A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 1 | Page 3

wondered what Mr. Poe was
doing there at Briny Beach, when he should have been at the bank in
the city, where he worked. He was not dressed for the beach.

“It's
a nice day,” Violet said finally, making conversation. Sunny made a
noise that sounded like an angry bird, and Klaus picked her up and held
her. “Yes,
it is a nice day,” Mr. Poe said absently, staring out at the empty beach.
“I'm afraid I have some very bad news for you children.” The
three Baudelaire siblings looked at him. Violet, with some embarrassment,
felt the stone in her left hand and was glad she had not
thrown it at Mr. Poe. “Your
parents,” Mr. Poe said, “have perished in a terrible fire.” The
children didn't say anything. “They
perished,” Mr. Poe said, “in a fire that destroyed the entire house.
I'm very, very sorry to tell you this, my dears.” Violet
took her eyes off Mr. Poe and stared out at the ocean. Mr. Poe had
never called the Baudelaire children “my dears” before. She understood
the words he was saying but thought he must be joking, playing
a terrible joke on her and her brother and sister. “
'Perished,' ” Mr. Poe said, “means 'killed.' ” “We
know what the word 'perished' means,” Klaus said, crossly. He did know
what the word “perished” meant, but he was still having trouble understanding
exactly what it was that Mr. Poe had said. It seemed to him
that Mr. Poe must somehow have misspoken. “The
fire department arrived, of course,” Mr. Poe said, “but they were too
late. The entire house was engulfed in fire. It burned to the ground.”
Klaus
pictured all the books in the library, going up in flames. Now he'd
never read all of them. Mr.
Poe coughed several times into his handkerchief before continuing. “I
was sent to retrieve you here, and to take you to my home, where you'll
stay for some time while we figure things out. I am the executor of
your parents' estate. That means I will be handling their enormous fortune
and figuring out where you children will go. When Violet comes of
age, the fortune will be yours, but the bank will take charge of it until
you are old enough.” Although
he said he was the executor, Violet felt like Mr. Poe was the

executioner.
He had simply walked down the beach to them and changed
their lives forever. “Come
with me,” Mr. Poe said, and held out his hand. In order to take it,
Violet had to drop the stone she was holding. Klaus took Violet's other
hand, and Sunny took Klaus's other hand, and in that manner the three
Baudelaire children-the Baudelaire orphans, now-were led away from
the beach and from their previous lives.

Chapter
Two It
is useless for me to describe to you how terrible Violet, Klaus, and even
Sunny felt in the time that followed. If you have ever lost someone
very important to you, then you already know how it feels, and
if you haven't, you cannot possibly imagine it. For the Baudelaire children,
it was of course especially terrible because they had lost both their
parents at the same time, and for several days they felt so miserable
they could