Like I have said multiple times before, this story is not about a happy reunion. I suggest you close this book now, and read something more entertaining. This story has no happy beginning, no happy ending, and very few happy moments in between, like the triplets' reunion. Turn away, dear reader, before this grim tale ends.
"I was in the kitchen with mother, drinking hot cider, when she smelled the smoke of the fire. She saw that the entrance of the kitchen was blocked with flames, so she lifted the rug on the floor, revealing a secret door. She told me to hurry into it, and that she and father, and both of you, would get out. She didn't. I was left all alone in the secret tunnels that were under the secret door. I heard you screaming, Duncan and Isadora, and I heard mother yell for father, but no one came back. When I tried to lift the door, it wouldn't budge," Quigley took a deep breath.
"Then how did you get out?" asked Isadora.
"I walked. I had to feel around in the dark to realize that I was in some sort of passageway."
"V.F.D. tunnels," sighed Duncan.
"Exactly," Quigley replied, "But I didn't know that at first."
"Where did you go next?" Isadora queried.
"Well, I followed the secret passageway, and it led to a herpetologist's house. I opened another door that looked the same as the one mother had led me to and found myself in a room filled with empty cages. I was able to tell that the room was once filled with a lot of reptiles. I found Count Olaf's suitcase there."
"Count Olaf?" Duncan questioned.
"Yes. He was disguised as a lab assistant," Quigley took another breath; he was already tired from having to explain so much. "I decided to stay there because there was food, and there was really nowhere else to go. I learned that mother and father died from a copy of The Daily Punctilio on the doorstep."
Isadora sighed, still unable to bear any word associated with 'death', but Quigley continued.
"I slept at the bottom of the stairs every night to hear if someone came in. I think I was waiting for the herpetologist to show up to see if he might be of assistance. No one came looking for me, because the newspaper said that-"
"You were dead too," Isadora cut him off.
"We know," sighed Duncan.
Quigley took another breath and then he continued, "I learnt that you two were sent to Prufrock Preparatory School and that our parents' estate was put under the care of the city's sixth most important financial advisor."
"Esme Squalor," Duncan stated in a disgusted voice.
"Right," Quigley replied. "I wanted to find you two. I was determined to. I found an atlas in Dr. Montgomery's library and studied it to find Prufrock Prep. When I found it, I began to gather supplies from the house, but I was interrupted by Jacques Snicket."
"Who's that?" Isadora questioned.
"I'm surprised you don't know," Quigley replied. "He was killed when you two were kidnapped in the Village of Fowl Devotees. Count Olaf and Esme disguised him as Count Olaf."
"That's why Count Olaf was alive when everyone said he was dead," Duncan piped in.
"Exactly," Quigley said. "He was a member of V.F.D."
"May his soul rest in peace," Duncan frowned.
"Did he not help you get to Prufrock Prep?" asked Isadora.
"No," Quigley answered. "He told me it was unsafe for me to be seen in public. Jacques was also busy looking for the Baudelaires. He couldn't explain much to me, but I know a little bit about V.F.D."
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The Quagmires
قصص الهواةIdentical triplets, intelligent parents, a noble organisation, and fires. This story may not be as sorrowful and unfortunate as the Baudelaire's, but don't say I didn't warn you, because this story is filled with misery and woe too. #1 in Baudelair...
