Chapter Sixteen

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Beatrice POV:
I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting when I asked the figure about Uncle Lemony, but whatever it was I certainly was not expecting him to actually show up. One of the figures takes off their hat to reveal an intricate, greying hairdo, and I would bet on a lifetime supply of black liquorice that if you took off the hat of the other figure you would see a distinct lack of hair whatsoever. "You two," Violet whispers.
"Baudelaires, Quamires, meet my parents." Finally, after a few seconds of silence I cannot contain myself any longer.
"Why were you looking for Uncle Lemony in the Village of Fowl Devotees?"
The female figure snaps "That's a family matter!" just as the other figure says confusedly, "Uncle?"
Uncle Lemony laughs bitterly. "Since when have family matters ever mattered in this family? And to answer your question, Beatrice, I had heard that your mother was in hospital and was on the way to visit her when your grandparents got wind of the idea and came to the Village. I was already on my way to the hospital when I recieved the news that they had snuck in and burned it to the ground. Thankfully, she managed to escape the fire." The male figure looks quizically at Uncle Lemony. "This  girl can't be your daughter for she calls you Uncle. Could she be Jacques's? She does bear a striking resemblance..."
Klaus POV:
There is a certain type of shock associated with hearing something completely unexpected come out of the mouth of somebody whom you know quite well, such as a trusted colleague telling you that Edgar Guest is their favorite poet or a teacher telling a class not to study for their final examination, but nothing so surprising as hearing the roar emanating from Lemony's throat, coming from a amn who I'd never heard speak above a monotone almost-whisper. "Jacques is DEAD, father, killed by the man whom you trained! This girl is Kit's daughter, and she is dead too, killed by the fungus that you helped create! Jacques, Kit, Bertram, Beatrice, Olivia Caliban, the list goes on, all brave and well-read people dead by your actions!" Our faces are mirror images of shock and Isadora is gripping my hand tightly.  After whta seems like an eternity of silence the woman whispers, "Where is she buried?"
"On Ishmael's island. You know where to go."Slowly, the man and the woman whom I cannot bring myself to call Lemony's parents,  start walking away from us. The woman stops for a moment near Beatrice, placing a hand on her cheek and whispering in a choked voice, You look just like your mother." They climb into a boat near the shoreline that they must have used to get here when we were sleeping, and then they are gone, sailing off into the distance. There are no records of what happened on their journey, whether they made it to Ishmael's island or not or where they went next, but as we watch them slowly disappearing onto the horizon I am sure of one thing: Lemony is as much of an orphan as we are.

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A/N:
Hello! So this chapter was a wee bit short but the next chapter is going to be quite a bit longer and sweeter.
Stay tuned and stay alive!
xxx Jess

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