Family Comes First- ASOUE

Chapter 59: We're Lucky After All

*Isadora's POV*

"Hypnosis, child labor, Count Olaf in a dress!!!" Mr. Poe exclaimed. "You children certainly have lively imaginations, but a lumbermill is no substitute for a proper guardian. You're fortunate that my wife is such a great investigative journalist."

"How did she find us?" Violet asked.

Polly walked in with a proud smile. "I heard there was an accident here and I came right away so I could get an interview for the Daily Punctilio."

"So you went to work on something you weren't assigned to do?" Duncan asked, sitting on the arm of Violet's chair. "What kind of newspaper just lets you do that??"

Violet giggled slightly. "I believe what Duncan means by that is, you found us by accident?"

"Exactly!" She answered, and Mr. and Mrs. Poe chuckled together.

"You're fantastic!" He praised.

"I had to! Trust your instincts!"

"Seriously she should get fired for that..." Duncan muttered after they left. "So unprofessional."

"Calm down, Duncan, it's fine." Violet said. "At least now we don't have to find a new home ourselves..."

"We never figured out what caused the fire." Klaus said thoughtfully.

"We know it wasn't our parents..." I shrugged.

"We don't know if Count Olaf will turn up again."

"We know Orwell wont."

Klaus pulled out the picture from his pocket. "We never solved the mystery of this photograph..." He said, staring at it.

"Oh!" We heard from the other room. Klaus put away the picture and Charles hobbled in. "Children... I want to thank you for saving my life... Because of your quick thinking, I only have a small cut on my foot! You certainly are clever children."

"Are you leaving Paltryville?" I asked, gesturing to his suitcases.

"Yes. I figured it'd be good for me to leave this place."

"Please tell us you aren't going to look for Sir..." I said. He had ran off during the night and I knew this because there was no smoke in the air.

"Heavens no," Charles answered. "I called the police on that bastard and once they find him, I'm serving him papers. Turns out he's been seriously lying about the mill's profits to multiple parties, including me. An old friend from college invited me in to help me get back on my feet. I wish you the best of luck, my dears..."

Charles began to leave but stopped. "That reminds me." He said, setting down his suitcase. He pulled a piece of paper out of his coat pocket and handed it to me. "I thought you should see this. Well, tallyho! I do hope our paths cross again..." He said, and left us.

I unfolded the singed paper and read the title out loud. "Chapter 12: The Paltryville Fire."

"That's a page from Sir's book." Violet informed me.

"The one Sir threw in the fire?" Duncan asked, leaning in to get a closer look.

"'The Baudelaires and Quagmires were unequivocally responsible,'" I read aloud, "'for putting out the fire and helping the survivors get back on their feet...'" That was all I needed to read to put a big smile on all of our faces. I carefully folded it back up and put it in my pocket with the spyglass' instructions paper.

"Kiddos?!" We heard from the door, and we looked up to see Phil, fitted with a prosthetic leg. We smiled even wider, if that was at all possible. "What's happened since I've been gone?"

"There was an accident." Violet explained. "Dr. Orwell died in the incinerator, and Sir ran off, so everyone's leaving in an hour or two. Charles decided to leave the mill to rot and he's moving in with a college buddy. Mr. Poe's taking us to our new home in a couple days, and we're leaving when his wife is done getting information for her news article."

"Well you guys are lucky!" Phil beamed.

"How...?" I said softly.

"Well you're still alive! That's lucky in my book! Life is a gift! And you still have eachother! That, kiddos, is very lucky!"

"I met someone at the hospital and we started talking, and they said this wasn't a good place for me to work, and offered me a recommendation to serve as a cook on a private submarine he used to work on!!! Exciting, amiright?" Phil ranted. "I love new experiences, so this is right up my alley! The submarine's owner sounded so nice and said that the guy had already called him to vouch for me and he said I'm hired! I start in a couple weeks."

"That's great, Phil," I said with a smile. "I hope it's a healthy work environment like you deserve."

"I'm hopeful that it will be!" He said with a wheezy chuckle. "Bye, Baudelaires! Bye, Quagmires! Bye, Isadora's bear! I hope I see you all again one day."

"We do too," Violet said, smiling brightly.

Phil left the room and I thought for a minute.

"He's right," I said. "I guess we are pretty lucky."

"Lucky enough, at least." Klaus agreed, grinning.

I stood and stretched, setting Bubba down in my chair. "I'm gonna go out for a little fresh air," I said. I left the building and leaned on a pillar, taking a deep breath and staring out at the Finite Forest. I smiled softly and heard a soft knock on the door.

"I hope you don't mind some company..." Klaus said, smiling a little bit.

"I don't mind at all..." I replied.

Klaus stood next to me and we both stared off silently. Finally, Klaus spoke up. "You had the right idea giving Orwell sass when we met her..."

"Something felt off about her." I said. "The sass is never wrong."

Klaus laughed. "Never wrong?"

"Never, ever." I giggled.

"Izzie... Did I hurt you while I was hypnotized?"

"What, no! Klaus I'm fine. And even if you did, it wasn't you. Physically, you did not hurt me at all."

"Well, specifying that I didn't hurt you physically makes me think I hurt you emotionally which feels even worse to me..."

"Klaus, it wasn't you. I know you. You wouldn't ignore me when I talk to you. You're always right there to comfort me when I get sad. Nothing you could have done to me when you were hypnotized matters to me because I know you, and I know how much you care for me. I'm just happy you're back and you'll stay you."

"I know... But hypnotized-me made you upset, and scared, and I just want to know how I can make it up. Duncan said while we're here we need to right every wrong that's happened. I just want to make things okay."

I thought for a moment. "'I hope all your bad feelings melt away; When I promise you I'm far more than okay.'" I said, and stood on tip-toe to kiss Klaus' cheek. I looked down at my feet, blushing and smiling softly. I glanced back up and his face was pink from blushing and he was smiling down at the ground.

"I'm um... I'm gonna go back inside to grab Bubba now, okay?" I said to him quietly.

"Okay..." He said, not moving his eyes from the ground.

I turned around and my eyes widened when I saw Violet, Duncan, and Sunny in the doorway all smirky. "What was that?" Violet asked teasingly.

"Umm... A couplet?" I offered, embarrassed. I pushed past them and went into the library, closing the doors behind me. I scurried towards a chair and picked up a pillow and squealed into it. I had just kissed Klaus!! I was incredibly giggly and so proud of myself.

Maybe things won't be so bad... Maybe we're lucky after all...