The Girl Who Wore Snakes

Chapter 3: Pt5- Pretty Penny and Dainty Daisy

 "Soup sounds wonderful." We all say in unison. We walk into the kitchen and Josephine tells us to go wash our hands. We all walk to the bathroom. "I'm surprised she hasn't had the water cut off. We might drown if the water is left on." Klaus jokes. I chuckle and Violet hands me Sunny so she can wash her hands. We head back into the kitchen to see five bowls of clear-green soup on the table. We all sit down and I put Sunny in her highchair.

Klaus takes the first sip. "Uh, cold soup." he says. " Oh, yes. I never cook anything hot. I'm afraid to turn on the stove. It might burst into flames." Josephine says. I give her a strange look and so does Sunny. "This is chilled cucumber soup. It's a recipe that I learned in Egypt, where I was briefly employed as a snake charmer." she continues. I take a sip of the soup. Despite the strange look, I had to admit it was rather good. "Our father lived in Egypt before we were born. Is that when you-" Violet starts. "I don't talk about that." Josephine interrupts. "When we were living with Uncle Monty-" Klaus tries. "I said I don't talk about that." she repeats. "But there was a statue-" I attempt. "Mella, I said I don't talk about that." She says again.

"You don't talk about that? Or you won't?" Violet asks, annoyed. Josephine thinks for a moment. "This is one of those rare grammatical instances where 'don't' and 'won't' mean the same thing." Josephine answers. "I knew your parents a long time ago, when things were very different. Those were fierce and formidable days. But I don't talk about that, and you won't hear about that. I shouldn't have to tell you orphans there are many, many things to be afraid of in this world. The safest strategy is to be afraid of them all." I couldn't believe this. "I like to think of happier things. The joys of grammar and how much Ike loved the sunshine. I like to imagine that where he is now, the weather is just as lovely and sunny as can be. Of course, nobody knows what happens to you when you die, but I like to think that my husband is somewhere hot." Josephine says happily.

"Aunt Josephine, have you ever thought about moving somewhere else? Maybe if you lived far away from Lake Lachrymose, you might feel better." Violet says. "We'd go with you. Maybe then you'd feel comfortable enough to discuss some of the things you don't and won't discuss." Klaus adds. "I could never sell this house. I'm afraid of real estate agents." Josephine tells us. I seriously couldn't believe this.

After lunch, Aunt Josephine told us she had something to show us. We all went into the room that the Buadeliares and I share and sit down. "Gifts!" Josephine says as she reaches behind where she was sitting. "For Violet, a lovely doll with plenty of outfits. Her name is Pretty Penny. Isn't she adorable?" Josephine asks. The doll was rather cute, with a pink dress and brown hair in a ponytail. "She looks a little like Madame Curie." Violet chuckles. "For Mella, a doll as well." She hands me a doll similar to Violet's except she has a blue dress and and her black doll hair is down. "Her name is Dainty Daisy, and she's best friends with Pretty Penny. Isn't that wonderful?" Josephine says, happily. "I wonder if she was named after Daisy Al-Amir." I wonder aloud. "For Klaus, a deck of cards. I have never been a young boy, but I hear they enjoy card games." Josephine hands Klaus the deck. "I once read a book about the history of legalized gambling." Klaus says. "And for little Sunny, it is a rattle. It makes a little noise." Josephine shakes the rattle and hands it to Sunny. Sunny attempts to bite the rattle but isn't able to put her mouth around it.

"Do you like them?" Aunt Josephine asks. "It's very generous of you, Aunt Josephine." I tell her. "Well, I know my home isn't the warmest place, but if you follow the rules, it will be a safe one. And as your guardian, your safety is my greatest responsibility. That is why I put cans near all the doors and windows each night. In case any burglars come in, they trip over the cans and wake us up." She motions towards the door and I notice the empty corn cans piled up in front of the door. "But what if we're awake in the house with an angry burglar? I would much rather be asleep if we're getting robbed." Klaus points out.

"Robbed? Angry burglar? Where?" Josephine looks around. "Aunt Josephine, you must be very worried about Hurricane Herman." Violet says. Oh goodness, if this woman can't even stand a kitchen timer I can only imagine what it would be like to deal with her during a storm. "Hurricane?" Josephine says questioningly. "The taxi driver said it's a huge storm headed our way." Violet continues. "Oh, dear. We'll need food! We'll need supplies! We must all go to town immediately." Aunt Josephine says, standing up. "Maybe my sisters and I could stay here." Klaus says, motioning to us. Did he just refer to me as one of his sisters?

"Good point. You never know what might happen in a small town. Have you ever read Thornton Wilder? Perhaps we should all stay here." Josephine says. "Of course, but what if we run out of food in the middle of a hurricane?" Violet points out. "Wouldn't that be frightening?" I ask. "Terrifyingly frightening?" Klaus adds. "You're right. I won't be long, children. Don't do anything dangerous! You know, anything I wouldn't do." Josephine says as she grabs her sweater and walks out of the door. "Of course not! Nothing you wouldn't do!" Klaus reassures.

Of course we wern't telling the full truth. I felt kind of bad for lying but we were not throwing away the chance to use some heat while she was gone. Violet was able to turn the stove on and make some soup that was actually warm. I found some candles in the cabinet and Klaus found a few matches. We lit the candles and sat at the table to eat our hot soup. Sunny was currently still having trouble biting the rattle and she wasn't a fan of the noise it made.

"I know you don't care for the sound, but maybe I could use your rattle to invent a burglar alarm so Aunt Josephine won't have to rely on piles of cans." Violet tells Sunny. "And, Sunny, you can have the deck of cards. You enjoy playing poker more than I do." Klaus says. "That leaves you and Mella with the dolls." Violet says. "I quite like mine. It reminds me of a doll that Monty got me when I was little." I say. "Plenty of boys enjoy playing with dolls. Although, I would rather a book. " Klaus shrugs.

"That doesn't seem fair." Violet says. "At least Aunt Josephine's trying. She wanted to get us gifts, even though she didn't know what we liked. We shouldn't complain." Klaus says. "You're right. She means well." I agree. "Even though she's terrified of everything, we shouldn't complain." Violet repeats. We sit in silence for a moment. " I want to complain anyway." Klaus says. I chuckle and finish off the rest of my soup. "Let's get to work." Violet says. We wash off our dishes and put them away before heading back to the library room.

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