Chapter Seven
If you've ever travelled by automoblie, with your two siblings and a banker who is, more often than not, coughing into a monogramed hankerchief, than I'm sure you know how Violet Baudelaire was feeling on her way to the home of her new guardian.
She was happy, that could not be doubted; but fear, cold and suffocating, seeped into her, and could not be shaken.
A quiet had filled the vehicle not long after it's departure from the city limits. Klaus had made a game of reading all the passing road signs, and translating them into German, Latin, and Japanese. Sunny had immediately found an interest in chewing on the hard plastic of her seat belt. While, Violet on the other hand, was lost in thought, her unfocused gaze wandered along the relatively plain scenery.
What is going to become of us? A difficult question to answer. Violet wasn't sure of the meaning of 'us', whether she meant that the familiar, three Baudelaire orphans needed to worry about their future at the home of one, Dr. Montgomery Montgomery. Or was it the certain, 'us', that caused her to blush heavily with a single glance, and feel light-headed with a brush of fingertips? What was the fate of the two eldest siblings?
Violet hadn't been paying any particular attention to the road, so when the car came to an abrupt halt, she was jerked from her consuming thoughts and brought back to the present.
You probably would have expected Mr. Poe to have assured the children with a warm smile and something along the lines of, "We're here." or "Welcome home." but instead, the Baudelaires only recieved a stern glance through the rear-view mirror, and a another bout of ravenous coughs.
Mr. Poe got out of the car, shut the door, and walked around the back to the trunk. At this time Klaus dared a look towards his elder sister, whose wore a frown to match the gleam of fear in her hazel eyes.
"Violet, I-" but Klaus' words were cut short by the banker's sudden reapperance in Violet's window. She flicked the lock to 'open' and Mr. Poe obliged, sticking his head into the car, his breath a little too close to Violet's face for comfort.
"Come along,"There was a slight sterness to his voice that gripped their hearts. The children hopped out of the vehicle one-by-one, stretching their aching bodies, and smoothing their clothes, hoping this Dr. Montgomery wouldn't mind the state of their attire. Mr. Poe led the way, followed closely by Violet, who was holding Sunny, and Klaus who had grabbed the small amount of luggage the three owned.
"Now I want you children to behave," Mr. Poe instructed between coughing attacks. The small group walked purposefully down the gravel path leading to a pleasent looking house. The house seemed nice enough, but what made the Baudelaires wary were the various topiary snakes and other reptiles that loomed up around them.
"Don't think Dr. Montgomery is a leanient man, he sound quite the opposite when I spoke with him,"The banker turned and gave a weird stare to his anxious followers to punctuate his warning. Sunny thought Mr. Poe looked as though he'd just eaten a barrel of lemons, but her brother and sister found the eerie tone of his voice almost more frightening than the thought of their previous guardian.
"Uh...What sort of doctor did you say he was?" Klaus tried to change the gut-wrenching subject. Mr. Poe took a large breath, sighed, then turned back towards the house.
"I didn't...because I don't know. I was too busy arranging for you orphans, to bother asking."
When they finally stood in front of the door, Mr. Poe gave each child a once-over, then raised his hand to knock. Before he could bring his hand down on the wooden surface, Mr. Poe found himself face-to-face with a short, chubby man with a round, red face.
"AH! Baudelaires!" The man known as Monty Montgomery cried side-stepping the blank-faced banker.
As the apprehensive orphans approached him, Violet did her best to act brave, putting on an astonishing smile.
"Ah…my dear Violet. I remember you when you were this high!" Monty indicated a height not much larger than what Sunny stood now. He grabbed the eldest Baudelaire's outstretched hand giving it a friendly shake.
"This must be Klaus." Monty laughed, renewing his shake, this time with the middle child. "We've never met, but you look so much like your dear father." Klaus gave a shy, quiet, little smile that his sister's hadn't seen in quite a long time. "AAAhhh, and this must be the famous Sunny Baudelaire, those are some ferocious-looking teeth you've got there." Sunny bit Monty's out-stretched hand gently, showing her affection.
"Well you'd better come inside, we're feeding the anacondas...Mr.Poe, would you care to join us?" Monty smiled ushering the children into the house.
"No, no, I had best be off. Children, please behave yourselves, and if you need me just call-" but Mr.Poe was interrupted by the Baudelaires new guardian,
"All right, thanks for everything." Monty smiled while quickly shutting the door on the man who was just beginning another bout of coughs. "Now that we've gotten rid of him, we can start packing." He grinned at the orphans, then walked over to an open trunk, shoving a few items into it's depths.
"But I thought you said you were feeding the-" Klaus began, but Violet stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, he forgot what he had been saying, all of his mind focusing on the heat of her touch.
