The Quagmires

Chapter 24: The Troubled Triplets

There are many unpleasant feelings in this world, ones I have already mentioned before, and many more. One of those many unpleasant feelings is not coming to a conclusion or solution after hours or days of work. The Quagmires will soon find themselves without a conclusion to their troubles.

"You've got quite the story, Quagmires," admitted Justice Strauss. Duncan and Quigley nodded in sadness as Hector frowned. 

"Do you think you could help us find our sister?" Quigley asked, desperate for the answer 'yes'.

"I might."

All the faces present in the library lit up, except for Justice Strauss's face because it was buried in thought. "If you all jumped from the same place, you must've landed close to each other."

"But she wasn't at the beach," Duncan stated.

"There's no harm in double-checking," the Justice declared.

"I agree," began Hector, "It's a reasonable choice, and the only choice we've got."

"Before we go," Quigley began, but he seemed a little bit embarrassed.

When Justice Strauss noticed his long pause, she asked, "What is it? It's alright to ask for help sometimes, Quigley."

"I haven't had anything to eat since I retrieved the sugar bowl from Anwhistle Aquatics, which is about two days ago."

Justice Strauss gasped when she heard what Quigley had. "Come on, follow me. You should've said something earlier."

Quigley let out a sigh of relief as he, Duncan, and Hector followed Justice Strauss into the kitchen. She opened the fridge door and announced, "Help yourselves to whatever you please." 

They all ran to the fridge because all they've had in weeks is water, vegetables, and fruits. Quigley's last 'food', however, was a sugar cube from a sugar bowl he retrieved from Anwhistle Aquatics. Before that, all he had was excessive, roasted marshmallows. He was sick from all the sugar.

"To your luck, I made a hot meal not too long ago. I don't know why, but I had a feeling I should make the meal enough for four people. I guess it was in hopes for the Baudelaires to return, but I have you to share it with."

Hector, Duncan, and Quigley smiled widely and took a seat on the dining table. Justice Strauss placed a plate in front of every seat, four to be exact, and began scooping rice into each plate. She then topped the meal off with a chicken leg for each person.

"This looks delicious!" Quigley exclaimed in delight, and not too long after, every person's plate was empty.

"I haven't had a decent meal in weeks," stated Duncan.

"Thank you," said Hector.

"I'm glad to be of service," smiled Justice Strauss. "Now, let's get to work on searching for your sister."

"Right," agreed Duncan. "Justice Strauss, I know we've already asked much of you, but do you happen to have a spare notebook that I can use for journaling?"

"As a judge, I always have a spare." She declared, and then she walked out of the kitchen. Soon after, she came back holding a black commonplace book and a pencil.

Duncan frowned slightly and said, "It's just like Isadora's old one." Quigley frowned too but Hector and Justice Strauss gave them sympathetic smiles. "Thank you."

"It's no problem."

They immediately left the house and walked a few blocks before arriving at the rickety trolley. They then boarded the trolley to Briny Beach. Luckily, it was quite a dim day, so no one was at the beach.

"I think it's best if we split up," declared Hector.

"That way we'll cover more ground in less time," added the justice, "Good idea."

The two triplets nodded their heads in agreement and split up. Justice Strauss walked to the far left of the beach, near a few large rocks. Hector decided to search for any signs of Isadora a few meters away from the rickety trolley. Quigley chose to look near the center of the beach, and to his right, Duncan searched near the broken, wooden stairs beside the tunnel of the rickety trolley. 

Quigley looked around for any signs of his sister; a blazer, a tie, a grey sheet, but nothing was around. All he saw was pieces of wrecked wood, a stone marked with an 'X', and litter on the ground. He turned to his right, only to see Duncan on his knees, sobbing into a ripped piece of a damp, grey sheet. He ran towards him, his leg feeling much better now, and kneeled beside his brother. It didn't take Quigley too long to realize who that ripped piece of sheet belonged to.

"Is that-" he paused, almost choking on tears that were welling up in his eyes, "Isadora's?"

Duncan nodded, his face still buried into the sheet. "Something terrible must've happened," he sobbed, "Or this wouldn't be ripped."

Quigley wrapped his arms around his brother, and allowed a tear to silently escape his eye. Not too long after, Quigley found himself wrapped in Duncan's arms. Duncan was still holding onto the ripped piece of sheet as he hugged his brother back, silently crying. 

- - - 

It took the justice and Hector a while to realize that Duncan and Quigley were crying. Justice Strauss ran as fast as her old legs allowed her to, and Hector approached the Quagmires in shaky legs. 

"What happened?" Hector asked in great worry and fear.

Duncan and Quigley let go of each other and wiped their tears, almost simultaneously. Duncan handed Hector the piece he had found. "We found this," he stated in a dark tone.

"That looks like my grey sheet, but I picked mine up hours ago," Hector explained.

"It also looks like Isadora's," explained Quigley, "And since we didn't find her, this is probably hers."

Justice Strauss finally caught up with them, but Duncan and Quigley were too exasperated to reexplain. Hector saw the tired looks on their faces and decided to explain instead.

"This sheet," he began as he showed her the grey sheet he was holding, "Was Isadora's."

"It was the sheet she covered her mattress with," Duncan added.

"And the one she used as a parachute," Quigley added too.

"Oh my," gasped Justice Strauss.

"I know. What's worse is that it's ripped," stated Hector.

Tear were already filling into Quigley's eyes when his brother told him, "Look. You've got to stay strong, for Isadora. She wouldn't want us crying over losing her, and if we don't find her, I know she'll find us."

Quigley decided to let his tears fall, but he also decided he'd be strong right after. "You're right. We'll find our way to her, or vice versa. Man, she's probably already cursing at me for my stupid invention," he laughed. Duncan smiled at his brother, and so did Hector and Justice Strauss. 

"What do we do now?" asked Hector.

"I think we need to go back to your house, Justice Strauss," suggested Duncan. "If you don't  mind."

"I agree," acknowledged Quigley, "We need a proper environment to think."

"Alright, let's go."