MATILDA (A Series of Unfortunate Events)

CHAPTER 18: BOOT, BOW OR BEAR

Returning from the kitchen with four plates with cake, Matilda crashed into Monty on her way into the Reptile Room.

"Ah! Matilda! Follow me, follow me." He exclaimed, placing a hand gingerly on her shoulder to guide her; a sweet smile lit her face at the gesture of affection. "Bambini? Baudelaire bambini!" Entering the well-lit room, he announced to the three siblings, "There you are." Matilda scurried over to the children and gave them their cake. Violet and Klaus gave a smile in gratitude and sat the cake on desk. "How was your day?" A great, unstoppable smile pulled at his face.

"I polished the tortoise and Sunny fed it some bananas, Klaus clipped the iguanas nails and Matilda fed the Komodo dragons." Violet stated proudly, proud to be doing meaningful work, unlike the useless and unnecessary chores that Count Olaf set them.

"It got messy." Sunny babbled along.

"Ah, thank you. I'm so grateful." Matilda blushed at the compliment of their work, moving to look at the tiled floor that resembled cubic scales. "Perhaps, when I'm out, you can lure the androgynous cobra out of my sock drawer." At this, Monty caught Matildas eye and winked. The girl brightened at the task and kept her head up; eager to rush out of the room to fetch the reptile but didn't want to appear impolite.

"Where are you going?" Klaus questioned their guardian.

"Well, I'm gonna go into town and pick up a few things that I like to keep in stock: wasp repellent, canned peaches, a fireproof canoe." At the last object, Matilda couldn't help quirking an eyebrow in confusion. "And then, tonight, well go and see our first movie. Wont that be exciting?" A smile broke out on Matilda's face, I've never been to the movies, she thought. Just like a book but with images materialised in the physical, visual realm. She couldn't wait to turn to the others sitting next to her and whisper in awe: 'Did you see that?! That was amazing!'.

"What movie are we seeing?" The Baudelaires hadn't seen a movie in a while, but they were more excited to take Matilda to her first.

"Well, we wont know until we get there." Monty replied puzzlingly.

"I've never heard of a movie theatre that doesn't tell you what movie is playing." Klaus admitted. Violet looked at Matilda and gave a shrug with an enthusiastic grin.

With a chuckle, Monty responds cryptically. "Klaus Baudelaire, I have a feeling there are many things that you're going to see that you've never heard of before." He moved further into the room, with the iguana's leash dangling in his hand. "Life is a conundrum of esoterica. Come along, Raymond Ditmars." The said reptile hisses and grunts as he's lifted from the comfortable spot on the couch. "Yes. Now, there we go." Monty mumbled lovingly to Raymond. "Ta-ta for now! Come along, come along. Yes. Yes. That's right." Monty's jovial presence shifted out of the room. While Violet and Klaus contemplated over Monty's words, Matilda spotted Roti making his way into the Reptile Room.

The little green creature fluttered through the air, circling around Matilda, slowly descending. The sunlight through the large window filtered through Roti's wings; green, yellow, and orange curved patterns appearing through the thin wing membrane. Matilda followed his movements with her turning head, watching his decline with rapt admiration and adoration for her small friend. He landed comfortably on her shoulder as the child's attention was pulled to Klaus as he pulled out a rolled poster. Standing in the opposite side of the table, the three elder children looked at the blueprint that was revealed.

"This is the original blueprint for Dr. Montgomerys landscaping." All remnants of joy leaked from Matilda's face into the syphoning abyss. The distinct shape of the eye causing her breath to stop. Flashing images of the design lined in black ink on a scrawny, pale ankle assaulted her mind. Flashes of the said tattoo before the following boot or while bowing her head or scrubbing on her knees, bearing her neck, or mending the hem of a pant. "Those hedges outside make up a labyrinth." Violet lifted her head to smile warmly at Matilda, memories of their adventure in the tall green plants. Matilda was stood blankly staring at the blueprint. Immediately, Violet's fond remembrance of their exploration evaporated as the snippets of Matilda's vacant moments reminded her of the girls' fragility. She seen enough of her 'drowning' ('drowning' was the only way Matilda could try to explain the sensation, so that's how the children referred to it) to recognise the pre-emptive signs. Instantly, Violet was on guard and ready to pull Matilda out of her own mind, leaving the girl a chance to revive herself first.

