memento mori ◈| k.baudelaire (COMPLETED)

Ⅳ: The Miserable Mill-edited

To Beatrice-
My love flew like a butterfly until death swooped down like a bat. 

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While the children were on the way to the lumber mill, they continued to worry about whether or not Mr. Poe was wondering about them. Violet had peaked over the truck bed to look into the car but the driver had noticed her. "What the gum?!" The motor vehicle immediately stopped and the driver kicked the four orphans out, exclaiming to them that they needed to get a job.
"What now?" "We walk."

After a long walk, the children were finally out of the woods. They were met with a village that was burnt down, and the only thing standing was the lumber mill. "The only thing standing between us and all our parents' secrets... is a tall wooden wall." "What if we don't like what we find? Knowing can be a terrible thing." Klaus interjected. "But not knowing, isn't that worse?" Ana reasoned.

Violet had placed Sunny down on a nearby barrel of gunpowder, as she reached for her ribbon to put her hair up. " I bet I can invent a catapult to launch us over." "I could probably make an explosive to get us through" "I read a lot about walls. The Wall of Jericho, The Great Wall of China." "All I need is a lever, a counterweight, and a very large spoon." "I just need some propane, carbon dioxide, and a match," Ana said, which startled the middle Baudelaire. Sunny however just pushed the wooden wall open. Klaus had noticed a sign that read, 'WARNING Trespassers Will Be Put To Work'.

"Does this make us trespassers?" "We're children." "Those aren't mutually exclusive." "If we get caught, we'll just say we were on a school trip. Come on." Ana said as she walked in. "What are we looking for exactly?"

"We'll know when we see it."

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The children had only walked around for a few seconds, and they noticed a tower with a window with the same eye as on Count Olaf's ankle. "It could just be a coincidence."
Klaus yelped as someone's hand came in contact with his shoulder. They all turned around to face a man, who also yelped when the boy did. "Forgive me. I thought you might be trespassers. But now I see you're just children." "We are on a school trip," Ana explained. "Well, this lumber mill is hardly a safe place for children. I should know I run it, I'm Charles." Ana then took the picture of their parents and showed it to Charles. He immediately noticed who they were, and the children could tell by the look on their faces. However, the man only said that they should meet his partner. He explained to the children what happened to the town that was burnt down. "Oh, well here we are. Children, I would like you to meet-" "You can call me Sir." A man with silver hair, a mustache, and a cigar spoke to the children. "Everybody does, 'cause I tell them to, 'cause I'm the boss. Even my partner here." "Doesn't partner mean equal?" 

"I do all the work. He irons my clothes." " I also cook your omelets." However 'Sir' tells Charles to put the children to work. It would teach the orphans responsibility, hard work, and how to make flat boards out of wood. "If we work here do we get to stay here?" "And do we get disclosure from the outside world?" "See these two get it. In this economy, children are lucky to have a job at all. What are y'all names?" "I'm Violet Baudelaire, and this is Anastasia O'Malley-" Right as Violet said that the man had a wave of remembrance flash over his face. "A Baudelaire... and O'Malley." "Do you know those names?" "Of course, every man, woman, and child in this town knows the names of "Baudelaire" and "O'Malley"," the man said. "Did you know our parents?" "If you wanna know about your parents, they-" The man suddenly gags on the smoke from his cigar. "Seriously. Every time we're about to get answers." Ana said as she rolled her eyes.

"It's these cigars, I hate them, but I just can't quit. I'm the boss. Now where was I? Oh yeah. There's a reason this town will never forget those names. Your parents were the ones that burnt it down. " The children looked at each other in awe. Their parents. Their loving parents had burnt down an entire town. "Why are you still standing there!?! You got work in the morning!"