Nine
The Baudelaires were in a sticky situation, which is something that you don't ever want to be in especially if the phrase is quite literally true and you have found yourself trapped inside a bubblegum factory while you pursued an enemy only to wind up caught in some of the new bubblegum that was being produced there.
Thankfully, the sticky situation that the children found themselves in had nothing whatsoever to do with bubblegum; but rather the practical fact that they needed to sleep.
Klaus, Violet and Sunny were having the hardest time keeping their eyes open as the proprietress of the Anxious Clown, Sally Sebald; drove away from the Lavender Lighthouse toward the restaurant in the town that bordered Lake Lachrymose. And each of the siblings knew that they wouldn't get a chance to rest anytime soon, because Sally had made it abundantly clear that noble volunteers were supposed to cook breakfast before patrons of the café arrived; which was now less than an hour away.
But the sticky situation the children were in wasn't the simple fact that they needed to sleep, but the suspicions that Sally Sebald had voiced about them just moments earlier whenever their adversary Mister Dominic had dropped them off and Klaus and his sisters were beginning to realize that the true goal of their archenemy might have been to cause doubts in this young woman's mind regarding whether or not they were villains or volunteers.
And they were in a sticky situation because Sally had told them that Falo had left early that morning to get to the diner before it opened, but whenever they arrived they found no evidence that the evil twin of Count Olaf was there and realized that some of the debris that Mister Dominic had made the previous night now made the Anxious Clown even more of an eyesore.
"My goodness!" Sally Sebald exclaimed as she stopped the car and rushed to the front door which the orphan's opponent had ruthlessly shattered and then glared at Violet and remarked, "How dare you break my door! Do you realize that this the only front door I have?"
"But I didn't do it!" the eldest Baudelaire declared, trying hard not to sound like a child as she did.
"My sister is telling the truth, the diner was burglarized last night," Klaus stated, to which their hostess replied, "If that is the case, why didn't you use the phone to call me?"
Admittedly, the three children hadn't considered calling for help; but they were so exhausted that none of them had the strength to apologize to Sally.
The young blond reached thru the shattered door and opened it and then switched the sign on the window from
CLOSED to OPEN
before looking at the siblings again and stating, "It looks like Falo isn't here after all. I wonder where he went to. Do you know anything about this?"
Klaus thought about pointing out that they had been at the café all night, but was so tired that he was at the point of fainting. Sally quickly switched on the lights in the Anxious Clown and said, "All right, Baudelaires; let's get to work. The customers will be here shortly."
The four orphans trudged their way into the kitchen that they'd left only shortly before and Klaus slumped against the stove they'd shoved aside that was still out of place before remarking, "I think it is safe to say we are in a rather sticky situation."
"I'm so tired, I can barely move any of my muscles," Sunny declared.
"I'm so sore from moving that stove and the ice machine and cleaning and exploring that I don't think I have the strength to do anything," Violet lamented.
"But if we fail, Sally will conclude that we must be vicious villains trying to make this diner go under," their brother remarked.
"And we don't have Falo here to protect us," Sunny pointed out, to which the eldest Baudelaire wondered, "Where do you suppose he has gone off to this time?"
"It does seem to be a habit of his," Klaus admitted as he yawned widely and said, "Do we even have time for a short nap?"
"Not if we're going to cook breakfast as Sally requested we do," Violet answered.
It was then that their adoptive sister, Beatrice, who had been listening intently to the entire conversation provided the perfect solution for her and her siblings to get out of this sticky situation by stating, "Ecnatssisa!"
at which all three of the older Baudelaires looked at her in surprise and you might have as well if you understood what Beatrice had just declared.
"I think I have come up with an answer to how the three of you can get some sleep," she might've said or perhaps "I can do some of your chores while one of you sleeps" or maybe even "Sally didn't say I couldn't work, just that she felt I was too young."
No matter which way the infant said what she did; it was clear to Violet, Sunny and Klaus that their adoptive sister was interested in assisting them in any way that she could.
"I suppose that this is worth a try," the oldest Baudelaire declared and added, "Beatrice can cover for one of us so that they may sleep and then once that one has finished; another can rest and Beatrice can cover for them!"
"The first task Sally assigned us was cooking and since I know the most about that; I'll help Beatrice cook. Violet, you should rest," Sunny said to which Klaus added, "And I'll prepare tables for the morning customers."
