⇗ Chapter 7

Sabine froze, her eyes glued to the sign. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice Quigley was talking to her until he placed his hands on her shoulders from behind her. The sudden touch made her jump and she spun around. Quigley stepped back and held his hands up in surrender.

"Calm down! It's just me!" he laughed.

Sabine let out a sigh of relief. "Sorry, you just scared me." She shook her head, placing her hand on her forehead as if she might faint.

"What were you staring at?" he asked.

She turned back to the strange sign with her last name on it and pointed with her chin. "That," she whispered.

Quigley stepped beside her and examined the sign carefully, tracing his fingers along the rusty letters. "There was a sign like that near my house, but it said 'Quagmire' instead of 'Trillian'," he related quietly.

Sabine's eyes widened in excitement and curiosity. "Y-you mean that these are...."

"Directions?"

"Yeah."

They both stood and looked at the strange sign in silence for a while. "Sh-should we follow it?" Sabine asked nervously.

"I don't see why not..." Quigley said, still deep in thought as he examined the rest of the tunnel. There were multiple different signs that all looked similar to the one that said, TRILLIAN, but they had different names and they were pointing in different directions.

Quigley walked slightly farther down the dark hall and stopped in front of another sign. It was dusty, just like the one that Sabine found, but it was pointing up to another hatch. He rubbed the sign off and read the name, BAUDELAIRE.

"Hey, I read about them in the newspaper," he said to Sabine. She walked over to him and examined the sign as well. Her eyes widened in curiosity again.

"I know them. We met at Prufrock," she said sadly.

"Duncan and Isadora's school?" he asked. She nodded in confirmation and glanced at him for a moment, then looked up at the hatch. There seemed to be tiny cracks of light poking out of it.

"Let's explore," Sabine suggested, one hand on the metal rungs that made the ladder. Quigley said nothing. She broke her gaze away from the hatch and turned to him. His eyes were fixed on the hatch that Sabine had come out of earlier, the one that led to Duncan and Isadora.

"Quigley?" she whispered, softly resting her hand on his shoulder.

He shook his head as if clearing his thoughts, then turned to her with a forced smile. "Okay, let's explore." He nodded.

Sabine sighed and gave him a hug. "I know you miss your siblings, but I'll make sure you get to see them again soon."

"Thanks," he whispered when she pulled away.

"For now, let's see if we can figure out where we are." Sabine's tone became slightly firmer as she looked back at the hatch above her.

"That sounds reasonable," Quigley agreed, but his voice was laced with doubt.

"Unless you have a better idea?" Sabine asked softly.

He shook his head again.

"Well, then let's go," she said, and started her climb up the ladder. She reached the top quickly and hesitantly pushed on the hatch. To her surprise, it opened easily and she flipped it all the way over, dust falling on her face as she did.

"Come on," she called down. Sabine pulled herself up into the ashy remains of the Baudelaire mansion, and then gave Quigley a hand to help him up as well. They looked around the place, their eyes watery as they tried to rub the dust out.

"Jeez, it looks awful in here," Quigley commented.

"Well, what do you expect? The whole thing burnt up," Sabine replied. Both children sighed as they carefully exited the ruins of the destroyed home.

"Where to now?" Quigley asked.

Sabine pulled her purple notebook out of her debris-covered sweater, then flipped through the pages until she found a map of the city that she had drawn. She glanced down the sidewalk until her eyes landed on the stop sign at the end of the street and the green sign above it that displayed the street's name. She glanced back at her map and found where they were, then pointed to a drawing of a large building that was about four blocks away from them. "Look, there's the police station, and it's not too far away. We can go there and tell the police where Duncan and Isadora are, so they can help them."

Quigley looked over her shoulder at the journal. "Would they believe us?"

"No harm in trying." Sabine shrugged.

"Everyone still thinks I'm dead," he pointed out.

"Well, if worse comes to worse, you pretend to be Duncan and then maybe they'll listen to you and go save your siblings."

Quigley shook his head. "Nah, I can't pretend to be Duncan."

"Why?" she asked in confusion.

