The Acrimonious Addendum (completed)

Chapter Eleven

Violet POV:

I have to say that a road trip through the Hinterlands is a lot less fun then it sounds (and it doesn't sound very fun). Mrs. Gonzales ("Oh please call me Auntie Juanita, dear,") insisted on hailing us a taxi when she learnt of our journey, and that's how I came to be sitting with a tinfoil-wrapped parcel of quesidillas on my lap in the largest taxi that I've ever seen. It seats all eight of us, including the driver, comfortably. As Duncan and I are the eldest of our respective families we're seated in the front next to the driver. Quigley, Beatrice and Sunny are seated behind us with Klaus and Isadora behind them in the very back. It was quite a squeeze to seat Duncan and I in the front but now we're bumbling down the dusty country lane lane. "What's that coming up ahead?" Klaus asks, pointing to a sloppy, haind-painted sign that reads:
"HEIMLICH HOSPITAL GRAND REOPENING
Construction by VFD"
As we pull up I can feel something stirring inside of me.
Hope.

Duncan POV:
Assured by our promises that we won't be wrong the taxi driver parks near the sign and pulls out a well-worn copy of The Poetry of Edgar Guest and begins to read. Violet exits the car and begins to walk towards the sign, followed by myself and the others. Just beyond the sign is a large pit, and just beyond that is group of men standing around. Violet walks toward them, heralded by wolf whistles and a few "Hot damn!"s. Violet's face is neutral but I can see her fists clenching into fists at her sides. I walk a little faster to be nearer to her. Violet seems to have reached the leader of the group, a ruddy-faced and greasy looking man who is leaning on a shovel and smoking. "Are you VFD?" Violet asks. The man takes a long drag of his cigarette before answering. "Yeah, we're the Various Foundation Diggers. Who's asking?"
"My friends and I were wondering whether you could give us a tour of the site? We're avid fans of construction work."
"Well, it's not something that we'd usually do, but for you sweetheart I'll take you wherever you want to go." The man winks salaciously at Violet after speaking. Klaus looks disgusted and I take a step towards the man threateningly. "Don't touch her." I say protectively, but the man just laughs and takes another drag of his cigarette.
"Woah there, cowboy. I won't lay a hand on her. I'll leave that for you." hr says and winks again. Violet ignores him and walks to the side of the pit as Isadora whispers disgustedly to me, "they should be called the Vile, Filthy Diggers," as Violet peers over the side of the pit. "This doesn't look like it'll be ready for a 'grand reopening' any time soon. The foundations are completely burned. Was this damage from the fire ten years ago?"
"We don't know about any reopenings, honey. We're just here to dig the foundations. And no, this fire damage is about thirty years old. Apparently there used to be an entire sub-basement level that was burned to a crisp by two people who tried to sneak a girl out by disguising themselves as doctors to infiltrate the hospital and then promptly burned it to the ground when they were found out." Violey shivers as if recalling a memory and I make a mental note to ask her about it later. "Anyway," the man continues, "since the foundations are shot to hell, if you had to take a tumble it would not be a very fun day for you."
"Did the girl make it?"
"Scuse me?"
"The girl that they were trying to break out of the hospital. Did she make it out before the fire?"
"I should hope so. She was admitted for a skiing accident. It would be such a shane to see a pretty girl go to waste like that." The man begins to walk towards Violet who looks about five seconds away from slapping him across his greasy mug walks away and continues to look into the pit. The man returns to his coworkers but looks over to Violet and Isadora every so often. Isadora walks away from Violet and to Klaus and after the men look at her and give a raucous burst of laughter I finally see red. I'm walking towards them with fists clenched when Violet sees where I am headed and steps in front of me.
"I'm going to kill him."
"Duncan,"
"Dud you see the way that he was looking at you and Isadora?"
"Duncan, I,"
"I can't let him talk to you like that. I," but my lips are sealed with a kiss. Violet gently places a hand on the side of my face. Her voice is as gentle as her smile when she says, "Duncan, it's ok. We're ok."
"You're ok." I repeat.
"I'm ok." Violet whispers before walking away to join Sunny at the other side of the pit.