liable to feel heavier and heavier, until you are so burdened you cannot take any further steps, and can only sit and stare at the gentle movements of the ocean waves or security guards, thinking too hard about too many things to do anything else. As the sun set, casting long shadows on the coastal shelf, the Baudelaire orphans felt so heavy from their thoughts they could scarcely move. They thought about the island, and the terrible storm that had brought them there, and the boat that had taken them through the storm, and their own treachery at the Hotel Denouement that had led them to escape in the boat with Count Olaf, who had stopped calling out to the Baudelaires and was now snoring loudly in the bird cage. They thought about the colony, and the cloud the islanders had put them under, and the peer pressure that had led the islanders to decide to abandon them, and the facilitator who started the peer pressure, and the secret apple core of the facilitator that seemed no different than the secret items that had gotten the Baudelaires in trouble in the first place. They thought about Kit Snicket, and the storm that had left her unconscious on top of the strange library raft, and their friends the Quagmire triplets, who may also have been caught in the same stormy sea, and Captain Widdershins's submarine that lay under the sea, and the mysterious schism that lay under everything like an enormous question mark. And the Baudelaires thought, as they did every time they saw the sky grow dark, of their parents. If you've ever lost someone, then you know that sometimes when you think of them you try to imagine where they might be, and the Baudelaires thought of how far away their mother and father seemed, while all the wickedness in the world felt so close, locked in a cage just a few feet from where the children sat. Violet thought, and Klaus thought, and Sunny thought, and as the afternoon drew to evening they felt so burdened by their thoughts that they felt they could scarcely hold another thought, and yet as the last rays of the sun disappeared on the horizon they found something else to think about, for in the darkness they heard a familiar voice, and they had to think of what to do.
"Where am I?" asked Kit Snicket, and the children heard her body rustle on the top layer of books over the snoring.
"Kit!" Violet said, standing up quickly. "You're awake!"
"It's the Baudelaires," Klaus said.
"Baudelaires?" Kit repeated faintly. "Is it really you?"
"Anais," Sunny said, which meant "In the flesh."
"Where are we?" Kit said. The Baudelaires were silent for a moment, and realized for the first time that they did not even know the name of the place where they were. "We're on a coastal shelf," Violet said finally, although she decided not to add that they had been abandoned there.
"There's an island nearby," Klaus said. The middle Baudelaire did not explain that they were not welcome to set foot on it.
"Safe," Sunny said, but she did not mention that Decision Day was approaching, and that soon the entire area would be flooded with seawater. Without discussing the matter, the Baudelaires decided not to tell Kit the whole story, not yet.
"Of course," Kit murmured. "I should have known I'd be here. Eventually, everything washes up on these shores."
"Have you been here before?" Violet asked.
"No," Kit said, "but I've heard about this place. My associates have told me stories of its mechanical wonders, its enormous library, and the gourmet meals the islanders prepare. Why, the day before I met you, Baudelaires, I shared Turkish coffee with an associate who was saying that he'd never had better Oysters Rockefeller than during his time on the island. You must be having a wonderful time here."
"Janiceps," Sunny said, restating an earlier opinion.
"I think this place has changed since your associate was here," said Klaus.
"That's probably true," Kit said thoughtfully. "Thursday did say that the colony had suffered a schism, just
"Where am I?" asked Kit Snicket, and the children heard her body rustle on the top layer of books over the snoring.
"Kit!" Violet said, standing up quickly. "You're awake!"
"It's the Baudelaires," Klaus said.
"Baudelaires?" Kit repeated faintly. "Is it really you?"
"Anais," Sunny said, which meant "In the flesh."
"Where are we?" Kit said. The Baudelaires were silent for a moment, and realized for the first time that they did not even know the name of the place where they were. "We're on a coastal shelf," Violet said finally, although she decided not to add that they had been abandoned there.
"There's an island nearby," Klaus said. The middle Baudelaire did not explain that they were not welcome to set foot on it.
"Safe," Sunny said, but she did not mention that Decision Day was approaching, and that soon the entire area would be flooded with seawater. Without discussing the matter, the Baudelaires decided not to tell Kit the whole story, not yet.
"Of course," Kit murmured. "I should have known I'd be here. Eventually, everything washes up on these shores."
"Have you been here before?" Violet asked.
"No," Kit said, "but I've heard about this place. My associates have told me stories of its mechanical wonders, its enormous library, and the gourmet meals the islanders prepare. Why, the day before I met you, Baudelaires, I shared Turkish coffee with an associate who was saying that he'd never had better Oysters Rockefeller than during his time on the island. You must be having a wonderful time here."
"Janiceps," Sunny said, restating an earlier opinion.
"I think this place has changed since your associate was here," said Klaus.
"That's probably true," Kit said thoughtfully. "Thursday did say that the colony had suffered a schism, just
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