"What do you mean 'pack'? We've only just arrived." Monty turned back to the Baudelaires, walking forward, he picked up Sunny from the floor.
"We're going to Peru!" his voice was child-like with excitement. "We're going to study the Peruvian mountian snakes. Come now children, do not look so afraid! The Peruvian mountian snakes are known to be very docile, and are non-poisonous!" he added when he saw the looks of shock etched on his guest's faces.
"But, don't you think we should get to know each other first, before traveling to Peru?" remarked Violet, who was unsure of her new guardian's plans.
"An excellent observation, my dear. I can tell that you will be an enormous asset to our expedition." Monty said while leading the children towards the living room.
Soon after walking through a pair of doors, the man, who could be described as 'jolly', stopped abruptly. Violet, who had been immediately behind their new guardian, halted in turn. Klaus was too busy thinking thoughts that were definitely not appropriate to share with the world to notice the actions of the rest of the houses inhabitants, that he smacked right into Violet. He half expected his sister to jump away in embaressment, but she stood, rooted to the spot, her brother pressed warmly against her back.
"Well, I guess we could post-pone the trip for a few more days- just until you three darling children get accustomed to me." Monty laughed.
"Dr. Montgomery, that sounds like a wonderful plan." Violet's voice was calm and completely normal, but Klaus could feel her pushing back against him. God. Does she know what she does to me?
"Now, now. No need for the formalities here; we're family! Call me Uncle Monty, or just plain Monty if you prefere." The lively host spoke as he proceeded in the same direction. "Since everything is settle, let me show you around."
So the Baudelaires spent most of their first day walking about the gorgeous house of their Uncle Monty. He seemed the kindest man they had met in a long time, and to be honest, it was a great relief. All the horrible thoughts and fearsome doubts they had had before arriving were washed away in the caring tone of voice he used as he told the children tales of his travels, and even some things about their parents.
"You know, your parents like to travel aswell." Uncle Monty said while looking at a picture of a small island and three carefree people waving at the cameraperson.
"So you knew them well?" Violet asked, starring into the same photo, seeing to recognizable faces.
Monty laughed, "We were the best of friends for a while...anyway, that was the past, and now, I think it's time for you three to choose your rooms."
The Baudelaires threw each other a confused glance, then smiled back at their guardian. He lead them up a flight of stairs that reminded them of the elegant spiral staircase of the once-standing Baudelaire mansion. At the top, there was a long and brightly lit hallway, with many doorways and alcoves the children were eagar to explore.
"Here are your rooms," Monty flashed a triumphant grin to the awed children. In front of them rose three huge oak doors. "I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of a few personal touchs to each space. I hope you enjoy!" Then the kind man stood back and let them discover the wonders of their new rooms in private.
Klaus pushed open his bedroom door eagarly, flicking the switch and was instantly dazzled. Somehow, Uncle Monty must have known that he was an avid reader, because the walls of the room were lined with shelves, most of which were holding an assortment of books on various topics. To say that Klaus Baudelaire was in heaven, would be an understatement.
Slowly, he paced the room, running his fingers over the spines delicately, reading each title as he passed.
After scanning a majority of the shelves, Klaus decided he'd like to make a selection. so, just to do something new in his new room, with his new life, he knelt down and closed his eyes and grabbed a book from the bottom shelf. Without looking at his choice, Klaus crossed the room to where an extremely inviting armchair sat, with a large lamp next to it. Then he took a seat and closed his eyes again, bringing the book to his nose. Klaus had always loved the smell of old books, but this one was different. The scent was earthy, but also, it smelled strongly of burnt paper.
The curiousity bubbled up, and the middle Baudelaire finally opened his eyes, peering down at the dark green, leather-bound object, reading the small gold type on its cover. For a moment he held his breath, a confused thought causing a wrinkle to mar his forehead. Klaus surveyed the thick book, seeing some damage that seemed to have come from a fire, but nothing else, no indication or clue to help his quench his intrigue. He returned his sights to the front, reading and rereading the letters over and over, willing them to reveal their secret.
At a loss for what to do, Klaus spoke it aloud, as if to see if that would make the title any clearer.
"Friends, Feuds and Fires." He carefully opened the book, seeing that the title was rewritten within and he was just about to flip to the first page, when a single knock rang from his bedroom door.
"Come in,"He called, unwilling to relinquish the feeling of the chair or the book as if it might all just up and disappear; like this whole thing was a beautiful dream he was afraid to wake up from.
"Hi," It was Violet. She poked her raven-haired head around the door. "Come see my room,"Her voice was playful and insistent, but Klaus could her a familiar demanding tone to it that only came from her being the older sister.
"Yeah, all right." Reluctantly, he closed the book and placed it on the table next to his chair, silently promising himself that he would come back and read it as soon as he could.
Violet was sitting on her bed when her brother walked in with a happy smile on his face.
