A/N: (Updated: February 10, 2025)

Disclaimer: Me no own ASOUE.

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Chapter 17:
Mata Hari
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The sun was halfway down its trip down the roller coaster when Violet and I resumed climbing. I couldn't believe it. She actually kissed me. She and I were dating. She was all mine. Was I still dreaming in the cave? I had to have been. How else could something turn out so perfectly in my situation? Oh, if only we'd met under different circumstances. Then I could bring her home to Mother and Father and get their opinion on her. I'm positive they'd both be satisfied, Mother especially. She was always protective of me and Duncan, praying one day we'd find a woman that was sweet, smart, and would make a good mother when it came time to start our own families. Of course, Violet and I were still too young to officially tie the knot, but at least I'd have dibs until then. And for that, I was grateful. Needless to say, I was drowning in oxytocin, and I wouldn't stand a chance playing poker because I still had a stupid grin on my face as I climbed. In fact, I don't think it'd ever go away.

"We're almost there," Violet said, and I snapped out of my thoughts. "It's difficult to see with the sun going down, but I believe we're just about at the top of the peak."

"I can't believe we've been climbing all afternoon," I said.

"Not all afternoon," Violet said, and that stupid grin was back on my face, my cheeks heating up at what she was implying. "I guess this waterfall is about as high as Six Six Seven Dark Avenue. It took a very long time to go up and down that elevator shaft, trying to rescue your siblings. I hope this is a more successful journey."

"Uh, me too," I said, almost getting lost in the moment we shared again. "What do you think we will find at the top?"

"I don't know," Violet said.

We kept on climbing, my apprehension building. What would we find up there? Would it be Sunny? Would it be Duncan and Isadora? Would it be a trap? I wasn't sure, and neither was Violet. I just hope it's not the last one. If we were caught, then Klaus wouldn't know what to do. He didn't have a map and he wasn't mechanically inclined like his sister.

He'd be screwed.

Finally, the top! Violet and I peeked over the edge and looked. An old black car, a couple circus tents, a picnic table, and––oh no. Straight ahead of us was a man with hooks instead of hands, no doubt one of Count Olaf's henchmen, guarding a big golden birdcage. But it wasn't that which had my attention. It was who was in the birdcage. A toddler, probably knee-high in height, with bright blond hair and a tiny yellow coat was sitting there, conversing with him. I knew that face. This had to be Sunny Baudelaire.

"It is Sunny!" Violet whispered excitedly.

Yep, confirmed. To see Violet so excited gave me butterflies. If only there was a way to keep her that happy forever.

"She's safe!" Violet said.

Okay, now to get her out of there. That would be trickier. "How can we rescue her with hook-handed man standing guard?" I asked.

Just then, Sunny looked our way and caught my eye. Then she looked back up at the hook-handed man and uttered something.

"Oh, we've got plenty of ice water," the hook-handed man said.

Sunny uttered something else.

"I saw the boss chuck a half-empty bottle of sarsaparilla down the road," the hook-handed man said, then he leaned over and scowled at her. "But I'm not supposed to leave you alone."

Sunny gave him the most adorable set of puppy dog eyes. Not even Isadora could muster up eyes that powerful. The hook-handed man's stone-cold face softened. "Oh, don't give me that look," he said, then looked around the landscape. Violet and I ducked down, hoping he wouldn't see us. "Alright, wait." And with that, the hook-handed man hurried off into one of the circus tents.

Sunny motioned for us to come here, then we pulled ourselves onto the summit and hurried over to her.

"Sunny!" Violet said, gripping the cage, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Klaus?" Sunny asked.

"He's at the headquarters. We're here to rescue you," Violet wasted no time picking at the lock.

"Set," Sunny said. She looked at me and her eyes grew wide. "Duncan?"

"No, this is Quigley, his brother," Violet said. "He survived the fire. He led us to the headquarters with a map he drew himself."

Sunny stretched her hand through the bars toward me, as if she wanted to shake my hand. I reached out and grabbed it, and, sure enough, we shook hands. "Arigato," she told me.

