Illustration by Terry Craig Chapter Three
Part One
by Terry Craig
The phrase „between the devil and the blue sea,“ as you may already know, describes a situation in which a person is faced with two alternatives that are more or less equally unpleasant. The Baudelaires found themselves between the devil and the blue sea, as well as between the literal sea and a literally villainous figurative devil. They could run away from the newcomers from the sea with the villanous Olaf and miss the opportunity of getting help, or they could meet the new arrivals from the sea and risk getting into even more danger than with Count Olaf. But they knew they had to decide quickly or circumstance would decide their fate for them.
Violet was finally about to say something to her siblings, when all of a sudden the three heard something they would have least expected to hear at this moment in this place. Something they haven't heard since they have lived in their now burnt down mansion with their now deceased parents, who have been great opera enthusiasts during their lifetime. It was the rich and elegant tenor voice of Enrico Caruso, compressed by the fidelity of a vinyl recording and bedecked in its hiss and crackles, emerging out of the darkness of the night. The Baudelaire's heads turned to the sea—in the direction of the new ship out of which the glare of light and the music were coming from. The bright beam of the ship's searchlight seemed to have discovered the orphans and lingered on their bewildered faces. As Mr. Caruso's voice grew louder, silhouettes of the silent, arriving strangers began to form. The orphans stayed where they were and observed a tall man standing next to a playing phonograph on the oncoming ship's bow, leaning on the knee of his leg whose foot sat proudly on a stool in front of him. A foot which he then proceeded to set on the
Moth II.
Klaus turned to Violet. „Maybe we should go out and meet them,“ he suggested.
„I guess we don't really have a choice anymore,“ Violet said, with the searchlight's beam in her face. And so they went out of the bridge and on to the deck, where the tall man was now with the rest of the crew, awaiting the orphans as they came out.
„Identify yourselves,“ the tall man said in a strong voice, stepping forward and crushing something that sounded like a porcelain object under his heavy boot, and holding up a gas lantern to see their faces.
„This is my sister Sunny,“ Violet said, „this is my brother Klaus, and I am Violet Baudelaire.“
The man had an intimidating and intense presence. He was dressed like the captain of the newly arrived ship, but looked rather bedraggled, a word which here means „hasn't had a shave in a few days, was sweating profusely and had messy hair.“ When Violet mentioned their last name, a suspicious and slightly deranged twinkle appeared in his widely open eyes. But apparently he decided to keep whatever might have come to his mind to himself. „Where is Captain Alighieri?“ he demanded.
„We don't know where anybody is,“ Klaus answered. „We got here shortly before your arrival.“
He looked at Klaus and then thought for a moment. „Is anybody else with you?“
The children looked at one another, unsure if they should tell the man about Count Olaf. They feared that the new arrivers would not appreciate anyone with a travelling companion like Olaf.
„When we arrived the ship was already abandoned,“ Violet said quickly. This is something called a white lie. It is not a real lie, because you tell a part of the truth, yet you also conceal something else. It is considered to be used for greater good, like when your friend asks you whether you like her new green raincoat or not. If you tell her that she looks good wearing anything, that may be true and you avoid telling her that the new raincoat makes her look like a big menthol cough drop.
The man took an intense look at the three orphans with his feverish eyes, before shouting: „Jules!“
A young, barefoot seaman came over, squirming every time he stepped on one of the objects lying around. „Ow! Yes—ow—Captain?“
„I want you to watch the Baudelaires. Everyone else—search the ship if there's anybody else here!“ the captain yelled.
„Aye aye, Capt'n,“ Jules responded.
„You haven't told us who you are yet,“ Klaus told the captain.
He turned back to the children. „I'm Captain Arch Stanton of
The Marpole, and I'm searching for a certain product Captain Alighieri was carrying on this ship.“
„Who is Captain Alighieri?“ Violet asked.
„Listen—I don't know you, and I've got questions for you too. But right now is not the time,“ said Captain Stanton firmly. „I have to make sure that there isn't anybody else onboard and find the freight of the
Moth II.“ Now he adressed the barefoot seaman. „Jules, take them to the sea cabin.“
„Aye aye, Capt'n. Ow!“ said Jules as he stepped on a cufflink while turning to the Baudelaires. „Come on, kids.“
As the other seamen were spreading across the
Moth II, Jules lead the Baudelaires to
The Marpole.
„Pagliacci?“ Sunny asked.
„My sister wants to know why you're playing Caruso on the deck of your ship,“ Violet translated to Jules.
„Oh, that's—ow—because Capt'n Stanton is a big opera aficionado—ow—especially Caruso... Ow! He's a great man, the—ow—Capt'n. I'm sure he'll be glad to—ow—tell you about himself after we've found the freight. In the—ow—meantime, do you want to eat anything, Baudelaires?“
„We'd love to,“ Violet said, as the children remembered the aching hunger that has built up in their stomachs.
„Now, all we have to eat is pretzels, because that's what we're carrying on this ship,“ Jules explained as they got to
The Marpole's galley. „But I'm sure you're going to like them, they're very well baked.“ The Baudelaires would have welcomed any kind of food after eating white beans for several days. But as you can imagine, they would have preferred something warm for their empty stomachs instead. Nevertheless, they were grateful for what they were given and ate all the pretzels their bellies would allow them to eat.
„So, is
The Marpole a merchant ship?“ asked Klaus, who remembered a book on the different types of ships he once read.
„Not exactly,“ Jules said vaguely. „Just as the
Moth II isn't simply a cruise ship. And just as Capt'n Alighieri isn't simply a capt'n or salesman.“
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