Violet nodded, especially in thanks to Beatrice for coming up with this brilliant solution and then went to a corner of the kitchen and rested there on the cold floor and despite the fact that this was probably very uncomfortable for the teenager; she fell right to sleep.
Klaus set about placing silverware on the counter and at the booths and on the tables in the Anxious Clown while Beatrice and Sunny cooked a variety of dishes for their morning patrons, which Sally was already allowing to enter the diner.
Glancing at the clock to see what time it was, Sunny frowned in surprise to see that it still read two o'clock in the morning and she wondered why it was wrong.
But choosing not to focus on this, the former infant assisted her sister in making Suspicious Soup and Clown Cakes and Fraudulent French Fries and Cheer-Up Cheeseburgers and Ominous Omelets and Panicky Pancakes and other dishes that were commonly served in the diner for breakfast.
Once they had finished doing this; Sunny woke Violet up and yawned, stating, "I couldn't wait one more minute. I desperately need to sleep."
Violet nodded and stretched from where she had been lying on the floor before commenting, "I think I can make it now."
Allowing her younger sister to rest, Violet took over the task of placing customers at the counter or at the table while Klaus began to cook and Beatrice set about washing any dishes whenever the patrons finished eating. As Sunny rested, the clamor in the Anxious Clown grew louder and the orphans suspected that this was probably the busiest time of the day for the diner and Klaus muttered to his older sister as she took a dish from him, "I wonder why other diners haven't considered setting up shop here at Lake Lachrymose. It seems to have a lot of people today."
"That's because the weather outside is nice," Larry the waiter said angrily as he took a dish from Beatrice and added, "I wish it would storm again so that our business would die down."
As their coworker returned to whatever task he was performing, Klaus yawned widely and nearly fell asleep onto the stove had not Violet caught him and she remarked, "You should've woke Sunny up half an hour ago! You have bags under your eyes."
"I wanted you two to get your sleep, you need it more than I do," the middle orphan stated to which his older sister laughed and said, "I think you believe you can take on the whole world alone sometimes, Klaus."
Nudging Sunny, Klaus told her, "I'm sorry to wake you, but I think I need to sleep now."
Sunny stretched and replied, "It's ok, Klaus. I was having a good dream about better times and I think I can handle the rest of the day now."
Klaus nodded in thanks and then slumped down in the corner and drifted into sleep as his sisters continued to serve the customers of the Anxious Clown. Around six in the morning, which probably meant that it was lunchtime for the diner; business had begun to slow down and Sunny looked outside to see storm clouds gathering and remarked to her sister, "I guess Larry was right and this place gets slow whenever the weather is bad."
"That storm there looks rather awful, doesn't it?" Sally Sebald asked she walked over to them and the orphans flinched and wondered what assignment the hostess had for them now.
"I had my doubts considering how tired you would be this morning, Baudelaires; but it looks like you managed to take care of the day's activity with no problem. I think we'll have to close shop early today because of the bad weather. It may develop into a hurricane," the young blond stated solemnly.
Violet nodded and said, "That's fine, I was wanting to study that diving equipment anyways."
"Oh… you misunderstand me, Violet. I need the four of you to stay here and clean up the diner again for tomorrow. Don't forget that your guardian said you volunteers work here now," Sally Sebald stated.
"That's ok, I'd still like to get it out of your trunk and study it while I clean the Anxious Clown," Violet explained.
"I for one am going home!" Larry said as he took off the snazzy clown suit he was forced to wear all day and then looked like a rather uninteresting person as he opened the broken door of the diner and left them all behind.
"I think I shall return to the Lavender Lighthouse and take a short nap, children. If your guardian should show up, please call and tell me," the young blond stated and then Sunny and Violet followed her to the car as she popped the trunk.
As they hauled the diving equipment out of her car, Miss Sebald remarked, "You're just as inquisitive as Ike was at that age. He and Franklin used to explore every corner of Lake Lachrymose when they were young."
The two female Baudelaires smiled at her compliment, although they didn't know what it meant and then moved the equipment into the diner as Sally Sebald drove off. Beatrice woke up Klaus from his sleep as Sunny and Violet placed the equipment down and began to move the Visually False Distraction that looked like an ice machine.
