𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝚗𝚍

Chapter 15

A lost ocean

Quigley, Violet and Beatrice had just reached the bottom of the wall and had reunited with the others when they heard a loud crack, but this time it wasn't thunder.

They then heard yelling, Violet met the panicked eyes of Quigley as he shoved her telling her to run.
"Go, everyone run, follow Klaus, Go!" He said in a hushed yell, and then grabbed Violet's hand a pulled her behind him as they began their race through the thicket of trees and brambles.

The children ran through the forest, through the leaves and the heavy rain, brambles and thorns scratched their skin, mud splashed up their legs, debris was tangled in their hair. All the while Quigley held Violet's hand tightly, refusing to let his grip slacken for even one moment for the fear of losing her.

The rain eventually subsided and the children, although worn out continued their journey at a walking pace, they could not risk the chance that Frank and Ernest might find them. As a result of the rain there was a thick misty fog lingering in the air, so thick that when Klaus crossed paths with a beehive he ran straight into it, the nest fell to the ground and split, a cloud of angry bees then emerged from the shell, swarming and attacking those at the were at the front of the group (Klaus and Isadora were the most unfortunate when it came to suffering stings).

In the desperate attempt to avoid the swarm the children dove into the trees, running as fast as their weary legs could carry them until they spotted a distant body of water, beneath a small drop.

"What do we do!" Isadora cried as she came to a stop in front of the ledge, the bees had stung her up and down her arms and she was perhaps the most eager to escape the swarm.
"Jump into the water!" Violet replied, she had somehow avoided getting stung during the mayhem, perhaps as Quigley ran so closely to her he suffered the stings instead, shielding her and Beatrice.

So the seven children plunged into the cold depths below, Violet holding Beatrice afloat, and Quigley was forced to release her hand, although he still kept a careful eye on her, perhaps Quigley would always be overly protective of Violet accounting for the stress and trauma of losing her so many times.

They then swam to a small beach beneath a tall pile of boulders, and decided to take rest there.

Several minutes later Violet and Klaus decided they should go scope the area, in search of a way to get around the boulders without being forced to the water again.

They trudged along the shore, talking lightheartedly about their travels and how glad they were to be free once more. Violet had noticed over the past few weeks the way Klaus blushed whenever she mentioned Isadora, how he fumbled his words, how awkward he became around her. And she wanted to address the subject, she knew her brother better than anyone else (except perhaps Sunny), and she knew that he would never approach the matter without a careful prompting.

"Klaus, do you, uh, do you have feelings for, uh-" Violet began but to only be interrupted by her brother.

"Fiona!" He exclaimed, looking just over Violet's shoulder, Violet's face fell, she had clearly been reading the signs wrong. But she was certain that Isadora had liked Klaus, and he seems to have liked her back?

"No, no, I was going to say Isadora," she mumbled, confused and disappointed by her mistake.

"No, Violet look! There's Fiona!" Klaus said excitedly, as he began to wave to something behind Violet's head.

Violet's eyes followed the direction of his excited pointing, to see a raft with a teenage girl with triangular glasses floating towards the shore. It was none other than Fiona Widdershins.

"Fiona!" Violet and Klaus cried out, Violet joining Klaus' excitement, both desperately trying to catch the attention of their long lost friend.

"Baudelaires!" She called back, once she caught sight of them, and began paddling towards the siblings ashore the small beach.

Once her raft was only several metres away from the shoreline the Baudelaires rushed into the sea to meet her halfway. They all hugged tightly, relieved to have their friend back once more.

"Where have you been!" Fiona squealed, surprising both Klaus and Violet as they had never perceived Fiona as to be the sort to squeal.

"Come with us, we'll explain when we get back to the others," Klaus said as the three children made their way back along to beach to find the Quagmires and the two younger Baudelaires.