"I hope Mr. Poe isn't too worried about us," Violet said, breaking the silence we had maintained in the back of that truck. Klaus, Sunny, and I looked at her silently. "Good point."
After a couple more seconds, the truck driver looked in the rearview mirror and spotted us. He yelled and kicked us out on the side of the road. "Get a job, hitchhikers!" he told us as he drove away.
"What now?" asked Klaus.
"We walk," I replied.
Sunny made an unsatisfied noise which was so self-explanatory I really didn't need to translate it. Violet reassured her that she would hold her the whole time as we ventured into the trees. Eventually, there were less and less trees and the sunlight ahead became more and more visible.
"We're almost out of the woods," Violet smiled as she spoke.
What a curious thing to say, I thought. "Out of the woods," as I'm sure you know, is an expression which refers to escape from a dangerous situation. Count Olaf had found the Baudelaires everywhere they went. He adopted them, then followed them to Mr. Montgomery's, then followed them to Miss Josephine and I. I was sure he could find us anywhere. He likely saw us run to that truck. Figuratively, we were most likely far from out of the woods as we approached the large wooden fence surrounding Lucky Smells Lumber Mill.
"It looks like there was a fire here," Klaus began. "Everything's gone."
"Not everything," I responded.
"Lucky Smells Lumber Mill."
"Maybe this is where all the clues lead us. The secret safe and strange photographs at Aunt Josephine's," Violet theorized.
"The secret message and the strange statue lady at Uncle Monty's," Klaus continued.
"Count Olaf," I spoke.
Sunny garbled a sound which meant "He's just strange," finishing my thought.
"The only thing standing between us and all of our parent's secrets," Violet began.
"Is an enormous wooden wall," said Klaus. "What if we don't like what we find? Knowing can be a terrible thing."
"But not knowing, isn't that worse?"
Violet set Sunny down and we all began brainstorming how we would get over the wall. Sunny, however, seemed to be the brightest of us in that moment. Before we had even gotten near a solution, she had pushed a door in the wall open. She giggled, proud of herself as Violet picked her up.
I followed Klaus' gaze to a sign which read "WARNING: TRESPASSERS WILL BE PUT TO WORK."
He looked over to Violet and asked if we would be considered trespassers.
"We're children," she shrugged.
"Those aren't mutally exclusive," he trailed off.
"If we get caught, we'll just say we were on a school trip," I said.
"What exactly are we looking for?" Klaus inquired as we trudged in.
"It's like what father said about fine art. We'll know it when we see it," Violet answered. "I think we're in the right place.
"Or the very, very, wrong place," Klaus pointed out a building with a window in the same eye shape as the tattoo on Count Olaf's ankle.
"Maybe it's a coincidence," I spoke nervously.
"Maybe it's Count Olaf. Maybe we should leave."
Klaus had only just finished his sentence when a hand crashed down onto his shoulder. He yelped and we all turned around to see a man who, thankfully, looked nothing like Count Olaf.
"Forgive me. I thought you might be trespassers, but now I see you're just children," the man sighed.
"They're not mutu-"
"We're on a school trip," interrupted Violet.
"Right," I began. "Because we're school...children."
"Well, this lumber mill is hardly a safe place for children, and I should know. I run it. I'm Charles," the man explained.
I furrowed my eyebrows as Violet showed him the picture of mine and their parents that was taken here however long ago.
"I think you better come see my partner," he proclaimed after examining the photo.
...
"Call me Sir. Everybody does 'cause I tell 'em to. I'm the boss. Have to do what I say, even my partner here," the man in the office turned around, taking a draw on his cigar when he finished talking.
"Doesn't partner mean equal?" Klaus pointed out.
In fact, partners can mean many things. It could mean two people who own a business together, although in some cases it could also mean-
"I do all the work, he irons my clothes." I was jolted back to reality as Sir explained his situation to Klaus.
"I also cook your omelets," Charles mentioned.
The definitions aren't mutually exclusive.
"I found them wandering unsupervised!" He spoke again when Sir glared at him.
"You know what we do with trespassers, Charles," Sir responded.
"They're children! I thought we could take them in! Give them a loving, normal home."
"Nonsense! We need to treat children like grown-ups. If we put them to work in the mill, they'll learn responsibility. They'll learn the value of hard work. They'll also learn how to make flat wooden boards out of trees."
"Sir-"
"Don't argue with me. We're partners."
"If we work in the mill, can we stay here?" asked Violet.
"She gets it. In this economy, children are lucky to even have jobs. What was your name?"
"Violet Baudelaire."
A/N: Hello dear readers! I'm sorry that this chapter was so short. Some of you might've noticed that I haven't updated in a while, and I apologise for that. I've been busy with school starting and I've been dealing with a lot in my personal life. I'm going to be putting this on hiatus for a bit until I can get things together. I love you guys so much and I'm very grateful for your support. Thank you.