Memento Mori

Chapter Five

Duncan and Isadora walked with Mr. Poe to his car, their eyes glued to the slightly torn newspaper in front of them. Isadora held the left page and Duncan held the right page, their tears falling on the page they held.

TRAGIC EVENTS AT QUAGMIRE MANSION

The famous Quagmire mansion, located in the City, was destroyed in a terrible fire that occurred at about 10:10 in the evening. Duncan (youngest) and Isadora (middle) Quagmire were safely in bed at the time of the fire, whilst Quigley, their brother, was, according to possibly unreliable sources, downstairs in the library. Karen and Quinten Quagmire (mother and father) were apparently downstairs reading. 

Duncan and Isadora were rescued, presumably by their parents, but Quigley was not saved in time and unfortunately died along with his parents. The Official Fire Department did arrive when  they were called by the Quagmires' kind neighbours, but neither they or the Volunteer Fire Department arrived in time to stop the fire.

The two remaining triplets (now officially orphans and twins) were taken away by a fire truck. They were reported as being very upset, and sobbed and held hands until they arrived at the station. They are now under the care of Arthur Poe, who will soon send them to Prufrock Preparatory School.

If you have any concerns or questions about Quinten, Karen, Quigley, Isadora, and Duncan Quagmire, please contact Mulctuary Money Management, Arthur Poe, Section 7.

The triplets sobbed and sobbed until the newspaper was almost soaked through with their tears. Mr. Poe didn't even look behind him to comfort them, but just coughed and coughed. 

"Ah, this is my car!" exclaimed Mr. Poe like this fact was something extraordinary. "Get in, twins, get in."

"We're actually triplets." said Duncan politely.

"Ah, yes, sorry." Mr. Poe apologised. "I keep forgetting about your dead brother."

Even though Mr. Poe meant well, and didn't mean those words in a cruel way, it still stung the children. The newspaper stung the children - now officially orphans and twins - and Mr. Poe's words stung them. It stung them to finally know that their home was gone, their parents were gone, and their brother was gone. They had nothing except two commonplace books, two pencils, a crumpled newspaper, and each other.

"I don't want you thinking you have nothing." said Mr. Poe as he started his car. "After all, your parents did leave something behind!"

"What did they leave behind?" asked Isadora, a note of nervousness in her voice.

"The Quagmire Sapphires." said Mr. Poe as he began to drive off. "It will act as a fortune."

"How did we never hear about this?" asked Isadora, pulling out her commonplace book and pencil as Duncan slowly rested his head on her shoulder.

We didn't even know that we had sapphires

Now we are the only remaining Quagmires

"That's a good poem, Issy." murmured Duncan, using a nickname he had called her when they were little.

Isadora couldn't help but smile. "Thank you."

The journey wasn't a very long one. It turned out that Mr. Poe didn't live that far away from Briny Beach. They would be staying with Mr. Poe (and his wife and children) whilst Mr. Poe waited to hear if the children would be accepted.

"Ah, we're at my house, children." Mr. Poe said, and pulled up in front of Mr. Poe's small house.