The Miserable Mill (A Series of Unfortunate Events 4)

"Klaus!" Violet cried. "We were so worried ab-" She stopped herself before she could say "out" when she saw her brother's expression. It was the same expression he'd had the previous night, when he finally came back from his first appointment with Dr. Orwell. Behind his newest pair of glasses, Klaus had wide, wide eyes, and a dazed and distant smile, as if his sisters were people he did not know so well.

"There you go again, with 'ab,'" Dr. Orwell said. "Whatever in the world does it mean?"

"'Ab' isn't a word, of course," Shirley said.

"Only a stupid person would say a word like 'ab.'"

"They are stupid, aren't they?" Dr. Orwell agreed, as though they were talking about the weather instead of insulting young children. "They must have very low self-esteem."

"I couldn't agree more, Dr. Orwell," Shirley said.

"Call me Georgina," the horrible optometrist replied, winking. "Now, girls, here is your brother. He's a little tired after his appointment, but he'll be fine by tomorrow morning. More than fine, in fact. Much more." She turned and pointed at the door with her jeweled cane. "I believe you three know the way out."

"I don't," Klaus said faintly. "I can't remember coming in here."

"That often happens after optometry appointments," Dr. Orwell said smoothly. "Now run along, orphans."

Violet took her brother by the hand and began to lead him out of the waiting room. "We're really free to go?" she asked, not believing it for a moment.

"Of course," Dr. Orwell said. "But I'm sure my receptionist and I will see you soon. After all, Klaus seems to have gotten very clumsy lately. He's always causing accidents."

"Roopish!" Sunny shrieked. She probably meant "They're not accidents! They're the results of hypnotism!" but the adults paid no attention. Dr. Orwell merely stepped out of the doorway and Shirley wiggled her pink fingers at them in a scrawny wave.

"Toodle-oo, orphans!" Shirley said. Klaus looked at Shirley and waved back as Violet and Sunny led him by the hand out of the waiting room.

"How could you wave to her?" Violet hissed to her brother, as they walked back down the hallway.

"She seems like a nice lady," Klaus said, frowning. "I know I've met her somewhere before."

"Ballywot!" Sunny shrieked, which undoubtedly meant "She's Count Olaf in disguise!" "If you say so," Klaus said vaguely. "Oh, Klaus," Violet said miserably. "Sunny and I wasted time arguing with Shirley when we should have been rescuing you. You've been hypnotized again; I know it. Try to concentrate, Klaus. Try to remember what happened."

"I broke my glasses," Klaus said slowly, "and then we left the lumbermill… I'm very tired, Veronica. Can I go to bed?"

"Violet," Violet said. "My name is Violet, not Veronica."

"I'm sorry," Klaus said. "I'm just so tired." Violet opened the door of the building, and the three orphans stepped out onto the depressing street of Paltryville. Violet and Sunny stopped and remembered when they had first reached the lumbermill after getting off the train, and had seen the eye-shaped building.

Their instincts had told them that the building was trouble, but the children had not listened to their instincts. They had listened to Mr. Poe.

"We'd better take him to the dormitory," Violet said to Sunny. "I don't know what else we can do with Klaus in this state. Then we should tell Sir what has happened. I hope he can help us."

"Guree," Sunny agreed glumly. The sisters led their brother through the wooden gates of the mill, and across the dirt-floored courtyard to the dormitory. It was almost suppertime, and when the children walked inside they could see the other employees sitting on their bunks and talking quietly among themselves.

"I see you're back," one of the workers said. "I'm surprised you can show your faces around here, after what you did to Phil."

"Oh, come now," Phil said, and the orphans turned to see him lying down on his bunk with his leg in a cast. "Klaus didn't mean to do it, did you, Klaus?"

"Mean to do what?" Klaus asked quizzically, a word which here means "because he didn't know that he caused the accident that hurt Phil's leg."

"Our brother is very tired," Violet said quickly. "How are you feeling, Phil?"

