"
"Can we take it with us to the Anxious Clown?" Klaus asked. "I suppose, but hurry up! We need to leave immediately," their hostess replied, opening the door to her room for them and adding, "It's behind the front of the back of my bed."
Sunny passed Beatrice to Sally and the infant stirred and began to wake up as the other Baudelaires entered Miss Sebald's room and got out the equipment.
"This is definitely meant for an adult," Klaus commented.
"Maybe so, but it may be the only to get thru that tunnel," Violet decided, at which her brother asked, "Do we really want to find out? Or maybe it is better left unknown?"
"Do you believe it was better for us not to know what was within the sugar bowl?" she countered.
Klaus conceded to this and together the three siblings hauled the equipment to the back of Sally's car. They had all decided to go out on a limb, just as Violet had and trust that their adversary wasn't plotting another trap for them very soon.
It should be noted however that this was quite wrong on their part and you don't have to go out on a limb to guess what will happen to the Baudelaires very shortly. In fact, since you have read quite a few terrible things that have happened already; I would suggest stopping there with those miserable experiences and experiencing no more as Klaus, Sunny, Violet and Beatrice surely would.
I would go so far as to tell you that as far as this story is concerned, this is as far as you should go.
For if you were to continue to peruse the next chapter which details what took place whenever they returned to the Anxious Clown, then you would learn even more disturbing facts and might just lose as much sleep as they have or even as much as I have because of it; so please take my sound advice and view this as far as you should go just as the Baudelaires orphans shouldn't have trusted Mister Dominic and should've attempted to flee or find Falo or search for another person driving a taxi since there are almost always two or three roaming about wherever you are.
And since you know that these activities are not what the orphans concerned themselves with, perhaps it should be your concern to be concerned with these concerns and not let the concerns of the Baudelaires concern you anymore, otherwise I am concerned that you will grow so very concerned, a word which here means "wind up almost as miserable as the children were on the following day at the diner."
As always read and review! ^_^