Thirteen
The tables had turned for the Baudelaires drastically since they'd first arrived at Lake Lachrymose along with Falo onboard the Fickle Ferry, which to the children seemed like such a long time ago.
During their stay at the Lavender Lighthouse; Klaus, Sunny, Violet and Beatrice had witnessed several terrible events including the arrival of the dangerous judges from the High Court, the destruction of the sugar bowl and the theft of the last spores of the Medusoid Mycelium from Anwhistle Aquatics by Mister Dominic.
But now they were in front of the Anxious Clown, the diner that Sally Sebald owned along with her brother, Gustav Sebald whom they had only recently met at the abandoned research station and the café they'd worked in for a few days was up in flames.
Off in the distance, the storm that the young hostess had warned them seemed to be drawing ever closer; but the children weren't concerned about it in the slightest because it might douse the flames although this wasn't the case. "Mister Dominic must've caused this fire whenever he returned with the Medusoid Mycelium," Klaus guessed. "
None of that matters, children; weren't you listening to me? My dear sister Sally is trapped inside that dastardly diner," Gustav declared and he hadn't stopped rushing back and forth in front of the car since they'd first arrived.
"We should call the fire department," Sunny decided. "I can tend to that, there is a phone booth nearby," Gustav declared and then rushed off and the children felt that the tables had once again been turned because it was now apparent that the task of rescuing Sally was going to have to fall upon them, since her brother was too cowardly to do it.
The four siblings might've thought about the two previous fires which Mister Dominic had caused and they had become caught in, the first being whenever their dangerous adversary had locked them inside a school bus at the Very Fine Dwelling and then set ablaze the rest of the structure so that no noble volunteers would escape and the second had occurred only recently whenever the Baudelaires had been at the Ned H. Rirger Theater working as attendants for Falo and failing to stop Mister Dominic in his wicked scheme to convict both them and V.F.D., but in both of those instances; the Baudelaire orphans had been hopelessly trapped somewhere whenever the fire had begun to spread not outside watching as it did so.
So whenever Gustav rushed to the pay phone nearby to call the volunteer fire department; Klaus, Sunny, Beatrice and Violet all realized that saving Sally, Gustav's sister; was their top priority and this time they would have to go into the inferno rather than come out of it. I cannot begin to tell you how brave and courageous this was on the part of the children; because they were probably very nervous about entering the blaze, especially whenever they thought about all of the fires they had managed to escape from.
If you have ever seen a house catch on fire or have been part of a secret organization that was originally content with simply making the world a quieter place; then you recognize that the most foolish thing for you to do would be for you to rush headfirst into the towering flames even if it did mean you were trying to rescue a fellow associate.
In fact, it would far better to stay far away from the fire altogether and perhaps take up some safer activity such as badminton or catering cocktail parties. So whenever Violet proclaimed, "We have to save Sally before the fire engulfs the entire diner."
this didn't mean that the eldest of the Baudelaires was particularly interested in heading into the raging fire, but rather was trying to instill confidence in her siblings so that they would not become frightened at the task that lay in front of them. Klaus however had clearly considered how dangerous this was and remarked, "We might not make it out alive."
And Sunny, who still had fresh memories of the fires they'd survived in the Hotel Denouement and the Caligari Carnival; stated, "Maybe we should wait for the fire department along with Dr. Sebald."
"Sally might perish by the time they get here, the closest division is for miles; so it will take at least half an hour for the volunteer fire department to arrive!" Violet argued and then glared at all of her siblings and said, "I can't believe you would rather act like cowards!" Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice all felt ashamed at hearing this and the middle Baudelaire said, "You're right, we're just scared because of all the fires we've had to escape from… we're not used to going into one."
"We can't all go inside, though," Sunny said in concern as she held her adoptive sister close to her and explained, "Beatrice's lungs could fill with smoke much more easily than ours and it would be deadly to her."
