Post by Tiago James Squalor on Nov 18, 2010 10:52:57 GMT -5
Chapter Seven
That day was quite eventful at Old Oaks Orphanage, in the town of Ophelia. Since the orphans were busy taking other classes, Violet, Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice Baudelaire were excused to go their room by Olive Oakley, who always supervised the classes for some reason. In Klaus' room, the Baudelaire orphans examined the file on Esmé Squalor when she was still Esmé Salinger. They were very curious and eager to learn whatever they could on their number one enemy - now with Olaf long gone - and they were very surprised by this. They never really knew much about Esmé other than her taste for fashion, crime, money and villainy. The file even contained several photographs of a younger Esmé. One of the photos, in particular, had the inscription 'Esmé - 14 years old' on the back, written with red ink. When Violet looked at it, she was frightened. Klaus, noticing his sister's expression, also took a look at the photo, and was grimly surprised.
'Esmé...She looked like you when she was younger.' It was true. If the girl in the photograph didn't have brown eyes and a birthmark under her left eye, she could almost be a doppelganger - a german word which here means 'dead ringer' - for Violet. The resemblance was eerie, particularly in that Esmé was so different than Violet, but they had never noticed the physical simmilarity between the eldest Baudelaire and their ex-guardian and now sworn enemy, Esmé Squalor, née Salinger.
'Who is this girl next to her here?' Sunny said, picking up a different photograph. The girl had long, dark hair and kind bright eyes - the picture was in black and white, and they could not tell the color of her eyes - and held hands with Esmé, both of them smiling at the person behind the camera. Seeing Esmé smile without any trace of villainy or evil was a remarkable sight for the Baudelaires. Every smile they had ever seen Esmé give was filled with malice and ulterior motives. Could Esmé possibly have been a non-villainous, non-evil person? The Baudelaires were bewildered; they never stopped to consider the past of their enemies. Count Olaf had a past, and now he was in the past, only a memory. Fernald, the hook-handed man, had a past, which was partially revealed to them by Elizabeth Anwhistle not too long ago. And now the Baudelaire orphans were faced with the past of Esmé Squalor, née Salinger. However, they did not know there was much more to Esmé Squalor, née Salinger, than they imagined.
'I don't know. It says 'B and E' on the back. E is Esmé, obviously, but who exactly is B?' Violet asked, upon examining the photograph closely. 'Maybe B was Esmé's best friend during her time at Old Oaks.' Klaus guessed, and he was right. B was E's best friend for a long time. But like many things, that friendship ended.
'Hey, look at this. It says Esmé was the best student in Drama class.' Klaus said, upon examining a document concealed amidst the others. 'The teacher...Violet, you have to see this.'
Klaus handed Violet an old sheet of paper with Esmé's grades and class schedule. Listed under the other teachers was a name the Baudelaires knew very well. 'Al Flacutono.' Violet enunciated. 'Count Olaf.' Klaus said. Beatrice and Sunny Baudelaire whimpered, as the last thing they would have expected turned up in the files. 'Olaf taught Drama here? Now that one I did not see coming.'
'It seems this orphanage has a knack for bad teachers.' Klaus commented. Violet, Beatrice and Sunny agreed. All of the teachers were horrible both as teachers and as people, and the only good one was Olive Oakley and - the Baudelaires assumed - the other Oakley siblings, Oliver and Otto. 'It says here Esmé was his best student, and he wrote a letter of recommendation for her.' Violet said. 'Where did he send the letter? It doesn't say here.'
'I'm taking a wild guess, but I guess this is where Olaf recruited Esmé for V.F.D.' Klaus said. 'I'm looking over these records and they stop after Esmé turned eighteen. But she was not living here anymore, at the time.' The middle Baudelaire added. 'There's just too much missing here. Most of these documents are just routine stuff, Esmé getting in trouble for playing pranks on the teachers - except Olaf - and personal notes on her by Osborne Oakley, which was the headmaster at the time.'
'Esmé is a troubled girl who has seen her mother go to Addams Asylum, where she later died. Dr. Finch says that Francesca - or Franny, as they called her - killed herself in a psychotic fit.' Klaus read. 'Esmé's mother was called Francesca?'
'Or Franny.' Violet said. She grabbed other pages of the document and flipped through them, looking for something. 'Hey, look at this! A birth certificate.' Violet handed it to Klaus. 'Esmé Gigi Geniveve Salinger. Mother: Francesca Salinger, née Finch, father, Holden Salinger. Born October 31st, Ophelian Memorial Hospital, Ophelia.'
'Wait, Finch?' Sunny asked. 'It's what it says here.' Klaus said. 'It can't be Finch as in...Natalie and Nathan Finch, can it?' Violet asked. 'A common trait in small communities such as Ophelia is that many families are related between themselves either by blood or marriage, so it's not entirely impossible that Esmé could be related to the Finches.' Klaus said. 'And I, thinking Natalie and Nathan Finch couldn't get any worse. They're related to Esmé now?!' Violet said.
Before the Baudelaires could further discuss and examine the papers, a knock was heard. 'Baudelaires?' Olive's voice was heard. The Baudelaires barely had time to flip Klaus' bed's covers over the Esmé files to not let Olive know Klaus had stolen it. 'Oh, good, you're all here. I came here to inform you our guest has arrived.' Olive said. 'She is a widow, and she came here with her four adopted children to adopt one of our orphans. Please, come to the study downstairs, as I plan to introduce all faculty members to her.' Olive then swiftly left the room, before the Baudelaires had time to process what she just said. 'Wait, what?'