I had no clue what she meant, but I smiled and nodded anyway. "Was it you who signaled us?" I asked.

"Yep," Sunny said with a smile. "Lox."

"Count Olaf's been making you do the cooking?" Violet said, appalled.

Vaccurum," Sunny said.

Violet looked at me. "Olaf even made her clean crumbs out of the car by blowing as hard as she could," she said.

My face turned sour. "That's ridiculous!" I said.

"Cinderella," Sunny said, and I needed no translation, though Violet was turning to me to attempt to.

"Oh, Babylaire!" a scratchy voice called mockingly. "I've thought of some more demeaning tasks for you to perform."

Violet's eyes went wide. I knew that look. That was the look she had on her face in the picture Jacques showed me. Like she was being hunted. And if she looked like she was being hunted... I stiffened. Count Olaf. That had to be Count Olaf. Who else could make her that scared?

"Hide," Sunny said.

Again, I needed no translation. My heart jumping off the waterfall, Violet and I looked around for a place to hide. To my horror, there was none. None except...

"Under the car," Violet whispered, and immediately we dove under it. I let Violet go first, then I wriggled in after her. Just as my feet swung under, out came two pairs of shoes from one of the tents, a ratty old black pair and a pair of furry black boots. They made their way over to us.

Please let me be far enough under, I prayed. Suddenly, something dripped on my head. Wrinkling my face in disgust, I looked up to find oil dribbling out from what appeared to be the oil pan. That and nasty, rusty parts spidering throughout its body. I'm no mechanic, but this car's underside looked like it'd seen better days. In fact, I was surprised the car was even drivable at all.

"You're going to cook a very fancy, very in dinner," a woman's voice said, a little too brightly for my taste. "Tonight, we're celebrating False Spring!"

"That's not all we're celebrating," the scratchy voice said, and the two laughed an unnerving laugh that gave me chills. I felt Violet shiver beside me. Those beautiful eyes still shone with fear. My heart tightened tighter than our fit under the car. There was no questioning it now. That was indeed Count Olaf.

"Where's Hooky?" Count Olaf asked. "I told him to wait right here."

Just then, two more pairs of black shoes walked out of the same tent that Count Olaf and the woman were in. "You seem to have trouble controlling your underlings," a very hoarse voice said rigidly.

My eyes widened and a jolt of adrenaline shot down my spine. Oh no...I know that voice. It was him! The man I encountered on my way up Mount Fraught a couple days ago!

"Uhh, yes, I like to let them roam," Count Olaf stuttered. "Y'know, free-range henchpeople."

"We have a job for you two," said a very deep voice.

Oh no...I know that voice, too. It was the woman I also encountered on the trail. Both of them were here!? They burnt down V.F.D. Headquarters awhile ago. Why were they still here? Probably still looking for me, Duncan, and Isadora. That was my guess. I swallowed and shut my eyes. I didn't have my mask to save me this time. If they saw me...

"There's a camp in the woods," the woman said.

"There you'll find a tarp," the man said. "Bring it here. And lay it over the road."

"That sounds like work," the other woman said. "Why do we have to do it?"

"You'll do it because we say so!" the woman said ominously.

I shivered. That tone of voice really didn't help my anxiety. In fact, it only fueled my nightmares.

There was an uncomfortable, suffocating silence. "That's a good point," Count Olaf said finally. "We've already yelled at the baby. There's not much else to do here anyway."

"If you're concerned about that baby, Olaf," the man said.

"After tonight, countless orphans and their fortunes will be ours," the woman said.

"Are you sure they're all orphans?" the other woman asked.

"Not yet they're not," the woman said.

Violet and I looked at each other. She was just as disturbed as I was. We watched the four pairs of shoes disperse, the man and the woman heading back inside the tent and Count Olaf and the other woman walking the other way and down the mountain. We didn't dare move. Not until we could be sure it's safe.

"Coastkleer," we heard Sunny say.

