Coraline - Violet Baudelaire

17. Lock-Picks And Unladylike Behavior

The Reptile Room

***

Coraline pressed her back into the wall, holding her breath so as to not make a sound. She and Violet, who was holding Sunny, were pressed behind the door, listening to the sound of Count Olaf's heavy footfalls coming up the stairs. It was a tight squeeze, with Violet and Coraline's hips and arms and shoulders pressing together as they tried to make themselves as small as possible. Then again, they were in a much better hiding place than Klaus. The poor boy was dangling out the window by the tips of his fingers. 

"Oh orphans, our ship awaits! Orphans?" Count Olaf opened the door, which moved back to mere inches in front of Coraline and Violet's noses. They tried their hardest not to flinch as the villain stalked through the room like a predator hunting its prey. When he went to open the creaky closet door, the two teenagers and the baby used the noise and distraction as an opportunity to creep out of the room. 

As they made their way to the exit of Uncle Monty's house, careful to avoid the reptile room where the adults were gathered, Coraline noticed the apprehension on Violet's face. The blue haired girl knew that the eldest Baudelaire didn't like the idea of splitting up, even though logically only one could get into the reptile room and that would have to be Klaus. She couldn't help but worry about her brother, and, if Coraline were being honest, she was worried for Klaus too.

"He'll be okay," she said in as comforting of a whisper as she could manage, "Klaus is smart, he knows what he's doing."

Coraline was trying to convince herself that it would all be fine as well as Violet, even though she felt like every word out of her mouth was a lie. 

Violet nodded, jaw clenched, shoulders tensed, "right. Let's go. We need to act now, while Olaf is still distracted."

Coraline followed the brunette and the baby out of the house to Count Olaf's car, still crashed along the side of Lousy Lane, all his luggage still strewn about after the trunk had been popped. Violet set Sunny down beside the car. 

"You'll be comfortable here," she said, "do you think you can watch the door?"

"Roger," Sunny babbled. 

Violet then turned to Coraline, "you look through the unlocked cases, I'll check the locked ones."

"On it," Coraline replied, busying herself with the task, looking through clothing and wigs and theatrical items for anything suspicious that could be used to prove Olaf's guilt. Meanwhile, Violet studied the unlocked suitcases and trunks with a thoughtful expression, before pulling the ribbon off her wrist and tying up her hair. After a moment's thought, she passed the car key to her sharp toothed baby sister. 

"Do you think you can help me out?"

Sunny began to nibble, making quick work of turning the key into a pick with those unusual teeth of hers, before passing it back to Violet with a proud noise. Violet smiled faintly, "thanks, Sunny."

Violet fiddled with her makeshift lockpick, twisting it inside the keyhole until she heard a click. She threw open the suitcase to reveal some more clothing and other miscellaneous items. The girl made a curious noise as she studied the various unidentified possessions, trying to figure out what each one was.