The Fourth Baudelaire

THE REPTILE ROOM: part 2

"Instead." He paused. "Let's discuss your poor, unfortunate parents." He said pointing to a photo of a piano that uncle Monty claimed was with him and his parents but where it wasn't possible to actually see them. "They were very brave in their days but their days are done Baudelaires" he finished imitating the sound of an explosion.

"That's not a picture of our parents!" Klaus and Camille stated.

"Yes it is, they're inside the piano" Stephano replied.

"How do you know that?" Klaus asked with confusion in his voice.

"I took the picture." Stephano said slightly confused that a smart or 'bookworm' (like he used to call Klaus) did not know that he took that picture as he always seemed to know everything.

"Now, all that's left of them it's just their enormous fortune and you annoying little children. But not for long and that fortune will be mine."
"Never!" The oldest Baudelaires snapped back at him.

In that precise moment when Stephano was about to be just millimeters away of Sunny's face, the screeching iguana clock, well it started screeching, what gave the Baudelaires enough time to run down the staircase again and secure themselves behind the very firm door that led to the reptile room.

In this case by the "very firm door", we mean that uncle Monty had designed this door to seem like it needed a lot of requirements to open it when the only that was needed was to turn the doorknob, but this of course was only something he revealed to his more trustworthy associates. So while the very firm door was near to be closed, Stephano threw his knife to the children in hopes that it would hit one of them.

Meanwhile Uncle Monty's Jeep was pulling over the driveway, where Stephano intercepted him showing some of his "identification papers" that as you and I know where nothing more than fakes.

Anyways Uncle Monty went inside the house looking for the children and he held a conversation with them where he explained that there was nothing to be scared because what Stephano did following them holding a knife was part of a strict exercise regimen, later on asking their help to carry inside the fire-proof canoe he had buy.

After 'hiding' under the canoe, Uncle Monty explained to the children that he could see through his theatre and that he wasn't fooled for a second that he was his real assistant, but what the Baudelaires didn't expect was that what he actually meant wasn't that he knew it was Count Olaf in disguise, but later on we will discover what he actually thought Stephano was hiding, and this mistake would cost more than something material as the children's fortune.

After the 'incident' of the crystal lamp flying out of the window into Monty's head, it was already time for dinner and so it meant that they were going to the movies later.

"Bambini, we need to be fast, or we are going to be late for the movie." Uncle Monty said while everyone was sitting at the table eating Chinese food.

"I think I'm going to pass. I'd rather stay here and read about some poisonous venoms." Stephano said with his annoyingly high-pitched fake voice.
"Well, I insist you come." Monty snapped back.

"Umm, I insist I stay here." Stephano continued.

"Uhh, I insisted first" Monty said cocking one of his eyebrows.

"Yes... but I-I- I insisted LOUDER." He told Monty screaming the last word.

"Ahaha..." Uncle Monty uncomfortably laughed. "Well, Stephano I don't feel quite comfortable leaving my dear specimens with a relative stranger." He continued when he was almost out of ideas. "I'm sure you understand that."