𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕋𝕨𝕠 ℂ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤 (ASOUE)

⇗ Chapter 13

As Violet and Sabine climbed back down the slippery slope of the frozen waterfall, their fork-assisted climbing shoes poking into the ice with each step, they looked down and saw, by the last light of the setting sun, the figure of Klaus. He was holding a flashlight over his head to help the two climbers find their way down, Quigley by his side, but it looked as if he'd just had an idea.

"He must have found a flashlight in the wreckage," Sabine said. "It looks like one I saw Kit using."

"I hope he and Quigley found enough information to decode Verbal Fridge Dialogue," Violet said, and tapped the candelabra below her feet. "Be careful here, Sabine. The ice feels thin. We'll have to climb around it."

"The ice has been less solid on our way down," Sabine said.

"That's not surprising," Violet said. "We've poked a great deal of it with forks. By the time False Spring arrives, this whole slope will probably only be half frozen."

"By the time False Spring arrives," Sabine said, "I hope we'll be on our way to the last safe place."

"Me, too," Violet said quietly, and the two climbers said no more until they reached the bottom of the waterfall and walked carefully across the frozen pool along the path Klaus shone with his flashlight.

"I'm glad you returned in one piece," Klaus said, shining his flashlight in the direction of the dining room remains. "It looked like a slippery journey. It's getting cold, but if we sit behind the library entrance, we'll be away from most of the wind."

But Violet was so eager to tell her brother who they had found at the top of the peak that she could not wait another moment. "It's Sunny," she said. "Sunny's at the top. It was her who was signaling us."

"Sunny?" Klaus said, his eyes as wide as his smile. "How did she get up there? Is she safe? Why didn't you bring her back?"

"She's safe," Violet said. "She's with Count Olaf, but she's safe."

"Has he harmed her?" Klaus asked.

Violet shook her head. "No," she said. "But he is making her do all the cooking and cleaning."

"But she's a baby!" Klaus said.

"Not anymore," Violet said. "We haven't noticed, Klaus, but she's grown up quite a bit. She's really too young to be in charge of all the chores, of course, but sometime, during all the hardship we've been through, she stopped being a baby."

"She's old enough to eavesdrop," Sabine said. "She's already discovered who burned down the V.F.D. headquarters."

"They're two terrible people, a man and a woman, who have quite an aura of menace," Violet said. "Even Count Olaf is afraid of them."

"What are they all doing up there?" Klaus asked.

"They're having some sort of villainous meeting," Sabine said. "We heard them mention something about a recruitment plan, and a large net."

"That doesn't sound pleasant," Quigley said.

"There's more," Violet said. "Count Olaf has the Snicket file, and he found out about some secret location – the last safe place where the V.F.D. can gather. That's why Sunny stayed up there. If she overhears where the place is, we'll know where to go to meet up with the rest of the volunteers."

"I hope she manages to find out," Klaus said. "Without that piece of information, all that I've discovered is useless."

"What have you discovered?" Sabine asked.

"I'll show you," Klaus said, and led the way to the ruins of the library, where the girls could see he and Quigley had been working. Klaus's dark blue notebook and Quigley's purple notebook were open, and they could see that several pages were filled with notes. Nearby were several half-burnt scraps of paper, stacked underneath a burnt teacup Klaus was using for a paperweight, and all of the contents of the refrigerator were laid out in a careful half circle: the jar of mustard, the container of olives, three jars of jam, and the very fresh dill. The small glass jug, containing one pickle, and the bottle of lemon juice were off to one side.