"I understand," Violet said, not feeling resentful that her younger sister was choosing to stay outside and recognizing that Sunny was right about Beatrice; so she turned to Klaus and remarked, "It's up to us, then!" Her brother didn't say a word as they approached the door of the Anxious Clown and the two children ducked thru the hole that Mister Dominic had made earlier. The smoke-filled diner was so destroyed already that Klaus immediately felt their chances of finding Sally Sebald alive were quite slim, but Violet tied her hair up in a bow; something she did frequently whenever she was thinking of some solution to a problem and got tablecloths to cover both her and Klaus' mouth so they wouldn't inhale any smoke.
The fire that Mister Dominic had apparently started originated in the kitchen of the dismal diner and Klaus carefully began to crawl beneath the shroud of black smoke that covered the Anxious Clown. Violet followed after her brother, checking under every table and booth to make certain that Sally wasn't lying injured somewhere unbeknownst to them.
As they arrived at the kitchen, Klaus noticed that the Visually False Distraction was back in place; blocking escape for themselves thru the secret passageway they'd come across earlier and knew that if they did find Sally they would have to run thru the fiery diner with all their might. Klaus was looking about the kitchen while Violet looked inside the freezer whenever the middle Baudelaire had a thought and went to the secret cache that the children had found.
"Maybe Mister Dominic hid her in here?" the well-read orphan guessed as he yelled over the flames and the crackle of thunder from outside the cafe. Portions of the roof had begun to split apart as Violet came to his side and kept as close to her brother as possible. Some of the Baudelaires' clothes were already being singed by the approaching flames as Klaus stood on his older sister's shoulders and pulled the lever that opened the sliding wall to the secret chamber.
On the other side, much to their relief they found Sally Sebald; bound and gagged and also unconscious. "Do you think we can make it back outside carrying her?" Violet asked.
"We didn't come this far just to give up," her brother reminded her and then the two older Baudelaires carefully began to lift the captured Sebald on each side. Sally stirred silently, which meant that she was still alive for the time being and Klaus and Violet knew that they had to hurry to get out of the Anxious Clown before the entire diner collapsed.
With what strength they had left, the two orphans pulled Sally out of the kitchen and narrowly avoided the flames that were growing larger and with what strength they never thought they would possess I am proud to say that the two orphans managed to completely pick up Miss Sebald and run out of the diner to the street outside where Sunny and Beatrice waited anxiously.
"Quickly, get her untied!" Klaus declared as he looked back at the destroyed diner they had just escaped from and realized that all of the secrets they'd hoped to find within it were now just as gone as it was. The middle Baudelaire thought he saw Larry, the orphans' co-worker escaping thru some window; but Klaus figured it might've been his imagination and then turned toward Sally Sebald who was still very unconscious.
"Sunny, do you have any water?" Violet asked. Beatrice offered the bottle she frequently used and the eldest Baudelaire gave their friend the needed liquid so that Sally began to cough and her eyes opened slowly.
"Baudelaires…" the young hostess of the Anxious Clown remarked in a soft voice and Violet stated, "Hush, don't talk. You're safe with us now, anyway. The volunteer fire department will come and stop this inferno and then together we can stop Mister Dominic."
Sally shook her head negatively and attempted to say something else, but coughed hoarsely instead. Finally, after doing so for about a minute; Sally Sebald declared, "The tables have turned, children… wickedness is winning again. I don't…"
Their friend gasped for breath as she tried to say something and then Klaus said, "Please save your strength. Gustav and V.F.D. will be here soon." "There is no time, your nemesis… he infected me with the Medusoid Mycelium," Sally Sebald explained at which all of the children gasped in horror and realized how thoroughly defeated they were.
They recalled that if the Medusoid Mycelium wasn't treated within an hour by counteracting it with horseradish, or its Japanese equivalent; wasabi; that the person infected with it would die. And the hour apparently for Sally was almost up, because she was having the hardest time speaking already.
"I wanted to apologize, Baudelaires," the young blond said as she gripped Violet's hand and declared, "You were very noble volunteers and tried hard to stop Mister Dominic."
