The Secret Life of Beatrice: A sequel to A Series of Unfortunate Events #13

Chapter 5

            Despite our best efforts, the shock was too great to keep quiet. Sunny and I both gasped, and we immediately knew it was a mistake.

            Violet and Quigley’s heads snapped over to look at us, and we both pressed ourselves as far against the wall as we could. Sunny and I prayed we wouldn’t be caught.

            “Sunny, Beatrice,” sighed Violet “We can see you.” I groaned softly and gazed at Sunny. She nodded slightly, taking my hand, and we both walked over to face our punishment. Surprisingly, Violet merely held out her arms and pulled us into a hug.

            “Violet…” I began, but trailed off when I found I had nothing to say. This made Violet pull us in tighter, and when I felt something wet on my arm, I knew she was crying.

            “So Violet, is there any way I can change your mind?” asked Quigley softly. Violet quickly wiped her eyes and gave him a stern look, then slapped him across the face.

            “You seriously think I’d give you a second chance after what you did to Duncan?!?” she screamed. Quigley shrugged and grinned awkwardly.

            “Maybe you could just look past it and forgive me!” he begged, getting down on his knees “I love you Violet! So much! More than you could ever know!” I gazed up at Violet, expecting her to scoff and roll her eyes, but instead, her face softened into a smile.

            “Quigley, I love you too,” she said, laying a hand on his cheek “Ever since that day on the waterfall, I knew you were special.” She grabbed Quigley’s hand and pulled him into a standing position.

            “You have to promise you’ll change though,” Violet said seriously “You have to be completely honest and you’ll have to be more sensitive of other people’s feelings.”

            “Of course, anything for you Vi,” said Quigley in a dreamy voice. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her into a passionate kiss. I quickly covered my eyes and ran upstairs to my room, followed by Sunny.

            “Can you believe her?!” exclaimed Sunny, practically slamming the door “How can she forgive him so quickly?!” I flopped on my bed, letting out a long sigh.

            “She must really love him…” I murmured “But you’re right.” I sat up, and put my hand on my chin in an exaggerated thinking position “Something really special must have happened on that waterfall. Do you know?” Sunny closed her eyes, trying to remember back to it.

            “I-I don’t think I was there,” she said softly “I think I do remember her saying something about her first kiss though.” She shrugged and gave me a sheepish grin.

            “I guess that’s as far as we’re going with that subject,” I groaned “Don’t tell her this, but I don’t think I respect Violet as much anymore.” I could tell Sunny was about to argue with me when a loud crash came from outside.

            “What in the world was that?!” shouted Sunny. I was too shocked to answer her, so we both just ran outside to find out what it was.

            We pushed past Klaus, Violet, and Quigley, who were already standing on the curb, to get a better view. We were surprised by what we saw.

            On the edge of the street was a large moving van with a blown out tire. The back was half open and a lamp lay broken on the asphalt. A couple and their daughter were standing in the driveway of the empty house next to ours.

            “Is something wrong?” called Violet over to the family “Do you need help?” The family smiled and began walking over to us.

            “No!” said the father “We’re just having a little trouble moving in.” He stuck out his hand, and everyone shook it.

            “I’m Lillian Rockefeller,” said his wife “My husband’s name is Peter, and this is our daughter, Ruby.” The girl, Ruby, waved shyly and half hid behind her parents.

            “I’m Klaus Baudelaire,” said Klaus “These are my sisters, Violet and Sunny, and our adopted sister, Beatrice.”

            “And I’m Quigley Quagmire, Violet’s fiancé,” said Quigley, holding out his hand “Would you like us to help you move? The kids can play in the yard.”

            “That would be wonderful,” said Lillian, grinning “Come on, let’s go open the house.” As soon as the adults walked off, Sunny and I turned to Ruby.

            “Hi!” I said happily “How old are you?” Ruby brushed her black hair over her shoulder and kept her eyes on the ground.

            “I’m nine years old,” she said softly.

            “That’s right between our ages,” Sunny told her happily “And there’s no need to be shy around us.” Ruby slowly took her eyes from her feet and grinned up at us.

            “You seem like nice people,” she laughed “I guess there’s no reason to be shy!” Our faces immediately fell when she said this.

            “Well, we are nice,” I replied “With the exception of Quigley.” Ruby gave us a confused look.

            “What’s so bad about him?” she asked “He seemed like a good enough person.”

            “Yeah, seemed,” Sunny scoffed. We then decided to explain the whole predicament to Ruby who, by the end, was extremely shocked.

            “Wow, that’s awful!” she exclaimed “But there is something you can do about it.” Ruby grinned mischievously and pushed her hair behind her shoulder.

            “And what would that be?” I asked.

            “You can be so horrible,” she began “That he wants to leave her.”