Baudelaires and a White

Chapter Fifteen

As usual, Sunny was the first to wake up, and then Violet, who was often woken up by Sunny playing with her hair or gently pinching her. Both of them remembered where they were going and who they were going with and began to get ready.

Then Klaus woke up. He went to put his glasses on, but then found that he had fallen asleep with them on, half-way through a book called The History of Peru. Seeing the title of the book made him remember what was happening, and he, like his sisters, began to get ready.

Rowan was woken up by the gentle clicking of the Sunrise Lizard, his favourite type of lizard that Monty had let him put by his bed. He found it slightly strange that he had been woken up by his lizard and not Monty.

"Maybe he's packing for Peru," Rowan said to himself, and began to get ready.

Violet walked into Klaus's room with Sunny, and, seeing that he was ready, the three decided to go upstairs to Rowan's room.

They did, and he let them in once he was ready. They talked about how excited they were to go Peru, with Sunny shrieking things like, 'Exciru!" which meant, 'I am excited to go to Peru.'.

"Hurry up, orphans." yelled Count Olaf, but still in his poor accent.

"Why? We're going to see our Uncle Monty." shouted back Klaus, using 'Uncle' to show that they really had got used to him, like Monty asked.

"We need to tell him something." Violet shouted.

"No, you don't." Count Olaf said in his Stephano voice. "We're going to Peru."

"Peru?" repeated Violet.

"We're not going to Peru." Klaus said. "Not with you."

"We wouldn't go to the end of the driveway with you." added Rowan.

Count Olaf growled. "Fine. Go and ask your precious Monty what he thinks. He's in the Lizard Living."

"The Reptile Room." corrected all four children (Sunny said "Snab.").

"Well, then, go to the Reptile Room and ask your nice little uncle if you are going to Peru together like a happy, loving family." Count Olaf said.

The children glanced at each other, and then Violet shouted, "We will,", and they walked out.

When they reached the door of the Reptile Room, Klaus looked around, realised that Count Olaf wasn't watching, and then typed in '2264' on the machine. The door clicked, and Violet gently pushed it open, not worrying about shutting it behind them.

"Monty?" called out Klaus.

"Uncle Monty?" shouted Violet.

"Coun- Stephano asked us to come to you." Rowan added.

"Monty!" shouted Klaus.

No answer.

"No answer," said Violet.

The children walked further, and then reached his desk.

"The chair is turned away from the door." observed Violet. "That's strange, he never has it like that."

The children walked so that they were facing the seat of the chair, and what they saw shocked them.

A body - Monty's body. He was sitting in his chair, the side of his head resting on his right shoulder. His eyes were almost all white, except for his pupils which looked darker than usual in his pale face.

"Monty." breathed Klaus.

"No," Violet muttered.

"Look." Rowan said quietly, pointing at his face. "He has two holes under his eye. Murder."

"Murder disguised as snake bite." added Violet.

"Murder by Count Olaf." said Klaus finally, as the man entered the room.

"You're an evil man!" exclaimed Rowan, tears beginning to form in his eyes. He had been living with Count Olaf for just over three years, and knew that he was capable of abuse and theft. But murder - he would never have imagined Count Olaf murdering someone.

"Evil? What have I done to make me evil?" asked Count Olaf. The children couldn't understand why on Earth he was still bothering to disguise his voice now that Monty had gone.

"Oh! I don't know." said Klaus sarcastically. "Murdered Uncle Monty, perhaps?"

"Ha!" Count Olaf laughed. "You think attempting to marry Violet and murdering Dr. Montgomery makes me evil. But you haven't seen the last of it!"

"Oh!" Klaus exclaimed.

"What?" Violet and Rowan turned to him.

"I didn't know that Stephano tried to marry Violet." Klaus said slowly. "Count Olaf did, but not Stephano. And you have just admitted murdering Uncle Monty."

Count Olaf's eyes went wide, and he seemed at a loss for what to say. But at last, he said, "Get in the jeep. The boat leaves soon."

"No!" Violet exclaimed.

Count Olaf pulled his knife out of his pocket and pointed it at Sunny. "I said, get in the jeep. Or my knife, which I use for scientific purposes, such as cutting up snake food, might accidentally stab the little monkey," he shifted his knife to Klaus's direction, "Or maybe the bookworm." He shifted his knife again to point it at Violet's chest. "Or the smartypants brat," he said. Then, he pointed his knife at Rowan's arm. "I can't kill this one, but what would happen if my knife accidentally pierced the spoiled only child's arm?"

The children gulped and followed Count Olaf.

When they reached Monty's jeep, Count Olaf used the car keys, which he had obviously stolen, to unlock the car.

Violet opened the car door and climbed in, followed by Rowan, then Klaus, then Sunny. Count Olaf sat in the front seat.

He slammed his hand down on the steering wheel. "This thing won't work!" He pressed all of the buttons until the car started, as well as the radio.

Count Olaf drove the car so fast, not obeying the speed limit at all, until he was out of the driveway.

Then, a car crashed into the jeep. The children screamed and Count Olaf uttered a curse.