“Good-bye, Snicket,” Hector said. “Be careful. Please tell your replacement in the city that they’ll have to take the long way round to the museum. If they tunnel into the wrong waterway, they’ll both be drowned.”
“There’s no replacement,” I said.
“So you’re going to sneak out of town and join her?”
I shook my head. “I’m stuck here in Stain’d-by-the-Sea for the duration.”
Hector’s eyes widened. “You can’t let her do this alone,” he said, louder than he meant to say it. Prosper Lost blinked at us curiously and stepped out from behind his desk.
“What choice do I have?” I whispered to Hector.
“She’s not just your associate, Snicket,” he whispered back, putting on his hat. “She’s your sister.”
“I know that,” I said sharply, but he scowled and shook his head and went out the door. I know she’s my sister, I wanted to shout after him. Do you think I don’t know that? Do you think I don’t know I’m putting my own sister in danger?
“Happy birthday,” I said instead, but Hector didn’t stop. It is possible that he was walking even faster. By now Prosper Lost was standing right beside me, and we both watched Hector disappear down the dark street.
“Fight with your friend?” Prosper Lost asked me, as if it were his business.
“It wasn’t a fight,” I said. “I just said the wrong thing.”
Lost gave me one of his thin smiles. “Everybody does something wrong at one time or another.”
It was true. Everybody does something wrong at one time or another. It was true, but I didn’t like it. I nodded at him and turned away. The statue of the woman looked like she wanted to give me a shrug, if only she had arms. I shrugged back and thought about the other statue, the Bombinating Beast, and the villain who wanted to get hold of it. I thought of the fading town and the vanished sea. I thought of Ellington’s green eyes and the question-mark eyebrows that hovered over them. It wasn’t just one time or another. I had been wrong over and over and over again, wrong every time about every clue to the dark and inky mystery hanging over me and everybody else. It rang like a bell in my head—wrong, wrong, wrong. I was wrong, I thought, but maybe if I stayed in this town long enough, I could make everything right.
Thank you for buying this e-book, published by Hachette Digital.
To receive special offers, bonus content, and news about our latest e-books and apps, sign up for our newsletter.
Sign Up
Or visit us at hachettebookgroup.com/newsletters
Contents
WELCOME
DEDICATION
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
NEWSLETTERS
COPYRIGHT
Copyright
Text Copyright © 2012 by Lemony Snicket
Art Copyright © 2012 by Seth
For more great reads visit lb-kids.com.
Jacket art © 2012 Seth
Jacket design by Gail Doobinin
Jacket © 2012 Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Also available from Hachette Audio
www.LemonySnicketLibrary.com
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Little, Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group
237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
First e-book edition: October 2012
Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
ISBN 978-0-316-22502-1