MATILDA (A Series of Unfortunate Events)

CHAPTER 29: BLUNTING OF THE GREEN

Arriving back at the house, the reptiles were seen to be put in a van labelled as a 'Herpetological Society' vehicle. Matilda urged Roti to further hide himself under the collar of her shirt.

"What are they doing with Uncle Monty's reptiles?" Violet asked Mr Poe.

"After I called the police, I rang up the Herpetological Society. They kindly offered to retrieve Dr Montgomery's reptiles." Mr Poe answered. "'Retrieve' means 'take away'."

"We know what retrieve means." All kindness and attempts at politeness had disappeared from Klaus' tone, leaving him sick of the bankers constant belittling of him and the others. "Where are they taking them?"

"Well, they're orphans now. So they'll be moving on to other homes where their guardians hopefully won't die on them like Dr Montgomery." Matilda could only hope that was the future for the Baudelaire's as well.

"Can we at least say goodbye?" Devastation belied Violet's timbre; devastation masked by annoyance in Klaus' expression.

"After what you've been through, I'd think you'd never want to see a reptile again." The reptiles never did anything wrong - it's the human's that put these children through misery and loss, is what Matilda wanted to say. But speaking in front of adults was hard. Who knows how they would react; perhaps resentment followed by abandonment, or sadness leading to harm, or anger leading to flying feet and fists. "Besides, I have to take you to your next guardian."

"No!" the elder Baudelaire's chorused. "We know where we're going." Violet continued.

"I know where you're going, too. And I'm the adult so I get to decide." Matilda could only roll her eyes from her position adjacent to Klaus.

"We're going to our Aunt Josephine," Violet and Mr Poe spoke at once.

"She's next on the list." Glancing off, he seemed to finally spot Matilda. "I guess you can come too, Madison."

"Her name's Matilda," Violet bit back in defence, surprising Mr Poe with the sharpness of her tone.

"Ah, yes." He coughed. "Of course." A tense smile pulling at his lips.

The next few minutes included the rushed packing of clothes and belongings as Mr Poe quickly ushered the all the children into the car. As the Baudelaire's questioned Mr Poe about his secretary, Matilda gazed solemnly out of the window. Saying goodbye to the vivaciousness that emanated the property - but not from the garden, from the man who inhabited the wonderful home, whose evaporating presence led to the blunting of the green. Spotting the Incredibly Deadly Viper, Matilda gave an appreciative and understanding nod that the snake mimicked.

She was scared. Count Olaf was still out there with harmful intention. But she couldn't afford to be in her head, the Baudelaire's needed an anchor. Sitting closest to Klaus, Matilda linked her pinkie with his. Klaus at first glanced concerned at the girl, but her small smile morphed his expression into gratitude.

As the day worn on as did the children's ability to stay awake. Eventually, Violet leant into Klaus shoulder with Sunny in her lap and fell to sleep. Once she did, Klaus found himself staring at the moon, and despite all the occurrences, his stared with hope.

"How do you do that?" Matilda asked Klaus quietly, who responded with a curious hum and a turn of his head.

"What?"

"Hope." The word seemed foreign in Matilda's mind. Hope was something she could never afford - it had many times been strung along only to result in agony.

"I guess that I have no choice." Matilda only looked confused. He couldn't hold Matilda's gaze, breaking off to stare once again at the moon. "We were safe with Monty - even if it was a short while - we were safe. Who's to say we won't find that again?" He paused. "But it wouldn't be possible without Violet or Sunny," he turned to smile at Matilda. "Or you."

Matilda gaped in disbelief, her cheeks pinkening slightly. "B-but how... how do you know everything will be okay?" The welling tears in her eyes momentarily startled Klaus. "Everything always goes wrong Klaus." Her stare hardened. "Always." Klaus shifted slightly to face Matilda better, ensuring Violet was still comfortable.

"We can't focussed on what terrible things may happen. We have to focus on the good. Like when we could listen to all of Uncle Monty's old music or when we tried fencing in the kitchen with pool noddles or when we scared Uncle Monty with Roti." At the mention of the lizard, the reached forward to pet Roti's scales carefully where he had snuggled and fell asleep in the top of Matilda's shirt. His hand slid from the reptile to Matilda's cheek. "The more we look for the good things, the more there will be."

Matilda blinked and a single crystalline tear fell from her eye. To which Klaus gently wiped away.

Somehow, Klaus knew exactly what to say. To Matilda, hope was a physical entity - it was Klaus and Violet and Sunny. Maybe, before they entered her home, fate knew they were coming and that was the reason she had lived so long. Why she didn't jump off of the roof one dreadful autumn, or why she didn't step in front of the car mid summer, or why she didn't slam her head into the door handle of that torturous room that had shackled her all of her life.

Or maybe there was no such thing as fate. Maybe she was just a husk before. A husk that had neither the bravery, the cowardice, the strength, the weakness, the outrage, the forgiveness, the life, the death - just barely existing.

The darkness pulled Matilda under swiftly, with Klaus not far behind her.

A/N

Hello! I know this is a short one, but I have cute, little happenings planned for the next chapter :). Thankyou all so much for reading! Please continue to vote and comment!