Dr. Orwell stepped between them. In their excitement at having Klaus safe and with them again, Violet, Sunny, and Rowan had almost forgotten that anyone else was there.
Dr. Orwell turned to Violet first. "Put the baby on the ground."
"No, af-" Violet began.
"Put the baby on the ground." Dr. Orwell interrupted slowly.
"No, I-" Violet attempted to disagree again.
Dr. Orwell put her hand up to silence her and took Sunny out of her arms. She placed her gently on the floor and then pulled out a sword - a sword with a long, thin, sharp blade.
"Give her back!" shouted Klaus.
Dr. Orwell pointed the sword at his face and then pointed it at Sunny. Sunny did nothing except open her mouth. Whenever Dr. Orwell stabbed her sword, Sunny would move so that the sword hit one of her teeth instead.
"Good, Sunny!" whispered Violet.
"Keep on going!" whispered Klaus encouragingly.
Eventually, when Dr. Orwell realised that she couldn't beat Sunny with her sword, she out the weapon away and smiled.
"I may not be able to beat you with my sword, but I will still get one of you somehow!" she said triumphantly. "I do believe there will be a fatal accident at Lucky Smells Lumbermill after all!"
She stepped back as if she was thinking how to defeat the children, but she stepped right into a whirring saw. She let out a high-pitched yelp, but it was too late.
Klaus, Sunny, and Rowan turned away in disgust, and Violet went over to untie Charles. Foreman Flacutono simply stood there, arms folded, looking unimpressed.
Charles sprang up from the log happily. "Thank you for saving my life, Violet, Sunny, and Rowan." He turned to Klaus. "And, well, I'm sure you would have helped if you weren't... accidentally being the cause of it." He smiled.
"It's alright. It wasn't that hard to do when we figured out the trigger word." said Rowan.
Charles smiled. "I really do owe you my life, but unfortunately, I don't have much to give you." He frowned. "I suppose I could let you call the person who looks after your affairs, but Sir would have to agree."
Eventually, Charles managed to persuade Sir to let them use his telephone, and Rowan called Mr. Poe.
"Hello?" said Rowan.
"Hello. Poe speaking. Is this Sir?" said Mr. Poe through the phone.
"No."
"Klaus?"
"No, Rowan."
"Ah, Rowan White?"
"Yes. I think we should come away from this lumbermill."
"Well, a lumbermill is no suitable guardian now that I think about it."
Rowan told the story of their stay at the lumbermill.
"Mm. Mm. Mm. Okay. Mhm." Mr. Poe responded absently when they had done. "Yes, that does sound like a peculiar story! I'll be over soon."
Mr. Poe did arrive soon, and he exclaimed immediately about the strangeness of the story.
"Hypnosis! Child labour! Attempted murder! Count Olaf in a dress!" Mr. Poe chuckled. "What wonderful imaginations you have!"
"No, it's true." said Violet. "Klaus got hypnotised."
"No he didn't." said Mr. Poe disbelievingly. "Hypnosis isn't real! It's only in movies! But this lumbermill does seem dangerous. I'll take you away at once."
"Where will we be going?" asked Violet.
Mr. Poe considered this. "Well, if work didn't work for you, maybe education will."
"Education?" repeated Klaus.
"Yes, it's a word that means 'being able to learn'." said Mr. Poe. "There's a lovely school not far from here that I can take you to. Prufrock Preparatory School."
"That man tried to get me to kill Charles!" shouted Klaus, pointing at Foreman Flacutono as he walked cautiously by.
"Who's Charles?" asked Mr. Poe.
"It doesn't matter!" exclaimed Violet, trying to run. Mr. Poe had her hand in a firm grasp.
"I am so sorry for what I did." said Foreman Flacutono quietly. "I was hypnotised."
"You were hypnotised too?" asked Rowan, astounded. "See, Mr. Poe!"
Then Foreman Flacutono laughed, whipped his wig off, and ran away. Count Olaf, still dressed as Shirley, followed him.
"That man - the one with the mask and coat on - works for Count Olaf!" exclaimed Rowan.
"And the man in the red dress is Count Olaf!" shouted Violet. "In disguise!"
"Get him!" yelled Klaus.
Mr. Poe ignored them. "That was strange." he said, shaking his head in wonder. "Come along, children."
YOU ARE READING
Baudelaires and a White
Hayran Kurgu"I think we should do it." said Rowan quietly as the man opened the door. "Okay." said Violet. "But who are you?" gasped Isadora, sliding into the taxi. The man took a breath. "My name is Lemony Snicket, and I am here to take you away." Would the s...
