The Slippery Slope by Lemony A. Snicket

Author:Lemony A. Snicket
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Siblings, Juvenile Fiction, Humorous Stories, Orphans & Foster Homes, Family
ISBN: 9780064410137
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2003-09-23T00:00:00+00:00

C H A P T E R

Nine

The two elder Baudelaires stood for a moment with Quigley, gazing up at the small plume, a word which here means “mysterious cloud of green smoke.” After the long, strange story he had told them about surviving the fire and what he had learned about V.F.D., they could scarcely believe that they were confronting another mystery.

“It's a Verdant Flammable Device,” Quigley said. “There's someone at the top of the waterfall, sending a signal.”

“Yes,” Violet said, “but who?”

“Maybe it's a volunteer, who escaped from the fire,” Klaus said. “They're signaling to see if there are any other volunteers nearby.”

“Or it could be a trap,” Quigley said. “They could be luring volunteers up to the peak in order to ambush them. Remember, the codes of V.F.D. are used by both sides of the schism.”

“It hardly seems like a code,” Violet said. “We know that someone is communicating, but we don't have the faintest idea who they are, or what they're saying.”

“This is what it must be like,” Klaus said thoughtfully, “when Sunny talks to people who don't know her very well.”

At the mention of Sunny's name, the Baudelaires were reminded of how much they missed her. “Whether it's a volunteer or a trap,” Violet said, “it might be our only chance to find our sister.”

“Or my sister and brother,” Quigley said.

“Let's signal back,” Klaus said. “Do you still have those Verdant Flammable Devices, Quigley?”

“Of course,” Quigley said, taking the box of green tubes out of his backpack, “but Bruce saw my matches and confiscated them, because children shouldn't play with matches.”

“Confiscated them?” Klaus said. “Do you think he's an enemy of V.F.D.?”

“If everyone who said that children shouldn't play with matches was an enemy of V.F.D.,” Violet said with a smile, “then we wouldn't have a chance of survival.”

“But how are we going to light these without matches?” Quigley asked.

Violet reached into her pocket. It was a bit tricky to tie her hair up in a ribbon, as all four drafts in the Valley of Four Drafts were blowing hard, but at last her hair was out of her eyes, and the gears and levers of her inventing mind began to move as she gazed up at the mysterious signal.

But of course this signal was neither a volunteer nor a trap. It was a baby, with unusually large teeth and a way of talking that some people found confusing. When Sunny Baudelaire had said “lox,” for example, the member of Count Olaf's troupe had assumed she was simply babbling, rather than explaining how she was going to cook the salmon that the hook-handed man had caught. “Lox” is a word which refers to smoked salmon, and it is a delicious way to enjoy freshly caught fish, particularly if one has the appropriate accoutrements, a phrase which here means “bagels, cream cheese, sliced cucumber, black pepper, and capers, which can be eaten along with the lox for an enjoyable meal.” Lox also has an additional benefit of

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