With a deep breath, I crawled out from under the car, Violet following suit. We hurried back over to Sunny, casting another apprehensive look over our shoulders. "Those were terrible people," I said with a shudder, brushing the oil and grime off my coat. "They made me feel cold all over."

"They certainly had an aura of menace," Violet agreed. "The feet with the tattoo were Count Olaf, and those black boots were Esme Squalor, but who were those horrible people?"

"Unno Narsonist," Sunny said.

"You mean they're the ones who burned down V.F.D. Headquarters?" Violet asked.

I knew it! My suspicions were correct! Unfortunately. Now I had closure.

Violet jiggled the padlock some more and finally it came loose. She opened the cage. "Let's go," she told Sunny. "I can strap you to my shoulders and carry you down."

"Nogo," Sunny said.

"Why on Earth not?" Violet said, taken aback by her answer.

"Unasanc," Sunny said.

Violet looked at me. "Sunny says that the villains have mentioned one more safe place for volunteers to gather."

"Do you know where it is?" I asked.

Sunny shook her head.

"How are you going to find out where this safe place is?" Violet asked.

"Matahari," Sunny said.

"Absolutely not," Violet said at once, tears welling up in her eyes again. "It's not safe for you to stay here, Sunny. It's bad enough that Olaf has made you do the cooking."

"Who's Mata Hari?" I asked.

"She's a Dutch courtesan who spied on Germany during World War One," Violet said. "Sunny's saying she wants to stay here and spy."

"Weel," Sunny said.

Violet gave her a look, obviously bothered by her decision.

"It sounds dangerous," I said.

"Of course it's dangerous," Violet said. "If she's caught spying, who knows what they'll do?"

"Ga ga goo goo," Sunny said.

"Those villains were talking about making more orphans," I said. "If Sunny can follow their planning, maybe we can prevent what we've gone through happening to anyone else."

"Bingo," Sunny said.

"I can't leave her behind," Violet said. "She's my baby sister."

"Not a baby," Sunny said, smiling.

I smiled half-heartedly. It was a touching moment for sure, but this wasn't the time to get choked up.

"Hey, baby, you better not be getting into trouble!" the hook-handed man shouted.

My eyes widened as Sunny shut the cage. Oh no. He sounded close. No time to get under the car now. "He's coming back, we have to go!" I whispered frantically.

"I can't leave you," Violet choked, and I felt my heart break. "How're you gonna get out?"

Sunny pulled a piece of fringe off her zipper and tied her hair up. "Inventor," she said.

A tear slid down Violet's face, and soon, my eyes were watering. Violet reluctantly clicked the padlock on the cage. "Here, take my lockpick," she said, handing over a piece of metal she'd fashioned into one. "You can use that to escape."

"Violet!" I urged, my heart beating faster. We were pushing it now. He was bound to come out of the tent within another minute.

"How did you get to be so brave?" Violet asked.

Sunny pointed at her, and more tears streamed down her cheeks as we stood up. We grabbed our candelabra legs and rushed back over to the edge of the waterfall. God, I hope I can still see on my way down. This moment hit me harder than I thought it would, mostly because I'd seen Violet cry for the first time. I promised to myself that no tears would happen on my watch, but I'd failed this time. Hopefully on our trip down I could try to comfort her, reassure her that everything was going to be alright even though I had no clue myself as to what the outcome would be. Quickly, but carefully, we dug our candelabra legs and fork-assisted climbing shoes into the ice and eased ourselves back down the waterfall.

I blinked away whatever tears were in my eyes. What I'd suggested Sunny do was lunacy. I can't believe I agreed that she should stay up here and spy. Violet was sure to hate me now, even if Sunny did volunteer to do this herself. I was supposed to protect Violet and everything she valued, not put it in jeopardy. God, Quigley, you're such an idiot, I scolded myself. When we took our next break, I vowed to make things right. Well, as best I could. The only way to do that was to bring Sunny with us, and we didn't. Hopefully, she'll be alright until we see her again. If something happened to her, I could kiss my relationship with Violet goodbye. And that was a thought I didn't want to think about.