"Oh, perfectly fine," Phil said. "My leg hurts, but nothing else does. I'm really quite fortunate. But enough about me. There's a memo that was left for you. Foreman Flacutono said it was very important."

Phil handed Violet an envelope with the word "Baudelaires" typed on the front, just like the typed note of welcome the children had found on their first day at the mill. Inside the envelope was a note, which read as follows:

Memorandum

To: The Baudelaire Orphans

From: Sir

Subject: Today's Accident

I have been informed that you caused an accident this morning at the mill that injured an employee and disrupted the day's work.

Accidents are caused by bad workers, and bad workers are not tolerated at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill. If you continue to cause accidents I will be forced to fire you and send you to live elsewhere. I have located a nice young lady who lives in town who would be happy to adopt three young children. Her name is Shirley and she works as a receptionist. If the three of you continue to be bad workers, I will place you under her care.

CHAPTER Ten

Violet read the memo out loud to her siblings, and she didn't know whose reaction was more upsetting. As Sunny heard the bad news, she bit her lip in worry. Her tooth was so sharp that tiny drops of blood dribbled down her chin, and this was certainly upsetting. But Klaus didn't seem to hear the memo at all. He just stared into space, and this was worrisome as well. Violet put the memo back into the envelope, sat on the bottom bunk, and wondered what in the world she could do.

"Bad news?" Phil said sympathetically.

"Remember, sometimes something might seem like bad news, but it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise."

Violet tried to smile at Phil, but her smiling muscles just stayed put. She knew-or she thought she knew, anyway, because she was actually wrong-that the only thing in disguise was Count Olaf. "We have to go see Sir," Violet said finally. "We have to explain to him what has happened."

"You're not supposed to see Sir without an appointment," Phil said.

"This is an emergency," Violet said. "Come on, Sunny. Come on…" She looked at her brother, who looked back at his older sister with wide, wide eyes. Violet remembered the accident he had caused, and all the previous Baudelaire guardians who had been destroyed. She could not imagine that Klaus would be capable of the sort of heinous murders that Count Olaf had committed, but she could not b

e sure. Not when he was hypnotized.

"Dinel," Sunny said.

"Klaus simply cannot go," Violet decided. "Phil, will you please keep an eye on our brother while we go and visit Sir?" "Of course," Phil said. "A very close eye," she emphasized, leading Klaus to the Baudelaire bunk. "He's… he's not been himself lately, as I'm sure you've noticed. Please make sure he stays out of trouble." "I will," Phil promised. "Now, Klaus," Violet said, "please get some sleep, and I hope you'll feel better in the morning."

"Wub," Sunny said, which meant something along the lines of "I hope so, too."

Klaus lay down on the bunk, and his sisters looked at his bare feet, which were filthy from walking around all day without any shoes on. "Good night, Violet," Klaus said. "Good night, Susan."

"Her name is Sunny," Violet said.

"I'm sorry," Klaus said. "I'm just so exhausted. Do you really think I will feel better in the morning?"

"If we're lucky," Violet said. "Now, go to sleep."

Klaus glanced at his older sister. "Yes, sir," he said, quietly. He shut his eyes and immediately fell asleep. The eldest Baudelaire tucked the blanket around her brother and took a long, worried glance at him. Then she took Sunny's hand and, with a smile to Phil, walked back out of the dormitory and across the courtyard to the offices. Inside, the two Baudelaires walked past the mirror without even a glance at their reflections, and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" The children recognized the booming voice of Sir, and nervously opened the door to the office. Sir was sitting at an enormous desk made of dark, dark wood, still smoking a cigar so his face could not be seen behind the cloud of smoke. The desk was covered with papers and folders, and there was a name-plate that read "The Boss" in letters made of chewed-up gum, just like the lumbermill sign outside. It was difficult to see the rest of the room, because there was only one tiny light in the room, which sat on Sir's desk. Next to Sir stood Charles, who gave the children a shy smile as they walked up to their guardian.