"And if you look at the labyrinth from the top, it's..." Klaus trailed off.

"It looks like the tattoo Count Olaf has on his ankle." Violet regained her focus on the blueprint. At the mention of the tyrant, Klaus glanced at Matilda through his eyelashes, observing her condition. Compassion and admiration blooming for the child who has only known cruelty and pain, yet still being able to bring others so much light and joy despite the dark recess of her mind. His brows set into a fierce look.

"Its a mark of villainy." Roti was regularly burrowing into Matilda's neck, somehow sensing her discomfort. The flashes began to stutter to a close.

"Monty cannot be in cahoots with Count Olaf." Violets grim denial set Matilda straight. Her duty to protect the Baudelaires surging through her bones. "He seems too nice." The eldest girl sighed.

"Things aren't always as they seem." Klaus' hard voice pierced the growing apprehension as Matilda's head snapped up to look at the elder Baudelaires with determination. "Something strange is going on here. Mother and Father told us all sorts of stories that happened before we were born." Klaus was visibly distressed with the possibility of their parents concealing their past, his posture tensed, and his neck hunched in uncertainty. "So why doesn't the name Montgomery Montgomery ring a bell?"

The echoing of the ringing doorbell tore the children from their conversation. "Don't answer it." Called Sunny.

"I'll go get that cobra." Matilda spoke gently, gaining the ability to rise a smile once again and placing Roti on his perch. They all left the room, splitting paths as the Baudelaires approached the front door while Matilda began to ascend the stairs. Making her way to Monty's room, she gathered the tapered ends of her sense of reality and reeled them in, bringing a large breath in simultaneously.

She soon found herself almost elbow deep in Monty's sock draw. The man had an array of sock colours. Mostly greens and yellows and oranges. Many had reptilian patterns: some with scales or small snakes or alligators. Amongst the extravagantly coloured undergarments, brown scales could be spotted. Carefully, Matilda picked out the socks and placed them orderly on the floor by the set of drawers. Soon, she was able to see the cobra's eyes. Using her superpower-like ability (as Klaus called it) she gaged the danger of the snake through its black eyes. Their deep eyes showed no fear or wariness of the girl, so Matilda delicately moved her hand into the draw and held it there for a while, allowing the snake to make its decision come with her. Eventually, the androgynous cobra found its way up her arm, its speckling scales patterned like tectonic plates and its hood folded up, not threatened by the child. It slithered around, finally settling and wrapping around her neck in a gentle hold. Their body was cold to the touch, a pleasant thermal shift; truly distancing the girl from any drowning thoughts.

Faintly, she could hear the murmuring of voices from the floor below wafting up the stairs: Monty's room slightly too far away to pick up any distinct words. Gently, she moved to sit on the floor by the window that flooded the room in sunlight. The cobras head moved towards the UV light emission, Matilda yielding to the reptiles desire. She had plonked herself on the olive, patterned rug and basked in the sun, closing her eyes, and absorbing the warmth with the scaly beast wrapped around her.

The slamming of the heavy Reptile Room door startled the girl as it echoed through the manor. The door to the Reptile Room was only ever shut when all the manors' occupants were absent. Sparks of unease flared. Confusion flashed through Matilda as she quickly stood alert, the cobra sensing her stress as she warily glanced around for danger.

Footsteps made their way moved through the now silent house, eerily creeping closer to Monty's bedroom. Matilda stayed put, knowing the children must be safe in the Reptile Room and therefore it was the intruder moving around.

Reflecting on this moment, Matilda knew that she recognised the steps. The patterns of the footfalls and the weight behind them. The very gait that slinked through her life and left nothing behind but rubble. The ankle decorated with optic ink.

A/N

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