"I'm surprised you can even carry that eggplant, let alone prepare it," Violet said. "It must weigh as much as you do."
"Suppertunity," Sunny said. She meant something like, "Serving the troupe dinner will be a perfect chance to listen to their conversation," and Violet reluctantly translated.
"It sounds dangerous," Quigley said.
"Of course it's dangerous," Violet said. "If she's caught spying, who knows what they'll do?"
"Ga ga goo goo," Sunny said, which meant "I won't be caught, because they think I'm only a helpless baby."
"I think your sister is right," Quigley said. "It wouldn't be safe to carry her down the waterfall, anyway. We need our hands and feet for the climb. Let Sunny investigate the mystery she's most likely to solve, while we work on an escape plan."
Violet shook her head. "I don't want to leave my sister behind," she said. "The Baudelaires should never be separated."
"Separate Klaus," Sunny pointed out.
"If there's another place where volunteers are gathering," Quigley said, "we need to know where it is. Sunny can find out for us, but only if she stays here."
"I'm not going to leave my baby sister on top of a mountain," Violet said.
Sunny dropped her vegetables on the ground and walked over to her sister and smiled. "I'm not a baby," Sunny said, and hugged her. It was the longest sentence the youngest Baudelaire had ever said, and as Violet looked down at her sister, she saw how true it was. Sunny was not really a baby, not anymore. She was a young girl with unusually sharp teeth, some impressive cooking skills, and an opportunity to spy on a group of villains and discover a piece of crucial information. Sometime, during the unfortunate events that had befallen the three orphans, Sunny had grown out of her babyhood, and although it made Violet a bit sad to think about it, it made her proud, too, and she gave her sister a smile.
"I guess you're right," Violet said. "You're not a baby. But be careful, Sunny. You're a young girl, but it's still quite dangerous for a young girl to spy on villains. And remember, we're right at the bottom of the slope, Sunny. If you need us, just signal again."
Sunny opened her mouth to reply, but before she could utter a sound, the three children heard a long, lazy hissing noise from underneath Olaf's car, as if one of Dr. Montgomery's snakes were hiding there. The car shifted lightly, and Violet pointed to one of Olaf's tires, which had gone flat. "I must have punctured it," Violet said, "with my fork-assisted climbing shoes."
"I suppose that's not a nice thing to do," Quigley said, "but I can't say I'm sorry."
"How's dinner coming along, toothface?" called Count Olaf's cruel voice over the sound of the wind.
"I guess we'd better leave before we're discovered," Violet said, giving her sister one more hug and a kiss on the top of her head. "We'll see you soon, Sunny."
"Good-bye, Sunny," Quigley said. "I'm so glad we finally met in person. And thank you very much for helping us find the last safe place."
Sunny Baudelaire looked up at Quigley, and then at her older sister, and gave them both a big, happy smile that showed all of her impressive teeth. After spending so much time in the company of villains, she was happy to be with some people who respected her skills, appreciated her work, and understood her way of speaking. Even with Klaus still at the bottom of the waterfall, Sunny felt as if she had already been happily reunited with her family, and that her time in the Mortmain Mountains would have a happy ending. She was wrong about that of course, but for now the youngest Baudelaire smiled up at these two people who cared about her, one she had just met and one she had known her entire life, and felt as if she were growing taller at that very moment.
"Happy," said the young girl, and everyone who heard her knew what she was talking about.
Chapter Eleven
If you ever look at a picture of someone who has just had an idea, you might notice a drawing of a lightbulb over the person's head. Of course, there is not usually a lightbulb hovering in the air when someone has an idea, but the image of a lightbulb over someone's head has become a sort of symbol for thinking, just as the image of an eye, sadly, has become a symbol for crime and devious behavior rather than integrity, the prevention of fire, and being well-read.
As Violet and Quigley climbed back down the slippery slope of the frozen waterfall, their fork-assisted climbing shoes poking into the ice with each step, they looked down and saw, by the last light of the setting sun, the figure of Klaus. He was holding a flashlight over his head to help the two climbers find their way down, but it looked as if he'd just had an idea.
"He must have found a flashlight in the wreckage," Quigley said. "It looks like the one Jacques gave me."
"I hope he found enough information to decode Verbal Fridge Dialogue," Violet said, and tapped the candelabra below her feet. "Be careful here, Quigley. The ice feels thin. We'll have to climb around it."
"The ice has been less solid on our way down," Quigley said.
"That's not surprising," Violet said. "We've poked a great deal of it with forks. By the time False Spring arrives, this whole slope will probably only be half frozen."
"By the time False Spring arrives," Quigley said, "I hope we'll be on our way to the last safe place."
"Me, too," Violet said quietly, and the two climbers said no more until they reached the bottom of the waterfall and walked carefully across the frozen pool along the path Klaus shone with his flashlight.
"I'm so glad you returned in one piece," Klaus said, shining his flashlight in the direction of the dining room remains. "It looked like a very slippery journey. It's getting cold, but if we sit behind the library entrance, we'll be away from much of the wind."
But Violet was so eager to tell her brother who they had found at the top of the peak that she could not wait another moment. "It's Sunny," she said. "Sunny's at the top. It was her who was signaling us."
"Sunny?" Klaus said, his eyes as wide as his smile. "How did she get up there? Is she safe? Why didn't you bring her back?"
"She's safe," Violet said. "She's with Count Olaf, but she's safe."
"Has he harmed her?" Klaus asked.
Violet shook her head. "No," she said. "He's making her do all the cooking and cleaning."
"But she's a baby!" Klaus said.
"Not anymore," Violet said. "We haven't noticed, Klaus, but she's grown up quite a bit. She's really too young to be in charge of all the chores, of course, but sometime, during all the hardship we've been through, she stopped being a baby."
"She's old enough to eavesdrop," Quigley said. "She's already discovered who burned down the V.F.D. headquarters."
"They're two terrible people, a man and a woman, who have quite an aura of menace," Violet said. "Even Count Olaf is a little afraid of them."
"What are they all doing up there?" Klaus asked.
"They're having some sort of villainous meeting," Quigley said. "We heard them mention something about a recruitment plan, and a large net."
"That doesn't sound pleasant," Klaus said.
"There's more, Klaus," Violet said. "Count Olaf has the Snicket file, and he found out about some secret location the last safe place where the V.F.D. can gather. That's why Sunny stayed up there. If she overhears where the place is, we'll know where to go to meet up with the rest of the volunteers."
"I hope she manages to find out," Klaus said. "Without that piece of information, all that I've discovered is useless."
"What have you discovered?" Quigley asked.
"I'll show you," Klaus said, and led the way to the ruins of the library, where Violet could see he'd been working. His dark blue notebook was open, and she could see that several pages were filled with notes. Nearby were several half-burnt scraps of paper, stacked underneath a burnt teacup Klaus was using for a paperweight, and all of the contents of the refrigerator were laid out in a careful half circle: the jar of mustard, the container of olives, three jars of jam, and the very fresh dill. The small glass jug, containing one pickle, and the bottle of lemon juice were off to one side. "This is some of the most difficult research I've ever done," Klaus said, sitting down next to his notebook. "Justice Strauss's legal library was confusing, and Aunt Josephine's grammatical library was dull, but the ruined V.F.D. library is a much bigger challenge. Even if I know what book I'm looking for, it may be nothing but ashes."