𝐔𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 | 𝐊𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟏 - Finding A Way

"Veronica..." Klaus whispered. "Are you okay?" He asked when she faced him. Veronica had been thinking so hard, she never noticed Count Olaf and Josephine's departure and Violet was in the library with Sunny. "No...I'm not okay. Josephine was right, the world is scary and we should be afraid." She whimpered as she walked into the library, sitting on the couch. The three Baudelaires gave looks of woe for her, the scars, tears and bruises of the girl making it even worse. Klaus and Violet sat on both side of her and Violet placed a hand on her shoulder. "No matter where we go, Count Olaf will always find us and no matter what we say, no one will listen and no guardian can help us...and our parents aren't coming back. I can't even remember what they look like, I don't even remember the last time I saw them." Veronica stated, blinking a few tears away. "'Life is a conundrum of esoterica.' Uncle Monty said tha-"

"Uncle Monty is dead, Vi." Veronica cut off Violet. "But Aunt Josephine isn't..." Klaus added. "Klaus is right, she didn't protect us from Count Olaf, but we can still protect her. We have to warn her even it's dangerous." Violet stated. The girl looked up to Violet, who gave her a sweet smile, and then at Klaus, who smiled as well. It made Veronica smile and looking at Sunny's smile with her few teeth showing made it even better. "I'll see what I can do." She said as she stood up, walking over to the bookshelves. Klaus, Violet and Sunny smiled at Veronica's sudden determination, she was finally back to the girl they met and knew she was. "I'll help." Klaus said. "I'll get to work on that ladder." Violet said.

~~~~~~~

Veronica sat on a bed with Klaus, as they scanned the book they found in the safe. Secretly, Veronica had hidden the book of her family under her pillow, that way maybe she could find the answers without anything in her way. Violet was cutting into the net she found and Sunny was biting into the crackers and whistling Beethoven's sheet music. But what they heard next was something they could not prevent. Glass shattering from downstairs could be heard, catching all the children's attention. "What was that?" Violet questioned. "It sounded like a window shattering." Klaus replied. Veronica picked up Sunny and the children ran out the room and down the stairs, calling out Josephine's name but they stopped once seeing the shattered window in the library. 

The outline did not show what could've been a book or one of the chairs. It was the outline of Aunt Josephine. Veronica's heart began to crack as the wind whistled. "Aunt Josephine..." She mumbled. Klaus went over to the table beside them and found a piece of paper with something written on it. They looked at the paper and then back at the window, walking closer to it. Klaus held the paper up and began to read what the letter said, "Violet, Klaus, Veronica and Sunny: By the time you read this note, my life will be at it's end." Veronica once again bit her lip to hold back the welling up tears. "My heart is as cold as Ike, and I find my life inbearable." Sunny hid her face in Veronica's chest in misery. "Aunt Josephine..." Violet whispered. It is impossible to go back, of course, and tell the four children that their fears that night were entirely rational. It is impossible to go back and tell them anything at all, just as it is impossible to put Aunt Josephine's house back on the top of this cliff from the state it will be in. 

But dear readers, I can tell you something. I can tell you that, as the Baudelaires stood there and gazed out the wide window of Josephine's house, believing that their guardian was dead...that they were wrong. I can tell you that Aunt Josephine was not dead at all...not yet.

I can also tell you that the answers Veronica Bella seeks will be found soon, so she can finally understand what Uncle Monty wanted to tell her about the picture she would look at for hours on end and also a secret about herself that she never knew, and believe me when I say, that it is just as cold as Josephine's heart in the letter...but...not yet.