Rowan turned the doorknob of the man's office, getting sad as he remembered how Aunt Josephine would tell them not to use the doorknob.
"It might shatter into a million pieces and one could hit my eye." he could hear her saying.
Trying not to think about all the people he had lost - his mother, his father, his uncle, his aunt - he pushed open the door, revealing a man's body wearing a suit, but not revealing a man's head.
The man was smoking, a cloud of smoke blowing upwards and hiding his face so that you could only make out certain parts of his face at certain times.
"Hello, Mr....?" Klaus trailed off.
"Sir." the smoking man said.
Klaus cleared his throat. "Um, Sir...?"
The man looked like he shook his head but the children weren't saw. "Call me Sir. Nobody can pronounce my name so I get them to call me Sir. They call me Sir because I am the boss, and they have to follow the boss's orders."
The children all looked at each other.
"Well, Sir, we received a short letter saying that you wanted to see us." explained Klaus. "Charles said you might have some information for us."
"Who's Charles? Oh, yes, my business partner."
Now children looked blank.
"Do we get a map?" asked Rowan.
Sir looked like he shook his head.
"Do we get a tour?" asked Violet.
Sir looked like he shook his head again.
"Do we get information?" Klaus guessed.
Sir seemed to shrug at this one.
"Ona?" asked Sunny, making her siblings chuckle. She meant, 'Do we get a menu?'.
To this, Sir said, "I have no idea what you just said. No, there are no onas at Lucky Smells Lumbermill."
The children had to stifle their laughter at this.
"Anyway, you should get to your dorm." Sir said, evidently quite annoyed at the childrens' hidden laughter.
"Thank you, but it's not quite time to go to our dorm yet." explained Violet.
"It's only half five." added Rowan.
"I don't really care." said Sir, not a trace of emotion in his voice. "Go to your dorm."
Klaus spoke up. "Sir, we're not really sure where our dorms are. We've only just arrived. Could you perhaps take us there?"
"I haven't been there in six years, even I'm beginning to forget where it is." said Sir blankly. "Ask Charles."
So Rowan, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny walked out of the entrance back to Charles.
"Hopefully the lumbermill isn't going to be as bad as its owner." muttered Klaus as they approached Charles.
"Hello! How was your meeting with Sir?" asked Charles.
"Um, it wasn't very..." Rowan trailed off.
"Informative." finished Violet.
Charles frowned. "Yes, Sir can be a bit like that sometimes. Did he give you any information or instructions?"
"No information, but he told us to go to our dorm." Rowan explained.
Charles' frown grew. "Oh." he said simply. "Well, you should do that then."
"That's why we came to you." said Klaus politely. "We're not sure where our dorm is."
Charles' frown suddenly became a smile. "So you want a tour?" he said slowly.
"Yes please." said Violet, glancing anxiously at her brother.
Charles took them inside the lumbermill, past Sir's office, past a wooden door covered in splinters, and then took them to another door.
"This is our dorm?" asked Klaus.
Charles said nothing but opened the door.
The room's walls were almost entirely made of shelves, and armchairs scattered the room.
"This is our dorm?" asked Klaus again, more anxious.
"This is the library." said Charles.
"Library?" Violet furrowed her brow. "But there aren't any books?"
Charles led them inside a room and over to one of the shelves. "There aren't many books." he corrected.
"Well, three, but-" Violet began.
Charles sighed and turned to the children. "I know. Lucky Smells Lumbermill is so horrible that they can't even afford five more books. Occasionally, people donate them, but not many people support Lucky Smells."
"If this place is so miserable," said Rowan. "Why can't you leave?"
Charles sighed sadly again and placed his hand on the orphan's back. "The workers here have nowhere to go."
The children said nothing, but examined the three books on the shelf. The History of Lucky Smells Lumbermill, The Paltryville Constitution, and Advanced Ocular Science.
"Anyway." Charles said suddenly, clapping his hands together. "Dorms."
Charles led them to their dorm.
When the children heard the word 'dorm' they thought of a room with at least two beds to share between the four of them. But they were surprised when they saw a cramped room filled with about thirty bunk beds, most of them occupied by resting workers.
Charles looked at the children. "Erm, it's a bit cramped. Go on, children, choose a bed." he smiled at them and then left the room.
The children chose the bunk bed nearest the door. It was empty, so they decided it was okay to claim it as their own.
"Now we just need to decide where everyone will sleep." said Violet.
Sunny spoke up, a grin on her face. "Kla!" she said, which meant, 'I'll sleep with Klaus.'.
Violet and Rowan looked at each other, both blushing. Sunny smiled at Klaus mischievously.
"Uh, Sunny, I think it would be better if you slept with me." Violet said to Sunny.
"I'll sleep with Rowan on the top bunk, so that Sunny can be on the bottom bed." suggested Klaus, and everyone agreed.
So they fell asleep, quite early in the evening, in yet another place.
YOU ARE READING
Baudelaires and a White
Fanfiction"I think we should do it." said Rowan quietly as the man opened the door. "Okay." said Violet. "But who are you?" gasped Isadora, sliding into the taxi. The man took a breath. "My name is Lemony Snicket, and I am here to take you away." Would the s...