"Do you like it?" She asked, looking up from her sketch. Klaus glanced around the room, taking in the many boxes teeming with gadgets and gears and an abundence of thing related to inventing. He smiled at his sister, nodding and moving to sit next to her. When he sat down on the soft, definitely un-lumpy bed, his eyes met Violet's in a very intimate stare.
"I love it," the words coming out in a sort of murmur. The two eldest Baudelaires hadn't had any alone time since they had been freed from the clutches of Count Olaf, so, seeing this opportunity, they silently agreed to take advantage of their situation. Slowly, Klaus reached out his hand, placing gingerly against the flesh of his sister's neck, feeling the warmth and the beating pulse. He gazed deeply into Violet's eyes before leaning down to kiss her.
Klaus' lips hovered dangerously close, ghosting over his sister's lips, reveling in the warmth of her breath. As he finally closed the distance between Violet turned her head, causing Klaus lips to meet the curve of her cheek, insted of her mouth.
"Klaus wait, I want to show you something," She rose to her feet, pulling him up with her. Hand in hand the two crossed the room, back to the bedroom door. Violet reached her free hand up and closed the door, that had been left open thoughtlessly. Klaus' breath left him in one swift moment. They were standing in front of a large sepia picture of a group of people.
Klaus immediately recognized two smiling people in the the left side of the photograph.
"Mom...Dad..." He leaned close, studying his parents happy expressions, trying to keep the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes. Violet squeezed his hand in comfort. She brought her fingers up to the picture and gentley brushed at the heartbreaking, bittersweet scene that haunted her every waking thought.
"I miss them Klaus." Her statement was simple but it hit her brother like a bag of bricks right in the chest, his throat tightened in aching, sickening sadness.
"I know Vi, I know," Klaus pulled Violet to him, wrapping his arms around her body and grasping tightly, trying to convey his every emotion in this one embrace. Violet buried her head into her younger brother's shoulder holding her composure as best she could. Be strong for Klaus and Sunny. She couldn't afford to do anything less.
The intimate time was suddenly interrupted by footsteps coming up the stairs leading right to Violet's bedroom. Though this situation was not so secretive, the familiar rush of adrenaline coursed through the eldest Baudelaires. The need to keep their personal lives at a safe distance from any outsider made Violet push Violet behind her door just as she opened it a crack to greet her not-so-welcome visitor.
"Oh, hello there Violet, dear. Have you seen Klaus anywhere? He doesn't seem to be in his room." Klaus heard Uncle Monty's calm voice inquire. A mischievious thought popped into his hormonally driven mind.
"Uh, no Uncle Monty, I haven't seen him. But I bet he's probabl-uh...he's, ummm..I'm not sure." Klaus' grip had found it's way to the laces of Violet's dress, and were in the process of loosening her restricting garment.
"Are you all right?" Monty frowned at the flush that had so quickly risen on Violet's cheeks. She coughed once, clearing her throat, than replied,
"Of course..just tired, I think I'll turn in soon. Klaus is probably looking around...y-you have a beautiful -ahem- lovely home." Monty seemed to accept her response because he bid her a good night and walked back down the stairs humming a familiar tune as he went. When the humming was almost inaudible, Violet shut the door, and spun around to face her menace of a brother.
"You!" she fumed looking slightly disheveled with a dress strap hanging loosely on her arm, and completely furious. Violet stalked forward, a glint sparkling in her dark eyes. Klaus smiled devilishly, then backed away, half afraid of what his older sister might do.
He backed up until his heels hit the side of Violet's bed. And before he could think of a calming word she pounced, knocking Klaus off his feet. They landed heavily upon the soft bed, instantly finding each others lips. Their limbs tangled helplessly as they moved together clumbsily at first, then hungrily. Violet shifted her hips and gasped as they aligned perfectly with Klaus. The pressure on his arousal made his arch up into Violet's body, a heady moan slipped past his lips before Violet leaned down to smother his sounds.
Klaus' roaming hands found their way back to the dangling ribbon that kept his sister's dress from coming off completely. He gave a small, yet strong tug, and was met with Violet's lust-filled gaze on him. Her eyes were dark, her pupils blown, and there was something in there that Klaus was trying to make out.
"Violet..." The sound that came out of his mouth was deep and rough, and so unlike his usual voice that he almost thought it hadn't come from him. Klaus gave a small smile, his eyes questioned her in a way his words couldn't. Can I? Violet blinked, her chest still heaving with short panting breaths. She leaned down again, pressing her mouth to Klaus' ear, one single word that would forever be burnt into Klaus' brain,
"Yes."
more? good? bad? i hope you don't hate me too much for not keeping up with this story..and for ending it there.. but i still would love and appreciate feedback. Hugs and Kisses for beautiful readers, Liadan.