"But we failed," Klaus pointed out. Sally shook her head and replied, "It doesn't matter. I'm sorry I ever doubted you." "We're sorry that we failed V.F.D.," Sunny tried to tell their comrade; but it was apparently too late.
For even though Klaus and Violet had succeeded in courageously rescuing the hostess from the dilapidating diner, now Mister Dominic had once again proven how ruthless he was in poisoning Sally with the Medusoid Mycelium.
"Your father, Bertand…he wanted me to…" Sally began hoarsely and then seemed to say something else that they couldn't quite understand, then Violet checked her pulse and realized that Gustav's sister was now gone forever.
Even though the hostess of the Anxious Clown had been rude to the children during their stay at her diner and even though she hadn't trusted them whenever they'd come to the Lavender Lighthouse and even though the young blond had given them a long list of impossible chores to take care of; Klaus, Beatrice, Sunny and Violet all wept over the loss of Sally Sebald.
Or perhaps they cried for all of the terrible things that had occurred during their stay at the dastardly diner, a word which here means "the place that was burning wildly and wouldn't ever serve any atrocious meals to patrons from the town of Lake Lachrymose again" and the Baudelaires felt like complete failures.
Sunny might've considered what a horrible job she had done trying to figure out why the man with a beard but no hair and the woman with hair but no beard had been at the café and Klaus might've thought about how uselessly they had looked for the sugar bowl only to have Mister Dominic shatter in to pieces right in front of them and Violet no doubt realized how foolish she had been to trust their adversary and obtain the diving equipment which had allowed them access to Anwhistle Aquatics but also had allowed the children's' nemesis the chance to steal the last remnants of the Medusoid Mycelium, which normally only grew under rare circumstances.
But it didn't matter anymore now that Sally had died and as I forewarned you in the previous chapter had you thought the worst was yet to come for the children; I'm sure you now find yourself weeping miserably just as I am doing so as I pen these words and recall how young and confused you must've been, Beatrice.
As the children sat there on the side of the road, the first thing that broke the silence was the sound of a loud alarm blaring thru the streets of Lake Lachrymose and Klaus looked up to see the fire trucks arriving to stop the inferno that was devouring the Anxious Clown. It is here that I am glad to report that they failed to save the atrocious diner which I never much enjoyed eating at, even though quite a few other volunteers and bankers did sup there frequently.
Yes, the fire trucks did arrive to put out the fire; but the damage to the establishment had already been so thorough that everyone knew it would never run again and the children recognized that Lake Lachrymose itself might shrivel up and disappear now that the only restaurant in town was gone forever and Sunny wondered if that had been part of Mister Dominic's dangerous scheme all along.
As the firefighters continued to battle the roaring flames, Gustav jumped off of one of the trucks and rushed to the side of the Baudelaires and looked down at his now deceased sister.
"My dear, Sally; no," he said, sobbing bitterly and laying his head against her. Violet and her younger siblings gave the man room to grieve as they watched the volunteer fire department fight the fire and Klaus commented, "We failed to discover the meaning of ERT."
"Or what was in the sugar bowl," Sunny added.
"Or what Mister Dominic and those evil enemies from the High Court are really after," Violet stated.
"And Falo has told us to board a train and we have no idea where to go from here," the middle Baudelaire stated. "Maybe this is as far as we can go?" Sunny asked and then added, "If my guess is right, the authorities will presume we were behind this madness and probably think we murdered Sally."
"If the writers at The Daily Punctilio have anything to say about it, we will surely be blamed," Violet agreed sadly.
Dr. Sebald rose from where he had been grieving over his sister and went to speak to the head of the fire department. "Bruce!" he called out to the fire chief and the Baudelaires waited as their friend conversed with them, each realizing that Sunny's suspicion regarding them being viewed as murderers would probably fit in perfectly with Mister Dominic's sinister plot; whatever that might be.