"I'm much better looking," he joked with a smirk.

Sabine rolled her eyes, but smiled as she playfully shoved him away from her. They both laughed for a moment, and then the pair began to walk down the winding, badly-lit streets. They had to walk for about twenty minutes, and then finally found themselves at the police station. Holding their breaths, they headed inside. Sabine noticed the countless posters of the star of the city-wide manhunt, Count Olaf. She shuddered at the way he grinned in the photo and tried her best to avoid looking at him.

"You okay?" Quigley whispered when he noticed her uneasy expression.

She shook her head and rubbed her arms as a cold chill ran down her spine. "The posters," she whispered back.

He looked around at all the posters and grimaced. "He'll be caught soon enough," he assured her.

She nodded and smiled gratefully, then they continued their trek into the police station, where Sabine was greeted by a familiar face. "Officer Feint?" Sabine asked.

"Busy. Have a seat and I'll be with you," Feint said, not looking up from the file she was reading. Quigley and Sabine sat down in the sticky plastic chairs and waited patiently.

"How did you know that officer?" Quigley asked.

"She..." Sabine trailed off, looking towards the green eyed woman again. She remembered the day that she first met Officer Feint. Her home had just been destroyed in a horrible fire, and Officer Feint was sent with Officer Mitchum to break the news to her. Mitchum had been awful and rude, but Feint was kind to Sabine the whole time she was with her. Sabine smiled sadly at the bittersweet memory and turned back to Quigley. "She had to tell me that my parents died."

Quigley's face frosted over in worry and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Sabine nodded. "Thanks, but it's okay. She was really nice about it, and I always felt like she was my friend in some odd way."

Quigley chuckled and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. She blushed heavily, her stomach filling with butterflies, and snuggled closer to him. After a few moments, Officer Feint put down the file labeled Snicket and turned to the children.

"Sabine! What-" she said, looking over the two of them. (Sabine had been declared missing after Olaf had kidnapped her, and she was surprised that no one had recognized her yet.)

"Hi, Officer Feint." Sabine smiled timidly, standing up to shake the officer's hand.

Feint still seemed shocked and she stared at Sabine in silence for a moment, then flicked her gaze to Quigley. "I-is that the Quagmire boy? The one Olaf kidnapped?" she asked quietly.

Quigley stood up and shook her hand as well. "No, ma'am. I'm Quigley. Quigley Quagmire," he explained politely.

"B-but you're dead. Th-the fire," Officer Feint whispered in bewilderment.

"My mother saved me in time," he explained, his eyes glossing over in sadness. Sabine took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He smiled softly and wiped his tears away.

Officer Feint finally snapped to her senses and nodded. "Well, it's very nice to meet you, Quigley. How can I help you two today?"

"We know where Duncan and Isadora are," Quigley and Sabine said in unison.

Officer Feint raised her question mark shaped eyebrows in shock. "Oh?" she said.

"Yes, we can take you there!" Sabine said excitedly.

"Well, lead the way then," Officer Feint gestured towards the door.

Quigley and Sabine raced out the door and started walking down the stairs of the police building when Quigley suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Sabine asked, stopping as well to talk to him.

Quigley lowered his voice so only she could hear him. "Should we be taking her to the tunnels?"

Sabine sucked in a breath. She hadn't thought of that. The hatches were pretty well hid, so maybe they were supposed to be a secret. On the other hand, how else were they supposed to save the Quagmires from the clutches of Count Olaf?

"I-I don't know," she stammered. "I hadn't thought of that."

Officer Feint raced up to them, her piercing green eyes wide with excitement. "I'm so sorry, kids," she said. "There's been a lead on a very important case about a certain L.S. so I can't help you right now. I'll be back soon though, so just wait in the station for me, okay?"

"Wait! What about my siblings?" Quigley asked.

"They're gonna have to wait." The officer shook her head before quickly sprinting away from them.

"What do we do now?" Sabine asked in desperation.

Just then, a taxi pulled up. A woman with blonde hair and eyes covered by dark sunglasses hopped out of the driver's seat. Her stomach was slightly bulging out of her leather jacket.