'A widow? Four adopted children?' Violet asked. 'Let's go check this out.' The Baudelaires got out of Klaus' room, Klaus locking the door behind them. They made it to the study in a few minutes, the doors were closed, and opening, them, the Baudelaires saw a tall figure, all dressed in black, with her back to them. Slowly, slowly turning around in a moment that was as terrifying as eternity, the Baudelaires recognized the woman before them, even if a mourning veil covered the upper part of her face, letting only a smile, painted with red lipstick, be seen. Her dark, long hair was tied up, and she wore a circular, black, felt hat from which the veil dropped, and a very elegant black suit and black heels, complete with black gloves and a handbag which was also black. They could not see her brown eyes, but they knew it was no other than the one and only Esmé Squalor who had again, arrived to wreak havoc one more.
'Oh, Baudelaires! This is...' Olive started to introduce them to Esmé, but a black glove encased hand rose in the air and Olive silenced. 'Thank you Miss Oakley. I can introduce myself. I am Esmé Gigi Geniveve Squalor, and I am a widow.' The red lips moved beneath the veil. 'These are my adopted children.' Her other black glove encased hand pointed to the left. The Baudelaires' eyes moved, and what - or more accurately, who - they saw next was the thing that shocked them most.
Natalie and Nathan Finch were standing there, dressed all in black, Natalie with a bonnet and a frilly and lace-decorated dress complete with black stockings and platform heels. Nathan was also all in black, as was the other girl next to him. Carmelita Spats wore what seemed as a copy of Esmé's outfit, in an attempt to emulate the villainess, or so it seemed. But it was the other girl standing next to Carmelita whose presence - and appearance - shocked the Baudelaires the most.
Cindry Fulfillment was nearly unrecognizable, dressed all in black, with a hairband piece with two black satin roses on either sides of her head. A heavy layer of mascara and eyeshadow covered Cindry's blue eyes and she was very pale and sickly looking, to the point that she could be mistaken for Natalie and Nathan's younger sister. She also wore a black dress and similar stockings and heels to those of Natalie, but less frilly and volumous. However it was not her physical appearance and outfit that shocked the Baudelaires, it was her eyes. She looked at them like she had never met them before in her life, with wicked indifference that they knew Cindry was not capable of feeling. Klaus' immediate reaction was to rush to Cindry, but Violet stopped him by grabbing onto his hand.
'I came all the way to Ophelia because I decided to give back. I am so rich that I could adopt all the orphans in this orphanage, but I will only adopt one, of course. I already have four.' Esmé said. Of course, Cindry, Carmelita, Natalie and Nathan were not properly orphans. Sure, Agnes Finch was dead, and as far as the Baudelaires knew, Cindry's mother was too, but they were not orphans in the strictest sense. The only real orphans in that room where the Baudelaires, Esmé Squalor and Olive Oakley.
'Well, we have four girls and four boys. They are all very good, I am sure you will like them.' Olive said. Miss Hannigan, who was also in the room, along with Mr. Remora. Ms. Bass, Mr. Flounder and Ms. Perch, started coughing. 'Just do not adopt Pepper. She will make your life a living hell.'
'Miss Hannigan! All the orphans deserve equal chances to be adopted. Pepper can be a handful, but honestly, I cannot say I blame her.' Olive said angrily. 'I did not come here to hear your bickering, Olive.' Esmé Squalor interrupted. 'I came here for a reason. But first, I'd like to visit the orchard, if possible.'
'The orchard?' Olive asked. 'Why?' Esmé's lips twitched, which they often did when she was angered. 'I like orchards, and I might donate money so that you can pay gardeners to tend to your oaks and apple trees.'
'Money!?' The four teachers and Miss Hannigan exclamated in unison. 'Well, Ms. Squalor, didn't you come here to adopt one of our children? Why the interest in the orchard?' Olive asked, intrigued. Esmé was now deeply frustrated. 'Well, if I don't see the orchard soon I might just not adopt an orphan here, how is that for you?' Only the most villainous people would make such a threat, and Esmé Gigi Geniveve Squalor, née Salinger, was one of such people. 'Calm down, Ms. Squalor, I didn't mean to be nosy. I just don't honestly believe anyone would want to go into that orchard. It's covered in poison oak leaves.'
'Do I look like someone who walks barefoot in an orchard, Miss Oakley? Walking barefoot in orchards is not in, so there is absolutely no reason to do it. Now I demand to be taken to the orchard.'
'You demand?' Olive asked. One thing could be said of Olive Oakley, she did have a backbone - an expression which here means 'was perfectly able to stand up for herself in front of a bully like Esmé Squalor.' 'Yes. I demand.' The atmosphere was of sheer tension in the study, when Mr. Flounder arose from his chair. 'If it is alright with you, Miss Oakley, I'll take Ms. Squalor for a stroll around the orchard, and she can have a look at the orphans when she comes back.' Esmé smiled.
'Come with me, Ms. Squalor.' Mr. Flounder said. 'Oh please, call me Esmé.' Esmé said, holding onto Mr. Flounder's arm and cackling with her loud, villainous laughter. 'I always get what I want. You four stay there. I'll only need you later.'
Natalie, Nathan, Carmelita and Cindry merely stood still in the study while Olive looked angrily at Mr. Flounder and Esmé Squalor, née Salinger leaving the room. She was not pleased. 'Who is this woman? Who does she think she is?' The Baudelaires, again, felt powerless. Not only had they been confronted again with Esmé's ominous presence, they could not say anything in front of the teachers or the Finch siblings and Carmelita, and they could not rush to Cindry's side and discover what was wrong with her. What the Baudelaires knew, however was that whatever Esmé had come for in the orphanage, it was not to adopt an orphan. The reason of her coming was buried in the orchard, and the Baudelaires needed to get to it, as soon as possible.