Gustav finished speaking to the man in charge of the volunteer fire department and then approached the children, wearing a very somber expression on his face.
"We're so sorry, Gustav," Klaus lamented. "It wasn't your fault at all, Baudelaires; but rather Dominic's. I'm sure he did it as one last slight against me and Ike and Gregor," Dr. Sebald declared as he took off his glasses and rubbed them slowly before commenting, "I think it is time for us to part ways, however. You four will need to leave before the authorities arrive and jumble up this mess further."
The children looked at each other in confusion and then the oldest remarked, "But Falo has already left and we have no idea where to go to next!"
"Didn't you properly decipher the message he sent you?" Gustav asked. "Well, yes of course…" Klaus began, to which the speech pathologist declared, "Then you know that you have to board the train and make it to the rendezvous in time!" He opened up his lab coat and took out four small items that he'd been holding onto for quite some time and said, "I knew that there was a reason he gave these to me before he left… and now I realize that I must give them to you children."
Violet took them and declared, "These are train tickets!"
"Falo gave these to you?" Sunny asked in surprise.
"Oh no, of course not; don't be absurd. But I have a feeling your guardian knew about them and that is why he told you to board the train," Gustav explained.
"One of these tickets is addressed to you," Klaus pointed out, to which the doctor replied, "Yes, I think he wanted to have me travel with you to the rendezvous; but wasn't aware that there were four of you now instead of just three. Does he know who you are, Beatrice?" The children all looked at one another in puzzlement and Klaus asked, "Someone arranged to buy these for us? But who would do something like that?"
"Why, the very same person who hid the sugar bowl with that map; I'm sure. Although I have no idea why the figurine was no longer inside it; there is a clear reason why the switch was made," Gustav Sebald declared.
"I thought Sally had hidden it?" Sunny muttered. "And how did Falo know that it was there?" Klaus asked. "Who was the person who bought us these train tickets, Dr. Sebald?" Violet asked, which was the most sensible question of all; to which he smiled and explained, "I think you children have heard about him once or twice… his name is Lemony."
The four siblings gasped in surprise at hearing this name and the doctor frowned and asked, "So you do know of his connection to…" he paused as if remembering something very important and whenever he did this; Klaus said, "Until recently we had presumed that he was dead."
"As had every other member of our organization," Gustav agreed. Violet pulled out the piece of paper that the former troupe member of Count Olaf had given to her during the fire that swept thru the Ned H. Rirger Theater and showed it to Gustav and he read it.
Find lemony
was all that the powder-faced woman had had time to quickly write down before the fire had consumed the old theater and killed her. Gustav nodded and said, "I always suspected that members of Olaf's troupe were actually spies for V.F.D. This confirms that theory."
"So he is alive?" Sunny asked. "Yes, very much so," Gustav declared and then noted that the fire trucks were now driving away and said, "But you need to get to the train station right away children. There is no time for talking right now. I'll meet you at the rendezvous as well." Before they got a chance to ask him the myriad questions that they still had, Gustav jumped onto the back of one of the fire trucks and declared, "Beatrice can use my train ticket!"
The four orphans stood there in the street for a moment longer, each coming to terms with this latest bit of information that they had learned and also feeling the first drops of rain and I'm sure you realize by now that the tables have turned for the Baudelaires once again. Not only had Mister Dominic and his vile cohorts succeeded in stealing the Medusoid Mycelium, but also Sally Sebald was now very much dead and apparently the mysterious Lemony who had some connection to their murky past was very much alive.
But also the tables had turned because for the first time in quite a while, the children realized again that the world was so full of mystery and corruption and secrets that it might take a lifetime for them to answer and stop and decode every single one of them just as I have spent my time doing chronicling these unfortunate events.
And perhaps most importantly of all, the Baudelaires realized that the old saying "you are what you eat" fit the scenario they were now in because throughout their time at the now devastated diner they had never obtained a fair meal and were even more miserable than before and quite alone and they would remain that way for quite some time to come.