"Sabine, Quigley, pleasure to finally meet you. Need a ride?" she asked.

"Who are you?" Quigley asked. He protectively stood in front of Sabine, holding his arm out to keep her behind him.

"Kit Snicket, at your service," she smiled.

Sabine's ears perked up. "Snicket?" she asked. That was the name on the file Officer Feint had!

"Yes ma'am," Kit nodded.

"L.S.," Quigley whispered.

"Can we trust her?" Sabine wondered quietly.

"I don't know." Quigley shrugged.

"You most certainly can trust me, lovebirds," Kit smiled warmly.

"We don't really have any other options," Sabine said, curiously eyeing the strange woman.

"Can you help find my siblings?" Quigley asked Kit.

"Two of our most reliable agents are already on it," she replied.

"Agents?" Sabine questioned.

"I'll explain on the way," Kit said, opening the back door for them.

Sabine and Quigley glanced at each other, then climbed into the backseat of the taxi.

~༄~

"A secret organization," Sabine repeated slowly. They were currently driving through the hinterlands with a strange woman whom they had only just met a few hours ago. Now, normally it is not safe to get in a car with a stranger, but this particular stranger was a kind and helpful one who's top priority was the safety of Sabine and Quigley.

"That's right," Kit confirmed.

"And our parents were a part of all this?" Quigley asked.

"They were indeed." Kit nodded with a sad sigh.

"So that's why my name was on that sign in the tunnel," Sabine said.

"And mine," Quigley added.

"Yes and yes," Kit said.

The two children slumped backwards into the seats behind them. Kit said that she had the answers to all their questions, but they had so many that they weren't sure she would have the time to answer them all. Kit glanced at them in the rear view mirror and smiled as she saw Sabine slipping her palm into Quigley's hand, which he gladly accepted.

"I'm sure you have many questions," she said. "And this will be a very long ride, so fire away."

"How come our parents didn't tell us about any of this?" Sabine asked.

"Who is rescuing my siblings?" Quigley asked.

"Where are we going?"

"Who are we meeting?"

"Who is L.S.?"

"Why did Officer Feint seem so bent on finding L.S.?"

"Is he related to you?"

"Were the fires that burnt our homes really an accident?"

"Woah, woah! One at a time, please!" Kit laughed.

"Sorry," the two said in unison.

"It's quite alright, children. I admire your curiosity, it's a wonderful trait to have. In fact, it's just what we're looking for in our members." Kit smiled.

Sabine and Quigley glanced at each other. The looks on their faces said the same thing. Is she trying to recruit us?

"Sabine, to answer your first question, your parents didn't tell you about any of this because they didn't want you involved in it. Our missions for V.F.D. can be very fiercely dangerous, but since you're already so caught up in it, there's not much we can do to respect their wishes," Kit explained.

"I suppose not," Sabine said. In truth, she was excited about this whole thing, and would have liked very much to be a part of it.

"If you're interested, I can set you up for training. We always have room for anyone very ferociously devoted to putting out literal and figurative fires," Kit suggested.

"So, you're fire fighters?" Quigley asked.

"Volunteers," Kit nodded.

"Volunteer Fire Department..." he whispered to himself. A flash of a smile crossed Kit's lips, but she didn't confirm nor deny Quigley's inference.

Sabine smiled and bounced a little in her seat. "I wanna be a volunteer!"

Quigley smiled as well and squeezed her hand lightly, making her cheeks turn pink. "Well, if Sabine wants to, then count me in." He nodded.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Kit admitted. "As soon as we get to headquarters, we'll get you two set up."

Sabine nodded and rested her head on Quigley's shoulder. He lifted her hand to his lips and gave her a kiss on her knuckles. She blushed and snuggled closer to him. He was being a lot more touchy and flirty with her than he normally was, but if she was being honest, she really liked it, so she didn't protest.

"Go ahead and sleep, kids. It will be a while before we get there," Kit said.

The exhausted pair eagerly agreed and fell asleep in each other's arms.

𝔼𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕗 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