As it slid out of the way to reveal the dark corridor that ended at the flooded section which Mister Dominic claimed was as far as they could go, Klaus asked, "Is it night already?"
"No, Sally closed the diner early because of the bad weather," the eldest Baudelaire explained and then added, "And we are going to use this equipment to go explore that tunnel."
"I don't think all of us can use it at the same time," the middle orphan observed as they began to lug it down the passage.
"Well if this tunnel is only partially flooded, it must mean that some portion of it up ahead isn't and that whatever is causing the flooding might be there, so maybe only some of us should go and then we can drain the water and the rest can walk?" Violet suggested to which Sunny said, "That makes a certain amount of sense, but how will we know how far this underwater corridor goes?"
"We'll just have to find out," Violet declared as they arrived at the flooded portion of the passage and her siblings helped her and Beatrice into the diving equipment.
Once they were certain it was fastened securely and once Klaus had checked to make certain that the oxygen tank still worked, the other children said farewell to Violet and Beatrice as they began to enter the watery corridor below.
It would be pointless to explain to just how silent the dark depths were that the two children explored, for the quiet that they had to encounter was unlike any they'd dealt with before; so instead of telling you just how slow and boring and quiet their trip was, I will skip over that part of the story entirely.
Water splashed out from all sides as they came thru the top of the tunnel and Beatrice and Violet gazed around at the place they found themselves in, unsure what to make of it. But instead of exploring it, the children got out of the diving equipment they'd used to get there and Violet said, "Try to find some way to drain the water."
The infant crawled on the stone floor of the chamber, which appeared to be made especially for the tunnel they'd just gone thru; and pointed at a lever on the wall proclaiming, "Cadtrata!" Violet didn't have to guess what she meant and quickly pulled it and then turned to watch as the water was lowered and she proclaimed, "Do you think we should explore while we're waiting for them?"
Beatrice shrugged as she gazed at all of the moss and the vines that were protruding on the ceiling which was made of glass and then the eldest Baudelaire decided, "I think we should wait here for Klaus and Sunny."
The two orphans laid against the west stone wall and Violet looked out one window and noted how very far they had traveled. They were now on a hilltop overlooking Lake Lachrymose and she couldn't even spot the neon lights of the Anxious Clown if she tried. Finally, Klaus and Sunny climbed into the chamber as well and Klaus declared, "That drain back there was rather large."
"It's as if someone deliberately flooded it… to prevent passage here," Sunny stated.
"But why? What is this place?" Klaus wondered as he noted all of the destruction that had taken place here and remarked, "It looks like someone burned it to the ground.
" "We're so far from Lake Lachrymose," Sunny observed and then added, "Sally will get mad when she realizes that we didn't clean the diner."
All four of the children could spot the storm approaching off in the distance and Klaus commented, "We should look around before that storm gets here; it is rather bad."
All of the Baudelaires rose from where they'd been sitting on the dusty dirty stone floor and walked down the corridors of the facility and Violet gazed at all of the shattered glass on the floor and then looked up at the broken roof and remarked, "Who would choose to install a roof that is so dangerous in a spot with this kind of climate?"
"Do you suppose this place was used by V.F.D.?" Sunny asked.
"Considering the map we found inside the sugar bowl, it wouldn't surprise me," Klaus stated.
"You mean the one that Mister Dominic took," Violet reminded her brother. Before the middle orphan could point out that their entire expedition to this strange place had been because of Violet's decision to go out on a limb and listen to their adversary's idea, the four orphans froze where they stood because of a sound they heard in front of them; that of footsteps.
Sunny kept Beatrice close to her as the sound of someone approaching grew louder and then finally the stranger came into view and stared down at the four orphans just as they stared up at him.
He was wearing a white lab coat with black overalls and suspenders with a plaid shirt underneath it and his coat was so covered in mud or grime that the children couldn't determine which or even what color it was.
He had large oval glasses and a scraggily beard that covered his chin and equally scraggily hair that was black and large blue eyes that seemed surprised to see the children.
Perhaps most importantly of all, he was wearing rubber gloves; one of which held a handgun and this weapon was pointed directly at the Baudelaires.
Plllllleeeeeeeeaase read and review! i haven't recieved reviews in a while :( makes me sad... i have more plans for the Baudelaires! find out soon what will happen now.