Chapter Six
Upon entering their room in the third floor of Montague Manor, the four Baudelaires conjectured about the latest events. 'Clearly Esmé is staying up at night not because it is
in, but because she's up to something,' said Violet, pacing around in the room, 'and she doesn't want anyone to know.' Klaus was sitting in an armchair, laying his head on his right hand. He touched his glasses as if putting back into place, and said 'I'm looking at this map, and if you'll notice, Violet, the room where Esmé is staying is near this open balcony-like corridor. There is a descending spiral staircase leading to the lower corridor, which is also open and leads to the yard. If you see closely, there is a mark here - and Klaus placed his index finger on the map to demonstrate - that reads in the legend, 'descending staircase.' I've checked other parts of the map for lower floors of the manor, but the only possibility is the basement, and there is nothing in that part of the map but a big question mark.'
'A question mark?' asked Sunny. Not long ago, while the Baudelaires traveled in the tiny submarine, the
Queequeg, they had encountered a mysterious monstrosity in the depths of the ocean which read like a question mark on the radar. That vision of pure terror, dubbed by some as 'The Great Unknown' had made such an impression on the Baudelaires' minds that they still had chills whenever the thought crossed their minds.
'Doubt' said the little Beatrice. She was almost to young to fully grasp the complexity of their situation, but somehow, she understood what were Violet and Klaus' intentions. With 'Doubt', Beatrice probably meant 'I don't know where you are going with this but you're not thinking of us going to the basement to investigate, are you? Because if you are, I don't think that's a very good idea.' Sunny turned to Beatrice and said gently, 'Don't worry, Bea, nothing is gonna happen. We'll just take a look and be back!'
'We have to be extra careful this time. We don't know who
else might be up at this hour of the night.' said the eldest Baudelaire, Violet, looking at the clock that laid above the fireplace in their room. It was just about to be midnight, and yet the Baudelaires were planning once again to get out of their room and investigate whatever they could.
'We should take candlesticks with us, most of the lights are out downstairs.' said Klaus, but Violet shushed him, an expression which here means 'put her index finger in front of her lips to tell him silently to be quiet'. At first the Baudelaires could not hear a thing. But suddenly, they heard a noise outside. The familiar, faint noise of the leaves of the coat ofivy and vines that covered the manor, but now it was almost as if something, - or
someone - was climbing the outside of the manor with relative ease, due to the great deal of support provided by the plant. Inside their room, the Baudelaires stood in a deathly silence as they heard the 'huffs' and 'puffs' of someone who was climbing the wall outside their window, which suddenly stopped. The person, they assumed, had climbed their way to the balcony outside their room. The heavy curtain of ivy covering the windows prevented them from seeing any sillhouette, but they could hear footsteps approaching.
All four Baudelaires silently retreated their steps towards the door of their room. The footsteps outside suddenly stopped, and manor's lights all went out. In the same terrible moment, the four terrified Baudelaires heard the cracking sound of glass being broken. And then a sound far more dreadful invaded their room, the hissing sound of quite possibly very poisonous snakes. Violet Baudelaire knew they didn't have much time. Without hesitation she ran to the door and shouted towards her siblings 'Come, NOW!' Klaus grabbed Sunny and Beatrice at the same time an ran towards the door, and Violet quickly closed the door behind them, the snakes hitting the door with several thuds not once second afterwards.
'Snakes! Bloody snakes!' Klaus said. Violet knew they had to take action. There was only one person in that manor that could possibly be behind that murder attempt, and she would not waste time in getting her and her family to safety, a word here meaning 'out of Montague Manor'. 'We have to find Cindry, and we have to do it now.' Violet said, as she would not leave without rescuing her friend. 'S-sure...' Klaus agreed. He was almost too scared to move, not to mention Sunny and Beatrice, who were both crying from the scare.
'Do you think Mortimer Montague might be responsible for this?' Klaus asked, as the four Baudelaires began to tread the dark - now even darker - halls of the manor. 'No, Mr. Montague is eccentric and likes to scare others for fun. It's not his style, Klaus. I know who did it, and I know why. Come, we must find Cindry!' and then Violet rushed into the darkness.
'No, Violet, wait!' Klaus rushed after her, with Sunny and Beatrice in tow. The halls of the manor were even darker, as the lights were still out. 'A possible blackout? Or sabotage?' Klaus could not make up his mind. Sunny and Beatrice were not heavy, but carrying them both at once took it's toll on the middle Baudelaire's speed, an expression which here means 'slowed him down considerably'. He could not reach Violet, and he heard a loud sound of a door closing, but not a regular door. It was almost as if a wall had opened and Violet took what would reveal itself to be a both good and bad turn, and the wall closed again. Klaus stopped in darkness and put his sisters on the floor. He crouched beside them, worried about Violet, his heart still racing from the past few moments which were still too vivid in his memory.
Not many seconds ago, Violet was still with them, and now she had ventured into the darkness, and lost herself from her siblings. Klaus began to realize that a very long night had just begun, a terrible night, a night that he and his sisters would want to forget. Forever.