Evening Escapade

Escaping

Klaus nearly finished reading the section on mob psychology when Violet ran out of the prison, out of breath.

"Klaus!" she called. "Do you have any bowls, or anything that could carry water?" 

"No," said Klaus.

"Okay," said Violet, scooping up water in her hands. "Take some water and run it over the bricks on the back end of the jail." 

Klaus knew better than to question his sister when she had her hair tied up, so he put down the book and took a handful of water from the fountain. He followed his sister to the outside back wall and splashed the water on it. Then they ran back and repeated the task.

 At first, nothing seemed to happen, but after a couple of laps, the wall was definitely softer.

A brick fell on the ground, creating a tiny hole. It was too small for Klaus to see Jacques through, but it was a start. He kept running as quickly as he could, to the fountain and back. 

On Klaus's sixth trip, two more fell. He wanted to compliment Violet for the idea, but both siblings were rushing too much to speak to one another. 

Finally, Klaus paused to catch his breath as his sister arrived. 

"Do you think we'll be able to break him out before morning?" she asked. 

The sun had not yet risen, but the sky was lighter. The hole was now big enough maybe for one to stick one's leg in, but no one but a snake could crawl through. "Yes," Klaus said, and then called to Jacques. "Step back."

Klaus waited a few seconds, then took a few paces back. He ran toward the wall and kicked it as hard as he could, causing several bricks to fly. 

Jacques emerged, giving Klaus and his sister a gentle smile in turn. "You two," he said. "Have saved my life." 

"I'm glad we came," said Klaus. "But who are you?" 

Jacques told Klaus what he told Violet, and nearly got to the part about the Quagmires before he abruptly stopped.

He stared at something beyond the jail and put a hand on the two siblings' backs. They followed his gaze, and even in the pale blue light, Klaus and Violet could instantly make out one of the figures. Count Olaf.

As the figures stepped closer, they could tell the other was Officer Luciana. In Olaf's hand was a harpoon gun, in Luciana's was a sparkly pink ribbon and a small piece of glass. 

It was hard to say which party gasped louder when they saw the other. 

Jacques stepped in front of the Baudelaires, shielding them. When he spoke his voice was firm. "Put down the gun."

Olaf blinked, and then started to laugh. "Why should I?" he said. "You had to be saved by a bunch of bratty orphans, the entire town thinks you're a murderer, I've practically already won! And," Olaf loosened his grip on the harpoon gun, twirling it around in his hands as though it were a toy instead of a deadly weapon. "Once the town finds out that you two," he gestured to the Baudelaires. "Have broken the murderous Count Omar out of jail, you're done for." 

"Officer Luciana-" Klaus began. 

Officer Luciana smiled and took off her helmet, revealing that she was Esmé Squalor. "Don't call me that," she said, turning to Olaf. "It's not too late to kill the three of them." 

Both Baudelaires froze, but Jacques took their hands tightly and prepared to run. But before he could do so, another figure approached from the city. At first, Klaus hoped it was Hector. Violet was worried about another villain. 

It was neither.

The person who came was Mr. Lesko, an elder. He wore the same plaid pants to bed as he did in the day and an irritated expression.

Esmé put her motorcycle helmet back on and smiled deceivingly. "We found these orphans freeing this murderer! I brought the famous Detective Dupin for help."  

"That's not Detective Dupin!" cried Violet indignantly. "That's Count Olaf!" 

"No, that's Count Olaf," Mr. Lesko pointed at Jacques. "And you are rulebreakers. Rule #4385 clearly states that no one is allowed to break anyone out of jail." 

"Excellent idea!" cried Esmé. "Let's burn them at the stake, too!" 

Mr. Lesko nodded. "We'll have to wait for the afternoon, though," he said. Then he stopped. "Detective Dupin, is that a mechanical device?" 

Count Olaf frowned. "It's okay for me to use it," he said. "Because I'm a detective." 

Mr. Lesko frowned back. "I don't think so. You need to be burned at the stake, too." He spoke as though he was deciding what to have for lunch that day. "How about this; we wait for afternoon and then we burn all five of you at the stake?" 

As Olaf, Esmé, and Mr. Lesko started a tedious discussion on whether or not they should be burned at the stake, Jacques leaned in close to the two siblings. 

"We need to go," he said, his voice so quiet that they could hardly hear him. "Do you know of anywhere safe nearby?" 

"Hector," replied Klaus in a whisper. Jacques paused, then nodded.

Step by step, not daring to let go of one another's hands, they walked away.

But they were close enough to hear a horrible click and the sound of a harpoon flying through the air as it shot Mr. Lesko. Jacques, Violet, and Klaus looked at one another in horror, noticing more people waking up and walking around town.  

One of those people, to their relief, was Sunny Baudelaire.